But I was the bratva queen.
He was the underboss of the Italian Mob.
Something was bound to happen.
Rome had a big event a few nights later at New Reign. He wanted me to come. I’d grumbled that I’d think about it and that Maksim would be available if I wanted to get ready and go.
I didn’t.
Rome had winked at me and said that it would be good, that other Pahkans and families would be there, that I should make an appearance. I fake-gagged and he laughed as he swung the door closed behind him.
I got the call only an hour later.
One of my guys had been trafficking, not just one or two women but truckloads of them.
My stomach rolled with the news. It’d been someone close, one of the men who’d done security for me the night of the opening of New Reign.
He’d made small talk with me. He’d smiled to my face.
And betrayed and lied behind my back.
I gave Maksim the news and he delivered the message that I wanted everyone to meet immediately at the bratva’s facility. It was near the lake, in an allotment of empty warehouses that weren’t really empty at all.
I didn’t say a word to Maksim as he maneuvered the SUV there. The rage pulsing in my veins screamed loud enough.
The bratva had disobeyed me again, and Vladimir had headed the operation. He’d questioned my authority and gone against the contracts. Change was always hard. It was like packing your bags and leaving the comfort of your home to walk into a pitch-black abyss, knowing you would never get that comfort back. Why leave that warm bed, that cozy blanket that smelled just the way you wanted it, for something completely unknown. Everyone could say it would be better but no one could promise it.
The bratva knew the grass hadn’t been greener before. They were human. They knew the darkness that lurked in the shadows of the unknown and they wanted to cling to the tradition and home they’d had before.
So Vladimir rebelled. I knew he hadn’t acted alone, but he’d have spearheaded it. He’d smuggled in women under the guise of a legal shipment for one of the Stonewoods’ many businesses within the aerospace field.
It put us all in jeopardy. And it signed his death sentence.
We pulled in to the facility’s parking and my heartbeat quickened. I was new to it all, wanted to call Ivan and ask him to come with me.
I knew I couldn’t though. Ivan had made his intentions clear.
When we walked through the doors, Maksim stood close to me, ready to do damage if anyone acted out. The bratva were all sitting, heads hung low, and two of them had Vladimir in their grip.
“The bucket over there contains a liquid that will eat away at his skin,” one of my guys said, proud of himself for getting it.
I cringed at the notion and at the look in his eyes. Was I getting soft? How could leadership have made me so? I rubbed my belly and then fisted my hand, sure that I had to maintain a cool head about this, had to enforce a rein that was fearful where only the strongest survived.
“Vladimir, you made your choice.”
“I didn’t!” he screamed, wiggling in the men’s arms as they dragged him back toward the steel bucket. “You saw my wife. I held her just last night. She wants kids, a family.”
“You ripped a daughter from a father and mother. You think those women you sell aren’t daughters, wives, mothers, those longing for a family too?”
“They’re addicts. They don’t have anywhere else to go. Most are grateful.” His eyes narrowed and he went limp in my men’s arms, causing them to loosen their grip. “One told me ‘thank you,’ Katalina. She would have got on her knees for me.”
“What?” I whispered, and my gut turned as a sick smile spread across his yellowed teeth.
“Screw it. I’m going to burn in there anyway. Let me say it like I mean, huh? She was a whore like you. All of them are. You’re vessels for us to use to make money. You belong in the damn truck with them.” He glanced at my belly. “Blood of the bratva or not, you need to be fucked into submission and that bastard of a baby needs to learn the way of the world too.”
He ripped his arms from the men and sprinted toward me. My security wasn’t what I thought they were. They ran with him and Maksim shot one and collided with the other, wrestling him to the ground. My body was on high alert, ready to defend what I loved but hadn’t met yet. My baby would see the light of day.
I was sure of it in those moments.