CHAPTER 27
Gavril
I watched as the men filed into the study, clasping my hands behind my back as they took their seats. Internally, I was fucking exhausted from the events of the last few hours. From the meeting with Konstantin to my moment with Naomi, I hadn’t had a moment to breathe but doubted it was going to get any easier from here.
After I had left the nursery, I had thrown myself into my preparations. With Anatoly’s help, we had rallied our troops and stored our weapons cache in a safe place in case Konstantin decided to attack the places I had shown him previously. Money had been moved all around the world into various accounts, and, in the likelihood of me not winning, my family would survive. I had briefly debated on warning my mother, but decided against it for the moment. She would find out soon enough.
At least they were in Russia and would be protected from the shit that was about to go down here in the States. I had already sent word for Inessa to take the girls on a vacation, all expenses paid, if they left today. She hadn’t hesitated to tell me that they would be gone by lunch before warning me to be careful. I had thought to send Naomi with them but pushed the thought out of my mind.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with my wayward wife presently, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.
Rounding the desk, I sat down, regarding the men who had gathered. Beside Anatoly, I had pulled three of my trusted brigadiers in. Yuri Maslov was in his late thirties and controlled a large portion of the men in both LA and Russia. He preferred his fists to knives or guns, and I knew he fought in illegal fighting rings in his spare time.
Oleg Yakubov was in his late forties and the oldest out of the group. He split his time between LA and Russia, his own family stationed somewhere in the backwoods of Russia, and they did not even know what he did with his time. He had told me once that it was easier to lie to them than to tell them the truth, and I wished I had the same mentality. His passion was explosives, and he preferred to fight from afar.
The third brigadier was Pavel Kochenev. Out of the four that I had called, he was the most brutal. With no family and in his early thirties, Pavel was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. There were rumors that he had been part of a special ops team in his early twenties and had killed too many men for their liking, but I didn’t care. He was the fucking man at sharpshooting and knives, even better than I had ever wanted to be. Even Anatoly was impressed by his skills, and it meant a great deal if Anatoly was impressed.
“I’ve called you here to tell you I have formally declared war on the Krasnaya brigadiers,” I started out. “Konstantin and I met a few hours ago and made the declaration.”
No one moved, though I knew they were likely trying to figure out how the hell this had happened. I had made them promises that I was going to bring the two Bratvas together ever since Orlov died, and now, I had failed my own Bratva. These men had sworn allegiance to me, to our cause, and they expected for me to come through.
“The truth is,” I continued, knowing that the next statements were going to be difficult for me to admit. “They found out that my wife is not Sveta Orlov but a fake.”
“What do you mean, Pakhan?” Pavel asked, his brow knitting in confusion. “I thought that Anatoly had successfully brought her to you. You married her.”
“When I thought she was Sveta,” I answered, keeping the anger out of my voice. It was nothing more than my dumb fault that I was in the mess I was in with Naomi. “She is a local from LA, nothing more.” I wasn’t about to give them anything on Naomi, including her name. It had no bearing on what we needed to be focused on.
Yuri looked over at Anatoly, a sneer crossing his face. “You fucked this up for our Pakhan.”
Anatoly casually shifted on the couch he was seated on, not sparing the other brigadier a glance. “Mistakes happen. Relax.”
“We wouldn’t be in this situation had you done your job effectively,” Yuri pressed, his voice hard. “Pakhan should have sent someone else.”
“Enough,” I interjected, my voice cold. “Sveta Orlov was killed months before. Our plan would have failed either way.” I hated to admit my failures because it involved all of these men that trusted me. It involved their families, their very livelihood, and whether they agreed or not, I had failed them by keeping up the ruse once I learned the truth. “It was my fault, not Anatoly’s, for not telling you all the truth when I learned of it.”
That was as much of an apology as they were going to get from me now. “What matters is that the Krasnaya brigadiers think they can go up against our Bratva. I need for that notion to be dispelled from their heads, now.”
“It shouldn’t be much of an issue,” Pavel replied after a moment, his shoulders shrugging. “There are not many of them.”
“There are still enough to make a stir,” Yuri argued. “We don’t know who they have in their back pockets or what they have mobilized.”
“Valid point,” Anatoly added, crossing his arms over his chest. “We should be prepared for the worst.”
“They didn’t rally what’s left of their full strength,” I replied, thinking of the phone calls I had received once word got out. Even though Konstantin made it sound like he had regrouped the Krasnaya Bratva, it seemed that money and power talked a hell of a lot more than honor. There were quite a few that had called to make sure I was aware they were not jumping ship again and were loyal to the Belaya Bratva. I hadn’t made my decision yet if they would be involved in this war or if they would stay behind and protect my assets. My trust wasn’t there yet.
But it did speak to the support that the other Bratva had, and Yuri was right. We didn’t know which of my enemies Konstantin had been able to pull into his support. “We attack from the bottom first,” I finally said, the plan I had formed in my mind starting to take shape. “I want to take the knees out of Konstantin.” If I aimed for him, I would be fighting an uphill battle, and he would be expecting me to come for him personally.
Instead, I was going to take out his support. The more men at the bottom that started to drop off, the less that Konstantin would have to lean on, and by the time he tried to stop the bleed, it would be too late.
Besides, I wasn’t going to be able to bribe them. Konstantin clearly had garnered respect among his own, and those that were loyal would die for their cause. I didn’t hate them for their decisions, but they would be on the losing side. “Make the plans,” I finished, looking at each one of them, my loyal brigadiers that would die for their cause as well. “I want the first attack in less than twenty-four hours.” Konstantin probably wouldn’t wait that long himself, but I wanted to see what his game plan was. Let him attack. It would only expose him quicker than he realized.
When they started to file out, I touched Anatoly’s shoulder. “Stay.”
My closest confidante stepped aside, and when the others had left, I turned to him. “I need you for a different plan.”
Anatoly eyed me. “I take it you have had the discussion with your wife about her favorite stalker?”
The mere thought of Jon Hampton caused me to grit my teeth. “I have.”
He chuckled. “You really kicked the hornet’s nest this time, Gavrushka. I thought you were crazy to take her on even though you learned the truth, but now…”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said harshly. “What’s done is done.”
He blew out a breath. “I just wanted to say it out loud. See how it felt.”
I laid a hand on his shoulder. “I trust you more than anyone in the Bratva, more than anyone in my life. I need you to get Naomi somewhere safe.” As much as I didn’t want to care, I did. It wasn’t just her. She was carrying my child, my heir, and that should be enough for me to care alone.
Of course, it wasn’t the only reason. Despite what she had done to me, I still wanted her. I craved her, and even though I attempted to push her out of my mind, she was always lurking in the shadows.
Anatoly arched a brow. “You really care for her, don’t you?”
Only he could ever ask that question and not get a knife to the gut for it. “This is not the time.”
My closest friend chuckled, and I dropped my hand. “Someday, you are going to have to make a choice, Gavril. You are going to have to decide what to do with her.”
“That is if we all survive this war,” I added dryly as I walked back to the desk and picked up my long-forgotten drink. My body was starting to break down, the weariness growing steadily by the moment. I felt like I was dead on my feet, running on brandy and adrenaline. I dropped into the chair, rubbing my head with one hand. “I need her to be safe. She is carrying my child.”
“Understood,” Anatoly finally said. “But only because she is carrying your child, Pakhan. Otherwise, I don’t like what she has done to you.”
I chuckled darkly. I hated what she had done to me, and it had nothing to do with the lies that Naomi had told. It was the weakness she had brought out in me, a measure of caring that I couldn’t afford to have. Naomi had made me feel, and feeling had only caused me grief in the end.