Kostya: A Dark Mafia Romance (Zinon Bratva), Nicole Fox [life changing books txt] 📗

purposes of my meetings, it’s a tool, like anything else. It shows my preference for nice things and makes my enemies underestimate my fortitude.

I came from nothing and am not afraid to go back. But this office says otherwise.

He states his terms. More area. More control. Less interference from my men at the street level. He’s underestimated me. And I nod—not in agreement, but in disbelief. This meeting isn’t a negotiation. It’s a way to keep a war from breaking out until I’m ready for such a battle.

When he is finished, I do not make him wait long for my answer.

“No.”

I tell him what I am willing to sacrifice—much less than what he’s demanded—and I take something from him also. My traffic in the east has slowed and I know it’s because his men have infiltrated my area of operations. “Either pull your men back off my streets or there can be no further discussion.”

Collin scoffs, but his father nods.

“Da!” the son protests.

The old man looks at his son. “We can concede sales in the lower east but we need your assurance that our boats will be allowed to come into harbor without disturbance.”

Ah. That was the reason they came. To ensure their freight arrives. “Undisturbed. Yes. For a fee.”

The younger Whelan curses under his breath and clenches a fist he most assuredly would prefer to drive into my face. But it would get him killed and we all know it, even this brash rookie.

He remains seated. The old man nods and echoes, “A fee.”

The harbors all along the coast are mine. Controlled by me. Manned by me. Patrolled by men I own, body and soul. There will be a tribute paid to my Bratva, or his shipments will sink before they get within ten miles of land. And he knows it. I can name my price.

So I do.

But as soon as the sum is out of my mouth, Collin shoves out of his chair violently. It tilts, teeters, and falls with a crash against the marble floor. “You son of a bitch!”

I’ve been called worse, but never in my own office by someone who wants me to spare his life.

I smile at Jack. “Your son is angry because he thinks I’m at an unfair advantage.” I cock my head to the side. “I trust, before he assumes your position in the Family, you will impress upon him the importance of community relations?”

The threat is veiled with a smile and a pleasant tone, but the meaning is sharp and present.

Jack Whelan breathes in deeply and nods once because he won’t humiliate himself with more than that. “Sit down, Collin.” He turns to me. “We will talk again, Kostya.”

He extends a hand and I take it, because we are men of honor. Men who will kill each other if necessary, but men of honor.

Jack’s phone has vibrated and shimmied across my desk and he reaches to pick it up. He frowns at the screen. He whirls away to read, and as he does, his son steps closer to my desk. “You hauled my father in here to humiliate him. This is not a slight I will forget.”

He needs to prove his mettle. I let him, because I might need him one day and it’s clear he’s being groomed for his father’s position. Which means we will, at some future point, be adversaries and enemies, but on equal footing.

Jack glares at me as he turns back from his phone. “Three of my gambling dens have been burglarized.” He stares at me, searching for answers in my face. I offer nothing.

I’m unimpressed with his fury. I’m also unsurprised at the news. I knew his dens had been robbed.

I’m the one who scheduled it.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Mm.” He chuckles. “You have no honor, but you are a master gamesman. I’ll remember this. My son will remember this.” He turns to the door. “Collin.”

Instead of moving to see himself out, Collin glares at me. Then a slow smile slides across his face. “Well played, Mr. Zinon.” He leans across my desk. “My father played your games, abided by your terms. But I’m the new generation and I look forward to working this out among ourselves. My way.”

I am under no illusions. The father’s time is past and his son will need to be kept in line. That will have to start now, because revenge will happen sooner than later.

I will be ready when it comes.

I work until late in the evening because my men need to be prepared and my business needs to be protected from whatever plot Collin and Jack Whelan may decide to put into play. Shipments are rerouted, security details reassigned. It is tedious work, the kind of boots-on-the-ground administrative drudgery I have long since left in my past, but I have an eerie feeling about this threat. I want to ensure the job is done right.

When I am satisfied we’re adequately protected, I go home. My night will be as long as my day, but I want to see my daughter before Charlotte puts her to bed.

At the thought of Tiana, I smile. She’s beautiful and smart, a little angel that would make any man proud.

And she’s mine.

The only good thing Natasha ever gave me.

Charlotte is leaving Tiana’s room when I walk upstairs. “She’s sleeping.” She puts a finger to her mouth.

“How was she today?”

Charlotte smiles. “Very good.” Her smile fades. “It’s funny to me how good she is, considering what she’s gone through. It can’t be easy losing her mother and adapting to a new home and new people, but she’s doing so well.”

I sigh because to speak the sad truths about Tiana’s beginnings gives credence to the fact I let her down, even though I didn’t know about her. “I suspect she spent time with strangers more than her mother. Natasha wasn’t … maternal.” Someone so selfish would never be the kind of mother Tiana deserved. “Natasha loved the idea of family more than