Page 2 of Viktor

Internally rolling my eyes, I follow. I need to wait until he’s on his own, so I go to the well stocked bar and order a couple of drinks before we all go in and take our seats on the ground level for the show. Finally, he stands to leave the venue, pulling a box of cigarettes from his pockets without looking behind him. When he reaches the door, I down the rest of my drink and follow him. Once we are out of the crowds in the night air, I grab him and drag him out of sight, shoving him up against the dirty wall.

Dmitri struggles to fight me until the light illuminates around us. When he sees my face, he goes white. “You’re here for me?” His voice trembles.

Stepping closer, I shove him against the wall a second time, knocking the air from his lungs.

My words are full of venom as I speak to him. “You stole from me. You know what this means. The treaty for us? It’s over.” I grin.

“Fuck,” he mumbles, his head tipping back on the wall. Did he really think he wouldn’t get caught? “It wasn’t much, just skimming off the top,” he tries to reason with me, hands held up as though he can stop me, but I’m unforgiving.

I go with a theory that has been running around in my head.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You are losing me clients and building your own base. Ivan must be back now to rebuild what you lost, but I promise you. After everything, your family will never gain power. They are coming back, wanting to take over. It’s not happening.”

“What are you going to do to me?” His shaking voice sends a small echo into the darkness of the night. Luckily, the traffic of people bustling about the city drowns out the noises coming from this pathetic man.

My savage smile grows. “You get to try my new product, make sure it’s ready for the market.” I pluck the little bag out of my inner pocket, revealing the skull-shaped pills inside, and hand it to him.

“Right now?” he asks, a bead of sweat building on his temple under the dim alley lights when he steps further into the wall. His hands shake as he opens the small plastic pouch and places the unusual pill on his tongue and swallows it dry.

I harshly grab his face and check that he has taken it.

Then I lean in to tell him the truth with a chuckle, “No one fucks with the Petrov family. You killed one of my men to get what you wanted. You’re going to tell me everything I want to know.”

I had laced the pill with a large percentage of sedatives, so he’ll be unconscious for me in no time. I smile like the Cheshire cat when he realizes what’s happening.

His eyes widen as he panics, trying to push me away and shove his fingers down his throat to get it out. I hold him up against the wall with my forearm as he struggles. Quicker than I expected, he sags against me.

I wait for the black van to pull up at the entrance to the alley, a couple of my most trusted men jump out and drag Dmitri inside. I’ll get my answers and dump his body. The police in my back pocket will blame another dealer if he is found.

But it makes my life easier if I chop him up and send off his parts to the rest of the family. They will get the right message.

I brush the non-existent dirt off my suit jacket with a sigh as the men close the doors to the blacked-out car.

Taking a deep breath, I walk back inside, curious about these dancers he had come to see, so I don’t go in the direction of the bar. I act as though I belong there as I walk through to the backstage area.

That's when I hear muttering from a side door near the stage. A place I shouldn’t be wandering, but I approach the door anyway. I can’t help myself and push it open slightly. I take a peek in the gap to find a beautiful woman with dark hair pulled up in a bun wearing a full ballerina outfit, stretching against a horizontal bar.

I step closer, pressing my hand against the door frame as I lean in. The frame creaks slightly at my weight, but I don’t care, my eyes raking over her body.Maybe I will stay for a while.

She turns and gasps upon noticing me. I raise a suggestive eyebrow. Her eyes widen, and she storms over and slams the door in my face.

Feisty. Just the way I like them. I lick my lips. I’m going to have her.

All I need is a little bit of time to make her want me too. I turn back and soon return to my seat in the audience, making myself comfortable.

The lights dim, curtains open, music starts, and there she is.

I lean back and enjoy the show. Her tight little body bending in ways I didn’t think was possible. It’s making my pants uncomfortable as my cock strains against the zipper. Fuck, I need to know who she is.

Chapter two

Amaia

Itrytoforgetthe man at my dressing room door earlier as I glide along the stage. I look out to the audience from the side stage and can’t find my half-brother Dmitri anywhere. He promised he would be here. I wouldn’t have bothered sending him a ticket if I knew he wouldn’t show up.

I tell myself he had business to attend to and couldn’t text me, because I'm not dumb enough to brush off that he works with bad men sometimes. For one of the most violent families I had heard of, but thankfully never seen.

Things were bad around ten years ago. I was young then, so I never fully understood. My mom kept me away, and I never saw my dad after that, the only thing I had heard was that he had been involved in a family feud. I’m guessing he died. Dmitri found me a few years ago, I guessed he was involved with bad people when he had bodyguards follow me. I complained. He hated it. Now I spend most of my time training. Ballet is my life. Nothing ever happened to me, he got less paranoid and eventually he called them off and learned my daily routine instead. Which hasn’t changed in years.

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