Second Best (Volkov Bratva Book 1) Read online

  Would he even want me?

  I wasn’t … the kind of wife the boss would have. Ivan didn’t even have a wife nor a girlfriend, or an intended.

  Sipping at my water, I wondered where I stood. Since Slavik had gone silent, I had to wonder if he was planning on getting rid of me. Ivan started our marriage. The peace treaty lasted between my family and his. I was the ordered bride. The consolation prize.

  My hands shook.

  Would I be kicked out?

  My family would never take me back. People would look at me and laugh.

  Stop it, Aurora. You have no idea what you’re talking about.

  Slavik and I weren’t a love match. I rubbed at my chest. The piercing pain was more than I could bear. My stomach knotted.

  Over the months, my feelings for my husband had changed. This silence between us only confirmed what I knew. I loved him and I hated it. I loved a man who might never love me back.

  Tears filled my eyes and I closed them, trying not to allow them to fall back.

  Not happening. I was not going to cry. I would stay strong. Nothing would make me weak.

  I loved my husband, and after all this time, I would learn to love him even as he hated me.

  A sudden knock at my front door made me pause. The guard turned and walked toward the door. I remained near the window, basking in self-pity. Pregnant. Alone. Miserable and in love.

  Just kill me now.

  Rubbing at my temples, I looked up to see Cara.

  “Hi, darling!” She rushed toward me and pulled me into my arms. The action caused my water to spill over the edge. “I’ve been so busy with work. Utterly swamped.” She let out a sniffle. “I came over as soon as I could. Slavik, he has been … this is tough for the two of us.”

  “You’re not with him?”

  “No. Someone had to be here. You know how it goes.”

  I stared at Cara. Her face wasn’t puffy or red. Her eyes glistened, but they were not bloodshot. I spent a lot of time crying, especially these past few days, and I looked a mess. My eyes were swollen, bloodshot. Even around my eyes was sore from wiping away the tears. I hadn’t known Ivan Volkov for a long time, not even intimately as a friend, but I still mourned his loss. Bad man or not, he’d only shown me nothing but kindness.

  “You must be hurting?” I asked.

  “I am. It … it has been a struggle to get up in the mornings. If it wasn’t for Slavik giving me work. He knows what I need to get me through this trying time.” She put a hand to her stomach and took a breath. “I loved Ivan so very much.” The same hand went to her mouth and she turned away.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I felt … numb.

  “I’d have been here sooner. With Slavik off dealing with the funeral arrangements and of course bringing those responsible to justice. We will not let this stand. We will fight.” Cara’s face turned into a frown. Her hand clenched into a fist.

  “I agree.”

  I sipped at my water, noting the spillage on the floor. Brushing past Cara, I went to the kitchen, acting on autopilot as I grabbed a cloth and returned to clean up the mess.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Cara said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine. You’re acting really strange.”

  I rubbed the floor until it was dry. I didn’t know if the few lunch dates Cara and I had been on constituted us as friends. My baby was currently my top priority. I loved my child so much already.

  Talking to Cara about my pregnancy was not high on my list. “You talked to Slavik?”

  “Yes. He is struggling, as I’m sure you can imagine,” Cara said.

  I glanced at Cara, and she watched me. Head tilted to the side. Her voice sounded strange to me.

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He hasn’t called me. I don’t know what he’s going through.” I stood, taking the towel to the sink as my words sank in to my own ears.

  Slavik, my husband, had called Cara before he’d even talked to me. Had our time together meant nothing? I knew the truth, and it hurt more than all the other rejections I ever felt.

  “You know, it’s not a big deal. Vik is a complicated guy.”

  Vik. The name some of his friends called him. “I guess.”

  “You know what, we’re going out to lunch. No questions asked. My treat.”

  “I don’t feel like it.”

  Cara tutted. “Come on. I’ll talk to your guard. He can drive us. It’ll be fun.”

