by K. J. Dahlen
Bella stepped closer to Nikoli when he turned his eyes to her.
Nikoli knew a couple of the other men standing there. He looked quickly over to Sergi and saw the other man looking back at him. Wrapping his arm around Bella, he brought her closer to him as he stared at the other men. “What is this about Sergi?”
Sergi motioned at the other men and introduced them to Bella. “Bella, I’d like you to meet these men. This is Daemon Braaken and his New York rep Travern. I’m not sure who the others are but you have nothing to fear from them.”
Daemon turned to study her carefully. His eyes searched her from head to toe and he nodded when he was done. He turned to the other two men in his group. “My dear I think you should meet the man involved in this little drama. This is my representative, Ivan Korcharin. I believe you ran away from meeting him eighteen years ago.”
Bella gasped and tried to break free of Nikoli’s hold so she could run. Nikoli held her close enough not to let her get away. She finally raised her eyes to view the man who would have broken her and enjoyed it.
He was older but still muscular. He stood six foot six inches tall and a solid three hundred fifty pounds. His arms looked huge and his hands seemed even bigger than a normal man. Even his suit seemed too small for him. His nose looked as if it had been broken more times than necessary and he had a nasty scar down his left cheek. He looked even older than Nikoli but not as old as Sergi. His face was set in stone and his eyes were cold. He held himself stiff and he appeared to be a harsh man. When he stepped forward, he noted Bella stepped back into Nikoli’s arms and he stopped. Holding out his hand, he waited until she reached her own out. Then he gently shook her hand and stepped back.
Daemon cleared his throat. “I do believe you were under a misconception about my colleague. Would you mind telling us what your father told you about him?”
Bella couldn’t take her eyes off the bigger man. He stood there staring at her for the longest time then he switched his gaze to Nikoli and his frowned deepened as he glared at the other man.
Bella broke her stare and looked over at this Daemon Braaken. “Excuse me?” she whispered.
“I said I think you were lied to about my friend’s intentions. Would you mind telling us what caused you to run away from him?” Daemon repeated.
Nervously, Bella wet her dry lips and looked at the other men in the room. “My father told me he was making a deal on my behalf. He was selling me to a man who would back him on a deal with the Bratva. He told me he would be able to get rid of me finally and I would never darken his door again.”
“That’s what made you run?” Daemon frowned.
Bella shook her head. “No it was what my father’s wife told me. She told me she would be glad to see me go. Then she laughed and said I would soon learn my place in the world. She said I would become an older man’s whore just like my mother had been my father’s whore. That I had to go with this man and they called him a Butcher for a reason. She told me he would enjoy breaking me in but that I shouldn’t worry too much. She told me rumor had it that I wouldn’t survive more than three days in his bed. Then she said she was happy to know that I would be getting exactly what I deserved.”
Ivan growled during her explanation. In fact, no one in the room looked very happy about what she was saying. Ivan took a step toward her but stopped when she fearfully took a step back. “Child, I never would have hurt you.” He ground out. “It’s true I was there for a business deal with your father but you caught my eye the first day I was there. I saw you covered in bruises and I saw the way they treated you and I didn’t like it. I asked about you and your father told me who you were, then he asked me if I wanted to include you in the deal. From what he was saying, I knew exactly what kind of lowlife he was. “Then I met his wife.” He shook his head. “She accused you of being a whore when she practically assaulted me the moment your father’s back was turned. When I rejected her she called me out and told me I would regret turning down her offer.” He looked over at Sergi and then to Daemon. “I never would have hurt her. I was going to turn down that bastards offer until he offered up his own child to seal the bargain. I knew I had to get her out of there before he could offer her to another kind of man, the kind of man who would hurt her in that way.” Turing back to Bella he explained, “I enjoy women but you were little more than a child at the time I met with your father. To suggest what she did, your father’s wife did both of us an extreme disservice.” Shaking his head he snarled, “I’m not surprised when your father told me you ran away. He wasn’t the type of man I could do honest business with. But I offered him a deal anyway.” He smiled coldly. “After you left, I knew I had him over a barrel and I enjoyed watching him squirm. He even had the gall to offer his wife in your place.” He began to snicker. “He was most surprised when I turned him down flat. I think his wife was jealous when I turned him down but she wasn’t surprised by the offer. That should tell you what kind of man he was.”
“He still is that kind of man,” Sergi offered.
“What do you mean?” Ivan frowned as he stared at the other man.
