The War: Bratva Blood Two : (A dark mafia romance)

by SR Jones

  “One day, I’m going to tie you up, using every tie I have. I’ll make good and sure your legs are spread wide, and then I’m going to smack your pretty pussy with that riding crop, so gently it will drive you fucking crazy. I won’t stop until you’re humping the leather and coming all over it.”

  Oh. My. God.

  “And you. Will. Crawl. For me.” His hips move faster now, fucking into his fist. “Not to make you lesser, but because I’ve got a fantasy of you in a short flippy skirt and no knickers, crawling in front of me, and one day we’re doing that.”

  I’m on board with it!

  “Yes, I’ll do that,” I say. “I’ll crawl to you and suck your cock.” It’s kind of freeing saying it. I’d never have said something like this with Tim because I’d have been afraid deep down that he’d judge me. I don’t think Konstantin would ever judge me for my desires.

  “Fuck, Cassie,” he grunts, and aims his cock at my pussy as he comes all over it. He bathes me in his cum and then rubs it in, just like he said he would.

  He looks at his handiwork with primal satisfaction etched all over his harsh features, and I could come again simply from that masculine look on his face.

  He flops on the bed next to me and puts an arm around me, taking care to avoid my wound. He kisses my neck and nuzzles me there.

  “Now we’ve taken the edge off, how about you tell me what’s going on?” I turn to look at him.

  He studies me for a long beat. “It’s not all sorted yet, and there’s a lot of things to finalize. But I’m making it so we can be together. I’m making it so you can be with me without being scared you’re going to be a target. If that’s what you want?”

  He looks at me, and I see the uncertainty etched in his features. How can he not know?

  “It’s what I want more than anything in the world,” I say. “Do you mean you’re leaving this world behind?”

  “I think I might be,” he says.

  This is huge. Monumental.

  “Won’t you miss it?”

  He kisses my jaw and then runs three fingers over my face, as if mapping it. “If you leave something behind, it doesn’t hurt if you’ve got something brighter to move toward. I’ve got you to move toward.”

  I snuggle deeper into his embrace. “I don’t want you to miss it and blame me,” I say in a small voice. “You told me once you were a soldier, and you’d always be one.”

  “I’m going to continue to be one.” He kisses me again. “You ever been to Corfu?”

  “No,” I say, confused by the change in subject. “I’ve always wanted to go. All the Greek islands really. I’ve read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and it made me want to go to Greece.”

  “Of course you have,” he says with a smile.

  “Yes, but … Corfu.” I get him back on track.

  “Andrius lives there. So do some of the world’s most powerful and wealthy people, and many others play there for a few months each summer.”

  “Really?” I had no idea. I suppose I thought of Corfu as a holiday destination for Brits wanting to get drunk for two weeks.

  “Yes. The north of the island is very different to the rest of it. Millionaires’ paradise. Royalty. Bankers. Oligarchs like me.” He grins. “They all go there, and most of them have security, but not the sort of security they probably need. Andrius, he got out of the game, but the game put him back into play whether he wanted it or not. He’s had an idea. A legal and legitimate venture. He wants us to open the world’s premier training school for private security. A private militia for the world’s most successful people, if you will.”

  “So you’re going to walk away from all your businesses in London?”

  “This is all tentative right now. I need to speak to a lot of people.” He kisses me again and then gently bites the shell of my ear, making me shiver. “The plan is, I put Margaret in charge of the day to day running of my legitimate business, and get daily reports from her. I keep in touch via conference calls, and of course if needs be, I can be in London within a few hours. The other side of things, I’m hiving off completely and walking away from. Allyov can take over some of it, and that’s a gift from me to Andrius because Allyov is a greedy fucker. If I bribe him with some of the import/export side of things, he’s more likely to let Andrius go completely. The rest, I’ll see if Bohdan and Vasily want to step up and take it over.”

  “What if they don’t?”

