The Mafia and His Obsession, Part 2 by Lylah James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 25

 

 

Viktor

 

A few hours earlier

 

“Would you look at that? The sun has risen from the west. It is a new fucking era,” Valentin said coldly.

His cigar was between his lips and he chuckled under his breath, staring at the computer screen. “Alessio Ivanshov just walked through the doors of my estate,” he stated the obvious, sparing me a quick glance before his attention went back to the screen. He looked almost crazed, his eyes bloodshot, his hair oily and messy, and the look in his eyes…something akin to sinister. He was high as fuck, but he also looked completely deranged in the moment.

He was so fucking delirious at the thought that Alessio had just fallen into our trap.

Alessio—the King—had just walked into the Devil’s lair. He was about to stare directly into the eyes of Death.

“I didn’t think you had it in you, son. I almost doubted you. Almost. But you kept your words. And now…now you have only one tiny job to finish.”

Giddy at the thought, he clapped his hand together and gave me a Cheshire smile.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

I clenched my jaw, while staying seated, crossing my left ankle over my right knee. My elbows rested on the armrest, and I waited.

I glared at the empty space in front of me.

I waited…counting the fucking seconds in my head. My heart raced and my chest tightened with an unbearable pain.

The door to Valentin’s office opened. My head swiveled to the right. My brother walked through. Before the door closed behind him, I saw the bodyguards I had sent for him. From when he landed at the airport till here.

But now, their job was done. They had delivered Alessio safely where I needed him.

The door closed. It was only Alessio, Valentin, and me in the room.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

“Sit, sit,” Valentin said, a little too joyful, a little too high.

“Valentin,” Alessio acknowledged. His face remained impassive.

Alessio stood there, his eyes locked with mine. He was trying to read my mind, to look into my soul and see my truth.

His furrowed eyebrows told me that he was seeing nothing.

Nothing but a fucking blank stare, looking back at him.

Alessio Ivanshov could read me like a book. Not today, though.

His eyes darkened viciously before he looked at Valentin. I saw the understanding flashing in his blue eyes. I saw the way his body tightened at the realization.

When I called Alessio and told him to make a trip to Russia, all I said was—it’sbusiness. I quickly elaborated that there was a way I could make both our exportation and importation profitable. To get our cocaine over the border without having to pay a middle man. He didn’t question me. He had stayed silent over the phone. I heard his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I heard the wheels turning in his head. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

I told him we’d have to meet up with Valentin. He knew things we didn’t and he could help settle this before we took him down as planned.

Then, he had sighed and said, Okay. See you then.

Four words and he had hung up the phone.

I thought he’d question me. I thought he’d refuse.

I thought many things, and right now, in this moment, with Valentin on one side of me and Alessio on the other, I almost wished he had questioned me and demanded an explanation. I almost wished he had refused.

Then I wouldn’t have had to make such a difficult choice.

You’d think Alessio Ivanshov was smarter than this…you’d think he wouldn’t willingly walk into the arms of death, but he surprised me. Stupid. Fucking stupid and now…

Tick…Tock…

Alessio took a seat. His head was high, his chin raised, and his shoulders were squared. He looked ready for a battle. Yet…he was completely vulnerable. And he knew that.

He fucking knew it, and he still took that seat.

Get up. Get the fuck up and get out of here.

I wanted to scream at his stupidity, but my chest only rumbled in frustration instead.

Fuck.

FUCK!

Make a choice, Viktor…he said. They both said.

“Viktor told you the details?” Valentin started, like this was an everyday business meeting.

Alessio rubbed his clenched, bearded jaw with his thumb. “No. But I am guessing it’s something life changing if I was brought here to discuss any business issues. I don’t have time to waste. So, I figured we’d get this shit started already. If you need my signature on something, give me the papers.”

“Are you always so…” Valentin raised his hand in the air, making some senseless motion. He was thinking of a word to describe the Pakhan.

“Conceited? Demanding? Arrogant? Difficult? Ambitious?” I said, raising a mocking eyebrow.

