Obsessive Boss (Bratva Brothers 4)

EPILOGUE PART 2

Mikhail

Betrayal runs through the veins of my family.

Dmitri is dead.

Shot by one of my own, and while it has taken time to come to terms with his actions, it's not entirely his fault.

We are all, in part, to blame. I can thank Madisyn for reminding me that I'd been the one to order the hit on Anton and Savannah. If I hadn't acted so quickly and, in her words, brashly, then Dmitri might still be alive.

Anger simmers beneath the surface, like a volcano about to erupt at any moment.

I glance up at the television, the ticker crawling across the bottom of the screen indicating recent events.

We had nothing directly to do with the FBI building being targeted and hit, but I can't say that the news saddens me. A smile grazes my face.

"Ivan, get Madisyn in here," I say. There's a television screen hanging in the corner of my office, mounted to the wall. It's new.

I want to be apprised of all recent events after what transpired with Anton. Seeing his face and that smug FBI agent, Savannah, blasted all over the national news gave me hope.

I don't have to hunt them down. The FBI has the resources to do so and will handle them for me.

And when that happens, I need to be the first to know that Anton is caught. Because, undoubtedly, he will try to convince the feds to give him a deal to save his ass. Isn't that what he was doing in the first place, showing up at the FBI and turning himself in?

Madisyn assured me that wasn't the case, that she had information pertaining to that day. But she wouldn't tell me her source.

Had Savannah or Anton reached out to Madisyn?

I've promoted Ivan after Dmitri's death, giving him more responsibility inside the compound instead of manning the gate at all hours of the night. He's happier, and the young man goes above and beyond, which pleases me immensely.

"Yes, sir." He hurries down the hallway, likely to the playroom where Madisyn is entertaining Kira. It's early, and in a few hours, they'll go out, run some errands to a few places like the park or that 'Mommy and me' class she takes little Kira to.

Madisyn has been an exceptional mother, dedicated to keeping our daughter safe.

"You beckoned?" Madisyn quips. She's got Kira in her arms, and my daughter wiggles out of her mother's grasp, wanting to run toward me.

Kira is incredibly shy, not the least bit like Madisyn or me in that regard, which I find peculiar, but she's not even two yet.

"Have a look," I say and gesture at the television screen. The news is still focused on the explosion that happened a couple of hours ago. There have been a handful of victims, five accounted for who are deceased, twenty injured, and an unknown number still buried in the rubble.

"Please tell me that you didn't have anything to do with that," Madisyn says. Her expression is grim.

"I can assure you that blowing up the New York FBI office was not on my calendar this week."

"Oh, but it was on there for next week?"

"It's a joke," I say, trying to alleviate any tension that may have settled in the room. While I may not be personally responsible for what happened, I'm not completely innocent.

When am I ever innocent?

Regarding the police or feds investigating the matter, my hands are clean. When Madisyn alerted me to what Agent Danvers had done, planting evidence to try to get a conviction for Anton, I knew I had to dig deeper.

If that dirty agent was after one of my men, surely, he had done the same to others who were already behind bars.

With a little investigative work from a friend, I opted to hire a lawyer to represent four men. Each of those men was convicted in cases where the only evidence that was brought before the court was collected from Agent Danvers.

Four men.

All wrongly imprisoned.

One of them was bound to retaliate when he was released.

Can't say I'm surprised. But it's nothing that Madisyn needs to be aware of, or anyone else who wasn't privy to the privileged information.

"I thought you should hear it from me. Do you still have friends there?" While she hasn't been in contact with anyone at the bureau since she left, I suspect there are colleagues whom she still likes and wouldn't want to see hurt.

She rolls her lips together before tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. "Friends is a strong word. Acquaintances, yes."

The FBI burned her when she left, destroying her career because of what transpired between us. It's no wonder she's angry, but she hides her bitterness better than I ever could.

She's calmer, more controlled and collected.

I'd set the place on fire if it solved my problems.

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Madisyn says, gesturing at the television screen. "Even my worst enemy."

"Who is?" I'm curious whom she would peg as an enemy. Is she angry with Savannah for what she did, betraying all of us?

"No one at the moment. You have enough enemies for the two of us."

I snort at her remark. She isn't the least bit wrong.

Madisyn gasps as she stares up at the screen. There are brief clips of victims being carted out on stretchers.

"Who is it?" I ask.