Page 144 of The Darkness is Calling

The Birds of Darkness are not petty gangsters trying to make a feared name for themselves in London. The Birds of Darkness spread across the entire world, through sacred partnerships with organizations even Bratva would consider sinfully forbidden.

I didn’t turn against the big organization, but I rewrote the rules of the game. I changed the structure of history itself, steering it toward a future that will bring us power far beyond the limits of the old Vors’ imagination.

That is exactly why my father understood the uselessness of this wedding and accepted my marriage to Ekaterina, even if other “colleagues” of his opposed it. For now.

“We’ll survive,” I tell him as I pour vodka into a glass. “Relax.”

“I am very relaxed. I’d be unsettled if I feared death, but I have no such concerns. When it’s written for me to die, then so be it.”

“Totally agree,” Sasha says, starting to search through the drawers again. “I can’t believe this...” he mutters, growing more upset. “Not even a lollipop? What kind of person are you?!”

“Eat a banana,” I tell him.

“Take your bananas and shove them up your ass. Maybe you’ll like them even more.”

“No, thank you.”

I take a seat on the same side as Yar, leaving one stool between us, and sip from the clear alcohol.

“You’re worried,” I remark.

He snorts.

“I don’t care about the war with the people in Bratva who consider us traitors. On the contrary. A little action doesn’t bother me. But I don’t want anything happening to you or Sasha. And now Katya either.”

“Ah! Let’s not forget!” Sasha exclaims quickly, vanishing from sight for a few seconds before returning from the living room with some papers. “She needs to sign these too.”

“When she comes down,” I answer, then look at Yar, who hasn’t finished what he had to say.

“The problem is that we’re facing two enemies: Bratva, and whoever the fuck tried to take you out. And as for that one, we have no damn clue where to even start looking, so we drag him out and can cut off his head. We’ll be hit from two sides.”

“We won’t drag anyone out. Like the first time, he’ll come to us. All we need to do is organize properly and be ready for his attack.”

He folds his thick arms over his chest.

Compared to me, he had time to change into a dark gray suit, with a white shirt and only a vest over it, the jacket nowhere in sight.

The youngest takes a seat too, sighing in frustration because he didn’t find anything sweet.

It isn’t long before I hear the bare soles of my soulmate approaching. Before I even see her, my body comes alive, the way it does every time she is near or whenever I think about her.

The image of my wife walking toward the altar will remain an icon in my memory, one I will worship for the rest of my life. She was a queen coming toward me, even if she had no idea I was there. Her eyes were sad behind the thin veil, and that only made me move faster. I wanted her to know I was beside her and that I would always save her from situations she could not escape on her own.

I gave her ten days to cancel the wedding. In the meantime, I found out about that damned contract, the one that raised questions for me and to which I later found the answer.

Saint Oliver is not as saintly as he made himself seem. He is a false, cold man who would do anything to get his hands on the power offered by the Russians.

And his actions didn’t begin taking shape a few months ago, when his father stepped forward with the plan for a marriage. He entered Ekaterina’s life two years ago, and that still makes me deeply suspicious when it comes to the Prescott family and their weapons business, something my wife only found out about today.

A fact confirmed even by my father, who hinted that something about the story with the Englishmen didn’t sit right with him, but that he would let me know if he uncovered anything new.

I turn toward her and hold out a hand, which she refuses, throwing me a sharp look. That doesn’t stop me from taking what I want, which is why I pull her between my spread legs and kiss her. But I do it the way I constantly crave.

She can’t refuse my kiss, and my tongue conquers the stubborn woman who is still angry with me.

When I pull away from her lips, tasting them briefly before giving her the chance to breathe, her cheeks are flushed, and she looks slightly embarrassed toward my brothers.

“Stop it.” Her voice is sharp.