Page 49 of Used By the Merciless Bratva
Feliks looked at me, his face a mask of disappointment. “But Danil—”
“I said I agree with Matvey,” I repeated, my voice now a chilling command. The room went silent. Everyone knew that was the end of the discussion.
The meeting continued, the tension from my disagreement with Feliks still hanging in the air. The conversation turned to how to handle the new threats.
“We need to be careful,” Luka said, his voice grave. “Our security has been increased, but there was a breach. We still don’t know how it happened.”
Irene spoke up then, “We should still be careful in terms of both external and internal security. Kat is definitely still in danger.”
Konstantin scoffed, cutting her off. “I literally already said that, Irene.”
Irene’s eyes flashed. “You think my contribution is insignificant? At least I’m not—”
“Enough!” I slammed my hand on the table, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. I looked from Irene to Konstantin, my voice a low, dangerous rumble. “I don’t care about your silent battles. We’re here to talk about the security of my wife and the future of the Yezhov Bratva. You will both focus, and you will both contribute. Or you will leave.”
They both fell silent, their eyes drooping.
I leaned forward, looking at the men around the table.
“I want to remove these threats entirely. I don’t want us to just be careful. I want us to go on the offensive. If we have to conduct operations to dismantle other Bratva factions, I am ready to do that. Are you?”
Matvey nodded. “It’s a bold move, but it’s the right one. We show no weakness. We show we’re still in control.”
Luka agreed, and Eduard and the others followed. Feliks was the last to speak.
“A wise decision,” he said, but his voice was strained. He looked at me, and I could see the anger in his eyes. He knew I was looking right through him. He knew I was setting a trap.
The meeting was dismissed. Everyone rose, chairs scraping against the floor, and started to leave, but I remained in my seat, pretending to organize my papers, though my eyes stayed on Feliks. I watched him as he moved toward the door, his motions just a little too stiff, his smile just a little too forced. He was talking to Eduard, but his eyes kept flicking back to me. He knew I was watching.
I stood and walked out of the library and into the hall. As I headed to the main entrance, I saw him through the large glass doors. Feliks was in the garden, on the phone. He was speaking in a low voice, his back to the house. I stopped, concealed in the shadow of the doorframe, and watched.
He finished his call, and as he put his phone in his pocket, he turned to leave. He saw me standing there, but he didn’t seem surprised.
“Danil,” he said, his voice casual. “The meeting went well.”
“It did,” I replied calmly. “You made a very interesting proposal, Feliks.”
He smiled, a thin, knowing expression. “It was just an idea. To help the Bratva.”
“Of course,” I said. I walked out into the garden and stood facing him, the night air cool on my face. “I was just thinking about my father, actually. About how he was so careful, so deliberate. He never made a move without thinking about every possible outcome.”
Feliks’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Wolfe was a great leader. He was a force to be reckoned with.”
“He was,” I agreed, stepping closer to him. “But you know, he trusted the wrong people. He believed that blood and loyalty were the same thing. And he was wrong. He was betrayed.”
Feliks’s expression didn’t change, but I saw the muscles in his jaw tighten. “We all make mistakes, Danil.”
“Some mistakes are bigger than others,” I said. “Some mistakes cost people their lives. My father was very clever, but he was too predictable. The traitor was the wrong person.”
Feliks looked at me, his eyes now hard and cold. “You’re not like him, Danil. You’re sly and unpredictable. You’re clever, but you’re not like your father. You’re what he should have been.”
I laughed, but it was a humorless, empty sound that held all the bitterness and rage I was feeling. “You have no right to talk about what my father should have been,” I said, the words a raw, low growl. “You don’t get to talk about what kind of man he was.”
He held my gaze, his face a mask of fake calm. “I have every right to. I was his friend. I was his advisor.”
“You were a parasite,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “You’re a traitor, Feliks. And you’re going to pay for it. I don’t know who else you’re working with, but you will give them up. And you will give them up to me.”
He just looked at me, his mouth a thin line. He didn’t deny it. He didn’t need to because he knew I knew.
