Page 57 of Fractured Ties

“Mmm, but not her brother,” Vadim replied, wagging that fucking finger of his again. “This … Maya … seems to be in hot demand, all things considered. I’ve gotten word her brother—Alexei—was approached to inherit his father’s debt from the Albanians. They do tend to take their debts seriously, yes?”

Vadim gestured at the papers and duffle of money on the desk. “Now, I can handle my side of this easily enough, Kolya. I have the means and that’s really all I need to do … but it seems this brother of hers is willing to trade Maya for a variety of reasons. None of which I give a damn about at the end of the day, but here we are. It would save me a—”

“That’s going to be a problem,” Kolya interrupted.

It was risky to do that to his father.

Vadim didn’t have a glass close enough to throw, though, so he took the chance.

“How so?” Vadim asked, reverting back to that calm state again.

A dangerous state, really.

“Her position—status—is clear,” Kolya murmured, refusing to budge and entirely unaffected. “She is mine to do with as I want, and I am not handing her over to a man who hasn’t even earned his stars to pay for the debt of a man who never should have had his rank to begin with.”

“Those are strong words.”

“I mean them.”

Vadim sighed. “Kolya, if it’s a slave you want, there is a whorehouse in The Heights full of them that I own. Go pick one, and she can be yours. This slave can fix a whole host of issues, simply by transferring her to a new set of hands, yes? See, easy.”

The visceral reaction at Maya yet again being called a slave was not something Kolya was able to hide at all. His shoulders stiffened, and his hands fisted into tight balls at his side. He heard the crunch of his molars, and his usual scowl sharpened into a glare.

He couldn’t hide it.

Vadim didn’t miss it.

“Ah,” his father murmured.

“What?”

“You can’t have the girl to love or marry. She’s neither appropriate for your status, nor would I approve of her for you, given her circumstances. You should already know this—why the defensiveness and anger?”

“Who said anything about love or marriage?”

Vadim cocked a brow in challenge.

Kolya refused to rise to greet it.

Clearly knowing he was not going to get what he wanted, Vadim tipped his chin up to almost appear as though he were looking down on his son as he said, “Brand her properly for status if you’re so serious about this keeping her thing, although why, I don’t know. She’s a dime a dozen. Do know that any problems that come from this can and will be easily solved. I cannot control what the Albanians want or do when their expectation falls short.”

The statement was offered freely.

Flippantly.

And yet, it irked Kolya like nothing else.

“Is that a threat?” he asked his father.

The change in atmosphere was damn near instant. Tension so thick it could be cut with a fucking knife. And yet, Kolya didn’t take back the words as he probably should. No, he let them hang out there just as freely as his father had given his, and let Vadim make of it what he wanted.

Vadim stood from his desk slowly. “The Albanians had a deal worked out on this—what they chose to do from here on out is their decision, and you are to step back.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Try that again, yes?”

Kolya shook his head. “Won’t do it, no.”