Page 113 of Bratva Menace

Anger streaked through his eyes.

“Let’s put all our cards on the table, shall we?” I was done fucking around. Done with the bullshit and hidden meanings behind everything he did and said. “You want to kill me. I want to kill you. The timing isn’t right, but the moment it is, I’ll be coming for you.”

Sergei smiled, and it was filled with nothing but pure evil. He lit the end of his cigar and took a deep inhale before blowing the smoke out. “I guess we’ll see who wins, won’t we?”

“I guess we will.” The conversation was done. There was nothing left to say. I walked out, marching down the halls of the home I’d grown up in, feeling absolutely no sense of attachment to it whatsoever. I would burn it to the ground the first chance I got.

When I got to my bedroom, I found Autumn lounging comfortably on the three-seater couch, her tablet resting on her thighs as some TV show played, one hand buried deep in the bowl of popcorn at her side.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Hi, baby.”

The sound of a man groaning in pain reached my ears. I walked further into the room, and when I rounded the couch, I saw our security detail—all four of them—lying helplessly on the floor in front of her. They were stacked up on top of each other, one after the other after the other, and she had her feet resting upon them, her legs crossed at the ankles.

Humor trickled through me.

“How did it go?” she asked, continuing to snack on her popcorn.

My gaze flitted around the room.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She picked up a glass of water and showed it to me. Inside it were numerous small devices. “I got sick and tired of having to watch what I say, so I did a thorough sweep of the room and gathered up all the listening devices Sergei had planted.”

I chuckled. “He’ll just replace them.”

“Probably.” Autumn shrugged. “But we’re safe for now until he does.” She placed the glass back down. “So, how did it go?”

“About as expected. Everything is out on the table.” I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t agree with the plan, but she said nothing, her pursed lips the only sign of her displeasure.

I plopped down next to her and scooped up some popcorn, throwing it into my mouth. “Speak your mind.”

“Was it wise? Telling him you want to kill him? He’ll be even more on alert now.”

“He already knew.” Of that, I was sure. “The moment he threatened Illayana, he would have known he was signing his death warrant with me. No one threatens my children and lives. Everyone knows that. By confronting him, I’ve thrown him off guard. I know it. He’s not used to such insubordination. I think it will push him to do something reckless.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something. Something that will leave him vulnerable.” My phone rang. It was an unknown number, which I usually didn’t answer, but Illayana had told me about a phone call she’d received from an unknown number a few days before. It had been Lukyan. I’d felt instant relief, knowing he was still alive, but it had been squashed quickly when I was told he had given no information as to his whereabouts.

I was running out of time. If I didn’t find him soon, I might never get him back.

“Yes?” I answered. Please be Lukyan. Please be Lukyan.

“H-hello, sir. You don’t know me. My name is Tristian. I have information you might want.”

“What information?”

He told me. My whole body came to life. “Where?” I growled.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

LUKYAN VOLKOV

“Booya!” I slammed the card down. “Draw four, motherfucker.”

Cedric slammed the side of his fist down on the table so hard it shook. He picked up four cards from the deck, adding them to the ones he already had in his hand.

Despite the fact he was kinda keeping me hostage, Cedric was actually a pretty cool dude. Took a while to warm up, sure, but if I was good at anything, it was getting people to open up. He was always around. Kind of like my watcher, making sure I didn’t do anything crazy or stupid while Lyla was away.

It didn’t happen often. Lyla was usually always there, but she had to go and pick up her brother from the airport. I almost managed to convince her to take me, but she was worried about how her brother would react if he saw me. Apparently, the dude didn’t like me. Kinda harsh considering he’d never fucking met me, but whatever.