Destined | 18+

Part 30 - The Tsar

Author's Note: Kirill Alekseev is a character from the other three books I wrote, he is the Tsar of Russian Mafia and he moved to New York a year ago in the timeline we're in. To get more acquainted with Kirill, you can read Russian Mafia Tsar, I promise it's a good one too!:)

Kirill's POV

I've known Roman for about fifteen years. We were the same age but grew up in vastly different circumstances and at the same time similar painful childhoods. I met him in Russia years ago, when we were both around nineteen or twenty and he was establishing himself on this side of the pond just like I was doing back home.

Roman was smart and hardworking, he stayed loyal and we hit it off. His influence grew and so did mine and I knew he was the one to watch and keep close.

I made sure to spend time with him every time he came to visit Moscow. We partied, we did coke, we fucked girls together, we went camping and as we got older, we became partners in a few businesses. We became long distance friends.

Ruthless and calculating, he decimated his competition and was the mastermind behind the business. He kept his men loyal and under control except...I had very deep seated suspicions about his closest partner and childhood friend; Sergei.

I had my contacts in the Russian army and through the grapevine, I knew what kind of person Sergei turned out to be while there. His pull toward the dirtiest and most disgusting activities lost him all respect in Russia amongst my men, at the very least.

Nevertheless, Roman trusted him and their business grew although it was obvious that Roman had been doing all the work. As for Alexei, he was harmless, and a bit of an idiot.

I met with Roman a day or two after his arrival in New York and I was shocked, shocked, to see him in such a state. I tried not to show it but I had never seen him like this except for when his sister tragically lost her life and even then, he looked more composed. He had a deep cut on his cheekbone and a broken nose, the bruises around his eyes in full bloom. It was obvious he was more in emotional than physical pain. Something awful must have happened.

We sat down at our table for lunch and he ordered a glass of vodka, straight up, but not a shot, a glass. We could all drink but no one drank this much in the middle of the day. So, he was trying to forget something.

"Who fucked you up like this?" I asked him right away. One thing I noticed about communicating with North Americans was that they all wanted to do small chit chat before getting down to business. We didn't do that in Russia. First, you take care of business and then you do small talk about the weather and shit.

He looked downright distraught and then responded while still looking down at the table,

"Devchonka." (A girl). He spoke quietly. Fuck. We really doing this? We were both in our mid thirties, how could he get so hung up over someone, we were too mature for all that shit. Although, I had my own angel I was pursuing, scared to approach her still, but counting down the days until I saw her. So...maybe we were doing this then. I understood him perfectly.

He looked up at me and had those puppy dog eyes. Head over heels in love, desperate and heartbroken. I gave him time to collect himself and then he told me the succinct version of the story, holding back literal tears.

"She left me. She's back here in New York and...she's in danger. Because of me, obviously." Then he looked up at me with all the severity of his next words. "Sergei...threatened her. He has his eye on her...and I believe he..." Roman broke off and took a large gulp out of his glass of vodka. "He betrayed me. I can't prove it yet but...he may have been involved in Natasha's death."