by K. J. Dahlen
Even Kosta had found the right woman for himself and they were building a life together.
He remembered back to a week ago and smiled slightly. He thought about Kosta and his new bride. Sahara, or Salt as she had been named by Mikial’s wife Pepper as a child. Pepper had all but forgotten the other girl as the trauma she’d lived through hadn’t allowed her to remember the events of the night her mother was murdered in front of her.
Nikoli had to wonder just how strong the women his men had found really were. Each of them had their own story and somehow, they had found their real mates with the men he came to know and love. They completed the men he found on the streets of Moscow and slowly they had made a family.
That he found his son after a lifetime of wondering where he was or if he was still alive was nothing short of a miracle. Nicky was all he had left of the love he’d shared with Bethany, a love cut short by a mad woman, a love he never managed to find again.
He drew in a calming breath and could only be happy the week was over. The drama was over for now and everyone was safe. Salt’s father Leon had received a life sentence for the murder of her mother and his wife McKenna had died in the hospital, but not from the bullet, the security people shot her with. Instead, an almost invisible poison had restricted her muscles from being able to move until her heart stopped beating. The invisible part was not being able to trace the drug after death set in.
Everyone was still there when the Nomads showed up. When everything had been shown to them and those six men had taken over the investigation. Viktor Andronikov, Adrik Slavia, Andrey Valec, Ivan Youri, Grisha Andrev, and Matvey Jasha, along with two body guards, Deter Kantovic and Pyotr Osip.
One glance had told everyone these men were highly trained and highly respected. But they in turn, returned the respect by admitting Sergi’s position in the Bratva as well as his own. While he might respect them and their positions in the scheme of things, he would not want to be the person they were hunting. He almost felt sorry for this guy, Tegan Averin. Almost but after what he read the trials Galina went through and he was sure other women had gone through at Tegan’s hands, he bid them good luck in their hunting. He almost wished he could be there when they found this bastard.
Yuri set the Nomads up to get their bearings for three days, then the six men left. They may have left New Orleans but not before they visited Alexi, with Sergi’s permission. Sergi had spoken to Viktor about the fact that he thought Alexi might be keeping his own secrets. He told them everything Salt had told them and Viktor agreed that the man was holding something back. Before those men left, they had found all his secrets and then some. Those six men had been brutal and in the end, Alexi begged for them allow him to die and that was fine with everyone present. He deserved nothing less than what he’d gotten.
There was almost a look of relief on Leon’s face the next day when the Judge told him that his wife McKenna had died of the wounds she received before he sentenced Leon to the rest of his life in prison. But the woman had tried to kill in after all. Leon had turned his head and glared at Yuri, then Mikial and finally… Pepper. When he looked at Pepper, his glare turned to a sneer but he didn’t say anything as he was led out of the courtroom.
Nikoli hoped this small chapter in the moments of time were settled, once and for all. He couldn’t understand a father like Leon. Not embracing a child born of his blood. Nikoli was so grateful to have his son back. To Bratva… family meant everything. This Leon did not have a soul. He figured it had to be that. No heart, no soul. Just greed and avarice.
He walked over the open bar and was about to pour himself another drink when he heard a chime behind him. He moved over to his desk to the security cameras and watched as a woman walked down the hall toward his door. His was the only apartment on this floor and he had a security camera that let him know if anyone was coming down the hall to his penthouse. Her dress swayed side to side as her hips moved. Nikoli frowned as a memory came to mind. He had known a woman that walked like that but that was a lifetime ago. He realized he knew her but he couldn’t place her name.
When she paused outside his door, Nikoli walked over to the wooden portal to open it before she could even knock.
The woman gasped and took a step back.
Nikoli stared at her for a moment then asked, “Can I help you?” He took in her long blonde hair swept up and caught in a messy bun at the top of her head. The ends of her hair reached down almost to her hips. Her hair had a tight curly texture to it and he remembered being surrounded by it as he thrust up into her.
Her brown eyes looked at him with a hint of fear in them. The woman wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and looked at him nervously, “I hope so, Nikoli, I really hope so.” Her words were soft spoken and had a nervous ring to them.
Nikoli’s eyes widened as he recognized her voice like an echo from his past and he stepped back as he whispered her name, “Bella? Is that you?”
She smiled and nodded. “Hello again, Nikoli. It’s been a while hasn’t it?”
Nikoli stared at the woman in front of him. They were together only one night but it had been an unforgettable night. “Ten years I believe.” He stepped back and motioned for her to come inside his home.
Bella glanced around nervously as she walked inside the penthouse. Noticing the bank of windows, she moved toward it and looked over the city. “Wow, this is a spectacular view isn’t it?”
Nikoli snorted. “I doubt very much, you came to find me after all these years, for a chance to view the city from my windows.” He poured himself another drink and fixed one for Bella as well.
Walking over to her, he handed the glass of vodka neat to her.
She took it but didn’t raise the glass to her mouth.
