Page 5 of Thorns of Love
Then she’d be mine. Fuckingmine. Forever.
* * *
Another building acquired.
I sat in my new office, the scenic French Quarter view spreading in front of me. Waiting. Expecting. Anticipating.
My phone buzzed with an incoming message. Amon’s name flashed on the screen. I slid it open to read it.Yakuza will be moving on Tatiana. At her brother’s wedding.
This would be the fourth attack in the span of a year. It wasn’t a random attack, but everyone else followed my lead and kept away from her. The Yakuza, on the other hand, just kept going after her. Even in the motherland, on my turf, which was stupid. It showed the Yakuza’s desperation to get their hands on that chip.
If Tatiana wouldn’t have killed that bastard, I would have, and my methods would have been more tortuous than a bullet.
The body that was left in the Moscow hotel room was no effort to dispose of. After all, I owned most of the city, including the police force. Though I had to say I was impressed. The photo of the corpse showed the bullet lodged into the man’s chest with precision. Straight through the heart.
I tightened security around Tatiana because my sources, namely Yan and Yuri who were now on my payroll, related that Tatiana instructed them to keep all the attacks on her a secret from her family. If her brothers didn’t know, it left her vulnerable. That was unacceptable in my book.
Commotion in front of my office came right on time. The three Nikolaev men stormed through the door, muscling their way through my men. It wasn’t much of a struggle since I was expecting them and instructed my men not to put up too much of a fight. I knew Vasili wouldn’t be happy with my expansion in his city.
So fucking predictable.
Nikita just waltzed in behind them, not even bothering to hinder their way.
“I’d say come in, but you’re already in my office.”
Not that I expected anything different. Not from the Nikolaev brothers. Tatiana was their protected sibling. Now more than ever. They’d connect my property acquisition to their resistance to give me their sister.
“You motherfucker,” Sasha hissed. “I’m going to shred your fucking body to pieces. What the fuck are you doing in New Orleans? What’s the matter? You can’t have Tatiana so now you’re poaching our territory. No matter what, you’ll never have her. I’d rather see your pretty face in the coffin next to your fucking brother.”
I let out a sardonic breath. “I’m glad you brought my brother up.”
I’d had enough of the Nikolaev men. The only reason I let them live was for their sister’s sake. It was that simple. I leaned back in the chair, studying the three brothers. Vasili’s jaw was about to crack if he didn’t ease up. Alexei was his usual blank mask. And Sasha was his normal impulsive, unhinged self.
“It’s a woman for a woman in our world and you know it,” I said, bringing my drink to my lips.
We held our gazes and Vasili rubbed his jaw, a pensive look in his eyes.
“Fuck a woman for a woman,” Sasha snapped, his usual temper flaring. He and Tatiana were similar in that regard. “Your crazy brother just about killed my wife.”
My brow shot up. “I thought you were getting married today at the courthouse. And then a party at the Den of Sin, nonetheless.” I snickered at the odd name. According to the rumors, Vasili’s wife and Tatiana named their dorm room The Den of Sin. It remained to be seen just how much sinning they did in that place.
Sasha flipped me the middle finger, the mature motherfucker. I didn’t bother returning the favor. If I did, it would be in the form of his pretty face smashed against my wall. And I wasn’t ready to stain my walls with blood quite yet.
“Back to the topic at hand,” I continued in a bored tone.
“Tatiana isn’t for sale,” Vasili growled. “I told you I’d run it by her and her answer was clear. She won’t marry you.”
“Her wants don’t matter here.” Fucking lie. I wanted to fulfill all her wants, desires and wishes. But her brothers didn’t need to know that.
“We don’t want trouble with you, Konstantin. But if needed, we’ll go to war.” Lovely, again back to the war topic. A war that they cannot possibly win. “Your brother shot Branka, almost killed her.”
“And her father killed Maxim’s woman,” I replied coldly. “You killed my brother. Somehow the scale is tilted to the Russo's and your favor. My brother and his woman are dead.”
“I killed the old Russo,” Sasha admitted, hoping that would somehow exonerate them for my brother’s death. “Take that for your payment. Eye for an eye. And be gone.”
His oldest brother's expression turned murderous as he shot a warning glare at Sasha.
“Tell us why you want her,” Sasha demanded to know.