  He shrugs and gives me a predatory grin. “Then the sharks can fight over the spoils. If I do this, I have to walk away completely. It’s why I need to talk to Bohdan and Vasily. They’ll be completely in charge. All the spoils will go to them. I won’t take a damn penny from it. In return, though, they get all the hassle and all the danger.”

  He sits up, and I turn over to look at him better, propping myself up on one elbow.

  He zips his fly and rests his forearms on his knees as he continues to talk. “Andrius made it very clear. If I want in on this, I walk away fully. I can’t rush into the fray if Vasily gets into shit. Not even if his life is in danger. Vasily will have a decision to make once he knows this. Bohdan too. I know Andrius well enough to understand that if I fuck him over on this, he’ll kill me. I’m like a brother to him, but he’s doing this to be safe and to keep Violet and their baby safe. If I want in, I’ve got to do it his way.”

  “Wow.” I can’t take it all in. “So you’re going to live in Corfu?” I ask.

  He frowns and turns to me. He’s pissed; I can see it in his face. “We’re going to live in Corfu, Cassie. What part of me doing this for us didn’t you understand?”

  It’s all I’ve wanted to hear for so long, but there’s a couple things niggling at me. One, what will I do in Corfu all day long? I can’t simply be his live-in concubine out there, can I? Two, what about my grandparents?

  “The place we’re buying has lots of land. Acres of it,” he says. “There’s room for your grandparents to come live out there. Do your grandpa a world of good. Hot climate. The sea.”

  Oh my God. This man. “You’d bring my grandparents out with us?”

  He nods. “I get how much they mean to you, baby. It also provides a bolt hole for Michael to escape to if he ever needs it.”

  “What would I do all day?” I ask.

  He gives a dark chuckle. “Fuck me.”

  I slap his shoulder. “Be serious.”

  “Oh, I am. But if you needed something else to do, I’m sure we’ll need help.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, yes because I’m a dab hand with a gun. I could help train your army, I’m sure.”

  “No, but you could help in other ways. Run the office? Do the books. Run the IT side of things. We’re going to need someone for that. We can hire, but if you did it, then it keeps things in house. I’d prefer that.”

  “Oh, okay. That does sound like something I could do.”

  He moves until he’s on his side, head propped on one arm, looking right into my eyes. “Cassie, I don’t say this easily or often, and I’m sure you’ll get upset with me for not saying it enough, but I love you. I want you to come and live with me.”

  My heart skips and misses a beat. I swear this man is going to put me on beta-blockers with the havoc he plays with my heart.

  “I love you too,” I tell him.

  I think I fell in love with him before I even knew him. I don’t tell him this because it makes me sound a little crazy. I remember seeing him walk through the rain toward the coffee shop, and I had the strangest feeling this man was someone important to me, to my life, or would be. It had been like a tiny moment of pre-cognition, a recognition of some elemental fact.

  I always thought something in him matched something in me. I used to think it was my inner, hidden away wildness matched his outer one. Now I know his wildness obliterates mine. I think it’s more that we simply recognize something in one another. We both lost people young, and we were both betrayed by those who were meant to love us. My mother betrayed me through no f
ault of her own because she couldn’t deal with the agony of life. My father betrayed me by walking out and leaving behind a small child.

  It left a deep need in me to find someone to love me and protect me. In Konstantin those same betrayals left a deep need to avoid loving someone for fear they’d let him down. In one another, we found what we needed. He found someone he could finally let his guard down with and trust, and I found the protector I’ve been searching for all these years.

  Sexually, we fit perfectly. We’re dynamite together. We both love similar things too. I hope over time the base for what we have can be something we can build on. A way to make something long-term.

  “My mum killed herself,” I tell him.

  “I’m sorry,” he says. He takes my hand in his free one and squeezes.

  “She left me,” I shrug. “That’s how it feels. I understand she wasn’t in her right mind. No one who does that is. It’s always felt a little like she left me, betrayed me.”

  “I’ll never betray you,” he says.

  “I know.”

