Fractured Ties by Bethany-Kris Page 0,12
“I said we have a problem.”
“I don’t want to hear about your problems, Konstantin,” Kolya muttered.
He had enough of his own, starting with the fact he hadn’t been able to find even a hint of Maya anywhere in his search of the offices, or the rooms he’d been inside. Not a shirt, not a goddamn pair of shoes, and not even a feminine scent.
One of the exit doors on the side had been unlocked, so Kolya figured she’d probably slipped out, and beat it out of Dodge. Which would have been the fucking smart thing to do on her part, considering everything. Still, a part of him had been hoping.
Hoping for what, he didn’t know.
“No, this is a problem I need your opinion on,” Konstantin said.
Nope.
Not interested.
“Handle it yourself, Konstantin.”
He was not handling the animals, or anything to do with them. All he needed was the right fucking papers to go along with the other shit he’d found, and that was it, that was all.
He was almost done in this damn place, and then maybe he could salvage the rest of his night in some bar. Scowling in his way and drinking half his body weight in vodka until he was numb. Until he didn’t feel so pissed off.
Perpetually unhappy.
That was fucking Kolya Boykov.
“Could you … just not be you for five seconds, yeah? That’d be mighty fucking helpful, Kolya.”
Kolya’s gaze narrowed as he lifted his head. “Excuse you?”
Konstantin stood in the doorway of the office, not looking one bit bothered or frightened of his brother. Even with Kolya like he currently was—pissed the fuck off, covered in dried blood, and little too goddamn sober for his liking. No, his brother didn’t look like he was going to back down at all.
Sometimes, Kolya respected the hell out of Konstantin for his ability to do that with him. Other times, it made him want to snap his brother’s neck.
It was a very fine line.
“What is it, then?” Kolya snapped. “Spit it out, yeah?”
“It’s a … well, shit, Kolya. It’s—”
“Konstantin!”
“Fuck, it’s a bear, Kolya. A real, live motherfucking grizzly bear.”
Kolya blinked.
And then blinked again.
“Say what?”
Because surely—surely—he had not fucking heard his brother right.
Surely not.
Jesus Christ.
“Ivan has a grizzly bear in one of the sections for the animals downstairs. It’s in a cage way too fucking small—it’s pissed off like nothing else and probably hungry. I don’t really know, but it’s a problem.”
Um.
“And it looks fucking sad,” Konstantin added, “even though it also looks like it might kill me if I get too close. But it’s scarred in a lot of places and bleeding on its head, too. Anatoly said Ivan would put it in the fights chained up with a pack of dogs, and—”
“Konstantin, it’s a bear,” Kolya said, speaking slowly so his brother heard every word.
“Yeah, I know, but—”
“No, it’s a bear, Konstantin.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Konstantin, it’s a bear, and you can’t have a fucking bear!”
Why did he even need to tell his brother that?
Why?
“You live in an apartment in the middle of Chicago,” Kolya uttered, “and why in the fuck do you even need me to explain the reasons why you can’t possibly keep a bear?”
Konstantin quieted as he eyed his brother. Kolya stared right back, unbothered.
That was the thing about Konstantin that a lot of people didn’t know—he was soft-fucking-hearted in ways he didn’t let very many people see. He felt for shit in ways Kolya didn’t even think he himself was capable of feeling.
It was what it was.
“Anatoly wants to kill it, and the rest of the animals, too,” Konstantin muttered.
Kolya cringed.
A part of him understood that was the better idea—the animals wouldn’t suffer more than they already had, and the problem would be cleaned. Another part of him didn’t like the idea at all because shit, what had those poor animals done to anybody?
“How many is there?”
“So far,” Konstantin said, “there’s a hundred, or so. Mostly dogs—aggressive breeds. The bear was picked up as a cub a couple of years back. How the fuck Ivan even kept that quiet, I don’t know. I guess he got it from some ranger out west.”
“Probably a rescue—untagged.”
“Maybe.”
Kolya sighed, tossed the files on the desk that’d he’d been looking over, and scrubbed a hand down his jaw. Shit, he needed a shave, shower, and a good drink.
“We could release the animals,” Konstantin said.
Kolya cleared his throat. “And what about the bear?”
“I know a guy.”
He side-eyed his brother. “Like Ivan fucking knew a guy, or no?”
Konstantin glowered. “Blyad, Kolya.”
Yeah, he deserved that.
“Well, speak,” Kolya