Page 100 of The Bratva's Bride

Disgusted, I jerked my head out of her hands with a nasty scowl. “Do not call me that, you have no right to it. I’m not the one here who has to get their head out of their ass. I don’t give half of a fucking shit what our fathers agreed uponifthey even did. It was their business between them, and I carried nothing on of my father’s business.” He was only tied to the bratva now by name.

I had to burn down the bratva my father built and ran with an iron fist and rebuild from a speck of dust. The network I had came from my own blood, sweat, and tears. Everyone all but up and left the moment they heard news of my father’s death. Fear kept them hanging around my father’s arms, and the moment the threat was gone, they all scattered like rats.

Old business partners slowly crawled out of the woodworks after hearing about the changes under my rule. They respected the fact I wouldn’t twist their arm behind their backs and force their cooperation.

Yes, I was well aware my allies could turn on me, but they knew better. The Volkov Bratva remained ruthless and brutal, but we were also more sophisticated than my father. Sadly, the few who mistook my generosity for weakness and tested me learned the hard way.

Word on the street before our reform was that we were a pack of rabid and feral dogs, which was an accurate description of how things were when my father was the Pakhan. Now though, we were known as a deadly pack of wolves, rightfully so. We were strategic with our movements and actions, patient with the hunt. We had order andcontrolled chaos.

My father always lashed out at the slightest insolence, creating more trouble than necessary. I, on the other hand, struck with deadly precision and only when necessary. With every snake there is a head. Attacking the body without taking out the head does nothing, something my father never seemed to care about as long as he got his dose of bloodshed.

Striking down the right targets made it clear to my enemies and allies that I wasn’t one to be trifled with, that I knew the game and how to play it very well. I didn’t fuck around like my father; I didn’t let greed and power rule and motivate me. I had a straight head and a working brain, that’s what made me dangerous to everyone else. They allied themselves with me because they rather me a friend than a foe.

If anyone ever ended up on the wrong end of my gun then it was on them, and everyone knew it. Anyone and everyone I’ve targeted and killed brought it upon themselves.

Just like how Ivan here deserved a death fitting of his betrayal, and Igor for his insolence. When my wife and brothers come for me, I’ll be sure to make the father and son pay for all of this.

“I don’t know what lies and shit your father has filled your little brain with, but I will never marry you.” I would never wed any woman after Angel, even if I were to become a widow in the next hour, I would never remarry.

My answer and thought process might have been different before meeting Angel, but I became a changed man ever since I agreed to be betrothed to my lovely bride.

There was no one else in the world I wanted to be with than Angel.MyAngel. I’ll never love anyone else. Hell, I never wanted to feel anything for anyone until Angel. I’d already resigned myself to the single life after getting in deep with the bratva. I didn’t have time to date, just flings here and there. I couldn’t let anyone close in this profession, and I was fine with that. Taking on a partner meant exposing myself, giving my enemy a weakness I couldn’t fully cover and control.

I didn’t care much for an heir to this empire. I had planned on giving it to whoever I deemed acceptable amongst my men or any of my nephews and nieces if my brothers were to ever have children of their own. I already had enough of a headache dealing with the bratva, and the thought of tossing my own children into the mix was overwhelming.

Sure, I could be an absent father and let my wife raise the children on her own and force one of them to take over, but I didn’t want to be that kind of father. I didn’t want my own children to grow up distant from me, or God forbid grow up to resent me.

Besides all of that, finding the right partner was a feat in itself. Marrying for the sake of the business—to form new ties and expand—always irked me. Yes, it could be a necessary evil of the mafia game, but I refused to partake in it because of what happened with my sister. She was carted off to some pig for the sake of expansion and making new ties for the bratva by my father, and she ended up dead in a ditch in Russia after months of abuse.

I would never raise my hand against a woman ever, let alone my own spouse. I also didn’t want to take away a person’s choice in a partner by forcing them into an arranged marriage. Sure, most people in this life accept a facet of it; most people accept there are parts which are out of their control.

Still, if it were anyone but Angel, I would have denied the marriage. What I did with Angel was a little selfish on my end, but I wanted her so badly I wouldn’t let her slip.

Sighing disappointedly, Ivan slowly shook his head at me. “Nikolai, be reasonable. This is the only chance you’ll get to get out of here peacefully.”

The nerve Ivan had right now astounded me. “The triad is nothing, they will be nothing. Join me and we’ll have all of the city under my thumb. With your forces and mine, we’ll be unstoppable. The whole underground market will be ours! The triad will belong to me as well soon enough. Come on Nikolai, you know better than to turn down a good deal when you see one. Just give up that little play thing of yours and do what’s needed and right.”

“Even if I wasn’t married, I still wouldn’t agree to one between me and your daughter. I don’t do business with people who traffic humans.” He was lucky I hadn’t cut things off with him yet because we couldn’t risk losing track of him if he fled. Once I got the all clear from Dmitri though, all bets were off.

Laughing like the little delusional psychopath he was, he replied, “That’s hilarious that you have a moral compass being the Pakhan of one of the biggest bratvas here and in Moscow. You won’t be too bothered by it once you see how much net it brings us.” He sounded convinced of my allegiance with him, a grand delusion.

With a firm scowl, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I am not leaving my wife and marrying your spawn.” Even if I was held at gunpoint, I would never.

“You want to stay with your cheating wife?” The uptick in Ivan’s voice made it hard to read his smug face.

Angel would never do such a thing. Scoffing in disbelief, I faintly rolled my eyes at him. “Of all the lies that you conjure up, you go with the least believable?” But the seed of the doubt was sowed.

“You’ve never found it odd how well she got along with your little brother? The doctor, Alexei I believe.” Ivan continued to speak with a smug smirk on his face which made him hard to read. I couldn’t tell if he lied or not with the glint in his eyes. He wanted to hurt me. The malice in his eyes was clear.

I couldn’t believe him though, he made lies to try and stir a reaction from me. Angel was faithful. She would never have an affair with my own damn brother. No matter how well they got along, it was because they worked in the same field and could easily relate to each other. There was no attraction between them, not even the faintest spark existed.

Keeping my lips tightly pressed together, I kept my hard glare trained on Ivan, watching as he pulled out a phone and tapped at it a few times.

There was a sound akin to shuffling clothes along with a soft grunt before Angel’s voice could be heard through the phone. “Alexei, just shut up and do it, just put it in—oh fuck! God damn it, a warning next time?! Fuck!” There was a sharp gasp and a deep groan that followed, one I knew well.

A deeper voice chuckled, “And have you tense up? It’s better that I just did it. It’s in now, so you’re welcome.” It was Alexei’s voice, I’d recognize his jovial tone anywhere.

“Fucking hell, I swear, never doing this again.” Angel breathed heavily as the sound of shuffling could be heard again.

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