by Lietha Wards
She closed her eyes and felt the man holding her recoil and fall backwards releasing her. It was then she realized he was shot. Next thing she was tackled from the side. The man came out of nowhere as bullets whizzed over her head. She curled up into a ball and screamed.
Now, as she stood looking out over the lights of the city through the window of Ned’s office, she wondered about her future. She had fear over never seeing Ryan again, whether he survived or still wanted her. Her father would most likely be in a cell for the rest of his life, and her sister was gone somewhere.
Funny, what hurt her gut and heart the most, was not her family. It was not knowing exactly what she was to Ryan. She was amazed that she could feel so detached from her own blood. Was that cruel of her? She reached up and wiped away the tears that started to fall.
She could start over again. She had some strength in her. The last few weeks proved that to her, and Ryan taught her how to tap into it. Well, if she walked away all alone, she still had those things.
Just then the doors opened and she spun around to see Ryan walk in. He was removing his gloves and she saw that he still had a rifle slung over his shoulder. That told her something. He didn’t stop to remove it. She was his first priority. She stood there wringing her hands as he finally reached up, and swung it off his shoulder laying it across a large conference table. Then he turned and looked at her. His expression still looked angry.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” he finally said. He may have been irate towards her but he was also severely relieved.
She sobbed and rushed toward him. He gathered her in his arms and held her tight.
“Jesus Kat, you are seriously trying to kill me.”
She shook her head.
“I died when I saw you there.” His arms tightened around her.
“I’m so sorry.” She sobbed. “I honestly wasn’t going to follow you all the way, I just wanted a sense of the direction, but then—“ she sobbed “—then everything went wrong!”
“I’ve told you from the start. You need to listen to me.”
“I know! I screwed up.”
“Shush. I hate to see you like this.” He tilted her head up to face him. “Are you hurt?” Her face was wet with tears and he felt his heart constrict. Yes he was in a rage, but he managed to calm down since then. What the hell was she thinking? She’d scared him like nothing else in his entire life. He knew she was traumatized yet again, and having him rant at her for an hour would serve no purpose.
“No.”
He looked around. “Have you been by yourself the whole time?”
She nodded.
He cursed. “Damn sometimes we can be so unfeeling.”
“Are you angry?”
“Very.”
She swallowed.
“You can make it up to me later. I’m just relieved you’re okay.” He smiled. “Let’s sit down.”
“Why?”
He pulled her over to a white leather sofa and coaxed her down beside him.
“Ryan, you are scaring me. I know that look. Something’s wrong.”
“I just want to let you know what happened.”
“Is everyone okay? Your friends—?”
“They’re fine.” He reached up and moved a stray hair off her cheek. “I’m sorry babe, but we found your sister.”
“Why are you sorry?” An unusual chill moved through her. Tears formed in her eyes. “Ryan? She—she—” she choked.
“Keep it together, I have to get this out.”
“Oh God!” She took a few deep breaths, then nodded to let him know she was ready.
“It appears your sister made promises to Ivan. When she didn’t fulfill those, he murdered her.”
“I-Ivan was the traitor? What did she promise him?”
“You, babe. She promised him you.”
She was taken back. The tears stopped and her eyes narrowed as she was trying to absorb what he was saying. “She what?”
“Ivan was leaking information to your sister in exchange for you. I told your father to only tell one man where the drop was to be made tonight. That was Ivan. He didn’t want to believe me, but went along with it.”
“She…he…neither one of them had that right!” She stood abruptly. “What kind of family did I have? Twisted—sick!”
He stood up and gathered her into his arms. “I’m sorry Kat.”
She buried her face in his chest and wept.
“There’s more.”
“Oh God.”
He breathed deep. He felt her pain. She had no one except him. She didn’t deserve this. No one did.
She finally pulled back and looked up at him. “Tell me the rest.”
“Sit down again.”
She turned and sat back on the sofa folding her hands on her lap. “I’m ready.”
This time Ryan pulled a chair directly in front of her and took her hands in his as he sat down. “We chased them down—your father and Ivan, and caught them at the end of the dirt road just before the highway. Your father shot Ivan in the head before we had a chance to take him into custody.”
“I hope he rots in hell,” she said harshly while wiping tears off her face with the back of her hand.
“Me too.”
She paused and looked at him. The pain her family caused this man was more than she had to deal with. Her heart went out to him. “Yeah, you too.” She smiled. It was bittersweet.
“But with Ivan gone, we’ve lost him as a turncoat.”
