Third Person POV.
Somewhere in Russia.
Different black-tinted cars swerved into the field, and men in black suits poured out from it. The Red Kings’ men, Anton noted as he watched everything through his dark sunshade.
Layers of dust trickled through the air as each car’s tires squealed over the sandy dunes of the desert.
The clan-to-clan war had doubled, getting out of hand and many lives had been lost in the process. Lots of properties belonging to both the mafias and the civilian who lived around the places where their gun battles occurred had been severely damaged.
However, the Red Kings and the Sokolov twins were the ones gaining the upper hand.
The two clans had won over the other clans, either razing them completely or making them part of their clan as allies.
The Sokolov twins had gained three allies from different clans. That’s why their Byki doubled.
Now, however, the twins are building a squad of soldiers that would help them fight the war with the Red Kings.
Today, they are just here for negotiation. If they don’t
reach a concrete agreement then they would declare war against each other.
Gone are the days when the Sokolov twins feared the Red Kings. Now, they’re prepared for whatever the Red Kings would dish out.
Anton held the steering wheel tightly as his eyes darted around the desert field counting the number of men the Red Kings arrived with.
“Huh.” He smirked at the large number of men that came along with the Red Kings.
Alexei barked a laugh, getting exactly what his brother was checking.
He raised his hand and reached his scruff, sliding his fingers through it while adjusting in his seat beside his brother.
They both felt the ripple of adrenaline through their body, a telltale sign of their readiness for action if the need arises.
Alexei scurried his big palm over and unlinked the seatbelts, tilting forward to stare openly through the windshield.
While his brother was in a dark shade, Alexei only wore transparent ones, displaying his manly features women kill themselves for.
They both wore the same customized black shirts, pants, and belts, screaming money.
“Good. The guys are doing well. Keeping cover.” Anton shared with Alexei after throwing his head back, taking in the state of their men.
Behind their car, only one black Escalade containing just about four of their men stood there. The others were taking cover in case things went south.
When the Red Kings SUVs finished pouring in, Alexei counted.
“Ten cars, some bullshit!” He said with scented English.
Quickly Anton counted the number of men it would be and realized the Red Kings came with about forty men.
A devious smirk spread across the faces of both men.
They readied themselves to exit their car. As if on cue, the Red Kings exited theirs too, looking broody, scarred, devilish, and scary.
The three Kings’ features would scare off any other person given their height and burly stature but the Sokolov twins knew better than to be scared.
Anton prided himself forward, standing before their humming Escalade. His brother followed suit.
Both twins clasped their pudgy hands over their groins, holding a sneer and dirty smirk on their faces.
The scarred Kings planted one of their dirtiest smirks too, standing shoulder to shoulder, line in line.
“Hmm,” Anton hummed, his smirk turning into a full-blown grin. Then. “Forty? Too much for a negotiation, isn’t it?” He asked with a curled brow, his graveled voice impaling the air.
Of course, the Scarred Kings already knew what he was punctuating at. One of them shrugged as he sputtered. “I thought you’d chicken out.”
His words made the Sokolov twins share a look before shaking their heads with a scoff leaving their lips.
“What’s there to chicken out for?” Alexei drawled, voice deep.
“Many things, I guess.” Another one among the scarred Kings let out.
Anton tsked at that comment. “You got that wrong, Obenko,” he paused and took a look around. Then. “This is our territory.”
Obenko grunted, shaking his head in disapproval. “This is a buffer zone, may I remind, Sokolovs.”
That got the twins to bite their lips. Of course, they remember. Negotiations like this can’t
be held in any of their territories. A buffer zone was safer. But it didn’t mean there wouldn’t be possibilities of crossfire.
From the looks of it, the Red Kings are prepared for any turn of events and so are the twins.
In the mafia world, trust was in extinction. No one trusted the other, even allies, as there’s a possibility an ally would change to become an enemy tomorrow.
