by K. J. Dahlen
“Oh yeah? Who would that be?”
“Less than a year ago, we had visitors- two MCs were here and pretty damn friendly with the Russians if you ask me. The faction leaders thought they were going to stay but after a few days they left, now they come and go freely. Everyone is very curious about them, like I said.”
Iosif shrugged. “Zaebis. That has nothing to do with me. I could care less who they associate with. All I care about is Roman at the moment.”
Vasilli shook his head. “You might want to rethink your stance my friend. To get to Roman, you must first go through Yuri Anatoly and that won’t be easy.”
Iosif narrowed his eyes and pulled his lips together tightly. “He will not keep me from Roman.”
Vasilli sighed. “I’m just saying—”
“I know what it is you’re trying to tell me, and I appreciate it but nothing will stand in my way of completing this quest. I’m doing this for my father, of course but mostly I’m doing this for me. I realize that we’ve been separated for a number of years but I have a connection to him that my father doesn’t. At least, I hope we still do.” Running his fingers through his hair he snarled, “I only need a few minutes alone with him and I’ll know.”
“Know what?” Vasilli frowned.
Iosif turned his head and stared at the other man. “I’ll know if I know this man as the boy I knew for the first two years of my life.”
“How are you going to approach him?”
Iosif seemed uncertain for a moment. “I’m not sure. I want to just ask to speak to him but I’m not sure I’d get through security without explaining my position and I’m not sure I want to do that just yet.”
“From what I understand you might not be able to get close to him for a few days.”
“Why would that be?” Iosif frowned.
“Someone took a pot shot at his woman again today. For the second time. They’ve put a net over the city to try and find this killer.”
Iosif smiled. “Roman has a woman? I didn’t know this. But it’s wonderful and troubling at the same time.”
“Why is that?”
“My father wants Roman to join us in Kazakhstan. I’m glad Roman found someone he could care about but I’m not sure that it will work out if he comes back home with me.”
Vasilli chuckled. “What makes you so sure he’ll go anywhere? With or without you?”
Iosif shrugged. “My father usually gets what he wants and right now, he wants to bring Roman home with him. I’m here to pave the way for my father. He’s going to follow in a few days.”
Vasilli shrugged. “Have you gone through Sergi or Nikoli? You have to convince them before you get through to Yuri and Roman. You have to follow protocol here, same as back home.”
“My father knows this. He just couldn’t wait.”
Vasilli shook his head. “Sergi and Nikoli aren’t going to be pleased by this,” he muttered under his breath. “This isn’t the way they work.”
“Da, I understand this but you don’t know my father. We spoke to Sergi and he told us to wait until he made initial contact but my father wasn’t willing to wait.”
“Then be prepared for this little trip to blow up in your face, I’m just saying—”
“I understand.” Iosif shrugged. “But I had to come.”
Roman sat on Yuri’s sofa with Stevie on his left and Benny on his right. His arms were wrapped around both of them and he wasn’t letting either of them go. “I know this is all too much for you guys but I need you to hang in there. Please don’t even think about running away. I know you’re scared right now, I’m scared too. I can’t lose either of you two, not now not ever.”
Stevie burrowed her face into his neck and whispered, “But I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. Whoever is out there is out there to stop me from testifying at the trial. I think we both know that.”
“Yes, he is,” Roman admitted. “We just don’t know yet who hired him and why. We have a good lead and we’re trying to get the proof we need to crush whoever it is. But we have to do it legally so it cannot be undone.” He swore to her. “But you and the baby mean more to me than any of that. I have a chance to have a family of my own and that is like giving me the world. I can’t lose you.”
“Wait a minute.” Benny pulled away. He stared across at Stevie. “You’re having a baby?”
Stevie glared for a moment at Roman for blurting this news out before she could prepare Benny then turned to her brother and nodded. “Yeah, I’m having a baby. Is that ok? I know we never talked about it before and I never expected it to happen but yeah, you’re going to be an uncle whether you like it or not.”
Benny looked excited for a moment then crestfallen. “But I’m not really the baby’s uncle am I? I mean you and I aren’t really related are we?”
“Don’t you ever say that again!” Stevie scolded him. “You are my brother and you will be this baby’s uncle.”
“You know what Benny?” Roman asked.
The young boy looked over at him. “What?”
“Family isn’t always blood related. Sometimes it’s more of a feeling. Yuri, Sazon, Barshan and Mikial aren’t really my blood either but I’m closer to them than I ever would be to anyone else, blood or not. Sometimes sharing the same blood means nothing but with us as with you and Stevie, being brother’s means so much more. My brothers and I have been through hell together and we’ll always have each other’s backs. You two have as well. That’s what family means to us. And I think that’s what being family means to you and Stevie. You will always have her back the same as she will always have yours. You would go out of your way to protect her just as she would for you. I love your sister and you will always have a home with us because you are family.” He shrugged. “That’s just the way it is, so don’t argue anymore because it won’t do any good.”
