I LEAVE DEVYN SLEEPING in our new home, a full guard surrounding her, and a full crew installing the security measures I’ve required. My father always had top of the line security, but he, along with my mother, was too comfortable. He became too careless. I can’t let that happen again. I’ve already been too cocky that my apartment building was safe, and Devyn was almost taken straight from under my nose.
Not again.
Never again.
I have shit to handle today, and I need to be one hundred percent certain that she’s safe, especially since her family is the shit I have to handle today.
First, I have to go to the two guards who Callum paid off. While I would love to spend all day torturing them, I don’t have the fucking time. I hurry toward the metal building where I know they’re being kept.
“These pathetic fucks are the ones who decided a few dollars were more important than the safety of my wife, of my queen?” I ask as I walk toward them.
They’re naked and hanging from hooks in the ceiling. Konstantin stands behind them, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Looks to be it, boss,” he grunts. I’m surprised to see him smoking but shrug it off.
I take my gun from my waistband and point it at them. One cries out, something about his wife. “Maybe I use your wife as a whore, the way O’Neil was planning to use mine,” I smile. His eyes widen in obvious fear and that’s the moment I fill his useless body with bullets.
“What about you? Any last words?” I ask the other one.
He shakes his head as worthless tears fall from his eyes. I fill his body with bullets as well. Their deaths aren’t as satisfying as I would have wished, but I have shit to do.
“Ready?” I ask Konstantin.
He throws his cigarette down and grinds it with the toe of his shoe into the concrete. “Cleanup crew is waiting outside. I’m heading to Devyn now.”
Together, we walk out and take separate cars. “Take care of my wife.”
“Always,” he calls out.
My Bugatti makes quick work of taking me toward the destination.
Dominik and Yakov meet me at Patrick O’Neil’s home, the place where everything went down just a few short hours ago. The cars that were parked up and down the street in the middle of the night are there, plus there are even more now.
Apparently, news has traveled quickly.
I park in the driveway. Dominik pulls in behind me, and I slip my jacket on, checking my gun in my waistband and the two I have in my shoulder holsters as well. I also have a switchblade knife in my pocket, just in case. It’s better to be prepared then to be caught with nothing but your dick in your hand.
“Aidan O’Neil swore his fidelity?” Yakov asks as he stretches his neck.
“Said he would welcome being under the Bratva umbrella,” I explain.
Yakov grunts before he murmurs. “We’ll see how trustworthy he is. The father wasn’t.”
We walk into the home without knocking, knowing that there will be dozens of men wandering around, which is exactly the case. No one stops us as we make our way further into the home. I don’t bother going into the living room, where the action happened last night. I assume that Aidan will be where I would be, in his father’s office.
There, is Aidan, sitting behind his father’s desk, rifling through paperwork.
“Aidan,” I murmur as I clear my throat, walking over the threshold. He doesn’t look up immediately, letting out a heavy sigh before he does.
“How is my sister?” he asks.
That’s when I know that I’ve done the right thing by backing him. He’s worried about Devyn, her wellbeing, and not himself, his crew, or whatever else is about to happen.
“Good. I left her fully protected and asleep,” I explain. He nods.
I watch as he leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers together, pressing them against his lips. “My father has his hand in a lot of cookie jars. I’m afraid that he already started cooperating, talking to, and even trading guns with the Cartel. I’m at a loss of what to do. If I cut their supply off completely, it could be a fucking disaster for us. We are definitely not in a position to go to war with them.”
“They have a new El Patron then?” I ask, arching a brow.
My brother-in-law cut the previous one’s head off in his own bed. I was there. I watched him carry that fucking head around in a box until he delivered it to my father.
“Yeah, a guy from here, actually. Went down and took over. Patrick supplied dope to some Aryans, but it doesn’t look like he’s done that in a while; a few years at least.”
I snort, because word has it the Notorious Devil’s sent those crazy fucks completely underground, if there are even any left. “Aryan’s are a non-issue at this point. The Cartel probably is, too. They’re pretty fucking weak and still rebuilding from the loss of their previous El Patron. I think your focus should be on building up what your father neglected.”
“Yeah,” he nods and runs his hand over his face. “And the Italians.” I grunt, the fucking Italians.