  So that was how I ended up in the back seat of a car, dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt, sitting next to a really beautiful woman, being driven across town to a quaint little café.

  “I will say I need to make a pit stop first. It won’t be long.” She gave directions to my guard, and I sat back, hands on my stomach. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Good. Good. We’re getting so close to Christmas. It’s always a busy time, the festive holidays. Men cannot stand being at home with their women and they come to see me and my girls.”

  Cara continued to chat incessantly. I stopped listening, staring out the window at the passing scenery.

  The car came to a stop, and I didn’t notice or recognize any of the buildings. Slavik had taken me all over the city to his different venues and enterprises. He was a very rich man and an astute businessman.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “Come on.” Cara climbed out of the car.

  My guard followed suit as we walked toward the old rundown factory. It wasn’t large, perhaps a two-story building, but on a small scale. The sign on the side had decayed and the paint had chipped away from years of neglect.

  Cara opened the door and we entered. The scent of dust filled the air. I spotted a couple of rats up ahead, and I screamed.

  The unmistakable sound of a gunshot filled the air, and I spun around to see Cara holding a gun. My guard was dead. The wound to the head had sprayed all over the walls. My stomach instantly recoiled, and I bent forward, vomiting.

  “So fucking disgusting.”

  I finished throwing up, and Cara grabbed me by my long hair and dragged me through the factory.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Pain rushed through my head at the grip she had on my skull. None of this made any sense.

  Why had she killed my guard?

  Had Slavik sent her to kill me?

  She threw me across the room, and I hit the side of a table, using my hands to take more of the impact so I didn’t catch my stomach.

  “I can’t believe it was so difficult to get to you,” Cara said. “I mean, why you?” She tutted.

  Glancing at Cara, I saw she’d led us into a large open space. Several tables looked modern, and I saw paperwork sprawled out. Boards were hung, and I caught pictures of myself, Slavik, and Ivan. Along with notes of locations, times, and then I saw the images of the man who had attacked me the night of the banquet.

  Cara smiled. “Yes, look your fill. You really should. After all, your husband is going to find this and everyone is going to know how I stopped you. Of course it will mean an end to the treaty with the Italians, which is fine. They’re easy to stop, and we’ll soon be taking over their turf.” She clicked her fingers.

  “What is all of this?” I asked.

  “This … this is twenty-plus years of being kept on the bottom. Twenty years of being overlooked. Twenty years of allowing dicks to rule. Not anymore it’s not.”

  “You did this?” I asked.

  “No, darling, you did. You and your traitorous family. All along, it was a ploy and a game to infiltrate Ivan’s Bratva. To weaken them from within. You, my sweet, arranged for all of the killings. All of the attacks, and you paid for them until you got the one you wanted, Ivan Volkov. Son of a bitch never saw it coming.” Cara tutted. “He should have known not to deal with me, but what can I say? They’re fucking brain dead when it comes to a woman in charge.”r />
  I stood up and looked at all the planning. There was so much detail. After all this time, Cara hadn’t been loyal to them. She’d bided her time until the right moment where she could take them out.

  “You were always going to kill Ivan?” I asked.

  “Seeing as you’re going to be dead soon, I suppose I can tell you that I never planned to kill Ivan. Not in the beginning. He was a sweet guy, deadly, vicious, and all that, but I liked him. I don’t do love. We had a business arrangement, and I have to say, for the most part, he kept to his side of the bargain.”

  “What changed? You got the life you wanted.”

  “What changed?” Cara rushed toward me. Her hand suddenly wrapped around my neck. She was so strong, and I held on to her wrist, trying to stop her from choking me to death. “You changed fucking everything. My rightful place was by Ivan’s side. If not his, then Slavik’s. That’s my place, but you, you came along and ruined everything. Then Ivan, he thinks he can marry his men off one by one and nothing would come of it. I saved them on those fucking streets, and now, they’re going to be mine. I’m going to show Slavik what a nasty cunt you are. He’ll want me, and then I’ll be by his side ruling this place as it was meant to be. The new order is not for now. I don’t believe in peace. I want war.”

