Four hours had passed since Elena had said she was on her way. Three hours remained until the Sokolovs would arrive en force in London. For the first time in years, Maya couldn’t wait to be reunited with a member of her family… and, for the first time ever, she was eager to meet with the enemy. The Sokolovs had been kind to Elena, and Maya knew that they would be kind to her, as well.
“I’ve tied your father up in the warehouse he was keeping me in. If I had to guess, it’s the same place I drove him to—the empty building you were going to use as your new shelter.” Kostya sounded winded, but otherwise in good spirits. “As far as I can tell, there are sentries outside the building. You shouldn’t come here.”
“I won’t. Not if it’s unsafe. But your family is on the way. Can you hold out for another three hours? Once they arrive, I’m sure they can take care of it.”
“Three hours?” Kostya barked a laugh. “Yeah. Three hours is fine. I’ve got this. Until they arrive, stay safe, and I’ll see you once the area is clear.”
“Be careful,” Maya said. A fresh tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. “You know what my father is capable of.”
“I do.” She heard Kostya’s smirk in his voice. “But I also know what I’m capable of, and I promise, there won’t be any problems.”
* * *
Three hours crawled by. Maya spent the time mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen and obsessively checking her phone. When Elena called, she was out the door in a matter of seconds. She arrived at the warehouse just in time to see Elena stroll through the front door with a flip of her long blonde hair.
There was no sign of combat, no bloodshed, and none of the eerie silence that so often came in the wake of great violence. Seagulls squawked in the distance. Not more than a block or two away, pedestrians passed by casually. There were no flashing lights and no sirens.
If the Sokolovs had done away with the threat, as she assumed was the case by Elena’s casual entrance into the building, then they’d done so quietly and efficiently—the true mark of a crime family.
Maya checked over her shoulder as she made her way to the front door, nervous about being spotted or targeted by a remaining sentry. Yet, she passed through the door without incident and almost bumped head-first into Elena, who stood just inside the door.
“Elena!” Maya gasped as she stumbled a few paces back.
Elena turned, the click of her heels echoing through the building. “Oh my God, Maya! Look at you! You look so good in person!”
Maya furrowed her brow. “Thanks.”
Some things never changed.
With a roll of her eyes, Elena took her arm. “Okay, don’t get all sensitive on me. You know I didn’t mean it that way. Besides, we’ve got bigger things to worry about than my big mouth. Roman, Viktor, and Kostya just finished clearing the building. Kostya had actually taken care of most of the danger, if you can believe it. He didn’t even have a gun.” Elena laughed. “I can’t believe that you’re into someone like him.”
“I…” Maya found herself blushing. She shook her head. “It’s complicated. He’s not like you’d expect.”
“I’m not here to judge.” Elena arched an eyebrow playfully. “I’m here to say goodbye to Father. Are you coming?”
“Yes.” Maya brought herself down from her embarrassment and glanced across the warehouse floor. It was empty. The men must have stolen away to another room. “Do you know where they are?”
“Nope.” Elena started to cross the floor. “But I’m going to find them. They can’t be too far.”
They’d made their way to the opposite end of the central room before a man Maya didn’t recognize stuck his head out from one of the doorways. He lifted an arm up and gestured for them to come over. “We’re here, ladies.”
“I knew you were somewhere close.” Elena adjusted her course, smiling. “Roman, I’d like you to meet my little sister, Maya. Maya, this is Roman. He’s off the market, just so you know.”
Maya’s brow furrowed further. She’d forgotten what it was like talking to Elena.
At least Elena wasn’t openly disparaging her anymore. Maya had always been the black sheep of the family, unwilling to commit to the lifestyle her father had wanted her to, and while Maya didn’t know what her sister’s involvement with the Sokolovs was, it was nice to see that she wasn’t alone in having invested her loyalty with what had once been the enemy.
