The King: Bratva Blood: (A dark mafia romance)

by SR Jones

  “Ah the chase, as old as time.” He reaches beyond me and grabs a jar of coffee. “I know Konstantin well. He always goes for women who don’t challenge him at all. Then … he gets bored.”

  “Who gets bored?”

  I jump at the sound of Konstantin’s voice.

  “You do,” Andrius says, and I want to hide.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes, with these vacuous model types you insist on dating. I was simply telling our friend Cassie here that you get bored because they don’t challenge you.”

  Konstantin stares at Andrius then bursts out laughing. “Is this for real? Who are you, and what have you done with Andrius?”

  “Still him, and to prove it to you, we will now retire from the lady here, to discuss all the ways we can make Popov suffer, painfully.”

  “And Denis,” Vasily says as he joins our little party.

  “Not Liza, though,” I say.

  “Yes, Liza,” Vasily shoots back. “Fucking bitch.”

  “She’s pregnant,” I say.

  “Yes, I don’t think we can kill the pregnant lady,” Andrius says.

  “Yes, we can.” Vasily crosses his arms over his chest and shoots daggers at me.

  “No, you really can’t,” Andrius says. “This child is innocent. You cannot kill it before it is born. It would be a terrible crime.”

  “Fine. Bring her here, let her have the kid, then kill her.”

  “Are you fucking insane?” Konstantin asks. I think he’s asking because he thinks the plan is evil, but his next words disabuse me of any such romantic notion. “I’m not having that cunt under my roof for another six weeks, and I’m not bringing her spawn up. Now stop discussing this in front of Cassie, and let’s go to the study.”

  I ignore him, acting as if the little lady can’t hear anything too sensitive, and focus on what he’s said about Liza. “Konstantin, you can’t kill her.” I want to cry. If he does this it will stain his soul forever.

  “I’m not going to kill her,” he says with a soft laugh. “I’m going to do something much worse.”

  “What?” Vasily demands.

  “I’m going to ruin her reputation, her career, and her life, and then I’ll set her and the kid up with a fund, but it will only be enough for her to live a very modest life. A small home, maybe an end row house, with a tiny yard, and enough money for her to feed and clothe the kid, and I shall make sure she’s watched, and if she spends that shit on herself, she’s dead. Liza is going to become the thing she’s always feared.”

  “What’s she always feared?” I ask.

  “Being ordinary,” Konstantin says with a shrug. “She craves fame and excitement; she won’t be able to cope with the sort of life most people would enjoy.”

  “It’s not enough.” Vasily’s hard face is set like stone.

  “I’m going to make her live a small, ordinary life, and if she deviates from it, she’s fucking dead.”

  “I still think you should kill her,” Vasily says.

  “As entertaining as this discussion is, I have to go see Allyov.” Andrius checks his watch, grabs some car keys from the kitchen side and pockets them. “We will discuss this all later, particularly the killing Popov part, yes? Now, I must see Allyov, fucking damn it. I don’t think he’s going to be onboard with us approaching the Armenians,” he says to Konstantin, and I have no idea what he means. “When I get back, we can talk about our options, but I think the Armenians will shoot Allyov before they talk to him, and as for me…” He laughs darkly. “Yes, they will not want anything to do with me.”

  “Give Allyov my regards,” Konstantin says, and Andrius replies in Russian, with words I don’t understand, then he’s gone.

  I know better than to ask what it was all about. I don’t think the Bratva, which I am now ninety percent convinced these men are, discuss their business plans with women.

  Old fashioned, deadly, but with a deep honor code running through their marrow, the Bratva, from what I understand, are a brotherhood like no other. It won’t pay for me to show too much interest in their affairs, so I keep my mouth shut.

  I spend the rest of the day mildly bored and very horny. I want Konstantin, but he’s busy planning and plotting, yet again with Vasily.

  I could go for a walk, but I’m not sure how safe it is out there. There are men with guns, the three Konstantin hired, stalking around the perimeter of the house, the guard dogs, and the electric fence, none of which is conducive to a pleasant stroll. Anyway, I don’t want to be that girl, the one from all the horror flicks I watch who wanders out into the woods and gets caught by the monster.

