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I kept my expression neutral, walking behind him to the elevators. I fucking hated this part of the job. I would much rather be killing my enemies than trying to sit in a room with my fucking uncle right now.
Still, I followed the man to the office and found Uncle Misha seated in the posh office that had been my father’s.
The first thing I noticed when I entered was that all of my father’s favorite paintings were missing from their usual positions on the walls. In their place were cheap replicas of landscapes, boats drifting out to sea, mountains capped in snow overlooking valleys. Art that could all be bought for cheap on the streets.
It was those changes that punched me square in the gut, reminding me that my father was truly gone. And that no matter how much I might have resented him or hated him, a part of me truly did miss him.
Beside me, Boris slowed to a stop and cast a quick glance. His expression morphed from mild confusion and bewilderment to one of silent understanding. He said nothing as I took in slow, deep breaths as my fists clenched hard at my sides.
“Alyosha,” Uncle Misha greeted me while Boris closed the doors. “It’s good to see you. Sorry to pull you away from your honeymoon.”
“Aleksey Fyodorovich,” I corrected him. “Do not presume to be so familiar, Mikhail Yevgenievich. Even Father never called me that in this office.”
“Alyosha, please.” My uncle chuckled and poured a drink for me, handing it over before taking the chair across from me. “There is no need to be so hostile. I am not my brother.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
Uncle Misha’s expression darkened for a moment, and I knew I had struck a nerve. “Alyosha. I am still your uncle. And soon, your stepfather.”
“And you take pride in that, Mikhail Yevgenievich?” I pressed. “Might I ask how you had the gall to fuck my mother before my father’s body was even cold in the ground?” I leaned forward. “Or how you chose to disinvite me to his funeral. Me! His only son. Or how I was informed of this farcical wedding a day before it happened?”
His hand tightened on his glass. “Careful, nephew,” he finally said. “There’s a lot more at stake than you might realize.”
I let out a hollow laugh and took my seat. “Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of hurting my nephew.” Uncle Misha let out a slow grin. “I wouldn’t possibly dare go against my Pakhan.”
I slowly sat back, keeping my rage to a minimum. I wasn’t afraid of him. I could kill him before he had a chance to pull his gun. Since the moment I had been informed of Father’s death, I had thought about it many times.
“What is it that you wanted to discuss, Uncle?”
“Khorosho,” Uncle Misha replied, tapping his glass with his finger. “Know this first, Alyosha. I am only looking out for the future of our Bratva and for you.”
I laughed. If I didn’t believe that he had killed my father, his little speech might have been touching. “Pray tell, Uncle. What would you be doing?”
“I ensured that your father’s contract went through,” he said, before taking a drink. “Now you have the Tarallo heir in your bed, settling this bloody feud at last, and you can ensure that our name continues. Surely even my brother would have been proud of such a masterful stroke. And surely you could say thank you.”
“You think that I ought to thank you? For putting that viper in my bed?” I asked, keeping my anger under control for now. “Is that what you truly believe?”
“You forget your place, Alyosha,” my uncle replied evenly, his dark eyes leveled on me.
“I know my fucking place, and it’s in that chair where you sit.” I stood up.
All my life I had been ordered one way or another, forced into a fucking line that I hated to walk. My uncle had been no different than my father, though in my father’s presence, he always seemed to blend with the woodwork.
No wonder he had to sneak into my mother’s bed.
“I should ask you, Uncle,” I continued. “Have you forgotten yours?”
“Forgotten?” My uncle smirked as he rose from his chair as well, placing his glass on the table. “God above, no! No, dear nephew, I haven’t forgotten anything. If anythinghasbeen forgotten, it’s your role in our family.”
I laughed, only because if I didn’t, I might have succumbed to the urge to kill my uncle.
“Tell me,Uncle. What do you think my role is? Because I believe that you are trying to rob me of it. Sitting there in my father’s seat, a seat that never belonged to you. Claiming that you are concerned about the family, about the Bratva, and that you would never go against your Pakhan.” He wasn’t the head of this Bratva. I was. “Yet your actions betray you at every turn.”
To my surprise, my uncle didn’t react to my words. He slipped a hand through his hair.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Alyosha. Your father, he didn’t see your full potential. He always withheld that from you.”