“Hello, Maya,” Roman said kindly. He looked like a nice man, and Maya had to wonder what he was doing with her sister. Opposites, she supposed, really did attract.
“Hi.” Maya offered him a kind smile, glad to meet the man who’d changed her sister’s heart. “Where are Kostya and Viktor? And where is Father?”
“Back here.” Roman led them through the doorway and down a short hall. At the very end was an open door, and through it, a small room in which Kostya and Viktor stood. Kostya had his arms crossed tightly over his chest as Viktor spoke to him in hushed tones, but he stopped talking altogether when they entered.
Tied with rope to a wooden chair, partially concealed beyond Kostya and Viktor, was Maya’s father.
“Hello, zolotse,” Kostya said softly when she came fully into the room.
An unwelcome tear tumbled down Maya’s cheek, and before she knew what she was doing, she’d crossed the room and flung herself at Kostya, who caught her and held her close. She cuddled against his chest, breathing him in. He shouldn’t have been alive.
“Kostya,” Maya uttered. She tightened her arms, not wanting to part from him. “You total idiot. Why would you do something like that? You almost died.”
“People almost die every day,” Kostya replied. He kept his voice low and his tone even, continuing, “Almost means nothing. I did what I had to do to keep you, and my family, safe. That’s all.”
“And you didn’t kill him?” Maya didn’t pull back. She didn’t care what Elena thought, or if Viktor or Roman would change their minds about the ferocious Mad Dog. Kostya was safe, and that was all that mattered. “When he called me, telling me that he’d captured you, I thought for sure that it was the end.”
“He’s alive. It was his own hubris that led to his downfall. He had his men guard the building from the outside, but he believed that I was harmless enough while unarmed that he wouldn’t need anyone to watch me. I proved him wrong.”
“All you’ve done is prolong the inevitable.” The sound of Maya’s father’s voice was jarring, and Maya jumped back from Kostya, startled. It had been years since she’d seen her father face to face, and he looked older than she remembered. There was far more gray in his hair, and the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and across his brow were more pronounced. His voice sounded more haggard than it had over the phone, as well, like he’d aged substantially over the course of a few hours. But time hadn’t touched the hate sunken into his eyes.
Maya found that she pitied him. Tied up like he was, and without his men to back him, he looked frail.
“The Popov family has not finished its ascent. If you think this means the end, you’re mistaken.”
“Um, really?” Elena stepped forward, standing at Maya’s side. “I don’t know about Maya, but I’m pretty sure I’m done with being a Popov. After the lies you told us about Mother—”
“Lies?” Maya’s heart froze, and she turned her head to look at her sister, her eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
“Oh my God, you don’t know.” Elena covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes softening with sorrow. The words she spoke next shook Maya’s belief in everything she’d thought she knew. “Maya… I should have called you before this. I meant to. Our mother is alive.”
21
MAYA
“Alive?” Maya blinked back another onslaught of tears, her thoughts racing.
“Father threw her into a home and pumped her full of…” Elena shook her head, a haunted expression on her face. “It was terrible. I found her by accident,
after Roman did some investigative work into my background, and we brought her back to the Sokolov mansion as soon as we could. She’s doing so much better now.” Elena paused, shook her head, and then added almost apologetically, “I was going to call soon—we thought, I thought, it made sense to wait till she was stronger, more ready for you to visit.”
The words Elena spoke had meaning, but Maya couldn’t discern it. She was stuck on the main fact: her mother was alive.
“N-no…” Maya had struggled to speak at all. Stringing together a sentence felt like an impossibility.
“That’s when I knew that Father had been full of shit this whole time. He’d always told me to trust in family, and that everyone else was out to get me, but when I found out what he’d done, I came to my senses. A man who’d do that to his own wife—the mother of his children—doesn’t deserve my respect or my loyalty.”
“And if I told you that your mother deserved what she got?” Anatoly lifted his head, glaring at them both. Maya remembered that look from her childhood. It was the same look she’d been given for stepping out of line.
