Lahat ng Kabanata ng Kiss Me, Bravta King: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

AlisaToday began like any other day.I left my father's home to promptly come in to manage the front desk of the S.T.L. Shipping headquarters. Dealing with paperwork for one of the family's cover businesses was how I survived the daunting hours as they passed.I wasn't ever idle, and that helped to keep my mind on my tasks. Business was good—both the legitimate shipping transactions and the undercover and more profitable transportation services that happened at the Colver dock. I didn't have much to do with those dealings. My father would never trust me with everything, certainly not those high-risk arrangements. All I was good for was keeping the front running. I did. My days were full of paperwork, emails, and taking calls.This Wednesday seemed ordinary, but it would end on a sour note.As soon as Lev, one of my father's top soldiers, entered the office and headed to the private rooms upstairs, I knew I had to be on my best behavior. I always was, anyway. I had been trained to be

ZakhThe man cried out as Desmier held him back. Blood, sweat, and tears coated the spy's shirt. They mixed and merged as he sobbed and begged for mercy.Mercy? That wasn't in the cards for him. If anyone thought they could spy on the Antonov territory and get away with it, they had another thing coming."Please, I wasn't here to look around," the idiot insisted through his tears. Losing two of his fingers had to hurt, but I kept my knife poised and ready to remove a lot more. Whatever it took to get him talking. I refused to go easy on this spy.The Rossini Family were always looking for ways to get to us, but they would learn their lesson one way or another. No one messed with the Antonov Bratva."Zakh." My cousin's mocking tone slurred as he entered the warehouse. As soon as Desmier and I captured this Rossini spy lurking outside—taking fucking pictures through the windows—we called Akim and let him know what we were up to with this development. Akim was my superior in theory only.

ZakhMy uneasiness about this potential alliance with the Aslanovs didn't dissipate. Over the night, it worsened. By morning, when I was due to report in to my uncle for a so-called meeting with the top soldiers and brigadiers, I was anxious.No one would know it by looking at me. The day I received word that my father died, I mastered the fine art of masking my emotions. I'd never believed the story I was given. That Pyotr Antonov, my hard-working father, had been killed in friendly fire during a turf war. None of my brothers believed it either, but with time, we had no choice but to accept it as fact. They'd questioned it. Maxim, my youngest brother, had still been more of a boy than a man when our father was killed. We all struggled in our own ways, but I knew that expressing my feelings would only be a weakness, a telling.When I arrived at the restaurant, I was in a lousy mood. The grave and irritated expressions on the wait staff didn't improve my attitude. I caught more than on

AlisaThis would be the last day of my freedom, and I struggled to accept that I was spending it at home.Freedom? I'd never had any true sense of that fantasy. I lived with my father ever since my mother passed away while giving birth to me. He controlled me at home and here at one of his excuses for a business.Friends were denied to me. I was educated by private tutors. Pastimes and hobbies weren't allowed.My existence was nothing but serving the family, and now that my allegiance would need to shift, to cater to my husband, I felt untethered and unsure of everything.I'd never have to come here again and suffer through the tedious task of forwarding certain emails to specific addresses. It was mindless, ridiculous busywork, but it gave me a tangible sense of purpose. I was active. I was doing something. I didn't want to entertain what expectations would hang over my head after my wedding.How can it be tomorrow? It was too soon for me to possibly adjust. My father told me just th

ZakhMy brothers would be stopping over later to speak with me, but I had a few hours to kill before they'd show up. Even though we were supposed to all be on the same team, working for the same family, my brothers and I had always stuck with each other. Without any real leadership from our uncle, and even less from Akim, it felt like we were all operating loosely within chaos.Like those Rossinis who thought they could get away with trying to bully a couple of shop owners we protected on our turf. Mr. and Mrs. Markov were one couple among many of the mom-and-pop shops in the Antonov territory, a cover business for us to launder money faster. With that protection in place, it never should have escalated to those Italian thugs coming by and trying to steal and harass from their store. If any of us had been delegated to patrolling and checking in more often, the elderly couple could have put an end to that bullshit months ago.I was glad Mrs. Markov had the smarts to call Anatoli earlie