Page 14 of Devil's Vows
He’s right. The last thing the Petrov Bratva can afford is a war with our neighbors, but I also can’t afford not showing strength in this situation.Il Consiglioneeds to know they can’t fuck with me, but they can’t learn how weakened we are. That we’ve barely survived an internal coup that stripped me of every man my age I trusted in my inner circle. That Sergei is our last link to figuring out who is behind this threat, because every other man has been eliminated.
“What do we know about the Scaleras?” I ask.
“Five brothers. Two are married, one with the stolen bride, no kids. The anointed Don, Matteo Scalera, married a senator’s daughter over the summer. Tasha Armstrong.”
I smirk. “Trust a fucking mobster to marry into politics.”
But it’s an admirable move. They are expanding their foothold, strengthening their alliances, and securing their position. It’s more than I’ve managed to do.
Yet, all things considered, and despite everything the Petrov Bratva has been through, I’m still alive. My girls are safe. Milana is back home. It’s more than I’d hoped for months ago when things were dire.
“The one brother, Dominic Scalera, owns a high-end security company. Very successful. Rumor has it he is no longer part ofIl Consiglio?—”
“I don’t buy that. Mafia business is family business.”
“Me neither. The rest of them, though: a mystery. My guess is they are deep into cybercrime as whatever they’re doing, they leave no trace. They have a very closely guarded inner circle.”
Everything I had and lost in a matter of days.
But five brothers?—
What I wouldn’t do for just one brother to help ease the load. It’s just Milana and me, and she was never supposed to get involved in the dirty side of the business. I intend to keep it that way.
Five brothers. Only two are married. Three of them are unattached and are options… If Boryslav is dead, then Milana is a free agent again, to be used?—
I cull the thought, disgusted with myself for even thinking of using my sister this way. Boryslav was my last resort, and I already feel she’s dodged a bullet here. Now if only I were able to force their hand in some other way…
“There’s more,” Yuri says, leaning in, a small but victorious smile playing on his lips. “They’ve recently discovered a missing younger sister who’s been hiding out in Italy.”
Several seconds pass as his words sink in.
“Blyad’. What the fuck? Asister? Out of nowhere? Where did you get all this intel?”
“My man in Providence. He’s a friend of an old capo who left the Don’s services decades ago. They’ve been playing chess for years. It’s all been under wraps, but the girl was declared stillborn, and the mother died in childbirth. Turns out the girl has been in Italy all this time, and Dominic Scalera has gone to fetch her.”
And this is why Yuri was my dad’s righthand man. The old Pakhan always had his select men infiltrating the enemy’s territory. Spies. A Russian specialty. A Petrov strength, and Yuri the spymaster, holding the web together, always weaving, always spinning out new silken threads deeper into the world. This information is priceless.
“Nice. A sister. Unmarried?”
“Coming straight from the convent where she’d been kept safe.”
“Convent? She must be young.” And innocent. Pure.
Everything my first wife wasn’t.
“Very. Only twenty-two.”
My heart beats faster as the opportunity delivers itself on a platter. It’s the perfect solution. I stare into Yuri’s only eye, grey-blue and clear like a shard of glass, and he stares back at me. We’re both thinking the same thing. So young, she could be molded. Unlike Darya, who came from Russia, bitter and with every vice and bad habit already ingrained in her being.
Fuck, if my stepmother learns of this scheme, she’ll escape rehab only to come claw my heart out. The Petrov line is never to be tarnished with outsider blood, least of all with what she’d call Mafia scum.
Papa liked his house clean, too. Russians only. Problem is, this is America: multicultural, diverse, vibrant. A place where a man can make his own destiny. It’s no longer my father’s houseto rule or ruin. It’s no longer his world to survive in. It’s mine—with my daughters and Milana in tow.
“If the old man learns of this, it will help him to the grave,” I say.
“Maybe that’ll be a good thing,” Yuri says. “It’s been too long now.”
“I know.”
