Page 74 of Captivated By the Bratva

“Yeah, yeah. Of course, man. I get it.”

Erik stood straight, cracking out the kinks in his neck. “And we won’t. I say we give my uncle the bitch. Let him be distracted with having her on the boat. He’ll have too many fucking guards to get away with shooting him there. Then we can wait at the Kastavas’ place until he comes and kill him there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

That wastheirstrategy, but I reformedmine.

I’d managed to avoid Mr. Avilov this long, and I would again. I had to remain positive. It wasn’t just my life on the line now, but Dmitri’s too. And, I dared to think, Maxim’s.

If Erik was due to be the next leader of the Avilov Family, I doubted he would soon forget how Maxim nearly killed him in the alley in London. It seemed to me that he didn’t want to bother with killing Dmitri now because he wanted to focus on taking over. But once he was confident in his new position, he would have too many reasons to go after Maxim.

This war, this violence, had to stop now. Maxim and I couldn’t be over this soon.

All this fighting had to end before both of us ended up dead as collateral in this layered web of Mafia politics.

27

MAXIM

After my call with Alek, Yusef reported in. He was quick to act in my stead, just like I knew he would be. Not only did he give my brothers and our top leaders replacement, brand-new phones and lines, but he also provided me with all their contacts.

Until we knew how the breach and hack had happened that allowed us to be tracked, we couldn’t determine how long these new numbers would remain safe. As such, I spoke with caution.

Nik called me before I left the building. He was quick to reach out, asking how he could help. Word of Nadia’s being taken had spread at home, and my brothers wanted to assist me.

Before, I would’ve been annoyed, almost offended for them to come to me and offer help. Usually, it was the other way around. I was typically the one at the mansion, at the computer, and backing them up with the intel and details they needed to be safe and successful out there. Now, the roles were reversed. But I knew he wasn’t stepping on my toes or trying to prove that I wasn’t an independently strong brother on the streets.

He cared. If the roles were reversed and he needed help with Amy’s safety, I wouldn’t have hesitated to offer my assistance. And I had. I’d helped Alek, Nik, and Ivan with their adventures in claiming their women.

“What can I do?” he asked, plain and simple, straight to the point.

“Fuck, I don’t know.” I rubbed my hand over my face, wishing I could think of another way to search for her. Until I could know how far they might have taken Nadia, I felt lost. She could be held in the city here or flown away. Yusef had someone following the travel angle, but that was a massive undertaking.

“There’s not a lot of chatter about the Avilovs here,” he said, seeming to realize that I didn’t like this silence between us. Like he knew I was flustered and pacing, hating the lack of direction and answers.

“I bet not,” I replied.

“They’re so much more involved internationally and usually stay away from much of the activity in the States, let alone New York.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “I don’t recall Uncle Pavel having anything to do with the Avilov name either.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“It’s interesting that Kastava would have looked to him for backing.”

Nik hummed. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s the one thing that does make sense. Alek really set him up to suffer with that sting at the Colver docks. And since then, the Valkovs have risen in prominence and power because of his leadership.”

He wasn’t praising Alek for nothing. Our oldest brother was a goodPakhanwith a clear motivation to make our family the top in New York.

“Sergei wouldn’t have found any backing or allies in the city.”

“So,” I finished for him, “he had to look outside of it.”

“Yeah. And I’m not surprised he’d know of Avilov. He likely ran into him at some point with his presence at the docks.”

I hadn’t considered that yet. We didn’t know much about the Avilovs, nothing specific, at least. What did stand out was Lev Avilov’s preference to travel—often—and usually by boat. He was frequently seen on his many yachts. If his mode of transportation was by water, then he would’ve likely encountered Kastava, perhaps at the docks where he’d try to screw over the Valkov name.

“Do we have information about his seacraft?” Yusef had someone looking into the Kastava properties to figure out where Dmitri might be. If Lev preferred to stay off the land, there wouldn’t be as many properties tied to the Avilovs, or if there were, nothing easily trackable.

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