I gave a quick nod to my driver and slid across the leather seat of my town car, hoping that Vlad could manage to keep Liliya from getting herself into trouble. I had business to attend to and my mind was on her instead of where it needed to be. Part of me wanted to call him up and find out the name of whatever bar she had ended up at tonight. But I couldn’t afford to miss this meeting.
With the meeting of the five families just around the corner, I needed to keep my head in the game and be prepared for anything. There’d been a power struggle between the families lately and it’s putting the decades-old truce in jeopardy. The Markow boss is a shady prick. For years, he’s had it out for me, and I can’t say as I blame him. My father killed his father before the truce came into play. The bastard has never gotten over it. But his pops deserved what he got and then some. He’d crossed a line and kidnapped my mother. By the time my father and his men found her, she’d been raped and tortured by Markow’s men, and although she had been rescued, she never recovered from the despicable things they did to her while held prisoner. Sometimes the things that happen to you consume you, hollowing you out, leaving a shell of your former self. My mother, so beautiful and kind, had slipped away, her mind locked in torment until she succumbed to it all and took her life.
After that, lines were drawn and the streets were bathed in blood. All of the families had gotten involved in the war of all wars, whether they wanted to or not. Small things got men killed back then. The Markow and Duskin families sided together against the Volsky, Babkin, and Klepin families. The Bratva had always lived by their rules. Some of us take them more seriously than others. That’s how you can separate the men from the boys, in my opinion. We protected our own, and one thing every family and soldier knows is that the women and children of the Bratva were never to be touched.
As the town car pulled to a stop outside the club, my phone once again chimed, pulling me from my thoughts. Vlad again. Great. What now? I slid my thumb across the screen, pulled up my text messages, and belted out a hearty laugh. Then I stepped out of the car, straightened my suit, and strode across the busy sidewalk, heading for the front door.
As I walked through the door, my phone chimed again and the message was not what I was expecting. It seemed Vlad had suddenly lost his joking tone. Another chuckle broke free of my lips and I shook my head, imagining Vlad being led around Vegas by the princess, who was no doubt keeping him on his toes. That’d be a sight to see. I typed in a quick response and headed upstairs to my office where my guests were already waiting.
Vlad: Your princess is tossing back the vodka.
Vlad: Princess is on the move again. Update again soon.
Ruslan: Shit V. Don’t let anything happen to her.
Just as I expected, my men were waiting in my office, kicked back on the leather sofas, enjoying a drink and chatting each other up. Our weekly meetings were as much business as they were social gatherings.
“Maksim. Bastian. Rat teebya veedet’!” Nice to see you!
“Where’s Vlad?” Maksim asked glancing over at Bastian.
“He’s doing a favor for me so he won’t be joining us tonight,” I responded as I poured a glass of Vodka. Taking a hearty gulp, I paused in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the club.
“What’s up, boss?” Bastian asked.
Taking another sip, I turned away from the window and took a seat with the men. “When I know more about the situation, I’ll fill all of you in. Right now, things are… let’s just say they’re very delicate.”
Both men gave me a strained but knowing look, nodding their understanding. We drank for a while and discussed the income from our various businesses around town. Everything was going well for us. Over the last decade, we had begun the move from illegal business practices into legitimate business ventures. It took a shit-ton more work, but on the upside, we didn’t have the police crawling up our asses every five minutes, either. Sure, we still had a few illegal practices to maneuver around from time to time, as is always the case in this line of work, but the large number of legal businesses did an adequate job of providing cover for them.
After tossing back a few more drinks with Maksim and Bastian, my cell phone rang again. Vlad’s number filled the screen and I smirked. “Da.”
“Boss, you’re about to have company,” Vlad stammered as if out of breath. “The princess is heading inside the club right now.”
“What? She’s here? Now?”
“Da. She’s walking through the front door right now.”
Jumping up from my seat, I rushed to the window and sure enough, there Liliya stood. Maksim and Bastian were by my side in a matter seconds.
“Stay with her, Vlad. We’ll just see what she’s up to.”