“Against my father.”
“Yes.”
“And the same with Anna.”
He nodded.
“How did you know about Anna’s promise then?”
“We also captured two of Anna’s men. The rest are dead.”
“Oh. So you don’t have anything on my father then?”
“We have enough Kat. He’ll go to a dark cell, skip a trial, and no one will know what happened.”
“But what about his bid for governor?”
“This is the way we work—there’ll be an accident and his remains will be found at the bottom of a cliff in one of his fancy cars. Yet, he’ll live. The agency needs him and his government contacts, but he’ll never see the light of day again. That’s the truth. That’s all of it.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I wanted the man responsible for my brother’s death. Demetrev is dead and your father will be out of the drug business for the rest of his life. I’m surprisingly okay with allowing him to live.” He took her hands again and met her eyes. “He is your father Kat. I know you don’t want him harmed.”
“Even after all he’s done, no, I honestly don’t, but what is wrong with me?”
“We always love our parents no matter how evil they can be. It doesn’t make you disturbed Kat, it makes you compassionate.”
She looked away in thought for a moment. “Can I see him?”
“Yes,” he answered hesitantly.
“Now?”
“Yes, but straighten yourself up first.” He stood up. “Ned has a private bathroom behind that wall over there. Go wash up and be strong. You must understand this too. You can never see him again.”
She nodded again, got up and walked towards the restroom.
Ryan watched her with concern. She shut down. It was too much and she’d already been through hell. It seemed like every one of her family members, used, abused, and discarded her. Yet, she was worth so much more than they deserved. It was a miracle that she wasn’t a mental mess.
***
Ryan slid a card on a lock beside a solid painted metal door. Then he placed his hand on the scanner above the card lock. The red light changed to green. He took her arm, opened the door, and her led into a room that had one way glass. There were half a dozen people in there, all men. Ryan took her arm and led her over to the viewing window without saying a word to any of them. She could see her father sitting at a steel topped table and Ned, sitting across the table from him. One of her f
ather’s wrists was handcuffed to a metal loop welded to the table. He looked angry and unimpressed. Another man, in a dark navy suit, white shirt and matching tie stood in the corner with his hands clasped together. He was a big man, and right then she knew he was armed.
Her father’s hair was in disarray, his suit was dirty and torn in places. It would have made him angry. He was big on appearances. He had a bruise over his right temple.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
She nodded.
Ryan tapped on the glass.
Ned stood up and went to the adjoining door, opening it. When he saw Ryan and Kat he stepped aside.
“I’m right here if you need me,” Ryan reassured.
“I’ll only be a moment.”
Peter was surprised to see his daughter step through the door. “Katya?”
“Father.” She walked in and took the seat Ned occupied a moment ago.
“What are you doing here?” He glanced at the man in the corner, then at Ned who shut the door.
“Mr. Casey brought me here.”
“That fucking traitor!” He spat pulling on his cuffed wrist.
She remained calm completely unmoved at his burst of temper. She was used to it.
“You betrayed me too, didn’t you?”
“No. I wanted to see you brought down, because of the people you’ve hurt, but I didn’t betray you. I didn’t know anything. However, I certainly didn’t stand in the way when I found out why Mr. Casey was there.”
“You lying bitch! Look at me! Look what you’ve done!”
“I’ve done nothing to you. But if you want to get into it. I’ve been beaten, held at gun point, sold by my sister, and lusted after by your most trusted man. Did you know Anna was still alive, that she’d planned all of this and told Ivan that he could have me in exchange for information? This was all because of who you are. Do you honestly think I’d support your run for governor after I found out you were responsible for my pain. I would have shot you myself.”
He stilled and his face fell.
“That’s what you created papa. A house of monsters. Is it true you killed my mother?”
He leaned back in his chair and glared at her.
“You don’t need to say anything. I can see it in your expression.”
“She was a cheating whore!” He leaned forward. “Just like you.”
“This is the last time you will see me.” She stood up. “I hate you, but I won’t let that run my life because you will be rotting in a little cell while I live my life out from under you, and I will live! You can’t take that away from me. I will have children and they will never know your name. So I’m going to forgive you because this is the last time I will even think about you.”
“You—“ he stood up abruptly “—selfish bitch!”
The man in the corner intervened and shoved him back in his chair. “Keep your ass glued to the chair Mr. Nickolov or I’ll bolt your feet to the ground.”