  Nope. I’m staying inside and playing it safe.

  Funny thing is, they don’t tell you that if the monster really wants to find you, it will, even if it must come for you.

  Late that evening, I hear a commotion downstairs. I’m wearing a loose dress and am about to grab a shower before hopefully repeating last night’s fun and games with Konstantin. I head out of my room to see what’s causing the shouting downstairs.

  Vasily is yelling something in Russian, and when I get to the top of the stairs, I freeze. The door is wide open, and there are what look like ten men with guns. Maybe more. So many men. So many guns.

  They fire off two shots in quick succession, and Vasily hits the ground. Half out of the kitchen door, bleeding, is Derek. I scream, and then real terror hits because amongst the men, looking right at me, is Popov.

  Where is Konstantin? Oh my God, I’m going to die. How did they get in here? Shit, where is he?

  I turn to run for his room, but two of the men are already halfway up the stairs.

  Where is he?

  Then I hear it, loud rock music blasting out from his room. Shit, he must be in the shower. He always plays that damn music when he’s in the shower, and when he’s in the gym too.

  Searing pain burns my scalp as one of the men grabs me by the hair. I start to scream for Konstantin because I don’t want him murdered in his shower, but the man covers my mouth. Two more have appeared at the top of the stairs, and one points two fingers twice down the corridor, gesturing toward Konstantin’s room.

  Oh God, they’re going to shoot him dead, the same way they did Vasily.

  As the guy who has ahold of me drags me down the corridor, I pull away as much as I can, trying to fight back. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see it. It’s a fire alarm, the kind where you break the glass to activate it. Konstantin has normal smoke alarms fitted, but he also has two of these on each floor.

  I jab my elbow at the glass viciously, and it cracks. A piercing wail fills the air, and sprinklers above us activate.

  Thundering footsteps pound up the stairs, and Popov appears, yelling at his men to leave it.

  “Fucking leave it, men are coming from the other side of the property, and this bitch has let Kon know we’re here. We are leaving, now. Bring her, and let’s get out of here,” he screams.

  The men do as he says, beating a retreat away from Konstantin’s door and down the stairs, running so fast I can’t keep up. The guy holding me is basically half carrying me. We hit the hallway, and I slip and slide on the now wet tiles. Groaning at my feet has me looking down to see Vasily, and as we pass one of the men next to me puts another bullet in him.

  Oh, God, no, no, no.

  I’m dragged outside where there are three massive cars with blacked-out windows, their engines idling. Where are the dogs? Then I realize it’s around the time they eat, in the utility room. Thank God, because these bastards would shoot them dead. I’m roughly shoved inside a car just as two men tear around the corner, firing weapons at us. The engine revs, and we peel away from the house, tires screeching as the driver goes hell for leather.

  Popov is in the car with me, and he grins at me maniacally as we speed toward the gates. They’re open, but as we near they start to close.

  “Fuck,” he screams at the driver. “Get us through, damn it.”

  The driver puts his foot down, a
nd we slide through the gates just before they slam shut. One of the cars behind us doesn’t make it and hits the huge iron gates head-on.

  As we drive away, I keep watching the scene behind, and see a figure running down the drive, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and firing the biggest gun I’ve ever seen. He’s got two men flanking him.

  Konstantin.

  I think I might have just saved his life.

  “So, Cassie, we meet finally.” Popov leans forward and rests a fat hand on my knee. I shudder and look away.

  Then a thought hits me, and despite it being the last thing I should focus on it, it intrigues, and things that intrigue me help quell the overwhelming panic. “How did you get in the gates and the door to the house?” I ask.

  “You hacked me, Cassie, didn’t you? Do you think I don’t have hackers of my own?” He smirks, and unlike Konstantin’s smirk, it’s not sexy, but repulsive.

  “Konstantin changed the codes when Denis left with Liza, but even the best system can be hacked when you have the right people to do it. I’ve also transferred twenty million out of his personal account as a fuck you to him for daring to investigate me. But here’s the thing, Cassie. I wouldn’t have known it was you personally who did the deed, if Liza hadn’t told me.”

