Page 15 of Bratva Queen

“Oh no,” I said in a low, dangerous voice. My eyes were glued to Boris’s, and he gulped, even as he stood his ground. “A lot of Koslov money has come through this shithole. You can be glad Stepan himself isn’t here, because his beating wouldn’t be as swift as mine.”

I grabbed him by the throat and pushed him back, right into his office. Isabel fluttered around us like a fucking bird, but I didn’t hear any other commotion from the club—no one had even noticed, or no one really cared.

In his office, I pinned him down to his desk, pulled my arm back, and thrust my fist into his jaw.

“Ah!” he cried out, his hands wailing around, scratching my arm.

“Stop!” Isabel yelled.

The music was too loud, the bass vibrating too hard, for anyone to hear either of them.

I pulled back for a second punch, this time splitting his lip open with the signet ring on my finger. Then another, against his cheekbone, slicing the skin there as well.

It’s like painting a picture, I’d always thought. Spread the pain, spread the blood, spread the fear.

His blood dripped from my hand as I pointed my finger at his face. “Isabel stays on the pole, you fucking disgrace of a man.Slabaya suchka,” I growled. Weak bitch. I gave him one last shove against the desk before walking out of the office.

* * *

“I knewyou were the man to trust, Alek,” Stepan said proudly. Isabel stood with her arms crossed, looking absolutely pissed. We were still at the club, later in the evening. I’d of course called Stepan to let him know of the incident, and he’d made sure to be here to soothe her ruffled feathers.

“Malyshka…” He cooed, brushing her hair behind her ear, even though she pulled away. “With men like that, boundaries have to be set. He crossed a line, and he paid for that. Don’t you understand?”

“No!” she exploded. “I was working here before you ever showed up. This is where I make my money! This is how I’m going to pay for college! If you screw that up for me, I swear—”

“What?” Stepan asked blandly, shutting her up, daring her to answer. She squeezed her lips together, looking away. He put his finger under her chin and brought her gaze back to his. “I’ve told you before, and I’ll say it again. Quit this place. I’ll look after you. I’ll pay your college tuition, if you still want it, once you’ve seen the kind of life I can give you.”

I ground my teeth together. I had no idea that was the reason she was working here. It made sense now, that a woman of her caliber was shredding her dignity here for the chance at opportunity. She was saving for her education, her fucking future. I felt myself soften even more toward her, the respect I already had for her growing into admiration for her strength and determination.

But, the way Stepan chucked her dreams aside like it meant nothing, truly pissed me off.

“I won’t rely on you, or anyone else, to look after me,” Isabel said, her voice quieter, but her eyes still blazing. “This is my life, and I’ll handle it myself.”

“Okay, okay,” Stepan held up his hands in surrender, which I knew was fake. The man never let up on anything in his life. “But then, you’ll need to deal with Alek beating the shit out of your disrespectful boss from time to time, okay?” He grinned.

She looked at me, angrily, then scoffed with her notorious eye roll.

“Good,” Stepan took that as acceptance and pulled her face to his for a kiss. “Shift’s over,” he said and smacked her ass playfully. “Go get dressed, and we’ll meet you out back.”

She headed to the dressing room, silently fuming. Stepan stood, shaking his head like she was an insolent toddler, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Aleksei. Let’s go out back, and you can tell me about the new shipment.”

We stood in the shadows by the back door of the club. Stepan lit up a cigarette, taking a long pull before he asked, “So?”

With a sigh, I said, “The shipment came in successfully. Strong shit, according to the guys who handed it off.” It wasn’t Dima himself, but his men who I’d met with. “We should have no problem selling it.”

Stepan nodded with satisfaction, his eyes lit up in the neon glow that extended through the shadows. “Perfect. I’ll be testing it tonight.”

“Hold up,” I said. He looked up at me curiously. “Boss. No disrespect, but every dealer knows not to use their own product. You get the shit and sell it. That’s it.”

My tone was stern, but he needed to hear me. Stepan came to me when he wanted advice, and that’s what I was going to provide. Especially now that he had a girl like Isabel involved in his shit. When I saw him about to do something stupid in the business, I had to speak up—he understood that.

“Aleksei, we need to test the product.” He shrugged, like it was obvious. “Find out if his guys were being truthful when they said it was good shit. If the potency is as they claim, then I know they can be trusted in the future.”

I shook my head slightly. “You start testing that shit, you’ll get hooked on it. You’ll waste profit using your own product. I’m telling you this as brotherly advice, don’t do it. You’ll end up regretting it.”

I held his gaze, unrelenting. After a moment, Stepan stood back to lift his chin at me.

“I understand your concern,priyatel’, but have a little faith that I have more control than that. A simple test won’t hurt our profit. One time, just to see if it’s as they claim. Then, we’ll sell the rest. Hm?”

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