Page 76 of Silenced

“We’re not following protocol. Since when did the Sovietnik deal with drug pushers? Things are changing without the Obschak here. Brigadiers have a right to—”

“You have a right to dick,” Dmitri retorts. “Whateverrightsyou have, Nikolai bestows them upon you. Nothing more. Now shut your fucking mouth. If I hear from you again, never mind Nikolai, I’ll be the one who deals with you.”

“Like I’m scared of some two-bit punk—” Immediately, I straighten in my seat. My chair creaks with the abrupt motion. Pavlivshev sinks into his like I cut off his legs and sputters, “I’m sorry, Pakhan. I didn’t mean—”

“Too late. You insulted my son, Pavlivshev. Clearly, you’re not thinking straight. I’d watch yourself before I start removing teeth for every stupid word you utter.” I settle a look on each Brigadier, finding no dissent in their expressions aside from Pavlivshev. Antonin Barkov even bares his Oskal in submission as I sign, “We’re a man down and we’re dealing with the repercussions ofthatas well as the need to take vengeance for those motherfuckers thinking they can touch one of our own. Never mind someone so high up the food chain.

“Now is the time to band together, not to sow the seeds of discord. Pavelismy Obschak. He will return to this table once he is fully healed. Until that point in time, if I hear anything to suggest you’re trying to brown-nose me into earning yourself a promotion, it won’t be your teeth you’ll lose. Do you understand me?”

When twenty heads bob in response, and with that warning in place, everyone, not just Pavlivshev, shuts the fuck up, leaving Dmitri to share the intel we’d gleaned, which sources had corroborated, since we set fire to their main warehouse.

Miami is my center of operations, but I ‘manage’ the majority of the Bible Belt.

Right now, I share certain areas of my territory with the Indigo Cartel and B4K, but by the end of the decade, I fully intend for the cartel and gang to have gone the way of the dodo.

When the meeting is over, having passed quickly because none of the Brigadiers dared speak, Nikita is waiting by the door with a tray.

Knowing my intention, Dmitri shakes his head at me but retreats to his office and leaves me to my business.

Accepting the tray, I go upstairs to awaken mysolnyshkoas I study the dish of pomegranate seeds and various berries that make up her breakfast.

Each contains nutrients that will…

My jaw works.

Those images of her full of my cum have my dick hardening to a painful degree.

As soon as I open the door, even without checking the cameras, I know she’s awake. Mostly because she tosses a bar of soap at my head. Perhaps it’s because she realizes I jacked off on her last night or simply because she wants to.

Either notion makes me smile to myself because if she looked, she’d see the pre-cum already filtering through the silk of my fly at her rebelliousness.

Of course, with my reflexes, she misses, but I won’t be deterred from my course of action.

I gain entry to the safe room then place the tray on the table. Returning to her side, I grab her in spite of how hard she fights and bring her back with me.

There, I don’t stop until I’ve fed her most of the fruit.

As the seeds in the dish disappear, taking root in her being, something settles inside me.

Something timeless, somethingancient…

Something worth fighting for.

Something that will trap her by my side—forever.

And even that won’t be long enough.

17

CASSIE

TWO DAYS LATER

Dreams - The Corrs

* * *

“Where’s my car?”

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