Alessio chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah. I’d think those are a perfect description. Just ask my wife.”

He reached for the bottle of scotch beside him and poured himself a glass. “Shall we get down to business then?” he asked, his eyes briefly landing on me before he stared at Valentin again.

“Ah yes. We shall. All in due time, Alessio. All in due time.”

Alessio brought the glass to his lips, and he swallowed half of the contents down.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

I wondered if I had to extend this…this fucking torture.

Did I have to drag out the suspense this much?

Maybe…maybe I could make it easy…

An easy death. An easy target.

Alessio looked at me over the rim of his glass, his blue eyes cold as ice. They darkened a hint, showing me the evil underneath. But when he blinked, it was gone.

One of his fists clenched over his knee, but he stayed seated…as if he were waiting. Waiting for me to move, waiting for me to act. To finish this.

Tick…Tock.

Alessio placed the glass down, and he cocked his head to the side, staring, still waiting. The atmosphere of the office darkened, becoming more chilled. My finger feathered over the gun on my side.

I glanced at Valentin, and his lips were quirked up on the side, a small smirk. His gaze met mine, and then he gave me a quick nod, as if giving me his permission to do what I was meant to do. He was running out of patience yet still very adrenalized over this.

Tick…Tock.

I glanced back at Alessio. My King. The man who I had vowed to protect at all costs. I was only a little kid when we became inseparable, when I had realized the weight of my duty as his second in command. We didn’t come from the same womb, we didn’t have the same fathers, but we were brothers nonetheless.

I remembered the time we made our first kill together. We were twelve. It was my first kill, and it was Alessio’s third. His hit was precise, mine was slightly off. His knife had hit the heart, I had hit the artery next to it. There was blood. There was the scent of death.

In that moment, I had felt a sense of failure. I was scared of disappointing Lyov, my father, and Alessio. But then Alessio had walked over to me, only just a young boy but with a maturity that surpassed men years older than him. He had slapped me on the back and chuckled. I still remembered his words. “We killed him.”

Tick…Tock.

My watch was a glaring reminder of what I had to do. I looked at the minute hand, and it seemed to be frozen in time.

For the first time, I couldn’t find the satisfaction in dragging out the suspense. Blood roared violently through my ears and my head pounded. My heart thudded heavily through my chest and against my ribcage.

Alessio placed his glass down, and he sat back. His head was held high, his elbows resting on the armrests. His feet were planted firmly on the ground and he blinked, slowly.

Fucking hell.

The bastard knew it was suicide, and he was giving me an easy access.

I grasped the gun in my trembling hand. Valentin saw my movement and he sat forward eagerly in his seat. Alessio stayed frozen where he was.

He knew, he fucking knew…yet he wouldn’t move away.

WHY?

I wanted to scream at him, but I refrained from showing my inner turmoil. Bottling all the insane emotions inside, I watched the scene play out in slow motion. As if I were an outsider.

Although I was the one holding life and death in my bare hands.

Raising the gun up, I watched Alessio’s eyes widen for a fraction of second. My gaze saw the bob of his neck as his swallowed, saw the clench of his jaw before he steeled his features.

I heard Valentin’s laugh in my ears, searing through me, cutting me in an agonized way.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

He stared at my gun, pointed at him.

I expected him to flinch.

He didn’t.

I expected him to pull his own gun at me.

He didn’t.

He came here, unguarded, no shield…no weapon.

The bastard’s lips tilted on one side and he fucking smirked, like the devil he was.

Alessio raised an eyebrow, and I saw the movement of his fingers.

Do it, he dared. He mocked.

His blue eyes were the mirror to my soul. It reminded me of a moment that took place almost two years ago. In a dark alley, surrounded by friends, a brotherhood so tight we’d kill and die for each other.

Déjà vu could be a cruel thing.

Valentin tsked behind me. “Ah, Alessio, how does it feel? Betrayed by your own brother?”

