Page 1 of Mafia King's Ruthless Obsession

Chapter 1

Siberian Beast

Vasiliyi

The amber glow of the Moscow bar does nothing to soften the edges of the man I’ve become. Fresh prison ink brands my knuckles like a badge, each line spelling out what it took to survive Siberia’s most merciless hellhole. The suit I’m wearing is a lie—a polished veneer stretched over a beast who learned to thrive on blood and ice. Twelve months in a cage didn’t break me. It reforged me.

Tomorrow, I’ll be in New York, close to the family I bled for. But tonight, this vodka is the only thing keeping memories at bay. The snap of bones in my fists. The crunch of teeth against frozen concrete. The men who whispered their sins in the dark, thinking I’d absolve them.

The bartender carefully watches me from the corner of his eye, like he recognizes what I am.

Smart.

Siberia taught me that predators don’t need to roar to be dangerous. The kind of man who walks out of that place isn’t a man anymore—he’s an animal. Primal and lethal.

Then the door swings open, and wind follows her in.

Galina Olenko.

The name hisses through my brain like venom. Hatred blooms hot in my chest, cold around the edges, the way frost bites before it burns. She doesn’t belong here. Not in this hotel bar. Not breathing the same air as me.

Her face is a weapon. The desperate sharpness I remember has been honed into something even more tempting.

She moves through the bar like a blade slicing through silk, each step a cut designed to make me bleed. The soft clack of her heels hits my ears like gunfire. I grip the glass tighter, pretending I don’t see the way her green eyes skim the room, cool and unreadable. Pretending I don’t feel the way my body reacts, a sick betrayal that has me gritting my teeth so hard they might shatter.

I should hate her. Hell, Idohate her. This woman is the reason my sister was bruised and broken. The reason my niece wakes up screaming in the night. The reason I spent twelve months in a Siberian tomb, trading every last scrap of my soul to keep my family safe. And yet...

My gaze catches on her dress—a slinky, midnight-blue thing that whispers against her curves. It makes my jaw lock and my pulse pound. She’s poison wrapped in silk, and I want her like a dying man craves his last breath.

I drain the vodka, but it doesn’t burn enough to erase the hunger I feel. My hatred for her festers in my chest, black and rotting.

Something even darker coils beneath it.

Desire. A white-hot, burning need to possess her.

She shouldn’t have come here.

The air between us snaps tight as she glances my way. Those emerald eyes hold no fear as recognition hits her.

But they should. Every part of me wants to show her what I became. To press her up against the wall and punish her forevery sin she committed. My hands curl into fists at my sides, shaking with restraint.

I rise, my body acting on instincts I can’t suppress. One step, then another. Her gaze flickers but holds steady as I stalk toward her, and damn it, I hate how good she looks standing in the wash of neon light.

She turns, slipping into the hallway that leads to the bathrooms without a word. It’s a taunt. My teeth clench so hard my jaw aches. But I follow.

Like I have a choice.

The lights in the bathroom are clinical and cruel. I don’t stop to check my reflection; I already know what I’ll see. A man whose soul has been stripped down to raw edges. A beast masquerading as a human.

The last stall door is locked.

A slow, dangerous smile that feels like baring my teeth spreads over my face. “Open, Galina,” I order, my voice low. “I’m not in the mood to play games.”

No answer. Just the sound of running water, a pathetic attempt to drown out the threat. My patience, thin as it is, snaps.

The door shatters beneath my boot.

Galina stands at the sink, auburn hair spilling over her shoulders, a curtain of fire against cool porcelain. Her hands grip the edge of the sink, knuckles white, but her spine is straight. Defiant. She’s always been good at that—masking fear with steel.

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