Hatred.
Vile, bitter hatred.
There was no hope for her father. The darkness in his heart was too wild to control.
“I’d tell you that you were wrong.” Elena’s hands trembled. She stepped toward him and raised her open palm, but before she could slap him, Roman caught her wrist. “Let me go! He deserves to hurt! Did you see what he did to her?”
“I did,” Roman said. His other hand found its way to Elena’s waist, and he guided her back against him. “But you’re better than that. You’re above him.”
“We all are,” Maya said. She trembled from the news of her mother, but she held herself together. She wouldn’t allow her father to see her in a weakened state anymore. If she had her way, this would be the last time their paths crossed, and she wanted him to remember her strength. “It’s time for us to go. I think all of us have seen enough.”
“What will you do?” Kostya asked. He came to stand beside her, and Maya took hold of his hand. “Say the word and I’ll end him here and now.”
“No.” Maya shook her head. No matter how evil her father was, she didn’t wish him death. To do so would be to stoop to his level. “I’m going to call the police. They’ll find him, and they’ll deal with him. I know for a fact that they know who Anatoly Popov is, and if they’re tipped off that he’s here, they’ll lock him away for good. It’s the reason he’s stayed away from London—he’s wanted here, with good reason.”
“You think that you’ve won, but you haven’t,” Anatoly hissed. He thrashed against his bindings, and Maya’s heart went out to him. As a child, she’d seen her father as a frighteningly powerful man. Now, old and bound to a chair in a warehouse, he was a husk of his former self. She didn’t fear him. With Kostya there to protect her, he would never hurt her again. “One day, you’ll understand the mistake you’ve made.”
“And I hope that, one day, you’ll understand yours, as well.” Maya took her phone from her pocket. She looked at the others in the room—Kostya, whose hand was still in her own; Elena and Roman, who’d fallen silent as Roman held Elena from behind; and Viktor, who glanced toward the door now, his gaze cautious. “Everyone?” she prodded them. “I’m going to make the call. We should all get moving. We don’t want to be here when the police arrive.”
“Did you drive?” Roman asked her. “We brought a van. There’s space for you if you want to join us.”
“I will.” Maya nodded at the doorway. “Go get a head start on getting settled. I’ll be out there in a minute.”
“Do you want me to go, zolotse?” Kostya asked. “I will move into the hall if you want me to.”
“We’ll go together,” Maya said. She glanced at her father one last time. There was nothing more for her here. “I hope you find it in your heart to realize what you’ve done wrong. I really do.”
He scowled. “You’re dead to me, Maya. You and your sister both. When I’m released, both of you will pay. The Sokolov family will be destroyed.”
Maya stopped in the doorway, and looked back. She shook her head. “After what you did to our family, it must come naturally to you. Goodbye, Father.”
With nothing more to say, Maya left the room. Kostya squeezed her hand as they walked. “You did good,” he told her.
She smiled, but didn’t look at him. Instead, she lifted the phone to her ear. She dialed 999.
Anatoly Popov’s reign of terror was over. She would never have to fear him again.
* * *
“Where are we going?” Maya asked. She sat with Kostya in the back of the van Roman had brought them to. They drove through the streets of London, distancing themselves from the building. Every time she heard a siren, she tensed. A life of crime was not the right choice for her. She’d stick to humanitarian work.
“There’s a Sokolov safe house on the outskirts of town,” Roman said. He took to traffic like it was nothing and navigated the streets by memory alone. Elena sat at his side in the front seat, and they’d been at war with flipping the heat on and off since the van had started. Roman had to have the patience of a saint. “We’ll head there and lay low until we decide what to do next. Now that Anatoly is being taken care of, our objectives have likely changed.”
