Page 17 of Preacher

“Well, to start, you should know that I knew nothing about this meet.” His eyes skirted over to Nikolai. “It was all my brother’s doing...”

Creed and Seven exchanged a look, but I kept my focus on Sergei. He was clearly the one in charge. He exhaled and rolled his shoulders like the whole thing was an inconvenience to him. "I was against it. Didn’t see the need, but Nikolai convinced me otherwise.”

“And how did he do that?”

“It took some convincing. We’ve worked hard to build something here, something we can be proud of, but even with our father’s legacy, we’ve run into some setbacks. They’ve been minor, but there’s no guarantees that the problems won’t continue and possibly even grow worse.”

“What kind of setbacks?”

“Just some random issues. Some vandalism and a few stolen goods…”

“Over a hundred grand of goods,” Nikolai interjected.

“Yes, and a fire at the site,” Viktor answered. “We found the culprits and dealt with them quickly and harshly. It should’ve been enough to end our troubles, but we’ve had some vandalism and issues with security cameras and lights.”

“They keep fucking with us, even though they know there will be consequences.”

I cocked my brow. “Fear is a powerful thing, but it has limits.”

“Exactly. We don’t just want power. We wantrespect."

"And you think we can give you that?"

"Iknowyou can,” Nikolai answered without hesitation.

“And I have high hopes that my brother is right,” Sergei added. "Your club runs like a fucking empire. Your men are loyal, disciplined, and your Vault is a goddamn goldmine. And that’s because of you and how you run it. No one questions Satan’s Fury. No one underestimates them. That’s the kind of weight we want behind us."

I studied them, taking my time before answering. "You’re not looking for a partner. You’re looking for a way to clean up your mess."

" We want a partnership." Sergei kept his eyes trained on me as he said, “Not just some temporary deal or a one-time favor. We want to work withyou. We want to work with Satan’s Fury."

Before I had a chance to respond, there was a tap on the office door, and one of the guards stepped in. He looked at Sergei and said, “I need a word.”

“Not now.”

“It’s important,” he insisted.

“It will be just as important five minutes from now,” Sergei snapped.

I could see the hesitation in the guard’s eyes, and he was clearly struggling. He went to close the door, but stopped and announced, “We have looters at the casino.”

“Okay. Take care of it.”

“Your mother is there.”

The blood drained from Sergei’s face as he and his brothers stood. “Dammit, Denson! Why didn’t you say that from the beginning!”

“I’m sorry,” Nikolai started. “We’ve got to cut this short.”

“If it’s all the same to you, we’d like the opportunity to see how you boys handle your business.”

Sergei was already halfway to the door. “If you want to come, then come.”

I didn’t respond.

I simply gave Creed and Seven a nod, and the three of us followed the Volkov’s outside. As we started out of the drive, I glanced over at Creed, and I could tell by his expression that he was thinking the same thing I was.

We didn’t have to wonder whether they needed us.

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