AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But if thepakhancalled, demanding our involvement…
No. That’s not possible. The current leader at the top of the food chain is our cousin, for starters, and he’s not running the show, according to all intel.
Dimitri is completely uninterested. He’spakhanby right of blood, and he’s proven he’s ruthless enough for the position many times over, because that’s the only way to keep his head on his shoulders. But he doesn’t want it. And therefore, he lets things run themselves without interference unless there’s a major fuck-up.
I get him. He didn’t have a choice about his path in life, any more than we do. He’s the son of the previouspakhan. We’re the sons of the previouspakhan’s sister. Wearethe bratva, by right of blood. It doesn’t matter if I become a lawyer, if Markus becomes an architect, if Magnus becomes a surgeon. We’ll be there if the brotherhood calls, no question asked. They’re family. That weird cousin no one wants at civilized parties, but family nonetheless.
If our summons isn’t due to the bratva, then it must be about Ma.
Markus, the little shit, is her favorite. He might have a black, frozen hole where hearts generally are, but he’s somehow fooled Marcella Goltz into believing he’s a doting son. And I’m the only one who actually accept hugs, so when our father fails to cheer up his wife, he tends to call either of us.
But rarely both of usat once.We can’t stop ourselves from fighting each other, and Ma hates it.
A singer and artist, she’s highly susceptible to her moods—generally happy, ecstatic when her work goes well, but the slightest criticism from some irrelevant fuck in a shitty magazine is enough to bring out her imposter syndrome, and make her pout.
Eriks Goltz does not like when his wife pouts.
“It was a group message,” Markus tells me. “Magnus was contacted, too.”
My stomach sinks.
Magnus is very much the heir; he’s the mirror our father holds to his own face. Equally cold. Equally calculating. Equally…well, for lack of a better word,evil.
Markus might fuck up a guy without hesitation if given a reason, but Magnus? He’d take them to dinner. He’d smile. He’d offer his hand and pat his back. Then he’d slowly slither into their lives and poison everything they hold dear all the while letting them cry on his shoulder.
Our mother is fully aware of his nature, and his presence only stresses her out—though he’s less unstable now that his entire evil mind is busy attempting to convince his wife to stay with him.
Eriks wouldn’t contact him if Marcella was having one of her low moods. Hell, he’d send him across the ocean for a while.
So, that brings us back to the brotherhood.
“Did Dimitri call?” I check.
My ass of a little brother just shrugs, unbothered. Why wouldn’t he? He thrives in chaos.
“So, it’s the end of the world then,” I conclude.
Markus sounds bored. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.”
That’s true enough, but unlike the cold one and the crazy one, I’m the Goltz who actually thinks and then stresses the fuck out.
Sometimes, I envy them. Being sane-ish is overrated.
We’re making our way to my Escalade when a familiar screech of wheels pierces the night, sounding like it’s driving towards us at first, but it swivels close by and the noises fades away.
I chose my car to be able to seat seven people, so I could drive others on the swimming team comfortably, and to avoid emptying my bank balance. Magnus picked his car for speed, and to make it crystal clear to the world that he’s the ideal Goltz, so of course he has a Lamborghini.
I don’t doubt he sped away to answer our father’s call first.
I hate that guy.
Rather than heading to his bike, parked in our driveway, Markus hops in the passenger side of my car. I don’t protest. Any other day, I might, just for shit and giggles, but today, we’re on a schedule. It wouldn’t do for him to crash his bike and make miss the call.
If all three of us have been summoned, all three of us must be there on time. Otherwise, all three of us will pay.
One of the simple rules we learned during our lovely gap year.
We drive away from campus, toward Thorn Falls, and then onto the hill.
