Page 13 of Preacher

"You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,"Sergei snapped.

“But I do, and you know I’m right. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so angry right now.”

“That’s bullshit! You don’t make moves like that without discussing it first."

I gripped the door handle and eased it open. I stepped inside and quickly closed it behind me. My chest tightened as I listened to Sergei’s voice boom through the house. It was low and sharp, just like his father’s used to be, and it made my skin crawl.

"You’re too damn impulsive, Nikolai. You’re always letting your emotions get in the way, and one day, it’s going to cost us."

Nikolai didn’t respond right away.

When he finally did, his voice was cold and decisive. “You have all these big plans, Sergei, but you don’t have the backing you need to see them through.”

“I have the Volkov name! That’s all I need!”

"If that’s true, then, why did someone set that fire at the construction site last week? And why are our tools and equipment constantly being stolen?”

Nikolai kept his voice low and steady.

That was him.

He was full of emotion, but he kept it reigned in.

“That sort of thing just happens.”

“It shouldn’t. Not if the Volkov name has the power you think it does. If it did, then no one would dare to fuck with us or our construction site.”

“Maybe it’s time I remind them what happens when you cross a Volkov.”

His words echoed through the door, and I couldn’t help but think about Dimitri. There was a time when all he did was toss harsh words around, and the boys heard it all. They learned from it, especially Sergei.

He hadn’t just gotten his father’s temper but also the tone in his voice and the commanding presence. He’d spent his whole life trying to be the man his father expected him to be, and I had tried my damnedest to keep him from it.

But some things were inevitable.

I stood there and listened as Nikolai pushed back. His voice was lower than his older brother’s, but it was just as firm. He’d never been as quick to anger as Sergei, and he was never as prone to violence. But he had his own kind of fire, and it was stubborn and unrelenting.

Whatever was happening between them, it wasn’t good.

And I had a feeling it was only just beginning.

I wanted to go inside and step in like I used to when they were little. I wanted to tell them to stop before they said something they couldn’t take back, but they weren’t kids anymore. They were men, and they had to sort this thing out for themselves.

“You would just make matters worse,” Nikolai argued. “We need these guys, Sergei. Satan’s Fury has built something here. They’ve made a name for themselves, and people don’t just fear them. They respect them, and that’s what makes them different. It’s one of the many reasons the Vault has done as well as it has.”

“They’re a goddamn biker club.”

I had no idea who they were talking about. I had never heard of Satan’s Fury, but it was clear they both had strong opinions about it. I just had no idea which one of them was right.

I could tell Nikolai was becoming frustrated when he shouted, “I don’t care what they are. They have something we don’t. They have a reputation that supersedes them. No one crosses them, and no one questions them.”

“This whole thing is nonsense,” Sergei grumbled. “We don’t need these guys. We don’t need anyone.”

"You’re wrong…These people aren’t going to forget what you did,"Nikolai continued, softer now."They’re always gonna remember that you forced them out of their homes and shut down family businesses. You thought it was over when you signed on that dotted line, but it’s far from over.”

Silence.

I could picture Sergei standing in his office with his jaw tight, and fists curled at his sides. It was the same way he used to look at his father when he was tearing into him for being too much like me. He would just stand there, taking in every cruel word. It was during these vicious attacks that my son learned that power was the only thing that mattered.

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