  “Liza?” I thought she was in South America now. I can’t keep up.

  “Yes, how do you think she went off radar so quickly and effectively. No way would she and Denis have survived, but I already knew her plans because I’ve been watching a lot of the people in K’s house, and she was the easiest to hack, being a dumb broad who uses an android phone and doesn’t guard her information.”

  Who calls women broads these days? I’m staring at this horror of a man, trying to keep calm, trying to keep my mind from fracturing.

  “Biggest mistake he made letting that sexy little wench keep her phone,” Popov muses. “I think he knew she wouldn’t call anyone for help, but he didn’t know that I was watching everyone in this house and monitoring their activity. Do you know Vasily likes the most vanilla porn. Surprised the shit out of me. I’d have thought that one would be into the kink for sure. Anyway, so Liza was emailing back and forth to a fixer who was helping her sort accommodation in South America, along with bank accounts, etcetera. Issue was, no way would she have got herself out of the country without Konstantin finding her. So I stepped in with an offer she couldn’t refuse. I helped her, saved her really, and that thick fuck, Denis. So now, she’s paying me back. You’ll get to see her again very soon.”

  I can’t wait.

  My mouth is so dry it hurts to swallow, and I lick my lips trying to coat my throat.

  “It’s an anxiety reaction, extreme stress, dry mouth,” Popov says.

  The drive we take isn’t long, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and we arrive at a dark, winding lane, leading to a big, gothic looking house.

  “How apt,” I say to Popov.

  “It really is, isn’t it?”

  When we get inside, I sag against the wall as Popov and his men take their weapons off and pat one another on the back for a job well done.

  All I can think about is Vasily lying bleeding out on the hallway carpet, and Konstantin left vulnerable without Andrius, or Vasily, by his side.

  “Oh, there you are. Nice to see you again, whore.”

  The sugary sweet tones of Liza have me looking to the doorway at the end of the corridor we’re in. She’s wearing a diaphanous pink dress that flows over her bump in waves, her hair is in a tight bun, and her face is dripping in makeup.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Popov asks her.

  Her face hardens. “Yes. I’m sure. I know the man. I’ve been around him long enough, and I know he’s falling for this little bitch. You tell him she’ll be sent back to him in pieces, and K will do whatever you want.”

  Popov eyes me. “She’s so … ordinary,” he says. “Pretty, but nothing astonishing.”

  “I think that might just be the point, ironically,” Liza drawls.

  “Where’s Denis?” I ask her.

  She shrugs. “He outlived his usefulness.”

  “So where is he?”

  “He’s six feet under,” Popov snaps. “I put him there once he’d given me the information my man needed to hack into every remaining corner and facet of Konstantin’s life.”

  I frown, confused. “But…What usefulness do you have?” I ask Liza, and then it sinks in.

  She gives Popov puppy dog eyes, and he grins at her.

  Oh, God, I’m going to be sick. She’s a total sociopath, of the kind that makes people like Andrius and Konstantin look soft and fluffy. She let the father of her child be murdered, and now she’s doling out sexual favors to the man who did the murdering. She hates me too, which is bad, bad news for me.

  At first, I had thought she hated me because she loved Konstantin, but she isn’t capable of love. No, she hates me because she saw he liked me, and her ego couldn’t take it. It’s as simple and pathetic as that.

  “I thought you were in too delicate a position for sex,” I snap at her.

  “I have a mouth and hands, and unlike you, I know how to use them.”

  “And an ass,” Popov adds, and her smile falters a little, but only for a moment, before she pastes it in place.

  “We are going to give your beloved a little call,” Popov says.

  He grabs my wrist and drags me into a room, and there’s a man standing in one corner. He’s utterly terrifying. A huge, jagged scar runs from the corner of his right eye, down his face, through his lip and under his jaw. My god, who did that to him?

  He turns dark brown eyes my way and smiles. It’s the smile of the devil himself, and so cold it could freeze the surface of the sun.

