Page 11 of Kept By the Bratva

All eyes were on me, and I reveled in this dark and sinister energy. We were pissed. There was hell to pay, and I knew precisely how we could strike back against those assholes.

“How?” Ivan asked, raising his brows.

“Last night, when I first noticed those men, I got close to listen to them.” I hid well, and that was why I was always the best for spying and clandestine operations. Being sneaky was my nature. Disguises were easy for me. I also didn’t have the traditional tattoos visible on my neck or arms. My brothers—and many soldiers within the Valkov organization—had the same emblem of a tattoo. Most were visible, the better for our rivals and enemies to take note and easily identify us as their opponents. I, however, had my tattoo low on my stomach and to the side. I never wanted to mark myself so permanently on my face, neck, or arms strictly because I was trained to be a spy from an early age.

“They didn’t recognize me,” I added.

Alek shrugged. “Of course, they wouldn’t.”

I took pride in his comment. I had to have pissed him off in not being right there in the club when the attack happened and gunfire filled the rooms. I took faith in the fact that he would know without a doubt that I could remain successfully undercover.

“I got close enough to listen in. They were discussing what I assumed was a rumor. Talking shit and all. But now that I think about it, it must have been legit.”

Now that I knew those men were, in fact, part of the Ortez Cartel, they were probably speaking the truth with loose lips.

“They were talking about a new location uptown that was ideal for their trafficking operation.”

All my brothers looked at me, serious and interested. It was common knowledge that the Cartel dealt with women. They were infamous in this city for trafficking all kinds of women. I wasn’t expecting them to be surprised.

“I know the building they were referring to. It’s an older warehouse near Chinatown.”

“What about it?” Alek asked.

“They were talking about being able to store more women there. Something about more flexibility to work around the cops in that area.” I shrugged. “I say we bust in there and steal their women. It’ll screw them over.”

Maxim cringed. “We don’t traffic women, though.” He looked at Alek, almost as though he needed to check with our newPakhanthat this policy hadn’t changed.

“We don’t,” Alek agreed. “And I don’t want to take the family in that direction.” He stood straight and crossed his arms. “But I see the merit in this plan.”

I nodded. “I’m not proposing we sell the women. But we’ll fuck themover. They attacked a Valkov Bratva business, so we’ll attack one angle of their business.”

“Going straight to their territory would be difficult,” Dmitri said. “They have too many in numbers.”

“And the cops apparently want to help them,” I added.

“That’s fucking bullshit,” Ivan said, shaking his head once more with a lethal expression. “They just turn their eyes when we have trouble and suffer an attack.”

“Turn their eyes?” Alek snapped. “No, they’re trying to frame us and pinusfor the murders and violence at Harrow’s. They’ll do anything they can to try to bring us down.”

“And since they didn’t seem to care about the Cartel causing trouble,” I said, “it’s fair to assume they’re allies of some kind. Going to the Ortez area would be risking interference from the dirty cops working with them.”

Alek agreed. All my brothers nodded or gave other gestures of assent.

It was decided. We would bust in and take their women to spoil their plans. Maxim was correct in reminding us that we weren’t involved in the human trafficking market. Maybe long ago, before our grandfather wasPakhan, the Bratva might have leaned into questionable practices, but it wasn’t who we were. It was an ideal and opportune moment to mess with the Cartel, though, and they really focused on their trafficking for income. It would hurt, losing some of their “product” like this.

For the next hour, we discussed how to pull off our plans. Ivan volunteered to come with me. Dmitri too. Maxim was still a behind-the-scenes kind of brother, and that was where he excelled. Other soldiers were called into the room, and they all received their orders with immediate willingness to do their part.

Tonight, we would storm into the Ortez warehouse. And tonight, they would learn the lesson that we didn’t take hits sitting down and weak, like the way things were when Pavel was our leader.

They would know that you didn’t fuck with the Valkovs and get away with it.

If only I could learnmylesson, though.

Amy had no place in my life. She couldn’t be a tempting distraction. She didn’t belong as a tease of what I couldn’t have. We’d never compromise. We wouldn’t be able to meet in the middle and accept the other’s life.

But as I headed to my wing in the mansion to clean up and prepare for tonight’s strike, a stubborn part of my heart rallied against the rational thought I tried to force upon myself.

I didn’t want to give up the idea of having that sensual blonde again.