Page 49 of Relentless Sinner

“Yeah.”

“It will also be good seeing you with someone you can settle down with. Someone different from the loose women you often hang around.” He inclines his head.

“Eric, please.”

“I’m serious and I do hope you don’t plan to have anyone on the side.”

“No. I don’t.” I mean that.

“That’s one good thing about your father. He was never like your uncles who cheated and continue to cheat on their wives.”

I agree. To my knowledge my father never cheated on my mother and if she were still alive I know he never would. He’s still in love with her. “I guess I got one good moral from him.”

Eric takes another sip of his coffee and nods. “It’s something. How are you feeling about everything else that’s happening? Things seem to be moving faster than we thought they would.”

“I’m trying to keep up.” I grin, drinking my cappuccino, too. Within seconds the much-needed buzz from the caffeine hits and I feel more awake.

“You’re not the only one. Just the one the changes affect the most.”

“I thought I’d have some more time before I took over the leadership but I’m more eager to have it than I am nervous.” I hardly use that word—nervous. I’m always on guard and never show any vulnerabilities. But I can around Eric.

“You will be fine. It’s the others I’m worried about.”

“Join the club.”

“I was already there, my boy.” He smirks and leans back against the chair. “Your uncles and cousins are lying low at the moment but I know they’re still working on something to overthrow you. They’re not happy that your father wants to move the timeline up. They thought they’d have more time, too.”

I sigh and set my cup down. “I’m not sure what to do about them. Honestly, I don’t want them to be my subordinates. I want to choose new people. I would have preferred it if you were there.”

A light chuckle falls from his lips. “You and I both know that is not for me.”

“Why not? Your family is next in line to take the leadership if the Bortsovs fall.”

That’s how it works according to the old laws because Eric’s family are second cousins to my mother’s. The leadership actually came from her. Her father was the Pakhan. When he died my father became the new leader.

The leadership passes from father to son unless changed by the current leader. Usually it goes down the line vertically before it goes horizontal. Then the rules change. My uncles would never get it but their sons would be entitled.

However, if something were to happen to all of us, Eric would get the leadership and form a new council.

The last time a leadership like that was formed my grandfather became the Pakhan. That was sixty years ago.

“Some men are meant to serve and make their leaders better people.” Eric stares at me with the intense eyes of a wise man. “That is what I will be for you. Although you are not the Pakhan yet, my first counsel to you is to be firm with your cousins. Demand respect and try not to use your fists.”

I chew on my bottom lip and nod. “I hear you.”

“They have their followers who believe they should be in power, but you have yours, too. There are also others who will honor tradition and the rules because they have to. They are the people who will frown on you if you act in a way that they don’t see fit. It’s important to never show weakness. Anger can sometimes portray that.”

“What the hell do I do if someone pisses me off then?”

“Get rid of them in whatever way you see fit. Regardless of who they are.” The coldness and lack of emotion in his words surprise me.

This is the side of him I don’t usually get to see. This is how he has to be when he and my father talk business. This side of him is probably the reason why my father was such a formidable leader.

“Death.”

“Death. That is the old way of the Vory.” When he starts referencing the traditions from the origins of the Bratva I always pay attention. “Fear keeps men in line and earns a different sort of respect. You give your family chances because they are your family. You cannot do that when you’re Pakhan. When you hold that title you do not allow any man to live if they disrespect you. Should you want to show compassion, then you confine them to the island for the rest of their life.”

That also means death. The island he’s talking about is somewhere in the Mediterranean where the Bratva alliance sends prisoners or anyone they think should be there. They are never heard from or seen again.