Vanessa Volkov began her life as a pawn. Being the Pakhan’s daughter, she was conditioned to obey, to be who her father demanded she be. After his death, Vanessa spends the next two years rising to the role of Pakhan, her rightful place as the only heir. But a throne claimed after a king’s fall is unstable, making the queen vulnerable to other players—even ones not yet revealed. Zeno Mancini isn’t fooled by the woman nicknamed the Merciless Queen. A ruler she may be, but monarchies are historically known to crumble under threat. Despite his vendetta against the Bratva, Zeno keeps Vanessa alive because there’s numerous ways for the Volkovs to pay for past transgressions. I do is the equivalent of checkmate, and the Merciless Queen is now left to the mercy of her new king.

Katya Terasov survived a game once played without rules. After enduring round after round, she cuts ties with the boy she believed to be her golden knight and starts a new life far away from the organization he’s dedicated his life to: the Bratva. For years, she’s lived peacefully, never noticing her stalker in the shadows. One who’s torn between keeping her safe and keeping her for himself. Dimitri Volkov once honoured the wishes of the girl who is his everything by letting her go. Ten years she’s been gone, and for every one of those, he’s watched her from afar. As a boy, he released her, but as a man, he refuses to. He’s claimed the soul of everyone who’s harmed her, but there’s one more remaining. One more threatening her safety. One more forcing him to emerge from the shadows and reveal himself as Katya’s deadly knight: his father. Deadly Knight is the second book in The Bratva's Elite, a series of interconnected standalones that are best read in order. It involves content some readers may find triggering.