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“Of course it was worth it! You would never understand. I was a young man when my family fell apart. We losteverything. I spent decades hiding, ashamed and powerless. I had to watch my family’s legacy be torn apart and divided up amongst the other Bratva. It was humiliating.”
“And now you’re giving us a taste of our own medicine.”
Levitsky smiles. It’s a chilling, horrible sort of grin; the stuff of nightmares. “It’s very satisfying.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” I look past him at his guards. “Where’s my son?”
“Oh, about that…”
“You didn’t bring him,” I say, even though I sort of already knew he wouldn’t. I knew from the get-go I was deliberately walking into a trap. Still, the disappointment stings. I’m very eager to see Simon again.
“Don’t act so surprised,” Levitsky says coldly. “It wouldn’t have been safe, bringing a sweet boy like him to a place like this. Rest assured, no harm will befall him.”
“Like I’m going to believe a fucking word out of your mouth.”
“You should, Mr. Antonov. I see great potential in Simon. I’m far too old to have heirs of my own, but I got to thinking… After you’re gone, he’ll need a father figure to show him the ropes.”
I clench my fists. “You want to steal my son from me?”
“It’s kind of genius, isn’t it? Simon will grow up under my tutelage. He’ll take over the Levitsky name. He’s so young he won’t remember who you are.”
“You’re a sick bastard, you know that?”
“It’s nothing personal,” Levitsky says with a shrug. “It’s just business.”
With a snap of his fingers, his men raise their weapons and aim at me. I don’t move a muscle. It would be easy to panic, but he doesn’t know yet that I have one last trick up my sleeve.
“You know, you speak of rebuilding your family’s empire,” I say slowly. “But you don’t have any followers left. Not real ones, anyway.”
He looks around at the men pointing their weapons at me. “How do you figure?”
“My sources tell me all your men are mercenaries, correct?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Levitsky says unapologetically. “One day soon, when I have everything that was taken from me, I’ll amass a following ten times the size of what my family once had.”
“Yes, but in the meantime…” It’s my turn to snap my fingers. Suddenly, all his men turn and train their sights onhim.
Levitsky gawks, flabbergasted. “What’s the meaning of this? What the hell are you doing? Killhim!”
“Loyalty is a funny thing,” I mumble. “When it comes to mercenaries, they’re loyal to whoever pays them more. Isn’t that right, boys?”
Levitsky is incensed. His nostrils flare, his eyes bug out, and his cheeks turn a bright, angry red.
“No!” he screams. “No, I’ll pay you all triple what he’s paying you now!”
“Really? You’ll pay them each a million dollars?” I grin, rather pleased with myself and this turn of events. “I know you’ve been slowly collecting territory and wealth, but the Antonovs and the other Bratvas still hold the majority of the control here in Moscow. You can’t afford them anymore.”
“I don’t understand,” Levitsky murmurs. “How did you…”
I produce the burner phone Natalya stole from one of his men. “My youngest brother is a tech whiz. I’ll give credit where credit is due, you’re excellent at running your business, but your cybersecurity is lacking. We’re in the modern age now, old man. Your digital footprint is easy to track, and that includes cell phone numbers. Luka was able to track down the company you hired these men through, and, with the help of the other families, we’ve collectively pooled our money together to buy them out.”
Triumph rises in my chest. I bet he didn’t see that coming. It was a last-minute plan on my part, one I thought up mere seconds after agreeing to meet him in person. There were obviously risks I had to weigh.
There was a good chance the other Bratva leaders weren’t going to fork over their money, and I wouldn’t blame them if they had. Thank God I’ve got such a good working relationship with them. The Rachmans, the Stokoyevskis, the Alekovs… It’s all thanks to the groundwork I’ve laid out between us over the past few years that they even considered my proposal.
It’s going to take a while to pay them back, but since Levitsky’s gone and made enemies out of all of them, he effectively took over the hard work of convincing them. We all want him gone—yet another point in my favor. Why butt heads when we can work together to take out a common enemy?
I toss him a cheeky wink. “Violence isn’t everything, Mr. Levitsky. Sometimes a little diplomacy goes a long way.”
