Bratva Bride (Bratva Series Book 1)

Father picked up his glass and took a long swig of his vodka before beginning. ‘Our contacts in New York have reached out with a message. Alessandro De Luca, head of La Cosa Nostra, requested a meet.’

Silence. Complete and utter silence. I mean, what other reaction was he expecting? It’s not every day that an Italian family tries to establish some sort of alliance with the Russians. We’re not exactly enemies but we’re not really friends either. We coexist with each other. We stay in Las Vegas, they stay in New York, end of discussion. We don’t cross each other; we don’t engage each other and we’re all better off for it. So why change things now?

Aleksandr is, as always, the first to break the silence. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on knees, interlocking his fingers. “La Cosa Nostra? Are they sure?’

‘They are,’ Father replied, leaning back in his chair. ‘Vincenzo De Luca, Alessandro’s son, delivered the message in person to solidify its authenticity. He was adamant that the request was genuine and would end in a mutually beneficial agreement between us both.’

‘Mutually beneficial?’ Lukyan scoffed, taking a puff of his cigar. The smoke swirled around in the air between us, the stench lingering and filling my nostrils.

‘What kind of agreement?’ Aleksandr continued, as if Lukyan hadn’t spoken at all.

‘Vincenzo didn’t go into specifics. Merely requested a meet with us on neutral ground,’ Father replied. ‘Our contacts have been keeping an eye on New York and they’ve reported a lot of carnage between the De Luca’s and another Italian family, the Gambino’s.’

‘You think that’s why they’re requesting the meet? For help against the Gambino’s?’ I asked out loud, tilting my empty glass towards my father.

He immediately lifted the large glass bottle holding the vodka and poured me a shot.

‘Makes sense. What’s the beef about?’ Lukyan asked.

‘That, I do not know,’ Father replied. He looked around the room, taking his time and dragging his eyes over each of us, making sure to maintain eye contact for a few seconds with us all. ‘But I will find out.’

Father’s word left no debate about his intentions.

‘You’ve agreed to meet with them?’ Aleksandr asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘It has always been an unspoken agreement between us to steer clear of each other. If Alessandro is reaching out, I’m curious as to why,’ Father explained easily. ‘And it has been so very boring here. Maybe a little war will liven up the place a bit,’ he said, winking at me.

I winked back and took a sip of my drink.

‘When and where?’ Aleksandr asked.

‘Kansas City, tomorrow. You, along with Maxim and your sister, will accompany me.’

‘Oh man!’ Lukyan hissed, slamming his foot on the ground. He always hated missing out. Such a spoiled brat.

Father pinned him with his glare, letting the fury from his outburst show on his face. With his jaw and fists clenched, he looked like he was gonna blow at any minute.

‘I mean. . . they’re totally the better choice. So right, Father, so so right,’ Lukyan quickly said, lowering his head.

Kiss ass.

Father ignored Lukyan altogether and opened his desk drawer with his right hand, pulling out several folders. He flung them along his desk, letting them spread out in different directions.

Lukyan jumped to his feet and grabbed them, handing them out to each of us. Clearly eager to try and get back in our father’s good graces. Pointless. If he felt like you disrespected him, there was no fixing it unless it was in the ring.

I took a folder, making sure to scoff loud enough for Lukyan to hear me. He narrowed his eyes at me but stayed quiet. He knew he was on thin ice as it is.

As he moved to give Aleksandr and Nikolai their folders, I opened mine and was greeted with a family portrait of the De Luca family.

Standing square in the middle were who I’m assuming were Mr and Mrs De Luca.

Alessandro stood tall and proud, his left hand holding the middle of his tie, like the photo was captured as he was fixing it and his right arm was bent ninety degrees with Mrs De Luca’s arm looped through it.

He was wearing an impeccable, grey, three-piece suit, clearly tailored to fit his build. He looked like he was in his late 50’s, early 60’s, with a fresh head of dark hair. His million-dollar smile might fool others, but I knew better. I could see the evil lurking in his eyes as clear as day. This man was manipulative, conniving and ruthless.

Mrs De Luca was about as much as I expected. Such a small little thing, with pale skin and long black hair. Her round face and doe-eyed expression showed her for what she was. Weak. Un-impressive. Docile. Her only outstanding feature was her entrancing green eyes. So vibrant, unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

Standing beside Alessandro was another man a few inches taller. His eyes hooked me in straight away. No. Fucking. Way. Another bi-eyed beauty! But this guy? Oh fuck, this guy is leagues ahead of Sex Eyes.

