Hopelessly Devoted

Chapter 10: The Usual Suspects

It was Sunday and Matvei was finally getting a day off. He had tied up dealings for Guillermo and checked on the houses in Houston that would begin construction in the coming weeks.

It seemed Alyssa's home was the only true dumpster fire among the Reynolds' properties and he thanked God for that. Matvei trusted to put his other guys on those homes to ensure that they met the deadline requested by Dallas.

Matvei was now seated in his home bar alongside his three cousins attempting to relax. Arseny Melnik, Vlad Melnik and Konstantin Melnik were three of Matvei and Mikhail's four cousins and only children of their father's youngest brother, Markov.

Matvei and Arseny were the same age with birthdays exactly a week a part. His long sandy blonde hair added to the mysterious aura that followed him. His blue eyes matched every Melnik member and shined brightly when he was busy doing what he did best. Killing.

Arseny Melnik was the most sought after hitman in all the world. Killing was more than a sport to him. Killing was an art form and he appreciated every aspect of it.

When he was younger, he took on various contracts and made his millions that route, but as he turned 30 he felt it best to return home and work solely for the Melnik connects.

It didn't help that his longtime girlfriend had recently found out she was pregnant with their first child. Arseny planned on proposing to Keisha McGee, but she was the one who ended up surprising him instead with the big news.

The two had been together for almost six years now and Arseny just felt everything was finally lining up for them. They were telling the Melnik family soon and that was when he'd pop the question and begin a life he could further love and be proud of.

Vlad Melnik was the middle child and cousin that looked most like Matvei body wise. He was large and muscular just like his oldest cousin. His hair was brown making him the "outcast" like their redheaded cousin Jenna for their stark hair difference to the Melnik sandy blonde locks.

However, everyone knew not to pick on Vlad too much and risk becoming a target for his favorite hobby. Torture.

Vlad once skinned a man alive as a form of celebration when the latest Kendrick Lamar album dropped. The man deserved it, but the look in their cousin's eyes still put them all on notice.

Vlad wasn't as unhinged as he once was. Mikhail felt it had everything to do with a girl, but Matvei just laughed at him. Matvei knew the day Vlad settled down with someone was the day he needed to do the same AND proof that hell had in fact frozen over.

Then there was Konstantin Melnik. The baby of the cousin crew. He was only 25, but Konstantin was the most lethal out of all of them. He had gotten top tier trade secrets, locations to nuclear missiles and real life spy details without the use of a single torture tactic or weapon. Konstantin was good at many things, but his superpower was love.

Well, the idea of love. It was truly just lust and desire. He had always been great with the ladies, but the moment their uncles found out he was also great with the men they found his "Melnik gift." It was coined that way because they all had one and seduction was Konstantin's.

Konstantin had been seducing enemies since he turned 20 and in 5 years, he had been the cause of various secrets and details being revealed for the mafias they served earning close to a billion dollars.

He was the lover boy with his brighter blonde hair and debonair looks and style of dress, but he was still the baby and they all made sure he remembered that.

"So, I hear you're going to make Keisha an honest woman." Matvei said to Arseny who smiled widely. "Yeah. I've had the ring but since we'll all be at the Melnik dinner in a few weeks I figured I'd ask then with everyone around. You know we're the closest thing she has to family, so it seemed perfect."