Owned By The Bratva King by Jagger Cole

13

Yuri

“Yuri,”Petya groans. He sits back in his chair and rubs the bridge of his nose. I’m too amused with the sight of Semyon storming out of Petya’s office to more than smile though.

“I brought you both here to work this out,” Petya mutters.

“This is me working it out.”

“No, this is you torpedoing some very, very lucrative business arrangements,” he grunts.

“I’m fine.”

“I meant of mine, Yuri,” Petya snaps.

I spread my arms. “The terms are what they are. I’ve been quite clear that I think Semyon is an incompetent troll. It is pure luck and the fact that he’s worth more alive than dead to enough people that he hasn’t been put out of his misery yet.”

Petya scowls at me. But he doesn’t contradict me either. We both know I’m not wrong. Even with my emotions taken out of the equation, from a purely business standpoint, Semyon is a horrendous leader. He’s lazy, greedy, and has a hair-trigger temper.

---

Like me,he was given the reins to the family-named Bratva that he runs from his father. But while he’s coasted on that for his entire life, I’ve poured my blood and sweat into the Volkov organization. I’ve driven it from mid-level syndicate to one of the most powerful, feared, and influential Bratva families in Russia and the US.

“You goaded him, Yuri,” Petya sighs. “You insulted him.”

“Yes, and it was quite enjoyable.”

He groans. I smile.

“I joke, Petya. But the terms are what they are. That’s just business. Semyon is a rival, not a friend. I will not make this trade easy for him.”

But that isn’t quite the truth. I’m not making it a “hard” business decision for him. I’m making it impossible; purposefully so. Because though I keep saying it, this is not “just business.” This stopped being “just business” the very moment I realized who it was I’d stolen from Semyon’s clutches. This stopped being a business decision the second I laid eyes on her.

But this is not because I wish to play hero. I’m not a savior. I’m no saint. I’m not doing any of this to save River from him.

I’m doing it to keep her all for myself.

“Yuri, that was not haggling. You’re asking for fifty-percent of his fucking business.”

“No, I’m asking for fifty-five-percent,” I growl.

He rolls his eyes with a groan. “Yuri! Please! All this for a girl?”

My mouth thins. The answer is yes, but I say nothing. I don’t actually trust myself to even think the answer in my own head. Because it is for her, but why it is… worries me. It frightens me a little, if I’m being honest with myself.

I smirk to myself. Right. Honest. I haven’t been honest with myself since the second she stepped off that helicopter. This should have been easy. But it was her that Semyon wanted. And now, it’s the furthest thing from easy I can imagine.

Yes, I want to destroy my rival. I want to take his business for my own and delete him entirely. But she throws a big wrench into that plan. Because as much as I want to destroy Semyon, I want her even more.

Petya sighs and pours another heavy splash of vodka into his glass. He does the same to mine and then sets the bottle down.

“Yuri, we have done business for decades. I did business with your father.”

“And I see no reason why my dealings with Semyon needs to affect that in any—”

“Of course it does!” he snaps. “Yuri! You are a smart man; smarter than even your father was, and he was a clever man. Don’t get obtuse with me. You understand that I do business with the both of you—you and Semyon alike. And I do a lot of business with the both of you.”

His eyes narrow as he leans over his desk towards me.

“But hear this, Yuri. I see there is more than business going on here, and I do not like it.” He looks at me coldly. “Settle this.”

“Are you threatening to cut me out if I don’t play nice, Petya?” I growl dangerously.

“Nyet, Yuri,” he grunts. “I am not threatening. I am telling you openly. Do not bring your shit with Semyon into my business, or I will cut you both out. Is that understood?”

I stand and knock back the vodka. “A very lovely party, Petya.”

He sighs. “Yuri, don’t be like that.”

I turn.

“Yuri! Sit! Let us find a solution to this. There is no reason to throw away a business arrangement as lucrative as ours for some pretty little whore!”

With a snarl and a roar, I whirl on him. I storm over, and before I know what I’m doing, I clear his desk of papers, glasses, and the bottle of vodka with one swipe of my arm.

The room falls silent. Petya looks at me coldly. He stands.

“Get yourself in control, Yuri,” he says thinly. “And get your house in order.” He turns and walks to the door before he turns. “Enjoy the party, my old friend. Enjoy, and then get your shit together.”

The door slams behind him, and I groan. My hands tighten on the edge of his desk. Shit.

To sayI’m in a foul mood as I stalk through the party would be an understatement. I’m a black cloud; a hurricane looking to destroy. And almost everyone who I stride past can see it on my face.

When I get to the veranda, I frown. My eyes scan the guests dancing and swaying to the club music. But I don’t see who I’m after. I prowl through the gardens and don’t find her there, either. Back in the house though, my eyes narrow furiously when I spot her.

She’s on a couch in a sunken, retro-style living room. And some… man—some asshole—is siting next to her. He’s grinning at her, leering close. His arm is around her shoulders. My jaw grinds painfully. My lips curl into a snarl, and I storm towards them.

River spots me first. Her eyes widen when she sees the look on my face. But then I see her push that shock away. She smirks at me, teasingly. Then she turns back to the man and laughs loudly at something he’s just said.

She’s playing a game. I don’t play fucking games.

I stride up to them and drag my scowling eyes to the man. He’s still laughing as he turns to see who’s looming over him. I don’t know who the fuck he is. But I can see from the way his face pales that he sure as hell knows me.

“Mr. Volkov,” he blurts as he jumps to his feet. My eyes narrow on him. Then they slide to burn possessively into River. Whoever the little fuck is, he’s a smart fuck. He gets it instantly that he’s just crossed a line he should not have.

“Mr. Volkov, I am so sorry,” he chokes, his eyes wide and his face pale. “I… forgive me, please. I’ve had too much to drink.”