Even in his suit, you could tell his muscles had muscles. His suit bulged in all the right places, clearly tailored like his father’s. A faint trace of ink peeked out at the neckline of his suit, and I was dying with curiosity to find out what was lying beneath his damn clothing.

My eyes went back to his face and fuck me, he was so fucking delicious. High cheekbones, full, luscious lips, his jaw so incredibly defined you could cut glass on it. So chiselled. So perfect. So biteable.

Wait, what? Focus, Illayana!

His eyes…oh god his eyes. One green, the colour as captivating as the rarest emerald in the world. One blue, so bright and sparkling, like the ocean on a hot summer’s day. His black hair was short and slicked back, styled neatly and he looked to be in his late twenties, early thirties. He was without a shadow of a doubt the hottest fucking man I’d ever laid eyes on. All I wanted to do was run my tongue down that delectable body and feel that powerful frame tremble from my touch.

Next to Mrs De Luca was another man. Just as tall as his father, and just as handsome as his brother, but he didn’t capture my eye like the gorgeous specimen before him. His suit was nice and tailored to fit him to perfection. His black hair was styled messily, and his bright green eyes seemed to be the same shade as his mother’s. His lips were curved up in a sly smile, like he knows exactly how good looking he is. This guy screamed man whore.

Sitting on a couch directly in front of the De Luca adults were two small children. A boy and girl, looked to be about ten maybe? The little boy was dressed in a suit matching his father and brothers, and the little girl was wearing a white dress with a matching white hair bow in her hair.

The photo seemed to have captured them right in a moment where they seemed to be arguing. The little boy’s face was scrunched up with anger, his little fist heading straight towards his sister. The little girl didn’t look much happier either, her foot was hanging in mid-air, almost striking him.

How. Flipping. Cute.

After taking a good long look at the De Luca family, I raised my head and waited for my father to continue. Aleksandr, Nikolai and Lukyan were each studying the photograph as intensely as I was, like they could get all the information they needed just from that one shot.

Father cleared his throat, demanding our undivided attention and we all obliged. He held the photograph up in front of him so we could all see it. ‘Alessandro De Luca and his wife Isabella De Luca. Next to him is his eldest, Arturo De Luca and rumoured to be his Underboss. Vincenzo, as I’m sure you guessed, is the male next to Isabella. From what I can ascertain, he’s an Enforcer for his father.’

‘I’ve heard of Arturo De Luca. They call him Shadow throughout the Vegas Underworld,’ Lukyan began. ‘Apparently Alessandro paid five million a year to have him go to Switzerland to study under Elias Huber.’

‘Elias Huber? The Assassin Trainer?’ Aleksandr asked, surprised.

‘The one and only. He was there between the ages of thirteen to seventeen,’ Lukyan said, relighting his cigar that had gone out. ‘That’s what I heard anyway,’ he finished, shrugging his shoulders.

Elias Huber was a legend in the criminal underground. Known for his skills as a fighter and weapons expert, people came to him when they needed to take somebody out. It didn’t matter how important or how high up the individual was in the world. Rumour was he could take out anybody. There wasn’t a single bad mark to his name.

‘Vincenzo is quite well known as well. Even a few of our own soldiers have heard of his brutality,’ Nikolai began. ‘Demyan told me once he heard Vincenzo had come across a rat within the family. Not long after that, the rat’s body had been dismembered, and the pieces spread throughout New York as a warning to others.’

I whistled, low and long. ‘Damnnnnnn. . . that’s my kinda justice,’ I said smiling.

‘Fuck yeah!’ Lukyan agreed, raising his hand and fist bumping me.

I laughed and turned my attention back to Father. ‘So, this is who we’re meeting tomorrow?’ I asked, trying to get my head back in the game and focus.

‘Da,’ Father replied as he poured yet another shot of vodka. ‘Be prepared. I want you both armed and wearing your Kevlar Vests. I doubt this is an ambush, but I won’t take any chances.’

Aleksandr and I both nodded.

In my mind I was already ticking through all my weapons I would be taking with me. My switchblade, my push dagger, as well as a couple of my favourite blades and some throwing knives. Can’t forget my good old Smith and Wesson handgun; that beauty has gotten me out of some tough strides. Part of me hoped for a fight, it had been a long time since the Volkov’s had been at war.

