Page 11 of Possession of the Bratva

Chapter 7 - Aleksandr

Coming down for breakfast, I was pleasantly surprised to find Mila already having breakfast. Taking my seat across from her, I smiled. “Good morning, hun.”

She nodded but didn’t respond. “So, then, how about we continue our discussion?” I inquired. Mila looked at me curiously. “I’ll start then,” I added, grinning. I had obviously caught her off guard, but she wasn’t opposing the idea. So, I continued. “Do you think we owe each other something as human beings?” I asked.

Mila tilted her head to one side. “I don’t,” she replied. “Each of us makes our own choices and whatever that leads to is each one's own doing. So, no, we don’t.”

I found her answer informative and felt sure she had suffered something bad in her past. She took ownership of her mistakes but didn’t want assistance. It made me wonder if this was what gave her the fire she possessed.

Clearing her throat, she asked the next question. “What do you treasure most in life, more than anything else?”

“Oh, my dear,” I breathed out. “I would have thought this was obvious to you?” Mila grinned and shook her head. “Well, if I have to spell it out, I will.”

I took a deep breath and lowered my tone to a whisper as I replied. “My family is my everything, Mila. I would give my life willingly for any of them as I am sure you would for yours.”

She sat for a moment eyeing me. It felt like she was trying to see into my soul as if she doubted my answer. Checking my watch, I noted that I was about to be late for a meeting. “Anything else you would like to ask as I have to run?”

“No, it’s fine, we’ll talk again, enjoy your day,” Mila said as she stood and walked out. Grinning, I got up and left. My day was filled with meetings and cargo checks.

The day had passed quicker than I expected. Glancing at the clock staring at me from across the room, I noticed it was almost four. I had set up a meeting with my siblings to catch up on our day-to-day operations.

I heard Anton coming down the hall to my office at the mansion. He was seemingly arguing with Abram. He was loud and clearly upset. I couldn’t be sure if their argument was important. But I knew Anton would inform me if it was.

Standing as they entered, I gestured for them to take a seat on the couch. Anton, Abram, and Tasha sat down. “Where’s the little one?” I asked lightly.

“Stumbling along as usual,” Anton replied.

Walking towards the door, I heard his tapping footsteps coming closer. Akim entered the office in his upbeat, dancing walk. He had his EarPods in, and his jazzy music was on full blast. We could hear it word for word. I was always surprised that he had not gone deaf yet. As he passed, he glanced up and grinned.

Tapping him lightly on the back of the head brought Akim to a full stop. He stopped his music, took out the pods, and glared at me. “Akim,” I huffed. “It’s a meeting, not a club.” Gesturing to the couch, I continued to speak. “Please sit so we can get started.”

Taking my place behind the desk, I looked at them. This meeting with my siblings was to catch up on our operations. Yet, I noticed the atmosphere between us felt slightly different than usual.

“It’s good to see you. Let’s get the business out of the way, and then we can talk. I can see something is going on, and we will get it sorted, okay?”

They all nodded, but I noticed a sideways glance between Anton and Abram. Looking Anton in the eyes, I nodded as I gestured for him to start. He was a lot like me except for the short temper he had. When it came to business, though, his head was screwed on correctly.

He didn’t hesitate and started. “Both our shipments have arrived safely. The transfers have been completed to the selected warehouses. Just as you requested, brother.” I could hear his arrogance clearly coming through in the harshness of his tone.

Something was up, but I would get to that. There were other business dealings I needed to know about. “That’s great to hear, Anton. Thanks, brother,” I replied. Anton nodded and sat back.

Turning my attention to Abram, I could see angst on his face. “Well, Abram,” I said. “Spit it out.”

He moved forward on the couch. He was sitting in the middle between Anton and Tasha. “We had a small distribution problem with one of our products. But I handled it; it won’t come back to us.” Abram said, wiping his brow. He looked nervous.

“I am trusting you on this,” I replied, trying to calm him. I wasn’t sure if his worries were connected to Anton or the distribution. But if he said he handled it, I knew he did. “Right. Is there anything else you two have to add?” I asked, looking from Abram to Anton.

Both shook their heads, indicating there was nothing more. Turning my focus on Tasha, I smiled and spoke in a softertone. “Tasha, any developments on your side we should know about?”

Tasha smiled, her face lit up when she did, and it was contagious. Smiling back at her, I waited for her to speak. “I found a troll yesterday, but he was taken care of. Other than that, there’s nothing of interest.” Her soft, smooth voice filled the room with a sense of calmness. She had been the glue between us after our mother passed.

I noticed my brothers also felt it as their shoulders relaxed while listening to her. Tasha had the voice of an angel. She could turn a room upside down just by speaking. But she also had a soft heart, and that scared me sometimes. If any of us were to be the weakest link, it would most likely be her.

Turning my attention to Akim, the youngest. He spoke even before I had time to say anything. “Before you ask. Everything is running as it should. No hold-ups, no problems, no nothing to worry about.”

I was about to grind him for speaking out of turn and not giving a full record of events. But before I could, Anton stood abruptly. He spoke in a light tone, saving our baby brother from scrutiny. “So, look at our forever bachelor now!”

Glancing up at his smug grin, I knew what was coming. It was my turn to get grilled. “Big brother got married. Who would have ever thought of seeing that?” Anton added, looking at the others.

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