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CHAPTER1
Sevastian
Nine years before
Danger.
I woke with a start, the air from the open window thick with humidity. I hated the fact my mother preferred fresh air, requiring us to keep our windows open a good portion of the year. Perspiration trickled down both sides of my face, the stench of my own sweat as thick as the mugginess in the room. I rolled over, glaring at the neon red lighting of the clock. Three-ten a.m. Almost every night for the past month I’d awakened at exactly the same time.
Groaning, I tossed to the other side, staring at the crack underneath the door. In two days, I’d leave for the university. Two days. My brother, Alexei, had graduated a year before, regaling every day he’d spent in the brutal regimen as having been an heir to a fabulous throne. Now he was handling operations for my father, learning every aspect of our business, determined to take over when the time was right.
As the youngest, I was only given the privilege of attending because of who my father was. ThePakhan, the notorious leader of the Bratva in New York. No one challenged him. Whether saints or sinners, politicians or other Mafioso families, they all knew how dangerous he was. They called him unhinged. That’s what I adored about him.
However, I was itching to spread my wings, not kowtow to another set of rulers. The university was special, creating monsters out of boys, coaxing them in how to become ruthless leaders. Now I was going to join the ranks.
Fuck.
Sighing, I tried to will myself to sleep, closing my eyes once. Then I heard a noise. Jerking up my head, I continued to stare at the darkness underneath the door, only I was now able to see shadows. The sweeping sensations of danger hit me once again. Someone was passing by my door, coming from the stairs. I crept out of bed, moving toward my dresser and removing my Beretta. I’d been taught to shoot before I was finished with little league baseball, my father insisting I understand both the power and responsibility of using a weapon.
I heard a creak of floorboards only a few feet away from my room. My parents’ wing was on another floor entirely. Only my sister, Tatiana, and I remained at home, Alexei just purchasing his first New York City condo and our oldest brother Viktor spending more time in Russia handling business than in the US. I moved to within inches of the door, taking my time turning the knob, pulling it open a few inches.
There was a light, only I could tell it was coming from a beam.
A flashlight.
Someone was inside the house. We were surrounded by my father’s soldiers, the house wired to the gills with security measures, but with the open windows, it was still possible for someone to get inside unseen.
Keeping low, I moved into the hallway, both hands on my weapon, following the source of light. While it was possible my mother was checking on Tatiana, who’d been sick lately, the bad feeling churned in the pit of my stomach. I remained silent until I noticed Tatiana’s door was open.
When I heard a muffled cry, I reacted instantly, rushing into the room. I didn’t need a light to tell me that two men were attempting to abduct my sister. No one touched her. I’d protected her for years, fighting off bullies, beating several until they were left close to death. These two bastards would never be allowed to touch her. I wasted no time, pulling the trigger twice, catching both men off guard.
Their bodies slumped, one falling directly over Tatiana.
I rushed forward, noticing the bastard still had some life left in him, the barrel of his weapon placed against my sister’s forehead.
“Savi!” she moaned.
The fucker grinned at me, the wash of moonlight highlighting his evil expression.
No. Fucking. Way.
I managed to yank him off her just a split second before the gun was fired, wrestling him to the floor and knocking his weapon away by several feet. I issued hard punches, one after the other, but still the man remained alive. As I fought, I was finally able to aim the pistol, but the fucker snapped his fingers around my wrist, his enormous size giving him the advantage. He was fighting to shove the weapon under my chin. Fuck, no.
I butted his head with mine. He groaned, managing to roll me over, using the heel of his hand, snapping it under my chin. Pain tore through me, but I ignored it, scrambling to get out from under him. I jammed my fingers into his windpipe, able to jerk away, gasping for air. We both jumped to our feet, but he lunged toward me before I could get off another shot.
Tatiana screamed, the sound of terror echoing.
“Run, Tat. Run!” I hissed, but she wasn’t moving. Goddamn it.
He threw a punch then went for my sister again. I was finished with the asshole.
The man was huge, outweighing me by at least fifty or more pounds. My mother called me a late bloomer, my slight frame making me appear much younger. However, I’d been required to train hard in martial arts, easily dragging the man off the bed and onto the floor for a second time, wrestling with him for only a few seconds before I had him in a choke hold.
Then I popped three more shots into his head.
“Savi!” she yelled over and over again.
All hell seemed to break loose, sirens going off outside, the sound of male voices floating in through the windows. I tossed the asshole aside, lifting her away from the carnage and backing away from the window.