‘Nikolai and Lukyan, I need you both to head to Russian Roulette and settle some discrepancies with our High Rollers,’ Father said, motioning his hands towards my older brothers.

Russian Roulette is one of many casinos we own in Las Vegas, as well as some high-end strip clubs and restaurants. To be honest, we have enough businesses and revenue to get out of the mafia life and go legit, but where’s the fun in that?

‘Yes!’ Lukyan said, pulling out his gun and a knife. ‘How would you like it settled, Father?’ he asked, raising his right hand with his handgun, and then his left hand with his knife.

Father tapped his fingers along his desk, pursing his lips in thought. He flicked his head towards Lukyan’s knife and smiled. ‘Don’t make it too quick boys,’ he said, chuckling.

Lukyan stood gracefully, buttoning up his suit jacket as he went. Nikolai rounded the desk and came to a stand beside Lukyan. They both gave a small bow and left.

Aleksandr moved from the couch and came and sat in the chair Lukyan was in. Father stood as well, moving to stand in front of his desk, leaning back up against it. He crossed his arms over his chest and pinned me with his hard glare.

‘I’ll need you to pay extra special attention at the meet tomorrow, doch’.’ Daughter.

I raised an eyebrow but remained silent, because I knew he wasn’t quite finished yet.

‘There’s a chance a marriage proposal could be offered. It’s the only way to solidify an alliance between our two families that can be trusted. We value the sanctity of marriage just as much as the Italians, and neither of our people would disrespect such a union.’

Ah. That explains why he wants me to come tomorrow. If a union is suggested, it would most likely be one of the De Luca men to engage in the marriage.

‘I would never force you to marry. The choice will be yours and yours alone,’ Father continued, placing a hand on my shoulder. ‘I won’t lie to you; we would benefit a lot from an alliance with the De Luca’s. New York will be open to us, and the amount of money and power to be had will make our family even stronger than it is now.’

I nodded, listening intently.

‘But the choice in the end is yours, Illayana. Always.’

I smiled up at my father. It’s so rare to see this side of him, the loving, caring side, when most of my life I’ve known the tough, badass, Russian mobster side. I took his hand from my shoulder and held it.

‘I’m curious about the war between the De Lucas and the Gambinos as well, Father. I’ll pay close attention tomorrow and if a marriage is what they propose, I’ll weigh all the pro’s and con’s before making a decision.’

Father chuckled, a small smile forming on his lips. ‘Those damn pro and con lists. Your mother was always so good at those,’ his eyes glazed over, as if he was suddenly caught up in a memory of the past.

I tried not to let the mention of my mother bring me down, especially because I know how much it hurts my father to have her gone.

The Voznesenskys, a rival Russian family, tried to overthrow us and take everything we have. They hit us simultaneously at our home, casinos, strip clubs and restaurants. We don’t know how they pulled it off, but they hit every one of our businesses hoping that would be enough to beat us.

It wasn’t. We lost a lot of good men, a lot of damage was done to our properties, but in the end The Volkovs prevailed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all of us. My mother was kidnapped, raped and murdered.

After finding her body, my father went into a rage unlike anything I’d ever seen before. He vowed justice. Revenge on the Voznesensky family. He promised blood and retribution. Which is exactly what he got.

It took a few months, but my father hunted down every single member of the Voznesensky family, here in America as well as in Russia. He slaughtered every single one of them. He didn’t spare the women (or the children), no. He killed every single person with the last name Voznesensky, effectively wiping them off the face of the Earth.

Word quickly spread throughout the Bratva. And now everyone knows that if you fuck with the Volkovs, it’s not just you who suffers. It’s your entire fucking family.

‘She was,’ I whispered.

Father’s eyes land on me and his face softens. For a moment, it’s completely silent in his office, my father, Aleksandr and I all stuck in memories about the woman whose death shattered us all.

Father quickly shook his head, like he was trying to banish his thoughts from his brain and his face returned to the hard, cold face I’ve known for all my life. He pointed a finger at me and sternly said, ‘Be ready in the morning, Illayana. No fucking around.’

I nodded but said nothing in return.

‘Good. Now go and enjoy your birthday,’ father said, waving his hand towards the door, effectively dismissing me.

I rose from my chair and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his cheek. Turning around, I slapped Aleksandr on the shoulder. ‘Later big brother,’ I said with a cheeky smile on my face.

‘Later brat.’