Page 30 of Sins He Taught Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 3)

We stay there for a while, and it doesn’t take long before Niko’s breathing finally settles into the slow rise and fall of a sleeping child. I stare at the clock hand on the wall, ticking time slowly away.

Thirty minutes pass like that. Just Niko and me, breathing in time.

Wondering what comes next.

When I’m certain that Nikolas is fast asleep, I rise slowly to my feet and settle him down on the leather couch at the other end of my office. He curls up tighter into a little ball, but he doesn’t wake up.

Moving back to my desk, I pour myself another glass of whiskey to replace the one I hurled and knock it back in one swallow. Just as I put the tumbler down on the tabletop, I hear a commotion outside.

A woman, struggling, yelling at someone to get their hands off her. Another man, trying to calm her down. The headache behind my eyes throbs harder, and I quickly toss back another shot before they can make it up to my office. My soldiers are returning with their quarry.

Moments later, the door bursts open and my men drag in Daniel Elwood and his daughter.

Daniel looks just as he did the last time I laid eyes on him, though I can see the faint scars from the beating I sent his way. He’s an older man with graying black hair and deep wrinkles that can no doubt be attributed to a sordid lifetime of drinking as much as his money could buy and gambling the remainder.

That, and the fact that prostitute he fucked ended up dead beside him. That would be stressful for anyone, I’m sure.

His daughter, however, is a breath of fresh air. Her chestnut hair is tousled, more than likely from her being dragged out of her house, but her face glows with vitality. She’s got the perfect almond-shaped brown eyes and her lips are pouty and pink. Her skin is pure porcelain, save for the smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose.

Under any other circumstance, I’m sure I’d have her in my bed, begging me to touch her. Unluckily enough, her night won’t be as pleasant as that.

“Get off me,” she growls, pulling herself away from Miron. She takes a step to put distance between the two of them, then adjusts her clothing. Her dark eyes cut to me, and she glares angrily.

“Matvei Morozov, I presume?” she asks sarcastically, her tone rife with disdain.

“Correct.” I gesture to the table in the center of the room. “Please, have a seat.”

Daniel collapses into one of the chairs, but Victoria stands still. “I’d rather stand, thanks,” she snaps.

“Victoria,” Daniel hisses. “Sit.”

“Let her stand,” I say, waving my hand. It doesn’t matter, really. I know almost immediately that I’ll have to keep my eyes on this one. She’s strong-willed, something her sniveling, pathetic father can’t claim for himself. It’s almost humiliating, the fact that he’s involved his daughter in the business between us. Only a coward would throw his own family between him and danger.

One thing my father taught Dmitry and me was that when problems arose, we were meant to be the ones to solve them. We didn’t involve our women. We didn’t make them suffer for our actions. We were providers, and if we couldn’t solve our own problems, we weren’t fit to call ourselves men.

It seems as though Nikolas isn’t the only little boy in the room.

I glance over to him on the couch. He hasn’t stirred. His chest rises and falls slowly.

“What do you want from us?” Victoria asks, cutting right to the chase.

“At the moment, I want for you to be quiet,” I snarl, giving her a warning look

I approach the table, eyes locked on to the cowering man beside Victoria. “I hope your visitor tonight made it clear that I’m not just suggesting I want my money back,” I reply, noting how nervously Daniel swallows past the lump in his throat. “I’m fucking ordering it.”

“I got the message, sir,” he says, eyes downcast. I can see his hands trembling.

“Sir?” I crack a smile. He’s never called me that before. I guess doing this whole song-and-dance with his daughter present is reminding him to keep up his good manners. “Well, nevertheless, I’m tempted to make you pay more.”

Daniel’s eyes go wide. “For what?”

“For Faddei,” I say, growing more irritated with his sudden rise in volume. “He showed up to collect from you, and now he’s dead.”

“I didn’t kill him!” Daniel protests. “I don’t know who did, but it wasn’t either of us. He was going to hurt my daughter. Did you tell him to do that? Threaten her like that?”

“I deal in facts, not threats, Mr. Elwood. But facts don’t seem to be very convincing for you, do they?” I reach into my jacket and remove my pistol, placing it on the table. Next to that, I set down my engraved switchblade knife. Elwood’s eyes are fixed on both.

“Sir, I promise, I’m working on getting your money—”

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