Page 7 of Stolen By the Bratva
Pavel scrunched his face, waving both of my brothers off. “That was from generations ago. It’s not a big deal now.”
Everything from the past could come back and bite us in the present. He was a delusional idiot to think otherwise.
“Besides, we have a solid agreement that’s nearly finished now. Andrey and I have negotiated to barter their dock use for a portion of the arms shipment from Columbia. It’s the biggest shipment we’ve arranged yet, and we stand to profit generously.”
Maxim drummed two fingers on his thigh. As soon as I noticed the tell that Pavel and Andrey wouldn’t be able to see from their side of the table opposite my brother, I narrowed my eyes. He was nervous. Or eager to speak up but too intimidated to protest. He didn’t carry as much clout as the rest of us brothers did, but he was no fool. Something was bothering him about these details. I made a mental note to speak with him after this meeting concluded.
“And that brings me to the second announcement.” Pavel clapped his hand to his son’s shoulder. “Andrey will marry Sergei’s eldest daughter. It will mark a union for life.” He grinned, glancing around at us all. “They can’t turn on us later if we’re all family, right?”
Some of the men shared in his humor, chuckling and unworried. Ivan and I already knew, since Andrey couldn’t keep his mouth shut last night. Even if this were the first I was hearing about it, I wouldn’t have reacted.
“Not the most attractive girl,” Pavel commented with a smirk, “but that hardly matters.”
Andrey nodded, sighing. “I’d do anything for the family.”
Oh, cut the shit. Stop acting like you’re some kind of martyr.
Pavel patted his shoulder again, then turned to face me. “While we’re busy with the final wedding preparations, I need someone to speak with their man about this shipment.” He pointed to me, then Nikolai. “You two can handle that, can’t you?”
Like we’re not already out on the streets and actually keeping an eye on our turf already. I nodded. “We can.”
“It’s nothing more than making a show of faith, checking in and seeing that everything is running according to plan. Ask for someone named ‘The Doc’ and inquire about whether they’re ready for the big shipment.”
Who the hell is The Doc? He can’t mean an actual doctor. Using codes seemed weird. We weren’t in the habit of relying on nicknames, and it only made me more suspicious.
I tilted my head to the side, eying my uncle sternly. “Is there a chance something won’t go as you expect?” I doubted he would voice an honest concern about a potential backfire or hiccup. He was too proud to ever admit a flaw.
“Of course not. Just a pleasantry. To check in. To make sure they’re getting on board with our stopping by more often.”
“The agreement hasn’t gone through yet,” Dmitri warned.
“But we are further from being rivals,” Pavel insisted. “Just go for a show of fucking faith,” he ordered of me and Nik.
Faith? He wanted to talk about faith? How about instilling it in us for him? If he could provide any details or reasons we should consider this at all, I bet a few more might lose their doubts.
Pavel stood, buttoning his jacket as he narrowed his gaze at me. “Can I not trust you to handle this? A simple request?”
Before I could reply, he smirked. “Your father wouldn’t have questioned me.”
My father wouldn’t have tried to align with our oldest rival, either.
“Consider it done,” Nik said for both of us. He grabbed my sleeve, roughly directing me to the side, near Maxim. “Tone it down,” he warned in a heated whisper.
I ignored his knowing look and the scolding energy behind it. I didn’t care if Pavel became annoyed with me. It was a habit by this point.
Men filed out of the private dining suite, but Nik and I remained near Maxim. We’d both noticed his nervous tell during those announcements, and Nik pounced on him as soon as we were off in the corner, able to have a private moment. “What’s wrong?”
Maxim glanced past Nik, checking on the others still filing out. I nodded, letting him know we would be in the clear to speak freely.
“We will struggle to give the Kastavas the agreed-upon arms. I’ve seen the details in some emails I’ve caught in correspondence. Pavel’s not sharing much about these negotiations, but I’ve seen bits here and there.”
I believed him. Maxim had held a position with the bookkeepers for years now. His forte was the office work, everything that happened behind the scenes to make all our transactions—legal or not—run smoothly.
“The books look bad. I don’t know all the codes of their messages. Regardless, from the books I’ve seen and worked on, things are grim.”
“How so?” Nik asked.
“We don’t have enough money to secure enough guns coming from Columbia. When the shipments arrive, the Kastavas will get the short end of the stick with this deal. We’ll already be using their Colver dock, as agreed, but what they’ll see at that dock will be less that what they’re told they’ll get.”