Page 19 of Ruthless Vows

Fuck!

CHAPTER 6

Ivan

“I’m going to fucking murder you!” I grit out, clenching and unclenching my jaw as I consider just how thoroughly my brother has fucked up.

Alexei Volkov can best be described as a lazy, selfish, arrogant waste of space who just happens to be related to me by blood. There was a time I refused to believe that, and I actually went so far as to order a blood test. Back then, he had fucked up so phenomenally, I was close to shooting him.

Unfortunately, by some fluke of the universe, our DNA matches. Same mother, same father. Which continues to make zero sense because he’s the complete opposite of me in every way. While we’re completely different personality-wise, we do have some similar features.

He has the same dark hair and brown eyes I do. Standing side by side, it would be pretty easy to pinpoint we’re brothers. Which just goes to show how fucking pissed I was when I ordered that ludicrous DNA test all those years ago.

Alexei drives me to the brink. The only reason I still haven’t cut him off is because I take partial responsibility for the way heturned out. It was my responsibility to raise him and I failed in that aspect. Probably the only thing I’ve ever failed at.

He’s currently sitting in front of me, slouched in his chair and not looking the least bit apologetic or even aware of the damage his actions have caused.

“It’s too early for you to be playing the man who cried murder, Ivan. Seriously,” he says, yawning and stretching like a house cat.

My right eye twitches. “It’s eleven a.m., Alexei. And you’ve once again fucked up.”

“What did I do this time?” he questions.

“You tell me. What’ve you been up to these past few months? Start with your trip to Miami. Who did you meet there and what did you do?”

I can see the minute he realizes exactly where this is going.

“Ivan… I can explain.”

“Save it. I’ll do the talking for you,” I snap, pulling out a couple of pictures from a drawer of my desk.

I throw them onto the table so he can get a good look at them.

“That’s you, isn’t it?” I point at a picture where he’s only in boxer shorts with his arm flung over the shoulders of a dark-skinned man with short brown hair. “And the other man is Javier Aguilar. Son of a particularly nasty drug lord that rules over the Chicago slums. Am I right? What’s your relationship with Javier?”

Alexei’s jaw is clenched as he manages to spit out, “We’re friends.”

“Wrong. You’re accomplices. When you met three months ago, the two of you decided to come up with a business plan that guaranteed you success. You had the money to spare and Javier had access to his father’s drug supply. So you had him steal some drugs behind his father’s back and you hired some men to actas drug pushers for you. Your very own drug empire—isn’t that right, Alexei?”

The rage that has been swirling in my gut has yet to simmer since the moment I landed back home. My hand twitches, urging me to reach for a knife and bury it in his arm, at least. If I can’t kill him, I might as well cause him some fucking pain.

“Alright, I’ll admit it. The plan was stupid and ill advised. I was wrong,” he says cautiously, probably worried about the murderous rage I’m displaying.

He hasn’t seen anything yet.

“You were wrong? Do you have any idea what happened yesterday?” I growl. “Your little business partner went on a drug run with the rest of your dumb miscreants. It was meant to be a simple drop off but someone must have tipped off the cops. There was a shoot-out; Javier got caught in the crossfire. And now he’s dead.”

My brother’s eyes widen in shock. “What the fuck?”

“Do you understand the gravity of the situation now? Once his father heard the news of his death, he launched into an investigation, captured one of those goons you hired who was all too willing to sell you out as the brains behind the operation. And now Aguilar wants revenge.”

“Shit,” Alexei breathes. His eyes meet mine, an apology swirling in their depths. “Ivan. I swear, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I was just trying to make my own way!”

“Shut the hell up. If you were so interested in business you wouldn’t have blown the dozen chances I provided for you to join mine. You’re a disgrace, Alexei, incompetent! You create a mess no matter what you do. Is it too much for me to ask you to not do anything? There’s nothing wrong with being useless—the least you could do is not fuck things up for me while I’m trying to provide for the two of us!”

His eyes harden at that and his jaw tightens. He looks away, staring at a spot on the wall, his posture stiff.

“I’m sorry.”

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