  Konstantin is upfront. If he one day woke up and decided he couldn’t stand the sight of me, he’d let me know. He wouldn’t sneak around behind my back or play games. He’d be honest and tell me it isn’t working for him anymore. The thought makes me feel sick, though, so I push it away.

  “I won’t betray you,” I tell him. “I realize you’ve had a lot of people shit on you, Konstantin, but you have people in your corner. You have me, Michael, and you have Andrius. I don’t believe that man would ever betray you. He’s harsh, but he’s upfront. Also, I don’t believe Bohdan would ever turn his back on you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes,” I say simply. “I think he kind of sees you as a father figure.”

  “Jesus, Cassie, I’m not that much older than him.”

  I giggle. “You get what I mean. He looks up to you, and I think you’ve got his loyalty for life.”

  I don’t mention Vasily because frankly I don’t like him, and I don’t know how trustworthy he is. My dislike of him clouds my judgment. I might not like Bohdan either, but I’ve softened some to him, mostly because of the fact I can tell he hero worships Konstantin and would do anything for him.

  “I love you,” I tell him. Then I lean forward and kiss him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Konstantin

  We land in a gray and cloudy UK. The weather is awful, my mood is not. For the first time in years I feel a sense of excitement.

  When Andrius first presented me with his plan, I thought about it because I wanted Cassie and Michael to be safe. I believed it would be a loss to me personally, but worth it for a greater good. But as time has passed and the idea has settled, I’ve found myself becoming excited to do something new.

  I’ve always been someone who wants to get to the top, be the best. I’m at the top of the game when it comes to organized crime in Moscow. No one dares to cross me. Whether or not Vasily and Bohdan can hold that line is another matter, but it won’t be my problem. It will be theirs. I’m also at the top of my game with my legal business, and if I’m honest, it slowly started to get old. I still got a rush from either turning a business around or selling it for a profit, but nothing like those early days.

  My bank balance is ridiculous. I don’t have to do a second’s more work, and I can spend the rest of my life in luxury. I often find that rich people come in two categories: those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. They hoard their money like the misers they are, and they’ll haggle over a cup of coffee. Then there are the ones who are profligate, who spread it around like confetti. I prefer the second type. Me? I’m in the middle. I don’t worry about every penny, which is odd given my upbringing and the poverty I lived through. I also don’t flash the money around too much. I like nice things, but I’m not about to buy a diamond encrusted coffee cup, and yes, I’ve seen someone do that.

  I always thought I had to have more, though. More money. More power. Now? Now I want a challenge, and I don’t care if this venture makes me and Andrius wealthy or not; I just want it to be a success. It will be good to build something from the ground up with my brother. It will be good to live with Cassie in a place she can feel safe.

  We arrive back at the London house, and as soon as we do, I’m on high alert. Yes, it will be good not to always feel this low-level anxiety about someone attacking me or those I love. I won’t worry about it living on a damn compound with Andrius and a load of trained men. We’ll be untouchable there. I can come to London on business knowing Cassie is totally safe. There’s no one I’d trust her life with more than Andrius.

  Before we can do this, though, we must deal with the Armenians.

  One more damn war before we can find our peace.

  We all trudge into the house, weary in the way only travel can make you.

  “You all look fucked.”

  I turn at the voice to see Vasily propped up on the sofa in the living room.

  “Vasily, welcome back,” I say and go to him. “How are you feeling?”

  He stands and shrugs. “Okay. Not so bad as I thought, to be honest.”

  I pull him in for a back-slapping hug. “Welcome back, fucker.”

  He grins, looks beyond me to see Cassie, and the grin fades. I sigh, turn to Cassie, and nod toward the stairs. “Baby, do you mind giving me, Bohdan, and Vasily here some privacy?”

  “Not at all,” she says with a sweet smile. “I’m tired, and I want to freshen up after the journey. I’d love a coffee, though, so I’ll make one first. Anyone else want one?”

  “Yes please,” Bohdan says.

  Cassie makes a great coffee, her time as barista not going to waste.