Nikoli noted that she has was trembling a bit. Was she that afraid of him? Afraid he would do what he had done the last time they were together and dismiss her with nothing more than a stack of bills in her hand? Just like the last time she was in his presence.
He guided her to a sofa nearby and let her sit down. He sat down on the chair off to one side and waited for her to speak her business. When she didn’t he had to ask, “What brings you here to me tonight Bella?”
“I had to come,” she whispered brokenly. “I didn’t want to, but I had too.”
“Why?” he asked. “Was I so bad?”
She raised her gaze to him. “Oh god no, Nikoli. You were the best thing that has happened to me. But you did tell me we would only have that one night together, remember?”
Nikoli nodded. “I was such an ass back then wasn’t I?”
Bella shook her head. “No, you were strong and tender with me.” Cocking her head to one side she added, “I think you were hurting over something you wouldn’t share with anyone.” Then she paused and looked him over carefully. “But whatever it was back then is gone now. You seem calmer now. The pain that surrounded you is gone now, I think.”
Nikoli took a drink of his vodka. The ice clanked in the glass. “You always saw more than the next person didn’t you?” He shrugged. “Time has a way of lessening the pain of loss though doesn’t it?”
Bella shrugged. Looking away from him, she sipped at her drink.
“But that doesn’t explain why you’re here now does it?” Nikoli spoke softly. His eyes took her in and even after ten years, she still looked good. She was a little softer now and time had taken its toll on her but it had on him too.
She swallowed hard and her hands trembled as she almost spilled her drink. She hastily put the drink down on the coffee table. She didn’t say a word.
When she began wringing her hands together, Nikoli grew alarmed.
“What’s going on Bella?” he barked out.
Bella jumped and then shook her head. “I can’t do this,” she whispered wiping her tears away. “I can’t do this.” She got up and backed away from him. Turning away, she headed for the door.
Nikoli got up and rushed after her. Grabbing her by the upper arms, he
held her back and growled in her ear, “What can’t you do Bella?”
Bella collapsed against him.
Nikoli grabbed her more firmly and hauled her back to the sofa throwing her down on the cushions. Standing over her, he glared at her. “Answer me woman. What can’t you do? Who sent you here?”
Bella’s tears fell freely now, sitting up on the couch she grabbed her purse and would have opened it except Nikoli grabbed it away from her. He opened it and searched for weapons, then pulled out a package of tissues and handed them to her.
Bella took the tissues out and wiped her eyes. Mascara smudged the clean white of the tissue as she wiped her face. She sat there looking miserable, looking anywhere but at the man standing over her. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I was sent here to get you to a certain place at a certain time so someone could assassinate you.” Her body trembled as she said the words.
Nikoli frowned and sat down next to her. “Why?” he asked calmly with no emotion in his voice.
“Because that someone really hates you.” She sniffled through her tears. .
“Who is it? And why did he send you?” Nikoli probed.
Bella shook her head. For a long time she wouldn’t say a word then finally she admitted, “He found out my secret and is using it to hurt you.”
Nikoli frowned. “What secret could you have that would hurt me?”
Bella hung her head and didn’t speak for a moment.
Nikoli reached out and cupping her chin, he brought her face up so she would meet his gaze. “What secret and why would it hurt me?” he repeated his earlier question in a harsh voice that brooked no denial.
Bella noted his eyes. They had hardened over the past few minutes. His lips were harsh and his face was set in stone as his body tensed against the news she had delivered to him. There was a rage brewing in this man and he was about to let it loose on her. Not that she didn’t deserve it. “Ten years ago, we were both very different people. You were strong and very much in charge of where you were going and you knew what you wanted. Do you remember the night we met?”
Nikoli thought back ten years. He’d been a bastard to her and to everyone in his life back then. He was looking for his son and not finding him was beginning to get on his nerves. He’d met her on what would have been Nicky’s tenth birthday and the tenth anniversary of his wife’s murder. He’d been in a dark mood that night. Too many memories and too much pain of loss had been biting him deep that night.
At that time, he’d been a man who wasn’t afraid to use the power he’d earned to get his own way. It may have been selfish of him but he’d been very different back then. Demons chased him. Rage boiled within him at the loss of his wife and family. Yes, he wasn’t a very good person ten years ago, but he’d grown up a lot since then and with age came the wisdom he had today.
But that night, he’d felt the fury inside him getting out of control. He needed release—he needed a woman. He found her at his club. He had seen her in there before but never really paid her any mind until that night. He was barely polite in picking her up but she had come with him willingly. Back then, that was all he cared about. It was harsh and unkind but the pain was riding him hard and he had to find his own release.
For the next few hours, he lost himself in her arms. She held back his demons for a little while and that was all he cared about. They had fucked all night long and when the day broke the next morning, he had kicked her to the street, as was his usual practice with the women he used for his own pleasures. Just before he ushered her to the door of the hotel room, he’d thrust a large stack of bills in her hand. He remembered her look of complete shock as she stared at the money in her hand.
