Page 22 of Fate and Family

Our women.

“One night with Uri, and it changes your life forever,” my dumbass brother sings in a melodramatic way.

She shifts, visibly uncomfortable.

“You don’t need to come,” I say. But her smile fades, like I hurt her. She doesn’t look at me.

“Nonsense. You won’t deny an old man the chance to witness a stunning woman such as yourself at his birthday, would you?” My father sighs wistfully. “Who knows how many of them I have left?”

“Well, then I’d be a monster if I didn’t attend,” she says with a lighthearted laugh. “When is it?”

My father checks his watch. “In forty hours.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“That’s oddly specific,” she says as she walks away to get back to work.

My father smirks. “Yes, it is.” My asshole family members all wear shark-like smiles as they wave her goodbye.

“I hate you guys,” I grumble.

“Don’t waste this chance,” my father says as he pushes himself off the chair and leaves the table.

Chapter

Ten

Dimitri

She screamed at me as I dodged a $1.5 million vase she chucked at my head. She called me a shitty lover, half a man, and, worst of all, a coward. But with every passing second, I knew it was the right thing. Svetlana didn’t want to be trapped in this world any more than I did. At least now she was free to fuck my brother with half the guilt. Although, neither of them felt particularly terrible about having an affair while his wife was dying.

I want to be with Katya. It’s that simple. So why am I fighting this? She knows who I am, what I do, and she doesn’t seem phased by it. No moral conflicts. Hell, if we brought her in, she might even be a better asset than Mikhail. She’s a river otter—adorable but ruthless.

Sitting in my office while Svetlana moves her shit out of my place, my thoughts float from doing what I can to keep the club successful to pleasing my father, to how to win Katya over. I’m not sure if the posh life and excess money will sway her. Maybe something quieter, special. Oh, maybe I can arrange a behind-the-scenes tour at the zoo and meet an otter.

Uri comes in, looking like he walked through a field of shit and dead babies to get here. His head hangs low, his shoulders slumped as he sinks into the chair across from my desk.

“What’s wrong?”

My cousin has delivered his fair share of bad news before, but this is a rare sight. “I just spent the last two hours in the alley.”

“Did you find your watch?”

He rocks from side to side and rolls something in his hand. He opens his mouth and closes it as he rises from the seat and begins to pace. “I want to start off by saying, I really, really like Katya. I think she’s incredible and perfect for you. I hope, in the deepest part of my heart, I’m wrong and everything works out. And I’ve never wished to be more wrong in my life.”

Oh, fuck.

He drops one bullet on my desk and hangs his head. “I found it in the alleyway, around where Viktor got shot.”

I don’t understand. “So there’s an extra bullet. That back alley has tons of them,” I say.

But Uri lowers his gaze to the floor. “No, a few weeks ago I had my guys sweep for any extra casings. The alley was clean… or at least as clean as it can be.”

“Maybe you fired two rounds?” My stomach churns hating this allegation.

Uri wanders aimlessly around the confined space of my office like if he doesn't move this pent up nervous energy will kill him. “I know I didn’t. I checked my gun that night and this morning. Viktor still had the bullet in his head.” He pushes the bullet forward on my desk. “It wasn’t mine, though.”

I feel like throwing up.

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