  The Cara I thought I knew was an act. She changed right before my eyes. The violence simmered within her.

  “Slavik will never believe you.”

  “No?” she asked. “You think he’d believe you after how long he’s known me? You don’t stand a chance, Aurora. I am sorry for all of this. You are a means to an end.”

  I stared at Cara, shocked as she raised the gun at me.

  She tensed, and I closed my eyes. No bullet came.

  “Fuck!”

  I had no time to move as the sound of the door being broken in filled the air. Within a matter of seconds, Slavik and his men were there.

  ****

  Slavik

  I listened to Cara’s accusations. My wife on her knees, tears filling her eyes as she looked at me.

  All the while, a perfect story painted for all to hear. I saw my men and Ivan’s, and their anger grew with each word spoken.

  My wife.

  The woman I’d fallen in love with was a traitor?

  “You see, Slavik, we can’t let her leave here. Look at the damage she has caused. I told Ivan he never should have done the treaty. You, yourself, fought against it.”

  I stared at Aurora. She made no sound. No defense.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked.

  “Of course, I trust you,” Cara said. Her hands touched my shoulder. “How could I not? I brought her to you. I knew you’d follow me to protect me. You love me.”

  The buzz in my pocket alerted me to the next step, and I turned to Cara. I dropped the gun and stroked her cheek. She was a good friend, the best. Through thick and thin, she’d been there for me and for Ivan.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” I said, grabbing her head and shoving her down to the ground as she screamed.

  My men tensed up.

  “Do you really think bringing my wife to this factory was all it was going to take? All this information gathered together, pointing the finger of blame at my woman?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. She has polluted your mind, Vik. This is not you. Please, someone, stop him. He’s a traitor to Ivan. Kill him. Please, kill him.”

  I pointed my gun at Cara’s head.

  “You thought you could get away with it, but Cara, the moment you started to steal from Ivan, I knew. I knew the funds being taken, the men who started to attack. You’re not the brightest woman. All you’ve ever been able to sell is your cunt. Sex is all you know and you think you could take this from Ivan? From me!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of my men approach my wife, and I raised my gun. “You touch her, and I will fucking kill you.”

  “She’s a traitor, boss.”

  I shot him in the leg and turned to look at all of my men. “Now would be a good time for you to come out.”

  “I rather like the suspense and drama,” Ivan Volkov said, removing the hat and scarf he’d used to cover himself so I could get him on a plane and back to my city.

  Cara gasped. “Ivan. I knew it. I knew you were alive. Please, tell him to stop. You know I would never hurt you.”

  “Oh, honey. You were sloppy, darling,” Ivan said. He looked around at the information Cara had left.

  I’d known from the start of the attacks she had something to do with it. At first, I wasn’t sure why. The little crumbs she’d left me to work with didn’t give anything away. The money she stole was used to take Ivan out, but as she did, she got sloppy.

  Cara was never much of a thinker or a planner.

  “This is all Aurora and those Italian bastards!”

  Ivan moved toward my wife and offered her a hand. “I am so very sorry for all of this mess.”

  My wife continued to shake.

  I’d pointed a gun at her to play along, to draw Cara away from my wife so she’d be out of harm’s way. I still held a firm grip on Cara’s hair, but all I wanted to do was go to my woman, to pull her into my arms, to kiss her, to tell her it was going to be okay.

  Tears fell from her cheeks.

  “Oh, Cara, you were doing so well. I have to say when Slavik told me of your involvement in this months ago, I told him he was lying. There was no way you’d hurt me or the Bratva.”

  “I wouldn’t. You know this. You know me.”

  “Exactly. I know you and I told him to get the proof. Until I happened to overhear this.” He lifted his cell phone and played the recording he got.

