Owned By The Bratva King by Jagger Cole
23
Yuri
“Talk to me,but it’ll need to be quick.”
Maksim groans wearily on the other end of the line. I don’t blame him. I might have been back here acting as commander-in-chief during the opening volleys of this war. But Maksim has been down in the trenches. He led four raids on Belsky assets in St. Petersburg yesterday and last night.
But just as he’s called, I’m watching Petya’s armored black Escalade pull up my driveway.
“Boss… you’ll want to hear this.”
“I do, Maksim, I just have a necessary meeting in about one min—”
“Semyon is dead.”
I blink. My heart jumps into my throat. A grin starts to creep over my face.
“Christ, really?”
“Yeah, but Yuri,” Maksim sounds concerned. “It wasn’t us.”
I frown. “I’m sorry, what?”
“It wasn’t us, Yuri. Some of our guys got a tip-off from one of his maids who just showed up to work and almost had a heart attack. We just rolled up right into his mansion compound totally unopposed. The whole fucking place is shot up, boss. And every single one of them is dead. Guards, house staff, all of them.”
“And Semyon.”
“What’s left of him,” Maksim grunts. “Looks like someone emptied an anti-tank gun into him.”
My brow furrows. “You’re sure it wasn’t any of our—”
“I’m sure,” he mutters warily. “And as far as I know, no one’s jumping in to help us this much.”
“They’re not,” I grunt. I glance out the window of my study. The two huge guards that Petya always travels with are helping him out of the back of the SUV.
“Maksim, I have to go. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.” I stop and smile. “Shit, that was a short war.”
He chuckles. “It might be best to not question how this happened. But yeah, this is over. I had another team about to hit one of his shipping warehouses. They just called to let me know the place was empty—not a single soldier around guarding Semyon’s cargo.”
I whistle quietly. “I’m meeting with Petya Gagarina right now. He might have some ideas.”
When I hang up, I look up to see River looking at me curiously from the doorway.
“Everything okay?”
I grin. “Yes, actually.”
She smiles that smile that makes my heart soar. “Well?”
“Semyon is dead.”
Her mouth falls open. “Wait, really?”
I nod as she blinks in surprise.
“Wow, well… wow.”
“Yeah. Except it wasn’t us,” I grunt. I glance out the window again. “Petya is here. He might have some ideas. Or he might know who to start asking questions to.”
She nods, and I grin again as I move close to her. I slip my arm around her and pull her close. I lower my mouth to kiss her softly.
“Ready?”
She arches a brow. “For?”
“Would you like to sit in on the meeting with Petya?”
She grins. “Oh?”
I shrug. “You were in the trenches with me all day yesterday and last night.”
She blushes. “Yuri, I was just bringing you coffee and—”
“And other things,” I growl deeply. She blushes. “I’d very much love if you were with me, kiska.”
She bites her lips and nods. “Okay.”
My arm still around her waist, we walk to the door, and I swing it wide for the older oligarch standing outside. Petya looks up and smiles broadly.
“Yuri! Good to see you.” His eyes slip over to River, and he grins. “And the famous Helen.”
She rolls her eyes. “Unfortunately, I’m from Long Island, not Troy.”
He chuckles. “Beautiful and well-read.” He turns to wink at me. “Very well done, Yuri.”
I smile and step back to usher him inside. “Let’s sit and talk, shall we?”
He nods. He turns to grunt something at his two guards, who stay outside as we all step in and close the door. Petya follows us into the study and sits in one of the chairs by the fireplace that Yuri gestures to. I sit in the other, with River on the arm next to me.
“You don’t mind English, do you?”
Petya frowns and shakes his head. “Of course not.” He turns to grin at River. “Though if you plan on spending time with this old man, you should learn some Russian, nyet?”
“Da,” she smiles with a blush.
Petya chuckles and sits back in the chair.
“Anything to drink?”
He shakes his head. “No, thank you. Let’s get down to it, shall we?”
I nod. “Before we start, I’ve just heard some news that might…” I shrug. “Expedite our conversation.”
“Oh?”
“Semyon Belsky is dead.”
Petya’s brows shoot up. “By your hand?”
“No, but I don’t know by whose.”
He nods slowly, frowning as he sits back in the chair. “I see…”
“You know Semyon and I were at war since yesterday, da?”
He nods.
“But I would have discussed it with you before I actually took Semyon himself out.”
Petya sighs. “Yes, I know you would have.” He frowns. “Can I ask… this escalation to this war between your two organizations…” he glances at River. “Was it over her?”
“Yes,” I growl. “But also no. Semyon set things in motion when he took her from me.” My hand slides over to take River’s. “But yesterday, he left a recorder on my front steps—a recording meant to make me think he had my daughter in captivity.”
Petya scowls. “He what!?”
“It was fake,” River says quietly. “Well, not fake, but not real. He’d spliced together lines of dialogue from one of Belle’s upcoming movies.”
Petya shakes his head slowly. “Incredible. Yes, I can see he crossed a line with that, Yuri.”
I nod.But then River sits up a little straighter with a wrinkle to her brow. I turn to smile at her. “What is it?”
“It’s just… this recording he sent us…” she shakes her head. “I’m still trying to figure out how he got it.”
I frown. I vaguely remember her bringing this up yesterday. But I was also still in so much shock after hearing what sounded like Belle as a prisoner.
Petya cocks one brow. “What do you mean?”