Alessio didn’t take his eyes off me or my gun. And I didn’t give him a chance to answer.

I had been forced to choose.

They see your eyes, but sweet Valerie, I see your soul. I hear your melody; the beat of your heart silences the chaos of mine. Some will say I am a man in love; I would say I am a mad mad man who is completely obsessed with you. Your name, your life…you are fucking carved on my flesh, ingrained deep inside me, and I’m not letting you go. Fuck anyone who tries to take you away from me. My gun will kiss their fucking face and I’ll have them see hell.

This was my choice.

“Sorry, brother.”

My finger feathered over the trigger. The Devil appeared on my shoulder once again. His shock barreled through me and he howled in my ears.

NO.

For the first time, the Devil wasn’t laughing, wasn’t mocking.

He was screaming.

He cried.

I laughed.

Tick…tock.

With a faint, popping sound, it was over. I wrote The End in the color of red.

I waited for the searing agony, the ocean of grief, none came. Numb, I stared at my gun. Then my gaze found Alessio.

He hadn’t flinched.

He didn’t even beg me to think again.

He had been without any words.

Alessio had just sat there, like he owned the room. He fucking sat there and smirked.

A King never bows.

And now, I watched his body sag against the seat, blooding pouring through the wound that I put there, the hole where my bullet had gone through.

His heart.

His fucking heart.

One shot. One bullet. It was all I needed. One precise hit.

I wasn’t a twelve year old, a young boy scared of failure, scared of disappointing the men he admired.

No.

I was a thirty-year-old man, heartless and ruthless, a man with a motive. A man with the full intention of winning this game.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

Alessio’s eyes were closed.

Sorry, brother. Fucking sorry.

The room became eerily silent.

“You did it,” Valentin said. His voice was low, choked. “Holy shit. You fucking did it,” he said louder. He seemed shocked.

His chair screeched back as he stood up. My eyes never left Alessio’s stilled figure. His skin was pale. His blood continued to pour onto the white carpet. I had never seen him like this…weak.

A once strong beating heart. Now, a cold body with no heartbeat.

My arm fell back down, still holding onto the gun tightly. My body shook with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Each thud of my heart was followed with the roar of blood pumping furiously through me.

I heard Valentin walking around his desk as he came to stand behind me. “He is dead.”

His words shook the foundation of my world. “I kept my promise,” I muttered. “You got what you wanted.”

My stomach churned, but Valentin didn’t seem to care. He was laughing like a fucking hyena.

The world swirled, and my mind brought me back to that night, the very same night Valentin fucked with my heart and left my Valerie a broken mess.

When he had told me he wanted to discuss something in his office, it was no simple discussion. No, it had all been planned bait.

 

I stayed standing. “Whatever you have to say, hurry the fuck up. I’ve got better things to do, Valentin.”

He shrugged. “Why are you so grumpy? Was tonight not enough for you?”

I seethed at his words, feeling my blood boil, and I fought against myself.

He chuckled. “Son, take a seat and let’s have a drink.”

Realizing that I had to play this game his way, I took a seat. Not before snatching a bottle of scotch. I pulled the cap off and then brought the drink to my mouth, taking a huge gulp.

Fucking perfect.

“What is it?” The sooner we get down to business, the faster I could get out of his presence.

It was eating me alive. Sitting across him and not being able to do anything.

Weak. So, fucking weak and useless.

I looked down at the bottle of alcohol. Not for long, though.

Soon, this empire will turn into ashes. I’d make sure of it. With my own bare hands.

And then, I’d happily take my Valerie out of this hellhole.

Valentin regarded me silently, his head cocked to the side. Then his lips curved upward in the slightest way. “You seem smitten with my wife.”

My heart skipped a beat at his words. My muscles locked and I seemed to freeze. Masking my expression, I only shrugged and huffed.

Lounging back, I sent him a smirk of my own. “Let’s just say…her pussy seems to have me under a spell. Fascinated is the word we are looking for.”

