We all wanted to make changes. But change took time and lives. I wasn’t about to lose her because of it. “None of us do good,” I pushed back at her. She knew that. She knew what this life was.
“I’m going to change that.”
I swear the woman made me want to punch and break things every minute of every day. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Have it your way, Katalina. And remember you chose this.”
Her glistening eyes held mine. She fisted her tiny hands and then crossed her thin arms over her chest. The woman was tiny all around and yet she was about to take on the bratva. She wanted to be something that was impossible. She couldn’t change tradition and she couldn’t change greed. The bratva had them both and they enjoyed them too. I knew her end goal, knew that sex trafficking was on her radar and that she wanted to put an end to it while leading a disorganized group of idiots. That’s all the bratva was. That’s all the mafia was too. We only ran because the leadership was able to execute.
She didn’t understand that a woman wouldn’t be able to accomplish what she planned, that those men wouldn’t give her the respect she deserved.
Which meant our family was about to go to war for her.
I was about to rip apart the people that would come for her.
We would all be fighting the war on sex trafficking and it was about to be the biggest one we’d ever fought before.
“I’ll remember. And remember you’re agreeing.”
I grunted as I pressed the button to speak through the soundproof partition a little harder than necessary. “Take us to the club now.”
I lifted my finger from it and she tried for a lighter topic. “How is this new club venture going? You never mentioned it.”
“I just bought in and took the offer to own majority stock in it after Mario.” It’d been a week ago that the Stonewoods offered it to me.
“Why take that on? You don’t need it.”
“It’s good for the family.”
“Is it? They don’t need it either.”
My bars were just small businesses that we could run dirty money through if need be. Yet this club was exclusive. It would be one of many and it was going to bank millions for access. “It’s an elite access club. People will pay millions over time just to be a part of it. Both men and women will indulge there and they’ll share secrets, business deals, and more there. It’s an investment that will solidify a lot.”
She narrowed her eyes and I saw the questions flying through her head. They were legitimate ones. “Is it a venture I should be involved in?”
“The bratva or you?”
“I don’t operate without the bratva anymore.” Her response was quick enough to show me that Ivan had already ingrained some sense of belonging in her.
I wanted to snatch her back, wanted to cage her in with just us but knew I had to let her fly. Either way, she was bound to do so. I’d either lose her or get to witness her in her glory. I wanted the latter, even if it meant accepting the pain along with it.
“We’ll see.” I didn’t say more or less. She’d be given the option soon enough but she had to see the club for herself. The bratva would decide with her if they wanted to turn over a new leaf. This meeting would be the sure sign of it.
We pulled up to the Stonewood Skyscraper. They’d built the club underneath the highest building in the city. It was dark, wound underground like a coiled snake, and took navigating to enter. Our black SUVs and limos filed into the Stonewood Enterprises parking structure one by one, but we drove past the expensive cars already parked there. At the end was a steel, matte black garage door with two armed guards manning the security system. They scanned our licenses and the parking tags that were hanging from our drivers’ vehicles.
The system had multiple security checks. I lowered my window when one of the guards tapped it and gave him my finger to run.
“She with you, boss?” he asked.
“Yes. Scan her in. She’ll have access whenever needed.”
Katalina hesitated only for a second before offering her fingerprint. The guard’s pad read and logged her print quickly.
“All set.” He tapped the hood of the limo and we drove through.
“A little much?” She scratched the side of her face in question.
“Not when you’ve got international politicians and leaders sharing secrets here.”
She didn’t say anything more. We knew where we were going. We knew the men we were about to meet with ruled a lot more than a mafia in Chicago or a big business. They made calls to presidents; they pulled the triggers on lives metaphorically and literally.