“Ok.” Benny had tears in his eyes and he hugged both Roman and Stevie hard. Then he sat back and glared at Roman. “So are you going to do the right thing and marry my sister or what?”
Roman stared at the same look this boy had in his eyes when he first got with Stevie. The kid swore he would hurt Roman if he ever hurt her. Roman believed him then and now. He threw his head back and laughed out loud. A moments later as he got control of his mirth, he looked over at Benny and nodded. “Oh yes, I’m going to marry her. I want her and the baby to have my last name.”
Stevie looked surprised. “You and I are going to get married?” Her voice was little more than a whisper.
Roman stared at her. “Da. Well, that was the plan. I hope you’re on board with that. I want my child to have my last name. I know I should get on my knee and ask you, but I am only on bended knee with I am with you. I adore and revere everything that you are. I hope you will say yes?””
She blinked her eyes at his heartfelt statements. Gulping heavily, she whispered nervously, “We’ve never talked about it, so I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do.”
Roman slid down to his knees in front of her. Cupping her chin, he raised her face to his. “I love you Stevie. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I want a lifetime of telling you that and now with the baby, my family has been expanded. I get you and another brother in the bargain and I want it all.”
Stevie cupped his bearded jawline. Looking into his eyes, she whispered, “Then I’ll marry you because I love you too. I want the same thing you do, a lifetime of being with you, loving you, just gazing into your eyes day after day until we are both too old to see anymore.”
Roman leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers. “You do realize I’m a lot older than you are and that day will come sooner for me, rather than later don’t you?”
“That day will never come. I’ll love you every day until I am no more,” she whispered back. “Then it will be our children and grandchildren that will be there.”
Roman moved into to kiss her lips and in the background, they both heard Benny.
“Eww, that
’s just gross! I’m blinded for life,” he carried on.
Stevie broke the kiss and grinned at her brother. “I’ll show you gross, you little worm.” Then she threw herself at him and began tickling his ribs. Laughter rang out and for a while as the sound echoed through the penthouse.
Raven came out of the nursery and smiled as she caught their antics.
Yuri, Sazon, Barshan and Mikial came through the door and they stopped when they heard the laughter. For a moment, the sound was alien to their world right now, but then Yuri began to smile. He moved over to Raven and wrapped his arms around her. Kissing her temple he whispered, “I think she might be good for him.”
Raven snuggled into his embrace. “She’s good for all of us. We just have to keep her.”
Yuri chuckled. “Da. I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”
Raven turned to her husband. “Then you guys have to stop the threat. Someone wants her dead and you have to do everything you can to stop that.”
Yuri kissed her forehead. “I will my love, I swear it.”
Chapter Eight
Baton Rouge…
Nick Bennett stepped out of his shower and began drying off. After the day he’d had, he felt the need for a long hot shower. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he opened the bathroom door and stepped into his hotel room. His jaw dropped and his eyes were stunned as he looked around his room.
Everywhere he looked, he saw old newspaper headlines proclaiming the scandal he’d covered up so many years ago, just after his father died. The one that broke fifteen years ago and claimed his father had an affair that resulted in a bastard child. Pictures he thought he’d buried deep in the mud were now on display taped to his walls. He didn’t know how or why someone had found all this stuff but he squashed it before it hit the newspaper. This was something his family didn’t want known to one and all.
His father was deep into politics and he made a few mistakes along the way. One of those mistakes had come back to bite him in the ass when a woman, Lorana Harris claimed her son was Seth Bennett’s son. That claim rocked the Bennett family to its roots. His mother Regina denied it and Nick had to work day and night to suppress the story.
He knew if the story broke, not only his father would be disgraced, but his whole family as well. Regina Bennett could not ever lose face, she wouldn’t allow it. She made Nick and his sister Grace’s life hell until Nick managed to rip the claim apart and hide the body in the muck.
He sat down on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t stand the sight of his father’s failures on display. After his father’s death, the press hounded them for months, digging up any kind of dirt that could be found about his father’s past. The press told him that the world wanted to know what kind of man his father really was.
One particular reporter, Lizzie Evans had gone farther than the rest and dug out this scandal. She had even dug up Eugene’s birth certificate. Nick had gone as far as having Eugen submit to a blood test to determine whether he was his father’s son or not.
When the blood test confirmed that Eugene was his father’s bastard Nick had done everything he could to bury the story. He even got Lizzie fired and banned from reporting. He killed the story and buried the evidence as far deep as he could. Looking around the room, he couldn’t believe this was happening.
Who had done this? Nick wondered. And why bring this up now? He also wondered how they’d gotten into and out of his room. He hadn’t heard a thing. He glanced at his pillow and found a note. Frowning, he grabbed the paper and read the words written there.
