Page 20 of Between Us

Roman took a sip of his scalding black coffee, keeping his eyes on the report in front of him. “Fine.”

“You look happy enough.”

“Alessa is nice distraction from all of this.” He gestured to the papers scattered on the table between them, not willing to go into detail about his young wife.

“Alessa, huh?”

Roman ignored the teasing. “Her full name is a mouthful.”

“Sure it is.” The grin coloring Alek’s voice didn’t make Roman look up. “Yana is planning a dinner for your new wife this weekend.”

“I'm aware.”

“You think it's going to go well?”

“As well as any of her dinners usually go.”

“I might bring a date.”

At this, Roman finally met his brother's gaze with an arched eyebrow. “Do you plan to marry the girl?”

Alek sighed, already knowing where the conversation was heading. “No.”

“Is she Russian?”

“No.”

“Then why bring her? You already know how Vitaly is with these things.”

Alek rubbed at the scruff on his neck, looking thoughtful for a moment. “I'm tired of going through Yana's dinners alone. I need something to keep me entertained.”

“Don't say I didn't warn you.”

Roman's attention went back to the documents, and Alek ordered another coffee from a passing waitress. It was pointless to try and argue with his younger brother when he knew Alek was going to do as he pleased anyway. Besides, what Alek chose to do with his love life was none of Roman’s business. He was old enough to keep his ground when it came to their father’s demands and expectations.

“Aristov still owes us money—fifteen grand, to be more exact.”

“I'm handling it,” Roman said, flicking his eyes to his brother. “Ivan and Vladimir are to collect the entire amount by tomorrow evening.”

“I can go with them.”

“No, you will be at Beluga2 for your usual duties.”

Alek shot him an annoyed look. “I know what you're doing,brat, and it pisses me off. You're going to have tolet me collect at some point.”

“You did, last week.”

“From a fucking bakery. I want the real deal.”

Roman leaned back in his chair, gaze turning hard. “You have a problem with the way I issue orders?”

“When Vitaly finds out you've been coddling me for the past year and a half, he's going to lose his shit. You were doing worse things when you were my age.”

Truth be told, hehadbeen coddling his younger brother ever since he got the position of Brigadier. If you asked Roman, Vitaly had been sloppy when he allowed Alek to remain under his command, but he wasn't going to complain. He didn't want Alek to go through the same shit he had. Life in the Bratva was often enough brutal, and if there was anything he could do to shelter Alek from at least a small part of that brutality, he was happy to do it.

“I am your Brigadier, and you do as I fucking say,” he decreed with finality, ignoring his brother’s sulking. “End of discussion.”

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