“You’re right,” Viktor said. He sat in the row in front of them, his elbow resting on the van’s door where it curved to accommodate the window. “More than likely, we’ll remain here for a day or two, then fly back to Boston so we can make an informed decision from our base of operations. Without Anatoly in the way, several projects may be bumped for other, previously impossible projects. Without a son, and with his daughters defected, there are no more Popovs to interfere with our work.”
The statement made Maya feel a little hollow, and she ducked her gaze to avoid engaging with the conversation. Kostya squeezed her hand—a silent promise that he was there, and that he understood how she felt. Maya risked a glance up to find that he was watching her. His expression was blank, but she saw a warmth hidden in his eyes that she would have missed before.
To his family, Kostya was a hardened man who had no tenderness in his heart. To Maya, he was someone very different. No matter how tough he acted, she would always see through his mask. He’d shown his true self to her, and she would never forget it.
“Only Popovs to help,” Elena said with a little laugh. “But, I guess that’s fair. Are you and Alex going to take some time for yourself, now that you’re here?”
“Perhaps. I’ll see what she thinks.” Viktor folded his arms behind his head. “Since we were called out, we might as well.”
There was a hint of hostility in his tone, and Kostya responded to it right away. “I did what I felt needed to be done. The job should have been over quickly, but there were complications.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Viktor said. His tone was surprisingly firm, but Maya got the feeling that he wouldn’t punish Kostya too severely. She wasn’t sure what was going on between them, or what the circumstances of Kostya’s mission had been, but she would stand by his side no matter what. “For now, you’re alive, Anatoly Popov will soon be behind bars, and the biggest threat to our family has been dealt with. Let’s not address disobedience now.”
Maya looked at Kostya more carefully, trying to see if he’d been impacted by what Viktor had said. It didn’t seem that he had, so she allowed herself to relax. There was nothing to worry about.
“Are you going to drop me off at my flat before you arrive at the safe house, or am I expected to find my own way home?” Maya asked hesitantly after another moment had passed. She didn’t know Roman or Viktor, and it had been a long time since she’d seen her sister. She didn’t want to feel out of place or like she was imposing.
“And miss the party?” Elena turned in her seat and grinned at her. “I know you’re a party-pooper, Maya, but come on! Your man made it out alive, Father is being taken care of, and the future
is yours to do whatever you want with it! We’re going to have fun. My best friend, Alexandra, is waiting at the safe house, too. I know you’re going to love her.”
“I wouldn’t have you be without me,” Kostya told her. Maya couldn’t help noticing, also, that he didn’t lower his voice or otherwise try to limit who heard him speak as he went on. “I love you, zolotse, and I will keep you safe. How am I supposed to do that if you’re apart from me?”
“Did I hear that right?” Elena cooed. “Kostya’s in love?”
Kostya glared at her, and Maya had to choke back a laugh. There was no way Elena, who was bubbly and obnoxious at the best of times, and Kostya, who was cool, quiet, and serious, would get along.
“Watch your mouth, Popov,” Kostya warned, although Maya could tell from how he spoke that it was in jest. “I’ve put one member of your family behind bars today.”
Elena rolled her eyes. “Okay, I guess.” She flicked the heat back on—Roman had flipped it off a few moments before. “You have a problem on your hands, though.”
“A problem?” Kostya asked.
“Mm. My little sister isn’t going to leave London for anything, I’m willing to bet. And your place is in Boston.” Elena winked at them, turned in her seat to face them. “You feel like relocating?”
Kostya looked at Maya, whose heart had clenched in anticipation. The distance was an issue she hadn’t even had time to consider.
“It doesn’t matter where we go,” Kostya said with finality. “As long as we go there together.”
It was everything Maya had wanted to hear. She smiled and squeezed his hand, and he turned his gaze to her, the affection in his eyes clearer even than it had been before.
Whatever happened, they were in it together. After one hell of a whirlwind ride, they had their shot at happiness, and Maya wouldn’t let it pass her by for anything.
Saving the Russian Enforcer: Sokolov Brothers Book Three Page 9