“Call off your hitman or this story will finally be revealed. It will be in every newspaper in the nation and there won’t be anywhere for you or your family to hide from the wrath of the people. If they were to find out what a dick your father really was, how he lied to them all these years about what moral a person he was when he really wasn’t, how do you think they will feel? He was nothing more than a liar and a cheat. How does your mother feel to know he fathered another child that isn’t hers? Will the people of the state you represent be as forgiving or as understanding as she has been all these years? Your father should have been more careful where he put his dick or at least found a way not to lie about it. Nobody likes a lair or a cheater but I’m sure you’ll find out when everyone finds out. Next time, we’ll talk about your law career and how you take after your puke of a father. Let Eugene and his friends go to jail where they belong and karma will take care of the rest.”
Nick closed his eyes and crumbled the paper in his hands. Even if he wanted to stop the hit, he couldn’t. The hitman made that very plain when he accepted the job. Once he accepted a job, he wouldn’t stop until the job was done. He didn’t even have a phone number Nick could use to call him. Jack Hail never kept the same phone number once he accepted a job. There was really no way he could stop this hit even if he wanted to.
It wasn’t only his father’s sins he was dealing with here but Eugene’s as well. If the trial went forward, everyone would know how Eugene had raped and used underage girls for his own pleasure. He’d been trying to stop the trial and stopping the evidence that he knew would reveal the crimes his brother and the others had taken part in.
They hadn’t given a thought to what they were doing but now they were. They never thought for a moment beyond their own pleasure. Until it was too late to stop this from happening. They all thought the money they paid someone to keep their secrets would keep them safe and it had worked, that was until Caulder got greedy and tried to break the wrong girl.
The fact the Eugene’s wife and her three sons went missing and that they had left Eugene behind to take all the blame was no one fault but his own. He should’ve known better than to trust her with his secrets.
When Eugene called him a month ago and demanded his help, Nick hadn’t wanted anything to do with this situation that is until Eugene threatened to spill the beans about who he really was. Nick was one who didn’t take threats to himself or his family very well.
At first, he wanted nothing to do with Eugene and his problem but then his mother got involved and it was then he drove over here to help him. His mother was furious with the situation and she told him to protect the family name with everything he had in his bag of tricks.
When Eugene told him everything was pivotal upon the evidence Stevie Grace was hiding it was Eugene that suggested that she end up dead before the trial. That way, he had explained if she wasn’t here to testify as to where she gotten her hands on the evidence there would be enough doubt in everyone’s eyes to dismiss the charges and things would go back to normal or at least as normal as this town had even known.
Nick asked his own attorney if that was true and Jeff had told him all he needed was reasonable doubt and they could end up with a hung jury. People would always wonder but they wouldn’t have any proof.
He’d agreed reluctantly and set Jack Hail on Stevie’s trail.
He looked around the room and felt his stomach turn. Now this. He thought. This was something he couldn’t have anticipated. No one was supposed to been able to dig up this stuff but someone had. He couldn’t just walk away from this, not now. If he did, all of this would come out. Eugene would tell the press even if whoever broke into his room didn’t.
His mother would never forgive him and all his hopes and dreams would be forever gone, wiped out by the knowledge that his father couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. He got to his feet and began gathering the papers and photos up. Tearing the pages into pieces, he was growing more and more upset.
He couldn’t believe someone had dug all this up again. It was like a bad penny always showing up when he least expected it. Only a handful of people were supposed to know any of this. If they got through the trial and he managed to hold onto his name he was going to kill Eugene. That thought might make all of this worth it. He even dreamed of kicking his brother’s dead body off a dock into the river and watch him float away. He could only imagine the relief he woul
d feel if that could actually happen. His life would go back to normal and he could finally forgive his father for fucking up his life.
When he was finally dressed, he pushed everything into a garbage bag and dragged it out of his room. He didn’t trust that the cleaning staff wouldn’t steal the information and use it to their own advantage. He knew he wasn’t liked in this town and especially now, with the trial about to start.
He made his way to his car and throwing the bag into the trunk, he drove over to the river and found a park. Dragging the garbage bag over to one of the grill areas, he shoved everything into the fire pit and lit a match. He stood there watching as the fire burned the pages that had decorated his hotel room. Finally, when there was nothing more than ash left he turned and went back to his car.
Getting into his car, he drove back to the hotel and stopped at the restaurant on the first floor. After a meal of steak and potatoes, he stopped by the bar and had a few drinks. Then he went back to his room. When he opened the door and snapped on the light, he gasped.
The entire room was papered again with the same items he just ripped down and burned. He stomped into is room and slammed the door. Again, he ripped the pages down off the walls and ripped them into pieces.
When he was finished, he sat down on the bed. His stomach rolled and he felt nauseous. He couldn’t help but wonder if this nightmare would ever end in a way that didn’t wreck his life and leave his family with nothing.
Nick sat alone in the dark of his hotel room. He dreaded what he knew he must do next but he couldn’t put it off any longer. Picking up his phone, he dialed his mother’s number.
When she answered the call, she was impatient as always. “What’s going on down there?” Regina Bennett barked out. “Is the trial going to be over soon?”
“Mother, there’s been a slight change in plans.”
The silence from the other end of the call was almost deafening. “What sort of change in plans?”