Chapter 137

Vladimir:

“When did you get here anyway? No one has informed us that you were coming, we would have come to pick you up from the airport ourselves.” I said, looking at Batrov. His eyes met mine and I could tell that the second hand hated my guts. For starters, telling Konstantin about him being knocked out after being drunk was something that he did not appreciate.

However, this was going to be the least of his concerns when I chose to kill him for the way that he treated my mate. I just needed to give it time before I did so, and I was going to be sure that even Konstantin wanted him dead.

“I didn’t want to disturb you so early in the morning. Plus, I paid a visit to my wife before seeing you all and I doubt that it would have been appropriate for me to just leave you to go to her when I just arrived and you went through the fuss of picking me up.” He said, making me clench my fist. His eyes met mine for a second, and I could tell that he noticed my change of expression. “Vladimir?”

“It is in our customs and traditions that we would be picking up our boss, you know that, Konstantin.” I said, and he smiled, putting a hand on my knee. He tapped it twice before shaking his head.

“Things are different here, son.” He said, reminding me that regardless of Elena, I had a mission. Her pain was mine and I knew that I was going to be getting her revenge somehow, but first, I had to do what I came here to finish. “We do not follow the Ivanov ways. I have my men escorting me and they tend to what I need and the security of course. Your ways being who you are do not go here.”

I knew that he was referring to the fact of me being a werewolf. It was something that I knew he was jealous of mom for, and though he never did mention it; even she saw it in his eyes when he spoke of what and who we were as wolves. It was one of the reasons why our families unified in the first place. While Aunt Maria was bought, from him, by Yaroslav, my father’s marriage was arranged to mother. 

“I see,” I said, and he nodded, not pressing on the topic any longer. “So, what did you take us off to do? I doubt that we’ve been driving around for the past hour to simply talk about what you have in mind when it comes to plans that you have when you’re off to…?”

“Plans have changed about my traveling destination, and that is one of the reasons why I came back.” He said, making me frown in confusion. “One of the men, an ally, betrayed me. I killed him, and we are heading off to his family to speak to his heir and see if we can come up with an agreement.”

“And you would expect him to make an agreement with you when you just killed his father?” I asked, frowning and he smirked. 

“Leonov,” he said, mentioning the last name of the one man who wanted nothing more than to see his father dead. “He was the one who provided proof of his father’s betrayal in the first place. It seems to me that he wasn’t very keen about him growing and expanding, and he wanted nothing more than to bring his reign of power to an end.”

“And you are trusting working with a man that killed his own father for power?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“As long as it benefits me, why not?” He asked, and I smirked. “I told you, son, things are different here. The merciful ways of trust do not work on these grounds.”

And though it was never the case with us, we knew who to and who not to trust, I chose not to argue. I left him to think that I am agreeing with his new ways, or more specifically, I am learning from him.

“It is either power or death, and as long as we have mutual agreements; we can work with all.” He said, looking both cocky and confident. Two things that were common for a man like himself. “Otherwise, it was blood. And believe me, there is no better blood than that of your traitor. I think that you of all people should know that very well.”

“If you are referring to Liana…”

“I am referring to all, Nikolai included.” He smirked, and I looked away from him. “Plus, it is not like your boss did not betray you. The bullet that he shot at you was one that would have killed you had we not interfered on time. Luckily, your mother called when things started getting messy, I just didn’t expect that Killian would be going this far. At least, not with you.”

I scoffed, and he raised an amused eyebrow. “Your mother never did tell me what you did to piss him off as much.”

I took a deep breath, choosing to tell him the truth about it. I knew that it was something that he was going to like, especially judging by personality. It was one that I despised, but I knew better than to let him know that now.

“I kissed Eleanor, well, I tried to. She slapped and stopped me, and ran to her husband for help.” I said, and he smirked.

“You sly dog,” he said, clearly proud. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew that with Eleanor’s sensitive topic, it was something that would look more believable; I just hoped that she didn’t shy back in the same shadow of fear that we once found her in. “I have to admit, I can understand why your mother often compared the two of us.”

It was not something that she did, I knew that for fact. However, I was going to allow him to believe that it was true.

“And how did Killian react? Did he…?”

“He was furious, and I think that you saw the aftermath.” I said, and he chuckled and nodded.

“Well, I do not blame you.” He said, making my heart clench for a moment. “She is a divine beauty. Then again, I doubt that Elton would have accepted being with her if not.”

The mention of the bastard’s name, despite being dead, boiled my blood. I was about to respond when the driver stopped the car in front of a mansion. His eyes met Konstantin’s from the rear mirror. And when I looked outside, I saw him, Mikhail Leonov, the only heir of his father, waiting for us. 

“We are here, boss…”