She’d gazed at the bills for a moment then raised her eyes to him and in that moment before she blanked her emotions out, he could read the heart break he’d given her. Heartbreak and tears marred her face for that short second in time, then she turned her head and stared at the door. She couldn’t look at him anymore.
He watched her as she made her way out the door. She then opened her hand, allowing the money to drift to the floor. Silently, she’d moved to the elevator. When he heard the ping sound, she stepped inside, never once looking back at him. The last sight or sound that he had of her was her silent sobs as she pressed the button for the lobby.
He’d felt like an absolute asshole when the elevator door had closed. Her tears tore at his senses and the look on her face tore a huge chuck of his heart out. He hadn’t felt very proud of himself. He’d picked up the money she’d dropped and closed the door softly. She didn’t know it but he still had that money to this day. It was in an envelope in his safe. In the ten years since he’d last seen her, he could never mange to overlook what he’d done that morning.
“Da I do remember that night,” he admitted. “But that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”
Bella nodded. “A lifetime ago.” Taking a deep breath, she went on, “You broke something inside me when you offered me that money. I think I even hated you for a while. Foolishly, I thought that night meant as much to you as it had to me. I thought I’d found my Mr. Right but all you found was someone to spend a few hours with didn’t you?”
Nikoli got to his feet and moved over to the window. Staring out, he didn’t notice the traffic or the people he’d watched earlier. He didn’t see anything as he was so caught up in his past. She was right. He hadn’t cared what she’d felt or believed. She had been just a distraction. Although there were times when he remembered being with her that night and how sweet it had been. Then guilt would take over, as he’d promised himself that he would never love any woman except his wife. He’d promised that he would never forget her and the love they’d shared. “So why did you come here tonight? To remind me what a bastard I had been?”
“No I didn’t come here for that. I came here to try to convince you to go somewhere where this man could kill you. But I find I can’t do it.” She started to cry again. “No matter what you’ve done in the past, I can’t let him kill you. Not even for her.” She bent her head and sobbed into her hands.
Nikoli turned and observed her. He didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Who was this her she spoke of? Why would it matter to him? He went back to the couch and sat down next to her. Taking her hands away from her face, he demanded, “Her? Who is she? Why did this fucker think I would care about someone else’s life?”
Bella stared at him and shook her head. “She is an innocent. You never knew about her because I thought you wouldn’t care if she lived or died. He found out about her and is using her against me. He’s forcing me to do this and I had to try even if I couldn’t go through with it. He’s going to kill her now!”
“Who?” he demanded again. “Who is she and why should I give a damn about her?” He growled.
Trembling badly as her hands shook, she swiped away her tears. “Her name is Malina and she is your daughter,” Bella dropped her bomb in a whispered tone of voice.
Nikoli froze, his eyes widened and his fingers tightened around her wrists. When she cried out in pain, he yanked his hands away from her. Getting up, Nikoli began to pace back and forth in front of her.
After a few minutes, he turned his glare at her. “Tell me that again.” He believed that maybe she was too upset and confused and that what she just told him was some mixed up lie to fool him.
Bella shivered at the pitch of voice he was using. His voice was stone cold. “I think you heard me the first time. Her name is Malina. She’s your daughter and she’s nine years old.”
Nikoli wanted to strike this woman in front of him. He wanted her to fear him… fear what he would do to her but he didn’t. Rage boiled inside of him. He needed to control it before he truly did damage to her or this office. He fought for control. A control he’d learned over the years. He needed to sort this out and not go crazy. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his bar and picked up the phone that would connect him to his security force. He spoke to
Kirill and then hung up.
Then Nikoli stayed away from her. He had to. There would be questions to ask and answer but until he felt his rage lesson, he knew he couldn’t be within striking distance.
A few minutes later, he heard a knock on his door and went over to open the door.
Kirill stood there with two more of his security team.
All three men silently entered the apartment and then came to stand in front of Bella.
Bella just sat there waiting. With her head down, she didn’t even bother to look up at them or Nikoli.
Nikoli sat down next to her and began by asking, “Who is this man who wants me dead?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know his name.”
“How the fuck do you not know his name woman?” Nikoli bellowed.
Shaking like a leaf, Bella finally turned her gaze to him. Her eyes were red and tears were drying on her cheeks. “He didn’t exactly take the time to introduce himself. All he said was for me to take a good look at the man who was going to kill you. He would then tell you that all our deeds come around to bite us in the ass at some point in our life and that you should have killed him that day. Then he tore my baby girl out of my arms and left.” Raising her trembling hands, she pulled at her hair as if she were in pain. “I have to hear her screams over and over in my head. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear her calling out to me.”
“What’s going on here boss?’ Kirill asked.
Chapter Two
Nikoli felt so many emotions. Ones, he knew he couldn’t handle all at once. Having a daughter and never knowing it? Someone using a woman he’d known years ago to kill him? But, he needed to focus on the problem. The main issue was him being a target for this unknown enemy. He had many, he’d known this already. You do not head part of the Bratva and only have the best of friends. It was a cutthroat world and they would cut yours the first chance they got.