Page 18 of Fractured Ties

Because surely—surely—he had not fucking heard his brother right.

Surely not.

Jesus Christ.

“Ivan has a grizzly bear in one of the sections for the animals downstairs. It’s in a cage way too fucking small—it’s pissed off like nothing else and probably hungry. I don’t really know, but it’s a problem.”

Um.

“And it looks fucking sad,” Konstantin added, “even though it also looks like it might kill me if I get too close. But it’s scarred in a lot of places and bleeding on its head, too. Anatoly said Ivan would put it in the fights chained up with a pack of dogs, and—”

“Konstantin, it’s a bear,” Kolya said, speaking slowly so his brother heard every word.

“Yeah, I know, but—”

“No, it’s a bear, Konstantin.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Konstantin, it’s a bear, and you can’t have a fucking bear!”

Why did he even need to tell his brother that?

Why?

“You live in an apartment in the middle of Chicago,” Kolya uttered, “and why in the fuck do you even need me to explain the reasons why you can’t possibly keep a bear?”

Konstantin quieted as he eyed his brother. Kolya stared right back, unbothered.

That was the thing about Konstantin that a lot of people didn’t know—he was soft-fucking-hearted in ways he didn’t let very many people see. He felt for shit in ways Kolya didn’t even think he himself was capable of feeling.

It was what it was.

“Anatoly wants to kill it, and the rest of the animals, too,” Konstantin muttered.

Kolya cringed.

A part of him understood that was the better idea—the animals wouldn’t suffer more than they already had, and the problem would be cleaned. Another part of him didn’t like the idea at all because shit, what had those poor animals done to anybody?

“How many is there?”

“So far,” Konstantin said, “there’s a hundred, or so. Mostly dogs—aggressive breeds. The bear was picked up as a cub a couple of years back. How the fuck Ivan even kept that quiet, I don’t know. I guess he got it from some ranger out west.”

“Probably a rescue—untagged.”

“Maybe.”

Kolya sighed, tossed the files on the desk that’d he’d been looking over, and scrubbed a hand down his jaw. Shit, he needed a shave, shower, and a good drink.

“We could release the animals,” Konstantin said.

Kolya cleared his throat. “And what about the bear?”

“I know a guy.”

He side-eyed his brother. “Like Ivan fucking knew a guy, or no?”

Konstantin glowered. “Blyad, Kolya.”