Page 4 of Bratva Bastard

“Just breathe,”Fernanda said, squeezing my hand. “The Xanax should kick in any minute.”

I nodded furiously, my panic increasing with my movement. If Fernanda—Gabby’s sister—wasn’t there with me, I didn’t know how I’d get through that flight. I only dreaded the flight home from Moscow, because she would probably stay with her sister a few days longer than I had planned. Especially since Gabby’s parents couldn’t make it to the wedding. However, she’d planned to have another small ceremony in the future with her family in Trancoso.

Damn, maybe I should’ve waited for that wedding, instead. Too late now. Besides, Gabby was my bestie, which meant I wasn’t missing her wedding for anything—especially a fear of flying.

“Thanks for letting me have the window seat,” I said, my voice calming to a slur now that the Xanax had kicked in.

She giggled, resting her head on my shoulder for comfort. Fernanda, though a few years older, had also been close to me, though not as much as Gabby. But she was my go-to if I had a problem, and Gabby wasn’t around. Or if I wanted financial advice. All I could say for Zoran, her fiancé, was I hoped he was better at handling finances than Gabby. Fernanda had even made a joke once that Gabby should “marry someone who knows how to balance a checkbook, since she doesn’t.”

Since I was raised by a single mother, she’d often been at work when I got home from school, so I’d spend pretty much all my free time at Gabby’s house. Her father worked, but her mother was always home, offering me dinner, letting me stay the night on weekends, giving me clothes her girls had outgrown or didn’t like.

They were well off—much more than I could ever imagine being—so I think she felt pity for me, a young girl who was pretty much on her own most of the time. She fed me, clothed me, and became a second mother to me, Gabby and Fernanda being the sisters I’d never had.

My mother was there for me in every way she could be, but she was only one person, working two jobs just to support us. The Rochas understood, and I was like another member of their family. A family I’d always secretly craved. One that ate meals together, had game nights, watched movies, and everything else I thought a family was supposed to do.

So, like family, we spent the rest of the flight joking and bullshitting about the wedding.

“What would you do if your loco tio Carlos showed up?”

“Oh yeah? Well, what if the best man hit on you at the reception?”

One pointless question after another, we piddled away the hours until we’d see Gabriela.

2

Maxim

Today was the wedding day.

I glanced in the mirror, straightening my tie—I’ve always hated wearing ties—and winked at my reflection. It was more to calm the heavy nerves in the room than a mark of confidence.

Zoran let out a half-laugh and sighed, blowing out a heavy breath. “I can’t believe it,” he said, staring at his reflection. “I can’t believe today is the day. Are you nervous?”

“Me? Why wouldIbe nervous? It’s your day, man.” I patted his shoulder, resting my hand there.

My best friend since I’d moved to St. Petersburg, Zoran was the one person I could always trust to have my back. Even when I was the tall, lanky teenager with a bad attitude and rebellious nature, he would keep me in line. Don’t get me wrong—we’d had our fair share of troublemaking experiences together, been thrown out of nightclubs, kicked ass, and had our asses kicked together. Zoran was my brother before I found my real brothers.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” I asked. “I got you a great job with Misha where you can travel to Brazil. You really want to give that up for a family? A marriage?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Not everyone is like you, Max. Some of us are comforted by the thought of a wife.”

I scoffed, thinking of how I’d be thelastperson to find that comforting. Throw me in a cage with a wild bear—it’d be more comforting a thought than getting married.

“You know that isn’t my style. I like the freedom to do whatever the hell I want, when I want. Without anyone holding me back.” It had been that way my entire life. Family was never something I’d known—not until recently, when I met the brothers, I didn’t know I had for the first time.

Zoran shot me a disapproving look, so I quickly added, “But for you, Zor, it’s perfect. I’m happy for you, man. Honestly.”

He smiled, a wary look in his eyes. I gave him a hug and patted his back, holding on for a moment longer than I usually would. In a way, I felt like I was losing my best friend. Is that ridiculous? Probably, but I couldn’t help it. He’d be a changed man after he got married. He’d have a wife, soon a family, and move on from the lifestyle we’d lived for so long.

I was only trying to hold on for even a moment longer.

Zoran straightened his suit and asked me how he looked.

I smirked deviously, answering, “Not as good as me.”

He shook his head. “Oh, please. Everyone knows I’m the sexy one.” Laughing, I reached up to razzle his hair, but his hand shot up to block me. “Don’t!Do you know how long it took the hairdresser to get my cowlick to stand down? Gab will neuter me if I mess it up now.”

“Yeah, right. She wants babies too bad to neuter you.” But still, I relented, allowing his cowlick to stay tucked in with the rest of his hair. “Now, let’s go. You have a gorgeous woman waiting to marry your sorry ass,” I teased.

---