“Then perhaps you should get some air.” I turn to him, my eyes blazing. “Now. Or else perhaps I could take you up in my helicopter for some…” I smile. “Some higher air.”

He swallows, whirls, and all but runs away. I smile thinly as I turn back to her.

“What the fuck was that?”

I frown. “Excuse me?”

“That shit! That macho alpha shit. What, I can’t talk to another guy?”

“No,” I growl. “You cannot.”

She rolls her eyes. “Wow, so, being kidnapped and locked up on your fucking boat while you negotiate to sell me to some creep rival of yours basically means we’re going steady then. Is that it?”

I frown. “You’ve been drinking.”

She rolls her eyes again. “It’s a party, Yuri.”

My eyes drag over her, prying. “You’re angry.”

“No, I’m not.”

A group of party guests wander into the living room and find seats on the far side of the couch. I glare at them. But the five of them are clearly drunk. Instead, I grab River’s hand, turn, and pull her after me.

“Hey!” She yanks at my grip. But I’m much stronger than her. “Hey! Let me the fuck go!”

I ignore her as I pull her down the hall of the sprawling villa and into a room. I slam the door behind me as she suddenly yanks her arm free and whirls on me. She glares at me. I glare right back.

“What exactly have I missed?” I mutter.

She cocks a hip, crossing her arms over her chest. She glares at me. “Nothing,” she snaps.

I sigh. “Kiska…”

Her face turns red with anger. “Don’t you dare call me…” she frowns. “What the fuck does that even mean? You keep calling me that.”

“It means kitten.”

She purses her lips. “Kitten, hmm? Like a pet?”

I frown.

“That what you call all of your girls?”

I arch a brow. “My girls?”

River’s mouth thins. “Yuri, please.”

“What the hell are you even talking about?”

She sighs. “Nothing. It’s just finally occurred to me that I don’t have any interest in being one of your little playthings. So, please, make the business deal, Yuri. Sell me to that other creep for the best you can gouge him for, and we can be done with this absurd arrangement.”

The growl rumbles in my chest.

“Where is this coming from?”

She opens her mouth and then shuts it again. She paces the floor, glaring at her feet.

“Speak.”

She barks a laugh. “Seriously? I’m not a fucking pet, Yuri.”

“And I’m not a fucking mind-reader,” I snap back. “So tell me what the fuck you’re angry about!”

She glares at me. “I’m not angry.”

“Really,” I mutter dryly.

River’s eyes narrow at me. “I met a friend of yours tonight.”

“I don’t have friends.”

“Well gee, there’s a surprise.”

I sigh. “If we’re done playing these games…” I walk over and grab her arm. “Let’s go.”

“Svetlana,” she mutters thickly, yanking her arm from my grip. “I met Svetlana tonight.”

I freeze. Slowly, I turn and look down into her eyes.

“Svetlana Gagarina?”

River bristles. “Tall, blonde, pretty. A giant cunt?”

I smirk. “That sounds like her.”

River’s face darkens. And suddenly, I smile as I get what all of this is about.

“You’re jealous of her.”

She glares at me. “Hardly.”

I chuckle. “Yes, you are.”

Anger burns hotly in her eyes. “Oh, is that funny to you?”

“Immensely.”

And suddenly, she slaps me. I snarl, bristling as I turn back to glare at her. River looks terrified at what she just did. But she holds her ground. She sets her jaw, glaring right back at me.

“She told you we have history, didn’t she?”

River’s lips thin to a line. Then I truly see it. She’s jealous. The thought makes me… I shake my head. It makes me happy. Not that she’s jealous, but what her being jealous of another woman implies.

“She lied,” I mutter, truthfully.

“Whatever,” River turns as if she might go. But I grab her wrist tightly and yank her back around.

“She lied to upset you, probably to upset me by proxy.”

River’s face burns hotly. She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure—”

“She tried,” I grunt. “If you’re curious. She tried, a couple of years ago. I did not fuck her, but she tried.” I narrow my eyes at River. “Her father is Petya, the man whose home we’re in. He’d cut her off from her allowance—something to do with drugs or something. I don’t know and I don’t care. But Svetlana came to me, after, and tried to seduce me. I sent her away, because she only wanted money, and her father is a business associate.”

River bristles.

“But most importantly,” I snarl. “She does not interest me.”

She looks away, pursing her lips. “She… she knew things, about you…”

“Such as?”

River blushes.

“River…”

“Such as your…” her face throbs even darker. “Your dick being big. The black rose tattoo someone could only see if you were naked.”

I smile. My hand comes up to cup her chin gently as I look down into her eyes.

“I did not sleep with her, River. I’ve never touched her. But…” I frown. “I have not lived the life of a monk. I’m forty-five, kiska.”

She looks away, chewing angrily on her lip.

“You are jealous.”

“No,” she snaps.

“You hate the idea of me with other women—”

“Yuri, I don’t fucking care—”

“Yes, you do.” My hand slides up to cup her face, tilting her chin up to look me in the eye.

“Because the idea of any other man even laying their fucking eyes on you makes me want to spill blood,” I snarl. “It makes me want to burn down nations and break the world in two.”

She whimpers as I pull her against my chest. One hand slips over her hip, the other tilts her face up to mine. She swallows.

“It makes me want to make you mine and mine alone,” I snarl. “Because you are mine. All fucking mine.”

I crush my lips hard to hers. I kiss her punishingly. I kiss her ruthlessly. I kiss her like she fucking belongs to me.

And in that instant, I see it all clearly. There will be no deal. No trade. No giving her to Semyon, or any other man, for any price.

I’ll break the world in half. I’ll go to war. I’ll burn the whole fucking thing down. For her.