Valentin threw his head back, and he let out a booming laugh. “And to think you were refusing my act of kindness.”

Letting me fuck his wife was an act of kindness?

The thought was enough to enrage me. Valerie was not a commodity to be passed around. Except that was exactly what she was to him. A commodity. A pet. A prized possession.

He didn’t see her like I did.

A beautiful soul, with a stronger will than all of us.

I looked at Valentin, watching the way he seemed so satisfied with himself. I always knew he was a worthless dickhead, but fuck, he stole the damn trophy tonight.

“That was a mistake, I admit. Thank fuck I changed my mind.”

He nodded, his eyes narrowing on me. “I want to make a deal with you.”

The look on his face…I didn’t like it.

“I don’t make deals that aren’t in my favor,” I implored. “I don’t see how you have something good enough to make a deal with me.”

He chuckled under his breath, confidence masking his posture. “Hear my case first. You’ll like this one.”

“Fine. Speak your case,” I muttered before emptying the rest of the bottle down my throat. There wasn’t a lot and it wasn’t near enough for me right now.

I needed something stronger to deal with this shit.

Valentin dragged the suspense by lighting up a new cigar and slowly placing it between his lips. He took his sweet fucking time, and I watched him blow out a puff of smoke. Growing frustrated with every second ticking by, I let out a small annoyed growl under my throat.

“Patience is a virtue.”

“Oh, you are going to teach me about virtue, old man?” I sneered.

He sniffled in response before taking another strong hit from his cigar. The air in his office was now filled with the pungent smell.

“You know what I want,” he started.

“Alessio’s death,” I replied on autopilot. For more than a year, this had been drilled in my head.

“I want more and you know it.”

“You want power, Valentin. That is what you want. And you will get it. I promised you that.”

“Being the Pakhan has always been in my goal. It’s so near, I can almost sniff it. But you see, I am old now. I won’t have long to cherish my success and you are my heir. Remember, one day, everything I have will be yours. Even the title of the Pakhan.”

He paused, cocking his head to the side. “But then again, that all depends on you and how well you do your job.”

“I know what I have to do,” I hissed, hating the judgment in his tone. As if I were below him, a lesser man than him.

“Alessio is still alive. You were able to eliminate the fetus, but Maila, his daughter is also a problem.”

“You think it’s easy? For me to just waltz in and kill Alessio? Assassinate his family? You are a fool.”

Just like it was no easy talk to kill Valentin Solonik.

When powerful, blue-blooded men slide under our radar, there are months and months of planning before the real kill. So not to leave any evidence behind. That includes the witnesses.

There were few men as powerful as Alessio Ivanshov.

And none of them has ever been assassinated till date.

That was our unspoken truce. Each of us had our territory and we stayed within the limit.

If we fucked up…that meant war.

Valentin ruled Russia with an iron fist. He was on top of the ladder with too many loyal associates to count on our fingers. Killing him was no easy task.

Valentin smirked for the briefest moment, as if he could read my mind. His gaze sharpened on my face, and I placed the empty bottle down.

“Want a smoke?”

I shook my head. My fingers laced together, and I leaned forward, placing my elbow on my knees. “What is your deal?”

“I believe you need an incentive. Something for you to look forward to after your job is done,” he drawled.

My jaw clenched at his words. The meaning behind what he said was clear, and I didn’t like where this was going. It infuriated me that Valentin always seemed to push me into a corner. He played me like I was his pawn.

“You said you were fascinated by my wife, didn’t you, Konstantin?”

There was now a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. A throbbing sensation amassed in my chest. Swallowing against the newly formed lump in my throat, I only stared back into Valentin’s dark eyes. I refused to fall into his trap.

“Here is my deal, son. And I know it is something you’ll be greatly passionate about.” He paused, taking a small gulp of Vodka from his glass. My fists tightened. He was toying with my patience.

“You kill Alessio…and his family. In return, you get to keep my wife as yours.”