“Set up a meet with the Italians—the boss, not the second. We all go and school them on how the plans have changed and what exactly Patrick was playing at. If they aren’t understanding of the situation, then we’ll deal with them however we need to,” I suggest. “One thing is for damn fucking sure, I’m not handing Devyn over to anyone.”
“Never planned on it, brother,” Aidan grins.
One of her brothers is gone, as is one of her sisters, but there are still five brothers that are now mine. I never planned on her family and mine being close. In our world, when the girl is married into a totally different organization, she doesn’t see much of her family again, immersing herself into her husband’s life and his family. But this situation is different; we’re now melting our families together in a way that was never planned.
I open my mouth to say something, though I’m not sure what, when he picks up the office phone and begins dialing numbers. It only takes a moment for me to realize he’s contacting the Italian boss, and Yakov gains my attention.
“Seems like the transitions will be fairly smooth.”
“Aidan is extremely capable. He should have been boss long ago, then maybe none of this shit would have happened.”
“Ah, but you wouldn’t have had your Devyn, and you wouldn’t be boss now, either. It all happens for a reason, Timofei, even if you don’t know what it is until it slaps you in the fucking face,” he chuckles.
I nod in agreement. “Thanks for being my backup on this shit. I feel like a fish out of water,” I admit.
Yakov grins before giving me a wink. “You’re doing better than I ever expected or anticipated of you. The father you had, not the man he turned into, but the one he was years ago, he would be proud as fuck. I know Sergei is.”
“Meet, tomorrow at nine in the evening. The Oleandr, if that’s acceptable?” Aidan asks.
I blink in surprise. Mainly because I didn’t think that the Italians would come into our territory.
“How’d you get them to come to Brighton Beach?” Dominik asks, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Didn’t give them an option,” Aidan grins.
Yakov, Dominik, and I laugh as we make ourselves comfortable. We have some serious shit to discuss with Aidan, contracts to draw up, and alliances to confirm. Aidan looks at me and smirks. The relief on his face is almost palpable. I know the feeling. Not long ago, I felt the exact same way.
Power can be fucking evil. It can consume a man in a way that makes him unrecognizable to the rest of the world. It can cause him to make decisions that are not beneficial to his organization. It can cause him to hurt the people that love him—without feeling one ounce of remorse.
It’s a fragile thing, being a man who holds so much power at his fingertips. It is why I never wanted any real power. Why I was content to party and do as I pleased. But when you see a man doing so many things that cause nothing but turmoil, to the people he’s supposed to take care of and protect—what kind of man does that make you if you sit back and do nothing?
Whatever it makes you, I didn’t want to be that. My life in Denver was much less complicated, but people were suffering here. Now, I have a chance to fix that, to make a dramatic change, and I endeavor to do just fucking that.
I wake to the sound of what must be drills downstairs. I grab the house phone from the floor and hurry into the bathroom to lock the door. Apparently, Timofei not only had beds delivered, but he set up a landline as well. I pinch my eyes closed and try to calm down so that I can remember Fei’s number. When it pops into my head, I dial it quickly.
“They’re installing the security system, devochka,” he says as his form of greeting. I let out a sigh of relief. “Konstantin is downstairs and waiting for you when you’re ready. There’s a small packed bag in the closet with all you should need to get dressed for the day,” he explains.
“Fei?” He hums, waiting for me to continue. “Good afternoon. I love you,” I whisper.
“Me too, Devvy,” he mutters. I can tell he’s speaking low so that nobody else hears him. “I’m in a meeting with your brother. If you need me, just call, yeah?”
“Tell Aidan hello for me, and yeah,” I nod as though he can see me somehow.
It doesn’t take me long to get ready. I shower and use the clean towel that’s miraculously appeared, along with all of my makeup and everything I need to get ready. Then I make my way to the closet, where there’s an outfit for me inside of a small bag.
I slip on the pair of dark washed, skinny jeans and the V-neck, burgundy, loose fitting t-shirt. I tuck the front of the shirt into the waist of my jeans and let the rest hang loose before slipping my feet into the soft brown booties that wait for me next to my bag.
“You’re up,” Konstantin announces as I make my way down the wrought iron staircase. He’s standing in the entryway, watching a man who is punching buttons onto a new keypad. “Hungry? I brought donuts and coffee, though the coffee is probably cold now.”
