Page 45 of Brutal Union
Aleksandr exhales through his nose, shaking his head like I’m testing his patience. “I told you before,” he says evenly, “I don’t want it.”
I tilt my head, mocking sympathy bleeding into my tone. “You don’t want your birthright?”
“You know me,” he says. “If I wanted it, I would take it. I told you before Nadia and I am only repeating myself because you are my sister, but I do not want it.”
“Thenwhydo I still feel knives at my back?” I snap, the words slice across the room. Everyone's eyes are on me. “Why do I wake up to bombs and men in my face with guns? Because if it wasn’t you, brother, then it’s someone close enough to make it look like itwas.”
Sho shifts behind me, still silent, but I can feel his eyes burning into the back of my skull.
Nik’s voice cuts in again—tired, but firm. “No one in this room made that call, Nadia.”
I lower my glass, fingers tightening around the crystal as I level my stare at him. My pulse remains steady, but my rage makes my skin hot, simmering just beneath the surface. I swallow steadily, focusing on the steady tap of my index against the crystal.
“Then why,” I say slowly, “did he sayyourname, Nik?”
His brow furrows. “Who said my name?” His voice rises, his steps closing the distance between us.
“Bhon Lee,” Sho answers before I can. Calm. Matter-of-fact. Like he’s reading a grocery list instead of naming the most feared killer on the planet. “I recognized him. Did some digging. He’s real high-end. Quiet. Precise. Expensive.”
Nik snorts, trying to deflect. “If he’s that good, why areyoustill alive?” He shoots a glance at Sho, his tone sharp. “Sounds like I wasted money.”
“Because the Yakuza outbid you.” I snarl the words, fury exploding from my chest as I hurl the glass across the room.
It shatters against the wall—just inches from Aleksandr’s head. He doesn’t even blink.
No one does.
The room is dead silent.
“You tried to have me killed?!” I roar, voice ragged with betrayal.
“No.” Nikolai shrugs, like this is all some tedious argument he’s already tired of.
“Liar,” I hiss, the word ripped from somewhere deeper than my lungs.
He steps forward again, jaw tight. “If I wanted you dead, Nadi, you’d be in a goddamn coffin. And you know that.”
I move before I even register the decision—muscle and instinct overriding pain.
Every step I take is a fight against the urge to launch myself at him. It takes everything in me to stay controlled. When I reach him, I hook my foot around his ankle and yank hard. Nik stumbles, crashing to the floor with a grunt, his injured shoulder hitting with a dull thud.
He barely has time to react before I plant my boot near the hilt of the blade still embedded in his shoulder—not pressing, but close enough to remind him it’s still there.
My gun’s out a second later, the safety clicking off as I lower it to his temple, steady, and unshaking.
“What do you want your last words to your children to be, Nik?” I ask, voice low but lethal.
His eyes widen, panic flickering behind the anger. The blood is starting to soak through his shirt, warm and spreading—but I haven’t moved. Haven’t broken a sweat.
“Choose carefully,” I whisper, steel threading through my tone. “You’ll only get one sentence if you’re lying.”
“You really think I would get someone else to kill you?” he grits out, voice strained. “You think I’mthatmuch of a coward? I trained you. Imadeyou.”
His words cut deeper than they should. Rage curls up from my chest, but I don’t explode—I freeze, lock my jaw, let it simmer under the surface.
“You’re not stupid,” he presses, cruel now. “You think I’d waste Bhon Lee onyou? Nadia, you’re reckless. Emotional. You don’t think beyond your rage. Why would I spend that kind of money on a girl who was already going to burn herself out?”
My jaw tightens. I want to move—want to break something—but I hold. I slowly lower the gun, hooking it under his chin, as I bite my lip, until the taste of metal tickles the tip of my tongue. This is all I can do not to kill my own flesh and blood, because despite my murderous tendencies I guess this is my soft spot. Not wanting to look my brother in the eye as I kill him.