All that mattered was for the rivals to be ready for any strike. Any attack from an opponent.
A moment of silence passed between them before they fell into the discussion for the negotiation.
“Our men conquered the east…” Obenko said, referring to the clan war they won in the east, containing about three Russian crime families. They took captives wherever they went as a sign of their victory.
“And we made it in the west. There are no odds.” Alexei shot out, shoulders squared. “That adds to our territory.”
They were already making claims but at the back of their minds, the only person to solidify their claim was Vera.
The late Pakhan’s granddaughter. Only in papers will their claims be legitimate.
“Fine.” Boris, another of the Red Kings boomed out.
The Sokolov twin’s attention ran to his features.
“You take the east and the west. And we take the girl.” Boris said.
“I support that.” Anatoly, the last of the Red Kings seconded.
Sharing a long look, the Sokolov twins burst into a fit of laughter.
“How smart of you?” Anton remarked, offering a dramatic sigh. “Without being told…” He stared at them one after another as the words left his lips. “The girl in question is already ours. Our bride to claim.”
“I mean, her mother was ours once. Since her father is our man.” Alexei stated, to the Red Kings’ displeasure.
“If she is…” Obenko scowled.
He gestured to his Byki close to the door of the SUV behind them.
The Byki bowed to the three bosses, turning to do their bidding.
The Sokolov twins watched with curiosity to know what would happen.
The Byki tugged at the door, fluttering it open. They saw him shoving out a woman in chains and duct tape over her lips.
Her tousled hair covered her face but when she flew her hair away from her face, the twins saw her clearly.
“Calina?” They gushed.
Just last week they both agreed Calina to be their legal mistress and as a result of the raging war, they offered to send her to someplace safe.
They had put the girl on a plane heading to Switzerland, so what the heck happened?
Ahem! Boris cleared his throat. He looked over at the confused twins, wanting to clear the air. “Oh well, you can’t always outsmart us, you know.”
Anton and Alexei fumed, both clenching and unclenching their fists.
“We picked her up just as quickly as her plane landed in Switzerland.”
“Bastards” Anton roared.
Smiling, Obenko shoved Calina closer. He fisted her hair and tugged backward. “C’mon, honey. Tell them the news.” He urged.
Calina blinked repeatedly, keeping the twins on edge.
“I…I…” She stammered out of fear. “I’m pregnant,” she said.
Instantly, the twin’s body stood on edge.
Anton stepped forward, growling. “Let her go!” He commanded.
“Until you accept our negotiations!” The Red Kings said in unison.
“Over our dead body…” Anton spat as his hands grabbed his gun from his holster and he fired.
Alexi did the same too, firing Obenko but he was quick to juke.
That clash stirred the Bykis of both clans forward and gunfire rippled out.
The twin men hiding popped out at the sound of a gun battle.
The scene became an exchange of fire, cries, blood, and panic.
“Get her!” Anton commanded his brother who was fighting closer to Calina.
Calina panicked, standing in the midst of hard bodies, preventing her from escaping from the Red Kings.
Alexi pushed through, wanting to reach Calina but Anatoly stepped forward, punching Alexei’s face.
Alexei fell from the impact of the blow.
“Ahh,” he grunted, aiming to rise to his feet.
By then the Red Kings Byki had thrown Calina back into their car.
The three scarred kings rushed inside of the car and drove off. Anton chased after the car on foot but they got away.
“Fuck!” he grunted.
He stepped backward until he reached Alexei’s side.
“Where the fucking hell is Peter!!!!” His baritone thundered. It’s been a long he left for this mission. I need answers.”
“We might have gotten one from the spy you killed,” Alexei stated, reminding Anton about the spy they caught and killed.
The only thing the guy had said was that he was employed by someone, and the twins somehow suspected it to be David Truman.
“We need to find Peter, right away. We need to marry his daughter real quick.” Anton said, gazing into the direction the Red Kings left through as one thing swirled through his mind.
They’re going to search for Peter.