Page 17 of Broken Embers

“No, they did not,” I agree.Instead, they sent Irina’s twin brothers to hunt down Tara Craft.But I don’t say anything to my aunt. She’s pissed off enough.

“I hope they’re not expecting me to kiss their asses to have this alliance reconfirmed,” I warn her. “Because now that I know this interim elder was disrespectful to you…”

“No, Oleksi, you need to be diplomatic here.” My aunt’s anger starts to melt. “We have to remember that the village is a strategic part of our operations for Russia and Europe. If they turn on us, the ports are lost. Dragunov Village controls a huge chunk of the southern coast’s black market trade. While they might be a small village, every other port near them is loyal to them and tends to follow their lead.”

“I know!” I say through gritted teeth. “That’s why grandfather always gave them so much leeway.”

“As much as I would like to punch that snotty interim elder in his face, we can’t afford to lose them,” she reminds me.

I scowl, every instinct screaming that now is not the fucking time for politics. Sabrina is out there somewhere, terrified, alone, carrying our child, and they want me to go bow and scrape to a bunch of villagers with wounded pride?

We’ll take the village back if they break their alliance, by force if we have to. I’m about to tell her exactly where they can shove their summons, when Clyde’s burner phone lights up across the kitchen.

He snatches it up, barking a terse, “Da?”

A beat of silence. Then Clyde’s face goes hard.

He looks at me across the room, nodding once. “We’ve got movement. They’re moving Sabrina.”

My heart stops.

“Where?” I bark, already striding across the kitchen.

“Another RMSAD site that’s deeper south.” Clyde rattles off the coordinates. “Timofey’s men have a team ready to move. But we have to go now.”

I’m already reaching for my jacket when Galina’s voice cuts like a whip through the room.

“Oleksi, stop.”

I freeze, turning slowly to face her.

“How many times have you chased leads that turned into dead ends? How many ambushes have there been?” she demands. “This could very well be another one of those.” She gives me a small smile. “You know it’s true.”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw creaks. “What the fuck do you expect me to do? Sit here while they tear Sabrina apart?” My anger and frustration rattles through my voice. “Or go pretend to be diplomatic and tell that fucking interim Dragunov elder what he wants to hear so they don’t go to war on us?”

“I expect you to think and act like the Pakhan of a powerful Bratva,” she snaps back, her eyes flicking to my team. “Let Clyde, Syd, and Ivan take a team of Timofey’s men to follow this lead. You go to Dragunov Village to re-cement the alliance and secure our flank.”

My fists clench uselessly at my sides. I know my aunt right. Duty to the Mirochin bratva always comes first.

“Did Agofuck hint at what they were wanting to cement the new alliance with?” I bite out. My skin is crawling as I already know the answer to my question.

Galina’s face darkens. “They want a marriage alliance between the Dragunov line and Mirochins.”

“Of course they do!” The words hit like a slap. “So they are going to offer up the last of Vasily’s granddaughters—Irina’s twin sister, Nadia!”

“Yes.” My aunt gives a curt nod, watching me intently.

I remember Nadia vaguely — Irina’s twin sister. She was shy, always quiet—a ghost in the shadows of the village. Even at her sister’s wedding, she tried to stay in the background.

The bile rises in my throat. Not because the woman is an ogre or anything like that. Nadia is far from it. Like her sister, Nadia has an ethereal beauty about her. But there is no way in fucking hell I’m marrying anyone other than Sabrina. The woman who is carrying my child and I may as well admit to myself, my heart!

Not a fucking chance in hell am I going to consent to that marriage. We’ll just have to come up with another ironclad agreement. I raise my eyebrows—like I’ve thought before, we could always just take the village by force. I’ve always wondered why the fuck my grandfather hadn’t just done that already.

We have an trained bratva army at our disposal, they’re a group of fishermen who as far as I can tell aren’t military trained, which showed when my uncle Dmitri (my aunt and father’s younger brother), during his reign of terror days, stormed the village and nearly wiped them all out.

“Oleksi!” Syd’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “We have to go now. What are your orders?”

“You, Clyde, and Ivan, take Timofey’s helicopter and men to go and check out the lead,” I bark out the order. “But don’t, I repeat, don’t do anything foolish. This is an intel gathering mission until I say it’s not. If Sabrina is there, hold our position and contact me right away. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

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