“I knew it was faked because I’ve seen that movie. But it’s not out yet. I’ve just seen it because Belle is my best friend. But that film only exists in two places—on the secured, firewall-protected servers in a guarded office at her production company. And one physical copy in her own home. But that’s it.” She frowns. “So, I guess the only explanation is that Semyon must have had access to the production studio somehow.”
The second she says it, I freeze. Because suddenly, the last piece of this puzzle clicks into place. The recording isn’t something that’s just out there. It’s under lock and key. Slowly, something Petya mentioned the other day seeps into my consciousness. Something about Belle’s company sourcing outside investment, and him wanting to go in heavy. My heart thuds.
Semyondidn’t have access to the production studio.
Petyadid.
The same way Semyon had no knowledge of my being here at the lodge. But Petya did. Slowly, still clenching my jaw, I turn to him. But the second my eyes lock with his, it’s clear we’re both on the same page.
He knows that I know.
Faster than I would have ever bet for a man his age, Petya’s hand darts out. He snatches the gun up from the small table next to his chair. River screams and jumps from the chair as he yanks it up. And suddenly, he’s aiming it right at my chest, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Petya—!”
“I have enjoyed our business, Yuri,” he grunts thickly. “As I enjoyed business with your father before you. But,” he shrugs. “Business must come first, da? And this Brava bullshit? This constant threat of war or violence? It is intolerable, and it is not good for business. So, I start to think. As it is, you and Semyon, you were like managers for me—both managing different sectors of my business. But perhaps it is I who should be overseeing all of it.”
My eyes narrow on him. “You killed Semyon.”
He smiles. “Think of it as ending a bad business deal.”
“And me?” I snap.
He shrugs. “It is nothing personal, Yuri. But business cannot go on as it has. I’m ending all of my business deals, I’m afraid.”
I glare at him, seething. He smiles right back, his hand tight around the gun.
“Who first?”
My heart lurches. “What?” I snap.
“I asked you who first.” He sighs. “I don’t wish to harm a girl so beautiful, but…” he shrugs. “Witnesses are also no good for business, I am afraid. So…” he smiles. “Her?”
I snarl as he pulls the gun from me to aim at River. I grit my teeth, eyes narrowing to slits on him. I can feel the weight of my other gun tucked into the holster under my jacket, at my back. My eyes slide from Petya to River, and then back.
I won’t get it out in time. I’m fast, but he’s got it aimed right at her. All it would take is one pull of one finger, and he’d take her from me forever. Even if I kill him right after… I would have lost everything.
My pulse roars as my chest rises and falls. I turn to look at her, holding her terrified eyes with mine.
“Or maybe you, Yuri?” Mercifully, he pulls the gun away from River and points it back at me.
“She is not in this business, Petya,” I snarl. “She goes, and you can have it. You can have all of it.”
He frowns. “I am sorry Yuri. But that is not an option. So, please, decide. Who first?”
My pulse is thudding in my ears. The gears in my head are whirling to the brink of explosion. But I can’t see a way out of this. I can’t find the answer.
“Not her,” I hiss.
He looks at me curiously. “So, you?”
“Petya…”
“You first?”
“Yes,” I hiss quietly.
My eyes slide to River. She’s white as a sheet, opening her mouth to speak, but without any words coming out. She stares at me in horror and anguish, shaking her head. I want to scream at her to run. I want to tell her to turn and bolt for the door in a zig-zag. Petya is old, and there’s a good chance she’d make it if she ran fast when he pulls the trigger on me.
I’d be dead. But for her? I grit my jaw. That is a trade I would take. For her.
I try and use my eyes to scream my thoughts to her. I can’t tell if she can hear them, but we’re out of time.
All things must end, da?
“I love you,” I whisper quietly, staring into her eyes. She starts to cry, shaking her head.
“Please…”
Petya sighs. “I have changed my mind.” But the momentary feeling of my heart swelling falls away as he suddenly points the gun at River.
“I won’t make her watch, Yuri.”
My eyes widen. “No—!!”
My heart rips in two as the gun suddenly explodes in his hand. The muzzle roars. My entire world focuses to a pinpoint of light.
And then… there’s nothing.
The white smoke floats into the air. River chokes, gasping and staggering backwards clutching her stomach. But she’s unhurt. There’s no blood, no wound. There’s no bullet.
Petya chokes, staring in horror at the gun. He snarls and raises it again at her. He pulls the trigger again, and again, and then again. River screams each time, but there’s nothing, just like the first. No blood. No wound. No bullet.
My eyes focus on the gun through the dull roar in my ears. And suddenly, it clicks. I know that gun. I know it because it’s shot at me before.
My lips curl. It’s the gun full of blanks that Maksim used on the boat.
“It’s fake?!” Petya roars, looking pale. He lunges to his feet, shaking. “Why—why would you have a fake gun, Yuri?!”
I stand with a grim look on my face. “I don’t know, Petya. But I promise you…” I yank the gun out of the holster at my back and level it right at his face. “This one is quite real.”
His eyes bulge out of his face. “Yuri! You… your father and I—”
“Look away,” I whisper at River. She whirls, covering her ears as I smile right at Petya, and pull the trigger.
The very real gun bangs in my hand. Petya’ head snaps back as the very real bullet passes through his forehead. With a heavy thud, his body hits the ground.
I whirl, stomping to the front door with vengeance coursing through my veins. I kick it open. The two big guards outside whirl in surprise, but I open up, dropping them in seconds.
And then, it’s quiet. And it’s over.
I turn just as River comes barreling into me, sobbing. I throw the gun away, wrap my arms round her, and I hold her tight against my chest.
“It’s over,” I whisper softly into her ear. “It’s all over, kiska.”