  “Please,” Andrius says. “That thing you make with all the layers and the syrups.”

  “Macchiato?” She laughs. “Coming right up.”

  “I’ll have a hazelnut latte,” I say.

  “Vasily?” She turns to him and offers him a pleasant smile.

  “I’ll have a macchiato too,” he says politely. Too politely. He’s being cold. Unfriendly. That won’t do. Vasily will be learning what Cassie means to me soon enough.

  She makes the coffees, hands them out, and then goes upstairs. I’ve already taken the bags up for her. There is no staff. I sent everyone, except for the three-armed men I hired, home. Reece, Liam, Ethan, and Luka are due here soon. Before they arrive, I need to talk with my men.

  Alexei makes himself scarce, along with Kasper, and I take my coffee and head to the dining room, gesturing for Bohdan and Vasily to follow me. Andrius comes too.

  Once we’re all sitting, sipping at the delicious coffees, I turn to Bohdan and Vasily. “I’ve got some news. Big news. There are going to be changes.” I speak in Russian.

  “Does it involve the girl?” Vasily asks, putting a sneering tone into the word girl.

  “It involves Cassie, yes. And before we go any further, you need to understand something, Vasily. Cassie’s family now.”

  “What?” he explodes. He pushes his chair back and starts to pace. “You’ve only known her weeks.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I say. Not bothering to add that if you include our coffee shop chats, I’ve known her a damn sight longer. “Franky it’s none of your fucking business, and I’m only telling you because you disrespect her once more, and we’ll have a problem.”

  “It is my business if your head is all up in the clouds and you can’t focus on our business,” he says.

  “Which leads me nicely to my next point.” I ignore his temper tantrum because frankly if I let his attitude rile me, I’ll end up punching his lights out, and the man is already injured.

  “I’m walking away.”

  “What?” Both Bohdan and Vasily say the word at the same time.

  “You can’t,” Bohdan says. “People don’t walk away. It leaves the whole operation vulnerable, and it leaves you vulnerable.”

  “You two have been running things on the ground for a
long time now in reality,” I tell them. “I’ve been in London, distracted by the legitimate business, and really, I’ve left the running of the other side of shit to you guys. Our world knows as much. You’ve been doing the heavy lifting without the reward. Now, you get the reward.”

  “You’re simply giving it to us. All that profit?” Vasily stops pacing and watches me, like a damn hawk.

  I laugh. “Not quite. I’m putting together a deal. You can buy me out.”

  “If we don’t buy you out, though, and you still walk away, you lose it all.”

  “Yeah, true. It will collapse and the smaller guys will fight over the pieces. Not that any of it will be worth much by then.”

  “So you want us to buy you out?” Bohdan is looking more pissed than Vasily, which surprises me.

  “If you want to.”

  “And if we don’t, you walk away anyway, it all collapses and we get nothing?”

  “I thought you’d both be happy about this. You get to be in charge. You’re my next in line, and now you get to be a fucking Pakhan. I’d have thought you’d be fucking grateful.”

  “Oh, I’m in alright. I’m damn shellshocked that you’re doing this,” Vasily says. “But hell yes, I want to buy my way in. I’ve got enough saved up. If the offer is fair, I should be able to afford it.”

  “It’s more than fair,” I tell him. Then I say what I believe is going to leave them both genuinely shocked to shit. “I’m selling to you for one hundred K each.”

  “What?” Bohdan does a classic double take. “That makes no sense, K. The business is worth millions.”

  “It is, but here’s the thing. I want out. The more I’ve thought about it, the more out I want. I’m going to hive some off to Allyov. The arms side of things on the West Coast, you’re about to be sharing with the Greeks. The rest of it is yours. For one hundred thousand each.”

  It’s a token more than anything. The more I thought about things last night and on the flight, the clearer it became to me that for years now, Vasily and Bohdan have done the heavy lifting, and I’ve taken the reward. That’s fine, it’s the way it is in our world, but now, they get the reward for their hard work if they want it. And I get to walk the fuck away.