Page 2 of Kept By the Bratva

I shook my head. “The Ortez Cartel has always been there in the background, wanting what’s not theirs.”

Many crime organizations fought for the top spot in New York. The Italian Mafia. Other rival Bratva families, like the Kastavas. The Cartel. Even MC gangs tried to slip in and have a piece of the power.

When Alek stole Mila Kastava from her wedding, he instigated a big war with Sergei Kastava. He had been right to be suspicious about the Kastavas trying to set us up and arrange a coup to take power from Pavel, but we stopped them all. The Kastavas no longer held much influence, and we’d make sure they remained powerless for good.

Alek rubbed his brow. “Yes, but while we—I—dealt with the Kastavas and stopped them from trying to take over the Valkov Bratva, the Cartel was acting up.”

I nodded, aware of these facts. We were distracted, and rightly so, with Sergei Kastava’s nefarious plans. Alek himself was more focused on Mila and preventing a disastrous sting at the docks during an arms shipment.

Now that all that was in the past, I wondered what would come next.

“We cannot allow the Ortezes to interfere with our land. They stirred enough trouble while we were busy, but now we need to show them that the Valkovs are strong. That we will continue to be stronger than ever and will not tolerate this bullshit.”

We agreed, voicing our support. Of course, we would make a unified front. I bet some people out there would assume we were weaker now, lost and clueless without Pavel as ourPakhan, but that would be their grave mistake. Alek had impressive plans for us.

“And with new blood, new generations,” Alek added, smiling at Mila, “we will continue to be strong well into the future.”

I wanted to groan.Enough. Enough about the future generations. Every time someone said something like that, it reminded me of the one person I wanted to buildmyfuture with, the only person I could never have.

While Alek and Maxim discussed the logistics and details about businesses that the Ortez Cartel members had recently targeted, I tuned them out and sighed deeply. I couldn’t keep thinking about Amy. All this talk about settling down with women and having children was gnawing at me. But I refused to let it keep me down for good.

I perked up at the mention of Harrow’s. The Bratva owned many businesses, legitimate and others not as clean, and among those operations were several strip clubs. Harrow’s was by far the Bratva’s most lucrative and successful club, and it peeved me that the Cartel members would try to stir up trouble there.

“We’ve had reports of the assholes coming in often,” Alek said.

“The security doesn’t know to keep them out?” Ivan asked.

Alek shook his head. “They show up in numbers and it causes a scene.”

I rolled my eyes. “A scene? Who gives a fuck?” I swore, sometimes, the newer soldiers had to learn to grow a backbone. “I’ll stop by there and keep an eye out tonight.”

Alek nodded. “Good.”

And hell, maybe while I was out there, in the area near the bar where I picked up Amy all those many nights ago, I could try to retrace my steps and look around. If I could happen upon her, I’d follow her. Stalking people was just one of my specialties, and I wasn’t above using those tactics on her.

I wasn’t sure what I would do if I saw her again. Nothing could’ve changed the fact that she was good and pure, innocent and unblemishedby violence or crime. I lived a dark life. I killed. I hunted. I lied. All those actions were in the name of duty, and I would never consider changing that central element to my life.

I lived for my Bratva, and I’d never let them down.

2

AMY

“So, you’ll meet me at the bar after you’re done here?” Missy asked as she lingered at the check-out counter at the vet clinic we both worked at.

I sighed, wishing I hadn’t agreed to go out with her for an impromptu girls’ night out. I couldn’t have told her no, though. My friend had so much to celebrate. A new promotion from vet tech to assistant supervisor meant she didn’t have to do as much hands-on work or deal with customers as much as I did any longer. And her boyfriend of five years proposed to her just last night. No wonder she was all smiles and excited to have a good time with me.

“Yeah. Maybe in an hour or so?” I guessed.

Missy wasn’t only my coworker. She was my best friend. We hit it off quickly when we both started working here a few years ago. She’d already graduated from her vet tech program, but I had been working my way through the last of the courses.

Not that they’ve helped so far.Every day here felt long, like a grueling challenge to suffer with all the unhappy customers. If I had a chance to work more with the animals, I would’ve been happy as a clam.Unfortunately, I was the lowest person on the ladder here, and I was often stuck with fielding the front desk.

If my stomach still wasn’t giving me as much of a hard time, I might have been in more of a mood to go out. I liked to hang out with Missy off the clock. Dancing was always fun. But tonight, I had to force a smile and stand by my commitment to go out with her.

A stomach bug knocked me out a couple of weeks ago. It was so bad that I broke my streak of never calling out sick. For the first time ever, I had to stay home sick for a few days, and I hated how I’d missed all that pay. Sick time and vacation pay weren’t options for me with this entry-level position. But I was miserable. If I wasn’t on the toilet, I was curled up with cramps. Still, all this time later, I didn’t feel one hundred percent. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep, but I was determined to be a good friend to Missy. I truly was happy for her.

And maybe a little envious.Getting married and starting a family sounded fabulous, and so, so far out of my reach. I didn’t have a boyfriend and hadn’t for a long time. The last guy?—

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