6

Anatoli

Leif takes us to the closest meeting room, which is just as ornate as the rest of the building.

I'm the last to enter and close the door. My guests don't sit. They stand together facing me, waiting for answers.

"Well, start talking," Mikhail demands.

"Yes, I'm eager to find out how I have another brother I never knew about," Malik says, and Zakh nods.

"My mother was Fryeda Polinsky," I begin. "She and our father grew up together in Moscow. He was with her before your mother." I pause, glancing at Mira, who looks more ghostly than before. Leif told me everything about the past and never shied away from the possibility that Mira was at least aware Mom existed and was involved with my father. She didn't know about me, though. No one did. "They broke up when he was promised to Mira, but he didn't know she was pregnant with me. She didn't tell him until I was twelve. However, things didn't go as expected. She didn't know that my existence as his firstborn son threatened his business relationship with Mira's family. Or that he would order our deaths."

"What?" Mira sucks in a sharp breath, and her entire being trembles. "Evgeni did that?"

"Yes, he did." That's the truth I've had to live with. My father sent Uther to kill my mother and me. "My mother was killed, but I survived."

Mira's eyes grow larger. "I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"It is the truth." Mira's family business mines diamonds in three different countries, and the Scarfonis have a shipping company that practically owns the seas. It was a match made in heaven and the reason for their combined success today. Success my father wanted to protect, but I'll take all of it now. "Once your father died and signed over the remaining parts of his company to my father, losing the business was no longer a threat to my life."

Her father died two years ago. After that, Leif and I waited for the right moment to strike. We already knew of the plan for Mikhail to marry Avrora so the Galitze family property development business could join the Scarfonis' already flourishing fortune. But Leif wanted me to get everything else. The door was opened with the news that my father's heart condition was terminal.

"How did you escape when you were a boy?" Mira asks, compassion filling her eyes.

"Leif saved me."

She looks at Leif in disbelief and shakes her head. "How could you keep this secret from us?"

"It was for his safety." Leif clenches his jaw. "And I vowed to avenge Fryeda's death. I grew up with her, too. All Evgeni cared about was his business. So much so that he was willing to kill a woman who loved him, and his own child. People who knew Fryeda and Anatoli believed they died at their home in a fire. That's the story Evgeni went with all these long years. I took Anatoli to Denmark to keep him safe. Then I waited for the right time to reveal the truth and see that he obtains his rightful place as heir to the Scarfoni legacy."

"And what about me?" Mikhail challenges.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but it is Anatoli's birthright."

Mikhail's brows shoot up. "And today was the right time? My wedding day?"

"Marriage to Avrora Galitze is part of the empire transfer." Leif's face softens. "And as you are aware, the ninety-day transition period under the Rites of Inheritance ended at midday today. That means your father is out of the picture now. So, yes, today was the right time. The bottom line is, it's time to choose a new leader. And I have."

"So, he gets everything?" Mira asks weakly. "My business included?"

"Yes, he does."

"This is an outrage," Mikhail spits. "You know it is."

"And you know there's not a goddam thing you can do about it." I take back the reins. People can talk and mouth off about shit, but they know the law of the land and, worst of all, the law of the Knights.

"You're taking absolutely everything?" Zakh clarifies, his dark eyes searching mine.

By everything, he means anything with the Scarfoni name. But it's not like my seizure will mean they'll be homeless-on-the-street poor. They were each given a sizable inheritance from Mira's father, and they'll receive another once our father passes. However, none of that comes close to what I'm taking.

"Yes, I am taking everything. But there are some things that will remain the same. I'll let you know what those are in due course." That will be things like their homes in some cases, and other assets.

God knows I would prefer to kick them all out and burn everything to the ground. I want them to suffer the way I did when Mom had to clean toilets and go through all kinds of shit to take care of me.

"What about the subordinate selection?" From the apprehensive look in Mikhail's eyes, I can tell that's what he's most worried about. They all are. My arrival means there's only one more position of power left.

As the soon-to-be Sovientrik, and under the unique circumstances of the Knights' law, I have the authority to choose the Obshchak, which is the third member of the Bratva elite. The man who holds that position is the chief financial officer of not only the Bratva but the Knights too.

Leif wants me to pick one of my brothers, and he also wants me to allow them to keep their jobs at Scarfoni Inc.

I'm not overly fond of that part of the plan, but I'm following Leif's advice.

A king has to wear his crown with honor and know how to protect his conquests. I'm not a fool, or vengeful enough to fuck up a billion-dollar business by thinking I can run things on my own and allow the empire to fall apart.

"You'll find out at the inauguration ceremony." That's in a months' time, so they will have to wait. I need time to think and figure out who's who in real life, not just from the records Leif has given me.

"This is complete madness." Mikhail steps forward and glances at my tattoo. He knows, just like Aleksander did, what it means, but he's showing he doesn't care.

"Well, it's happening, brother, whether you like it or not." I square my shoulders. "Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do."

On that note, I bow my head, give them a victorious smile, then Leif and I walk out, leaving them to stew in the pile of shit I just launched them into.

I can imagine what they'll be talking about now, and how they'll probably want to keep the truth about my father under wraps. Mira in particular won't want to destroy my father's highly-esteemed reputation in the Knights. Or hers. Even though no punishment will be issued because of who my father is, what he did to Mom and me is despicable and disgraceful even by the Knights standards.