I nod as I walk over to the countertop and take a glazed old fashioned out of the box. I look around, taking in the men who all seem to be busy doing stuff around the house. It doesn’t feel like my home yet, just a big empty house that’s like a castle.
“I’d like to go to church,” I murmur, taking a bite of the donut.
Konstantin doesn’t say anything, and I lift my eyes to meet his after a few seconds of deafening silence. “I’m sure you would, Devyn. But you’ll have to go another day. Timofei would like you to get a few furnishings today. Your clothes will be delivered before this evening, and you have an entire household to set up now,” he informs me.
I look around again, seeing the big beautiful empty space in a whole new light. I have to fill it; I have to make it a home, and it feels daunting, to say the least. Turning back to Konstantin, he must notice the wild look in my eyes. He tips his lips in a slight smile. “Ashley and Inessa are ready and waiting.”
Konstantin barks out a few orders to the men in the room. I’m focused on nothing, except the fact that I have no idea all of the little details of what a house needs to make a home. I’ve never done anything like this before, let alone started from complete scratch.
I slide into the back of the car as he makes his way to the driver’s side and starts the engine, pointing our car in the direction he’s decided we’re headed.
“How am I going to pay for all of this?” I ask from the backseat.
He laughs and shakes his head once. “I have a card designated for your purchases.”
“Why don’t I have my own?” I ask on a frown.
Konstantin shrugs before he speaks. “You’re never to be without your Byki, especially in public. Some men find it easy to make that happen if their women don’t have access to their funds,” he explains. Then he takes a breath. “I don’t think this is the way Timofei is, Devyn. I just think since you’ve been married, with everything that has happened, that it just hasn’t come up yet.”
I nod, understanding exactly what he’s saying, but also wondering if maybe Timofei is being controlling all at the same time. I don’t doubt that he’s a man who desires control. Just being intimate with him proves that to be true. Me being completely beholden to him and whatever Byki he’s assigned to me assures him of my every single waking move. I don’t doubt that it is something he would purposely do.
“Devyn?” Konstantin asks. I realize that he’s pulled the car into the driveway of a beautiful home. It looks like a fancy French château. “We’re at Inessa’s. She’ll have the baby and her Byki will likely wish to follow us,” he explains.
It only takes a few minutes for Inessa, her Byki, and baby, Devora, to load into her SUV, and then we’re off toward Ashley’s.
Konstantin states the same warning, that she’ll likely follow us because of her baby. I nod in silence and just stare out the window.
The scenery is lovely, and I find that I start to think about my father. The look in his eyes, the cockiness when he didn’t think I would kill him, and then the complete shock when he realized that I would and was going to.
I also think about the fact that I don’t feel the slightest bit of guilt about the whole thing. I took a man’s life, my own father’s, my flesh and blood, and I don’t feel even an ounce of guilt.
It doesn’t take long for my thoughts to shift toward Brenna, Callum, and Shannon. Three people that I thought I loved, and who I thought loved me. They were virtual strangers. I didn’t know them, so how could I have loved them?
“We’re here,” Konstantin announces as he turns the car’s engine off.
I look around and see that we’re in an outdoor shopping center, and it seems that every single store surrounding us is a furniture store. I inhale a deep breath to try and tamp down my anxiousness. “They will help you, Devyn,” he murmurs opening my door as he holds his hand out for me.
“Okay,” I whisper shakily. I slip my hand in his as he helps me out of the back of the car.
Releasing his hold, I take a step toward Ashley and Inessa, both women have strollers and bright happy faces aimed right at me. I feel a little more at ease, instantly. Then I slowly make my way toward them.
“I know it’s a lot. We’ve had to furnish our homes, too. It seems like an impossible task, but we’ll only tackle the most important rooms today. The Master bedroom, living room, and dining room,” Inessa says with a smile.
“That doesn’t seem too bad,” I murmur.
“Just wait until we have to go shopping for all of the kitchenware, towels, and things like that. But three heads are better than one, so don’t stress. We got you, Devyn,” Ashley winks and turns to walk toward one of the stores.
I follow the two women, and their babies. I feel the three large Byki at my back, as we make our way toward the first store. I wonder if we look like as big of a spectacle as I think we do.
Immediately, I decide that I don’t care if we do. These women are taking time out of their day to help me, and I think I’m going to need all the help that I can get.