Page 75 of Married to the Don (Kornilov Bratva Duet 1)

He rolls his eyes. “I see you called my big brother to bring me back in line. Thanks, Pete.”

Petr is wrapping a bandage around Fedor’s bloody bicep, but at the pointed nickname, he holds up his hands in surrender and walks away. “You’re on your own, asshole.”

Fedor narrows his eyes at him as he leaves and then turns to me. “This is why I should be your second-in-command. Petr is disrespectful. He’s becoming too comfortable.”

“He’s our cousin,” I remind him, pushing the door closed.

“And I’m your brother. Blood is thicker than water.”

“That’s not what that phrase even means,” I say. “The full saying is ‘the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.’ It means—”

“I’m not an idiot. I know what it means.” Fedor ties a loose knot in the bandage and flops back in my chair. I can see there is blood smeared on the upholstery. “So family doesn’t mean anything to you anymore? Is that it?”

“Of course not. Family is everything.”

That has always been true for me, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. The question is, however, what does family mean now?

Molly feels more like my family than my little brother does, and Fedor is sitting directly across from me while I don’t even know where Molly is.

“Good,” Fedor says, wincing as he rolls his shoulder. “Then you need to help me kill some people. For our family.”

Fedor leans back in my chair and tries to kick his feet up on the table, but he loses his balance and plants them quickly back on the floor. The falter reminds me of the clumsy kid who used to chase after me, tripping over his own feet. It is a flicker of the little boy I used to love and a stark juxtaposition against the wild man he has become.

“You need to remember whose office you’re in,” I say, hitching a thumb over my shoulder and walking around the desk. “Up.”

He opens his mouth to argue, but I kick the base of the chair. It’s already off balance because of his slouched posture, so he goes tumbling backwards, cursing.

“I just got shot, fuck head!” He grabs the bandage on his arm that’s already soaking through with blood.

I ignore his name-calling and reclaim my chair. Fedor needs to be reminded who is in charge. He needs to understand that he does not call the shots. He may be the brother of the boss, but that does not make him the boss.

“So I heard. It seems you picked a fight.”

He sits on the edge of my desk and rolls his eyes. “They started a fight with me. I was just trying to talk to Johnny.”

“About what?”

Fedor’s mouth tightens. “Nothing.”

“He called and said you wouldn’t pay. I’m not even going to bother asking what you were refusing to pay for. Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t have any fucking money.” He jumps to his feet and paces in a small circle, reminding me of a caged animal. “My accounts are empty. I’m supposed to receive a check, but—”

“But you spent your last check and the next several paying off a judge so you could get out of jail,” I remind him.

His mouth falls open. “That was for my freedom. You’re really going to take it from my allowance like I’m some kid?”

I want to tell him he’s acting like a kid. That I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him behave like an actual adult. But that would only make things worse. I cross my arms and nod.

“I can’t show favoritism. The Bratva is a family. Every member is important. If I give you special treatment, it will breed resentment. Do you want your brothers to hate you?”

“Fuck my ‘brothers,’” he says, throwing air quotes around the word. He points at me with his good arm. “I only care about one brother. My blood brother.”

Fedor runs a hand through his dark hair and tips his head back. When he does, I see Theo’s nose and sharp chin. He looks so much like his father.

Then I shake my head. I am Theo’s father now. Not Fedor. I am all Theo has, and I have to get Fedor under control and back on track, otherwise I won’t have the energy to split between the two.

“I was just talking to Johnny,” Fedor says again. “The Mazzeos walked over to me. They made some cracks about me being the Crazy Kornilov. I had to defend our honor.”

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