  “Is this his girl?”

  “Yes,” Popov says, and I understand immediately that Popov isn’t in charge here. He might think he is, but he isn’t.

  Who the hell is this man?

  “Allow me to introduce myself,” he says. “I am Tigran, and you, my lovely, are going to be an especially useful asset in getting what I want. Particularly as Popov here didn’t manage to retrieve the main asset.”

  “What do you want?” I blurt out.

  “Andrius,” he says. “And Allyov, but Andrius most of all. I want them both gone from this world, and then Popov and I can do much business together.”

  “You do know I only met Andrius a few days ago, right? We barely spoke more than ten words.”

  “Ah, but Andrius has a weakness; he can’t stand women being hurt or tortured. Now, it would be better if I could have got to his little blondie, but his house on Corfu is guarded like Fort Knox. He’s a very paranoid man. I tried to hack him and, no go. It’s rumored that those Greek fucks he’s friends with have an expert hacker amongst their midst, and he is also an expert at making things … how do I say this, non-hackable … un-hackable?” He looks to me as if he wants English lessons. When I don’t answer, he shrugs. “Either way, Andrius is a fortress I cannot crack. So, I think, who else can we use, and I think, maybe his friend Konstantin, who he fought in the trenches with, and also the girl who his friend Konstantin likes. Maybe she will get me Andrius.”

  “I tried to get Kon, but he was alerted, by her.” Popov stares at me with hatred.

  “Get the phone,” Tigran snaps at Popov.

  “Don’t fucking order me about, Tigran,” Popov snarls.

  For a moment, it looks as if they’re about to go for one another, and I hope they do so I can make my escape. No such luck. Tigran gives a small dip of his head, as if to say sorry, and Popov harrumphs like some old man and stalks out of the room. Tigran rolls his eyes, and I wonder how long Popov will struggle under the illusion he’s an equal in this.

  “Popov was going to kill Konstantin,” I say, adding fuel to the fire that is their obvious mutual dislike.

  “No, he wasn’t. Maim him, maybe, possibly, probably, but not kill. I wanted him here, you see. Now, I only have you, and
you are maybe not enough, but we shall see.”

  Popov brings a large phone to the man, who takes it and dials a number after putting it on speaker. On the fourth ring, an achingly familiar voice answers.

  “Da?”

  “Hello, Konstantin. Tigran Atchaban here. How are you?” The man speaks in English as he has to me. I presume then he’s not Russian.

  “On the way to the fucking hospital with my second, Tigran, so why don’t you keep this brief before I hang the fuck up.”

  “Oh no, you don’t want to do that, not when I have something here you very much want kept safe and in pristine condition.”

  “You have Cassie?”

  “I have Cassie. Now, do you know who I am?”

  “You’re Armenian, one of the Dawn Soldiers, as you call yourselves. What I don’t understand here, Tigran, is what you and I have to do with one another? Why have you taken something of mine? She was a prisoner. A woman who fucked something up, and I wasn’t done with punishing her. So why do you have her? I very much want the answer to that question.”

  “You were going to take me out,” Popov screams. “And you were going to lie to Tigran and tell him all sorts of crazy shit about me, so you’re talking to him because you fucking got involved with Allyov’s men and took their side.”

  “Shut up,” Tigran orders Popov, and he does, but he glowers and starts to pace, nothing but restrained violence in a suit of skin.

  “You have a way of getting me something I want,” Tigran says smoothly. “I have your lovely Cassie here, and I know your friend, our friend, Andrius hates it when innocent little girls are ruined by men like us. Now you tell him, if he doesn’t come with you to this house, at a time when I say, unarmed, just the two of you, Cassie is dead. She’s not just dead, though, Konstantin. She’ll be brutalized. Do you understand?”

  “You want me to get you Andrius?” Konstantin starts to laugh. “Oh, yes, I can see that happening. Hey, Andrius, I know you’ve got a new baby, but how about you just hand yourself over to the Armenians? I don’t think so, dickface.”

  “Hey, show some respect.” Tigran rakes his hand through his hair and starts to pace.