Suddenly, all the air in my body had been sucked out. The vein in my neck throbbed and the muscles in my tightened jaw ticked. Pain burned brighter and hotter inside my chest.

What kind of bastard was he?

“It is my reward to you, my son. I can see it. You are interested in Valeria. You’ve already tested her tonight. You’ve inspected her very carefully, and I can tell, she’ll make your dick very happy in a long run. She’ll be fully yours. No man will touch her without your permission.”

He made his offer sound tempting. The knowing smile on his face said it all.

“I’ll give her to you now, if that’d make you happier. Tonight would be the last time I had ever touch her. Think of what I am offering. She is my most prized possession, Konstantin. I am giving you my wife.”

I stilled, the wheels in my head turning.

Valerie would be safe from him. Safe in my arms. Protected by me. Far away from the devil.

It was everything I had ever wanted for her…for us.

This story was tainted since the beginning. It was not meant to be. Forbidden in many ways yet…

It was the rightest thing I had ever done in my life.

No matter what Alessio said, or Valentin threw at me, Valerie’s life and heart were now mine to safeguard.

I locked eyes with Valentin. His deal was tempting. But I was no emotional fool.

Valentin was not the type of man to easily hand over what he believed belonged to him.

And I didn’t trust him. Not one bit.

“You strike a good deal,” I drawled, trying to look unfazed. I lounge back into the seat, placing my elbows over the armrest.

Posture meant power.

Power always intimidates your opponent.

And right now, my posture said I was in control. The look on Valentin’s face said he was slightly intimidated. I pinned him into his seat with my gaze, watching him carefully. “Although…I don’t believe you are the type of man to make a deal not in your favor. This is a game. In a game, there are always rules. So, tell me, Valentin.”

He cleared his throat, a ghost of a smile on his face. “You are smart. Three weeks, Konstantin. That’s all you have to finish your job. Three weeks.”

“Or else?” I countered quickly.

“I take Valeria back. And you’ll never see or touch her again.”

I stood up, still watching him. Valentin seemed to wait for my confirmation, yet the look on his face said he thought he already won.

Maybe he did…

Valentin started tonight knowing where this would end.

Him fucking Valerie in front of me? Planned.

Him making me fuck her? Planned.

Him leaving us alone to bond? Planned.

Him calling me here and playing with my head? Planned.

It was all fucking planned, and he played his damn game very well. I had to give him credit for that.

Okay then, fucker.

“Deal,” I muttered, arrogantly.

Three weeks.

I stared into the face of the man whom I needed to kill in three weeks.

Three weeks he gave me.

Little did he know…Valentin Solonik started his own death timer.

Three weeks was all he got to live. And then, I was burying his ass down ten feet under. Not. Even. Seven. Fucking. Feet.

He smirked, looking quite happy with himself. “Deal.”

Taking a step back, I turned around to walk out. But his voice stopped me once again. “Do I get to say goodbye to my wife?”

I coughed back a humorless laugh. He wasn’t coming near her, ever again. “No. You already said goodbye a few hours ago.

When you made her bleed and cry.

Keeping those words to myself, I spared him a glance over his shoulders. “You already knew how tonight would end. Also, she isn’t your wife anymore.”

Valentin chuckled low under his breath. “Touché. But duly noted, son.”

Good. Now, you can fuck off.

Instead of saying what I wanted to say, I waved a hand in the air. “Have a good night.”

I walked out of the office before he could say a word.

Yegor gave me a look, and I saw his silent concern. I nodded his way, letting him know that all would be okay.

Three weeks to put my plans in action.

Three fucking weeks was all I got.

My mind went to Valerie. I have made her mine. And tonight, I had claimed her right in front of her husband. It was now over. He would never touch her again. I’d make sure of that, even if that was the last thing I’d do.

My feet took me down the corridor, toward her side of the Estate. I walked mindlessly to her room and then stopped in front of her door.

When I walked inside, the room was dark and she was there…sleeping in the middle of the bed. Like the most exquisite angel I’d ever laid eyes on.