  “Remember, do not come back until Ivan is dead. I want him gone. Send me a picture if you have to, and I will make sure your debt is removed. You will not owe me a thing. The Bratva will be mine, Cara’s.”

  Ivan clicked off his cell phone. “I’m a cautious guy. Men can be bought, as can women. Nothing is ever sacred anymore, so I designed my own security system. I know when people are in my house, Cara. Your guy was dead before he even finished the call. You finished that conversation with me.”

  Cara’s face went pale.

  Ivan had called me. Told me exactly what to do and so I did. I left my wife and immediately went to his side. I made the final announcement of his death, and with it, we waited, making our way back to my city where Cara refused to leave. I knew something was going down today the moment I watched her enter my apartment building. Aurora’s guard had called me as soon as Cara entered. His call had stayed with me until the moment he died. His family would be taken care of.

  “No. No. No,” Cara said. “You’re lying. You’re bluffing. It’s all that whore’s fault.” She started to cry, but the tears never made an appearance.

  Ivan crouched down to be on her level. “You want to tell me what is going on?”

  Cara went silent. “You think I don’t know about her? You think I didn’t know when you changed our plans?”

  Ivan’s jaw clenched.

  “You’re never going to be happy with her. I won’t allow it. I will hunt you down, and I will kill you,” Cara said. “You and Slavik, you’re both mine, and you gave him away. It was supposed to be us three against the world.”

  “Cara, you had the job you wanted. You had everything you wanted. I offered you more power and you refused.”

  I’d been there when Ivan had told her to take any city or cities as her own. She’d told him no. All she wanted was her own brothel. To control men. To help him from the ground. We’d always accepted that. I put as much protection on her as Ivan did.

  We grew up together. Our lives were bound with one another, but Cara, she wasn’t the same person.

  “I know what you have to do,” Cara said. “Do it. You think I won’t do it again? Next time, I’ll be better. Next time I’ll make sure every single person you love is dead long before I put a bullet in your head. I’ll make you all s
uffer. This … this will be a party in comparison.”

  Ivan pulled out his gun as Cara continued to rant, pressed the muzzle against her head, and pulled the trigger. I let her go.

  Her corpse lay on the ground.

  I looked at Ivan for a split second before I went to my woman. Aurora collapsed against me with a sob. Her body shook in my arms, and I ran my hands all over her, trying to make sure she was okay. To find any sign that she was hurt.

  “She was crazy,” Aurora said. “You were going to kill me.”

  I cupped her face. “No. I was never going to kill you. I’ve seen how Cara is, and I knew she’d hurt you. She would have killed you, Aurora. All I did was get her away from you.”

  I slammed my lips down on her lips, not caring about the men who surrounded us. They were already following Ivan’s orders, dealing with the body and the cleanup. All the information Cara had gathered would be destroyed. Breaking the kiss, I stared into my woman’s eyes. “I love you.” I spoke the words slowly so she wouldn’t have any room for doubt.

  The amazement on her face made me laugh. “What?”

  “I’m in love with you.” I could have lost her. One wrong move today and she … no, there was no way I’d let it happen. I refused to even think of losing her. “I will never hurt you, Aurora. Never. You are my fucking life, and not just because of the baby.”

  “You know?”

  I groaned. “I’ve known since the attack at the restaurant. I know you heard Ivan. I didn’t want you to think I knocked you up on command. I got you pregnant because I can’t take my hands off you. I’m in love with you, Aurora. So much so, you drive me crazy.” Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out the folded tickets I had stored there. Cara had messed with my plans. “I wanted to give you this on your birthday, but Cara, she … you know how it is.”

  Aurora looked up with tears in her eyes. “You remembered my birthday?”

  “I never forgot it. How could I forget one of the best days? You were born on it.”

  “Fucking gross. You’re supposed to be my fucking beast, and here you are spilling your heart out.” Ivan made a vomiting noise.