Page 79 of Bratva's Vow
Aistov gave a humorless chuckle. “And then there were three.”
I turned from the corpse slowly and looked around the table. “Anyone else have a problem with how I live my life or run my business?”
No answer. Only the soft sound of Gusev clearing his throat, the weight of silence pressing into every corner of the room.
“Good.” I turned back to the table. “Get out. All of you.”
They didn’t hesitate.
Popov stood, gave a tight nod, and left. Gusev followed,pale and peering at the blood now seeping into the Persian rug beneath Vasiliev’s boots.
Aistov lingered, his expression unreadable. He gave the body one last glance, then looked at me.
“Good on you. I never liked the guy. I’ll see you in twenty-four hours, Boss, when I come by to collect my three million.”
I hoped like hell he would show up. At least I would be able to finally put this thing with Stone behind me.
When the door shut behind Aistov, silence wrapped around the room again. I looked at Vasiliev’s body, blood pooling thick under the chair.
“We’ll need a new brigadier to take over his area,” I said flatly. “Someone smart enough to know they can’t rob me and then casually walk away. Someone who knows where the line is and not to cross it.”
Archie stepped to my side, calm as always. “I’ll start vetting candidates.”
“Make sure they understand who I am now,” I said, eyes still on the corpse. “What I’ll do. What I won’t tolerate. Don’t make the mistake of choosing someone who will argue about my sexuality. I’ll just end up killing them.”
“Duly noted.”
“I’ll get someone down here to clean this up,” Sergei said just as his phone rang. “Sorry, let me get this.”
He walked off to the side, leaving me alone with Archie.
“Welcome back.” Archie sounded way too satisfied at the body on the floor. “This is the Maxim Morozov I enjoy working with. You’re a great businessman, Maxim, but you’ve always been hotter when you have blood on your hands. For a minute there, I’d been worried love made you soft.”
I stared at him. He enjoyed it when I got my hands bloody a little too much. But he was wrong about love. So had I been.
I used to believe love would make me weak. Soft at the edges, slow to pull the trigger. But I understood it now. Love didn’t tame men like me. It sharpened us.
Because now, I had something to lose.
And I would become the most ruthless son of a bitch this city had ever seen just to protect it.
Just to protect him.
“Maxim!” Sergei burst forward from the corner where he’d been taking the phone call. “We need to go.”
Something about his tone—serious, urgent—grasped my attention. Wren. Was it Wren? “What is it?”
“It’s Vova. That was a call from the hospital for you as his next of kin. They want you to come right away.”
My heart plummeted into my boots. “Vova? What happened to him?”
“They won’t say over the phone. Just that he was admitted this morning and they need you to sign some papers.”
Archie placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Go. I’ll take care of this mess.”
Without another word, I followed Sergei to the elevator. The chilled hum of machinery was the only sound in the enclosed space as we ascended to the basement garage. Out of habit, I scanned for threats, my gaze flitting over the distant corners of the concrete structure. No lurking figures stepped out of shadowed corners.
We moved fast, footsteps slamming on concrete. In the garage, we ducked into the Mercedes with Sergei at the wheel. While Sergei drove, I took out my phone and unlocked it. The missed calls from Vova earlier greeted me.
