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But I still can’t breathe.
Silence in the room is deafening.
The longest seconds of my life pass until I’m about to choke out the words that break the tense silence. “You heard something.”
Luka, my brother and boss of the Malikov Bratva, slants me a look. “We’ve been gathering intelligence from Ukraine, and Alek just got an update that you all need to hear. Olek Moroz’s family is about to make a move.”
Tiny razor blade slashes attack my throat when I swallow. “Against us.” I say the words that none of us need to hear.
Except we didn’t kill Olek.
He was murdered by an enemy of the Brotherhood 7, a secret society founded by my father years ago.
From what we know, Olek’s family lost everything when he died. As head of the Ukranian mafia, Olek had built an empire that crumbled like a sand castle at high tide once the vultures around his family smelled blood and stole everything he’d built once he was in the ground.
His family always assumed the Brotherhood 7 carried out the attack, but there was never any proof.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickle.
That we know of.
Because if they knew the truth about what really happened that night back in Kiev, I’d be at the top of their hit list.
Luka’s jaw tenses. He gives a swift nod. “They’ve waited a long time to retaliate against us for the hit on Olek. His sons, led by their uncle, finally have their plans in place.”
“If we know their plans, why the fuck aren’t we stopping them?” I ball my hands into tight fists.
“Our sources don’t have all the details.” Luka sweeps a hand through his hair and with his free hand, sloshes vodka around the glass he’s holding. “But one consistent thing we keep hearing about is a concert that’s being held in one week here in Miami. They’re coming here and we need to be ready for them and whatever they might try.”
My gut clenches when Luka avoids my eyes.
He knows as well as I do who’s performing at that concert and whyourplan is so important to the future of our family.
But that’s a secret only the two of us share.
Judging by the way he purposely refuses to look at me, I wonder what else he knows, what he’snotsaying.
“We’re canceling the honeymoon,” my sister Tori announces, her hands on the hips of her white wedding gown. “There’s no way I can get on a plane to Fiji knowing that shit is about to hit the fan here. I’ll be a nervous wreck being so far away from home.”
“Your best option is to get on a plane. Get as far away from here as you can.” Luka takes a long sip of vodka before speaking again. “You need to relax. You’re pregnant. Enjoy the time away and fuck your husband while you still can.”
Tori rolls her eyes. Her new husband, Konstantin, flings an arm around her shoulders. “I like that plan. The guys have everything under control here. They can handle things without you for a couple of weeks while we’re away.”
I look over at Alek Severinov, the head of the Red Ladro syndicate my family is part of. He stares back at me, steepling his fingers.
“You know what you have to do, Danil,” he says.
An eye for an eye.
Of course I know what the fuck I have to do.
“I want to get everyone out of here now,” I say. “All the wedding guests are gone. It’s time to move. We’re not taking any chances.”
“I agree,” Luka says. He pulls out his phone and stabs the screen. “Ilya, get all the cars lined up by the side exit with security.”
We file out of the room where our security guards form a human barricade around the wives and fiancées of my brothers.
“Danil.” My mother, Irina, walks up to me and takes me by the arm. “What’s happening?”
