Page 47 of The Bratva's Bounty
I didn't need to voice it. The way my head turned and tilted with my narrowing eyes and scrunched-up face would have been enough of a question.
George's hands reached for his jacket, only to suddenly stop with a startle when Lev shuffled behind me. Lev's deep voice came out eerily steady and dangerous from behind me, "If you reach for a gun or any kind of weapon, I will stomp your chest in and bash your face to a pulp."
His threat made George go pale as a ghost as he kept his hands in the air. "I'd never harm Nicki, but understood," George stammered in response before his shaky hands made another go for the inside of his jacket.
Stiffly, he pulled out a folded manilla envelope and tossed it at my feet. "That was all we could manage," he apologized with a quick smile before averting his eyes to the ground. "They really didn't have much for us to pull electronically, and all the documents and any physical records were kept under tight lock and key in a safe at their estate."
Matty's throat bobbed nervously. "They've been meeting with a lot of people overseas, and they took a particular liking to some has-been bratva prince who managed to talk them into business with him with promises of giving them a part of Russia to run once he took over again." Reaching into his own jacket with much more confidence than George, Matty procured a manilla envelope of his own to throw at my feet.
Not taking my eyes off the two men, I reached down and picked up the two envelopes. "But what's any of that got to do with me? Why won't they let me be?" My role in their life and plans made no sense to me, maybe because there wasn't any sense to be made.
Honestly, they had everything I ever owned or created. I was literally nothing but a body to them now. So, why did they want me back so badly? To the point where they hired Lev to track and retrieve me.
"The Russian took quite a liking to you after seeing some of your photos, and it just so happens that he's in the market for a wife or two… Or three…" Matty's face twisted with disdain as his words trailed out. "Sorry," he apologized, shaking his head. "Got off track."
Straightening himself, he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby crate. "From what I could figure out, your parents basically sold you to him to secure their business deal with them." Giving a nonsensical wave of his hand, he continued, "They promised him that you could do all the techy shit he wanted, hack the whole world basically, and a bunch of other shit."
As if that worked out great the first time.
Rolling my eyes, I opened the envelope from Matty first, pulling out a stack of photos. "And just exactly who did my parents betrothed me to?" I asked in a bored voice.
"Igor Petrov."
Chapter 23
Nicole
Slowly, I leaned overto Angel, who sat next to me on the couch. "Uhh, is this Igor guy really that much of a douchebag?" I whispered while keeping my eyes trained on Lev and his brothers as they prattled off in Russian.
Maintaining a calm demeanor, Angel nodded softly. "Besides the fact he tried to assault me in Nikolai's club, he's the oldest son of Ivan Petrov, one of the major conspirators who worked with Lady Qing to try and overthrow the Volkovs." Sipping at her water, she kept a steady eye on the group of Volkov men. "When we took down Lady Qing, Ivan and his sons disappeared with the wind, and we've been trying to locate them ever since because it's only a matter of time before they dig their roots somewhere and cause a huge problem for us."
Angel proceeded to explain the whole situation that the Volkovs had with the Petrovs, how the Petrovs tried to pull one over on the Volkovs and tried to get in their good graces when shit went belly-side up. Petrov's only daughter currently remained locked up in The Catacombs, but Ivan and his two sons, Igor and Nikita, were still running amok under everyone's noses.
Nikolai and his brothers didn't want Ivan tosettle his business again and rise to power, given how twisted of a man he was under his old and charming smile. Also, they wanted to take care of him before he could strike them hard.
Word on the streets was that Ivan had a grudge against the Volkov Bratva for rejecting him and not sticking to the 'older' ways of the Bratva life. Something about how the whole situation was equivalent to the Volkovs spitting in his face from what some of their informants have told them.
Angel couldn't fully understand what the brothers were going on about because she couldn't keep up with their pace, but she got enough to surmise that they were frustrated about the new information.
"Blyat'!" Lev exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air with an angry growl. Stepping right up to Nikolai, Lev jabbed his finger into his brother's chest with his firm words. "Kolya, I know you want to maintain this stupid, unstable peace we have, but it's obvious that some of our supposed allies are starting to doubt us and push their luck."
Lev's chest heaved deeply with every flare of his nostril as his heavy breaths came and went. "We need to act. We need to show everyone that we mean business and that how we are running things will be the new normal." His raised voice died down to a low but calculated one as he continued, "We have too many new acquisitions and 'allies' who don't respect us because they don't see reason to, and it's about damn time we demonstrate to them whyweare the ones in charge and whyweshould be feared and respected."
Easing back, Lev slowly took a few steps backward. "I know you don't like to do things that way,bratok, but sometimes a stern reminder is needed." Hooking his hands onto his hips, he gave his brother a hard and stubborn look. "If we don't, people are going to end up teaming with the likes of Igor and shit. Then, things will really get messy." Breathing deeply, he kept firm. "You let a rat fester enough, and it'll come back with an army for an infestation of biblical proportions. It'll be way too fucking late for us to do anything at that point besides surrender everything and flee."
"I don't know about you, but we have put too much of our blood, sweat, tears, and souls into all of this to just give it up because we wanted to keep the peace. There will be no peace if we let trouble stir and storm, which is exactly what you are doing with wanting to play it safe." Lev's jaw ticked and tensed with a scowl. "You can try to be diplomatic about it all, take the long and tedious route. But I won't."
Okay, I did not like the sound of that one bit.
Shooting up from the couch, I closed the distance between Lev and me with a few big strides. My hand shot out, grabbing his forearm. "Ã?i ca, I think you need to take a step back and think about things after you've simmered," I suggested strongly in a very stern voice. "Starting a war over this stupid Igor person won't be a good idea for anyone." Given Lev's track record and from what I've heard from many others, nothing good would come from Lev going headfirst into things to prove a point. Yes, it would get the point across, but I fear it might do more harm than good in the end.
When his eyes landed on me, I could see his shoulders relax slightly. "I am not going to sit around and wait for them to harm you." His voice wavered with worry as he looked at me with sad eyes. "I won't wait around and risk losing you."
I did my best to reassure him with a smile, but I couldn't muster up the strength to give it to him fully. "I'll be fine. It's not like they can get me with you around or while I'm here." I wanted to sound confident, but the pressure gripping at my chest shook my words.
Which was strange because I was completely safe here at the estate. I was also safe outside of it because I had Lev literally at my back. There's no way anything bad could happen to me anywhere… Right?
Something in his eyes snipped at the safety blanket I'd wrapped myself in. It was as if he wanted to assure me otherwise, but deep down, he knew otherwise.