I came closer and stood still beside the bed, watching my sweet myshka.

She looked small. Her hair was sprawled out on the pillows, and she was curled into on her right side with her hands under her cheek. Delicate. Elegant. Perfect. Mine.

Soon, we would be free from the shackles that kept us here.

And then…I’d show her how beautiful the world could be. Together.

Three. Fucking. Weeks.

And my time started…now.

 

Today was day zero.

Alessio trusted me.

He came here, in the lair of our enemy…because he trusted Viktor.

Today I wasn’t Viktor.

Today I had been Konstantin. The man who shot Alessio, put a fucking hole right in the middle of his chest, that was Konstantin.

Tick tock.

I turned to face Valentin. Placing my gun on the coffee table, I grabbed the bottle of scotch and poured some into two glasses. I handed one to Valentin, and he gladly accepted it, still smiling gleefully.

“A celebratory drink, Solonik,” I offered.

“I knew you would never disappoint me, Konstantin. I honestly doubted you there. I thought you’d turn the gun on me. I really did. But you keep surprising me. Time to time.” His dark evil eyes glimmered.

I glanced back at the body of my brother. I smiled, cold and calculating. “You should fear me, Valentin.”

His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “One day, the world would fear you. When you sit on that fucking throne. Alessio’s reign has come to an end. Today, I become King. And one day, soon…my son, you will become King.”

I looked him dead in the eyes, taking a very slow sip from my glass. He had already chugged down the rest of his. Pathetic.

Valentin blinked, once then twice. He frowned at me and then rubbed his throat, thoughtlessly.

“Why not today?” I said, cocking my head to the side.

“What?” Confusion masked his face.

“Why can’t I be King today? Now?”

I could cut his throat right here, right now, and take his seat on the throne. Rule his empire. Rule everything.

But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?

No. I wanted to watch him crumble.

Valentin scowled at me before turning that sour expression to his empty glass.

The time has come. Day fucking zero.

His eyes watered and he coughed, once.

Tick tock.

I was forced to choose.

This was my choice.

This moment, right now…right here…

This was my goddamn choice.

Tick…tock.

I turned my back to him, facing Alessio. His wound still bled, quite similar like the eyes would leak tears.

Right on time, Valentin gasped. He inhaled and then struggled to exhale. His hand clasped my shoulder for support, but his body was failing him.

Time passed so fucking slow. My heart thundered. My chest squeezed and my lungs seemed to not work.

Tick…tock.

A pained croak escaped past his lips, and he seemed to choke onto his next breath. I didn’t move.

Cold. Calculating. Vicious. Brutal.

That was me.

Viktor Ivanshov.

“I told you, Valentin. You should fear me,” I deadpanned.

There was another coughing fit. Another pained sound. More choking. There was nobody to run to his aid.

I heard a thud behind me, like a heavy weight hitting the floor. Only then, I turned around. Valentin was on his ass, on the ground, heaving himself against his desk.

His lips parted, he tried to scream, but he could only groan in agony before releasing another coughing fit.

I tsked.

He scratched at his throat and thumped his fist over his chest, as if begging his lungs to work.

I tsked again.

“It’s okay. The poison is not enough for you to die,” I drawled.

Valentin tried to hiss at me, but I only let out a small dark chuckle. He choked with each desperate inhale.

“I should clarify. The poison is not enough to kill you now. You only have sixty minutes, Solonik.”

He tried to crawl to me, tried to scream. Inhaled, a choked exhale. He kept beating his fist over his chest, wheezing.

“It will slowly, very slowly eat your insides. It will hurt like a motherfucker. Oh, and you are also going to pass out in…”

I paused, looking at my watch.

Tick…tock.

“Now,” I said, smirking.

As I said the word, Valentin collapsed forward, his body tightening up, something akin to a seizure, before his muscles unlocked and his eyes closed. His body fell limp.

Tick…tock.

“You underestimated me, Solonik,” I repeated into the silence of the room. All of them did.