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I roll my eyes at the mockery he’s trying to make of me. It won’t work. He’s the loser here, and it’s always been that way. He’s lucky I even picked up the phone and gave him attention in the first place. He deserves much less than that.
“Oh, The Pink Disaster… That was the name,” he continues, trying to fill the silence and squash out the awkward landing of his ill-mannered joke.
“Yes, and she will be rebuilt,” I reply through gritted teeth. “Anything else you want to talk about?”
There’s a moment of silence before he speaks, like the calm before a violent storm. “I just had a question,” he says, and I hear a smile in his wicked voice.
“Ask it before I hang up on you,” I grumble.
“Is The Pink Disaster named after Valerie Morgan, or is it just a coincidence that they’re both going to burn to ashes?”
The line goes dead, and my heart skips a beat. I want to throw my phone at the wall, but I keep my rage inside, boiling justbeneath the surface. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it that way, but now isn’t the time to start breaking things.
I didn’t believe that Anatoly would go this far, but it seems like he’s been left to his own devices for so long that he’s beginning to grow delusional. That, or he’s desperate, and he sees destroying me as his only hope of getting out of the mess he’s put himself in.
He could move to a different state – a different country, even – and he wouldn’t have to face my wrath.
But he’s chosen to stay and make threats against Valerie, and for that, he’s going to pay very dearly. I never wanted to kill my own brother, but if he pushes me, I’ll have no other choice.
A war is coming, and it will be more violent and bloody than any this city has ever seen.
Bodies will fall.
Empires will crumble.
And the last man standing will become the ruler of the city, unifying the north and the south into one unstoppable Bratva kingdom. That man won’t be Anatoly Chazov.
It will be me.
I walk back to the room as my rage simmers into cold thoughts of revenge, checking on Valerie before I call Boris. He’ll want to know about what’s going on. We need to prepare for war, to organize our troops so that we can strike with the utmost precision.
Valerie is in the shower, singing a song I’m not familiar with. Probably something recent, but I don’t keep up with trends anymore. Honestly, being older is a lot less stressful than myyouth was, even with Anatoly breathing down my neck like a hyena.
I leave the room, allowing her to enjoy her peace as I dial up Boris.
“Hello?” He answers immediately, just like he always does.
“Hello, Boris, I have some news about the club that burned down. As it turns out, my brother was the one responsible for it. He called and admitted it to me.”
“Seriously? He’s getting bold.”
I grip the phone a bit tighter. “Yes,toobold. He also made threats against Valerie, which is completely unacceptable. I’ve killed men over less.”
“I’m genuinely at a loss for words,” Boris replies.
“Don’t worry, I will talk for you. What’s going to happen now is that we’re going to prepare a retaliation against him. Something big to send a message, but not something that’s going to attract too much attention from the authorities. Think financial ruin, not bodies in the street, though it may come down to that if he keeps pushing me.”
“Sounds like a good idea. I can come up with some ways to hit him where it hurts.”
“Good,” I reply, but my voice is tight in my throat. I hate that it’s come to this. Our father didn’t want us to feud this way, and he specifically warned me about taking the lives of family members.
But Anatoly is threatening violence against Valerie, and that’s unforgiveable. He will not live to lay a finger on her. If he ever makes an attempt to get close to her, he’s a dead man.
And I’ll be the one pulling the trigger.
My face is hot when I hang up the phone, and I have to rush to a different bathroom in the house to splash it with cold water. Valerie will worry if she knows what’s going on, and she won’t feel safe. For her sake, she can’t find out about Anatoly’s plans.
It’s best to keep her in the dark for now, dazzled by wealth and luxury until I can put a baby in her.