“Goodbye,” she said softly and turned around just as Ned opened the door. She walked by him towards Ryan while her father’s screams of rage followed her. Ned shut the door to cut them off.
She stopped in front of Ryan and looked up at him. “What now?”
He stared back down at her. “What now? Anything you want. You’re free.”
EPILOGUE
Katya stood in the large foyer of her father’s house and looked around. It was empty. She sold everything including the house.
It had been four weeks after her father’s so called accidental death. Only she and whomever Ryan worked for knew the truth, that he was locked up in a cell for the rest of his life. Shortly after, several government officials started resigning their jobs. There were publicized scandals which made her wonder if they even happened, and some just silently faded away. She didn’t realize how deep her father’s connections went. She knew she did a good thing, but promised herself this was the end of her relationship with him. She no longer had a father.
The house had sold within a week of putting it on the market and it was cleaned out within a few days. She didn’t want anything that reminded her of this life. She was starting her last year in college next week and was determined to follow through with her plan.
“Hey?”
She turned around at the deep sound of Ryan’s voice. She didn’t expect him because he said he had some business to take care of. In fact she hadn’t seen him in over three weeks, but they talked every day. It was painful, but he said it was necessary, that he had some loose ends to tie up. She grinned from ear to ear and ran to him. He gathered her in his arms and kissed her hard lifting her off her feet. His tongue delved in her mouth and she could feel that familiar reaction deep in her pelvis. Oh God, she missed him so much!
In fact, it was as if an eternity had passed since she’d last seen him. They never really talked about the future either and although she was feeling quite insecure about them, she kept the faith that he still had strong feelings for her. He did tell her he loved her and she had to recall that this man was not forward with his feelings at all.
He released her and allowed her feet to touch the floor again. “I’ve missed you something fierce. How’re you doing?”
She gave him a small smile. “I’ll be okay. Better now that you’re here.”
“I had to go see Georgy’s widow and kids. Then I took a leave of absence from my job.”
“Is that what you were up to?”
He nodded. “Georgy’s life insurance gave her a decent living, but I wanted trust funds for the kids. So I set that up and stayed a few days to get to know my niece and nephew. I needed the time with my family. Next time I want to take you.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“I think I would really like that. Why did you take a leave from your job?”
“I had somewhere important to be.” He reached up and moved his finger down her cheek. “Someone to be with.”
“Are you sure?” She felt her eyes water.
“Positive.” He looked past her. “How hard was this?’ He meant cleaning out and selling the house.
“It wasn’t that bad. I thought I might have some regrets, but I have none. I didn’t have a family. Certainly not like the one you had.”
“You will.”
She tilted her head in confusion.
“I meant,” he said seriously, “Once we get married and start our own family, you will know that type of love.”
Her jaw fell.
He chucked her under the chin to get her to close her mouth. “You’re gaping darling.”
“D-do you mean that?”
“I never say anything I don’t mean.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and produced a black velvet box.
Tears spilled from her eyes as he opened it and inside was a stunning diamond.
She gasped.
“Do you like it?”
Her eyes went to his and saw that his brow furrowed. If she didn’t know better it was as if he was worried that she’d turn him down. Well, that never even crossed her mind. “Are you kidding? It’s so beautiful.” She could barely get the words out. In fact she wasn’t sure if he’d even heard her.
He removed the ring and tossed the box over his shoulder. “So is that a ‘yes’?”
She nodded as more tears fell.
He lifted her hand and placed the ring on her finger. Then he pulled her into his embrace and kissed her. “I promise you, that I’ll give you the best of everything. I also swear that I’ll never let anything hurt you again.”
“If I’m with you, nothing ever will. Oh, I’m so happy!” she jumped into his arms and kissed him.
He returned her kiss aggressively. Then he released her again. “Look. I know you want to finish school, so we’ll plan a wedding for after that. If you still want to move away from Miami, I can do that too. I have no ties, and I can live anywhere in the world.”
“You’d do that, for me?”
“I’d fo
llow you anywhere babe,” he said softly. “I thought you knew that by now.”
“I’m learning,” she sniffed.
He wiped away her tears with his thumbs and then cupped her face while searching her eyes. “I know I just want to be wherever you are. And when you’re ready, we’ll have children and you can show them how much love you’ve shown me. Love that you’ve never had, and have never been able to express.”
“I love you so much Ryan.”
“Of course you do.”
She smiled and then hiccupped. “Thank you for everything.”
“No, thank you.” He lowered his head and took her mouth under his.
***