“We looked into her claim and we found something very interesting. We found his link to a dark website. This website wants her found and claims there is a reward for information to finding her. He wants her back and she claims the only reason is to watch her die by his hands.” He looked over at Bella. “She claims he murdered her mother by giving her an overdose of the drugs he got her hooked on. Before the drugs got through her system, he put her body in the river and watched as she went under the water to drown and she floated away. He didn’t even give her a proper burial.”
Ivan snorted but didn’t say a word.
“He put a helpless woman in the water and allowed her to drown?” Travern asked stunned.
Sergi nodded but Bella didn’t say a word.
“How do you know this?” Daemon frowned.
“Because he made me watch,” Bella whispered softly. “I tried to get to her but his man held me back. She wasn’t much of a mother but she didn’t deserve that death.”
Daemon asked, “What else was said about Ivan?”
Bella trembled. “My father told me that he almost lost the deal with him and that I had to go back and honor the deal. He said you were pressuring him to keep his word. That he bought and paid for me and I was his to do with what he wanted. Then he told me he hoped Ivan would teach me some manners because I didn’t learn them from him.” She paused when she should have finished her thought.
Ivan noticed it along with Sergi and Daemon.
“What else did he have to say, child?” Daemon finally asked gently.
Bella hung her head. “He said I didn’t learn anything from him no matter how many times he beat me, nothing worked.”
Ivan shook his head. “I said no such thing. When I got there that day and found out you had run off I was worried about where you would go. The deal never went through because of him and the type of man he was, not you. I knew your father would never be a man I would do business with but I kept an eye on him over the years. I didn’t care if he knew I was watching him or not but every time he saw me, he would get nervous. I had a feeling he was hiding something but I never knew what it was. Then I began hearing rumors about myself and my organization. Rumors, I didn’t care for but I couldn’t lock down as to who was spreading these vile lies about me.”
“It was probably my father’s wife,” Bella agreed. “She’s the type that loves to spread evil gossip and she doesn’t care who gets hurt by her lies. She’s one that doesn’t like to be turned down and once you piss her off she takes a great deal of satisfaction from making your life miserable.” She nodded. “Oh yes, I can see her doing something like that to you. She would think she was safe behind my father’s walls. She wouldn’t hesitate to destroy your reputation for turning down her favors.”
Ivan looked over at Braaken and Travern “I may have to make a trip to Chicago.”
“You won’t hav
e to go that far to have a conversation with Geno Marchanti, He’s downstairs under guard.” Sergi informed him.
“Why is here in our city?” Travern asked.
“Ten years ago, Bella and I got together and she had my child,” Nikoli explained. “I had no knowledge of this child until the day before yesterday. My daughter was kidnapped by Danton Valeril. He wants me dead for a plot I wouldn’t allow him to go through with thirty years ago.”
Braaken nodded. “Da, we know this. It was the attempted murder of Misha correct?”
Nikoli nodded. “Da, it was. He lost his chance, his dream of being inside the Bratva and of course, he blames me for his failure. He took my daughter with hopes of murdering me and Bella, then he has plans to sell my nine-year-old daughter in the slave trade.”
Ivan snorted. “I see now. He contacted me about your daughter. Now I that know where the rumors started I can put a stop to them. I do not sleep with children.”
“We have men watching over them and they will step in if anyone approaches the house.” Sergi looked down at his watch. “We are meeting them in a couple of hours.”
“Mind if we stick around and see how this plays out?” Daemon Braaken smiled gently.
“There may be more to this saga then anyone knows,” Misha noted.
“Oh and what would that be?” Daemon asked.
He looked over at Bella. Then back to Braaken and the Ukraine’s. “Her father might have possession of the Prince’s Token. I have men on the way to Chicago to verify and collect it.”
Daemon slowly turned his head to stare at Bella. “How the hell did he find this piece and why would he want it?”
“Before he murdered my mother, they would have screaming matches about it. I would hide in my bedroom and listen to them fight. I told them about a vault he has in the basement. I also gave them the combination I figured out.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he still has it or where he got it, but as Sergi claimed, he had no right to own it.”
Daemon nodded. “Back when Russia was one of the super powers that piece had been missing for a very long time. It was thought that a man who traded on the black market, a man named Jackel Valtic had the piece…” His voice dropped off when he noticed her reaction to Valtic’s name. “Do you know this name?”
Bella nodded. “One night when I was five, my father had the man to dinner. He introduced him as an old business acquaintance. I asked to be excused early, as I didn’t like the way he was staring at me. After that every time he came around, I got lost and stayed that way until I knew he was gone.”
Daemon looked over at Sergi and nodded. “It would be an honor if I could accompany you when the piece is returned to the High Council.”
Sergi nodded. “If we find the piece, we can return it together. It would be fitting.”
“What are your plans for Danton?” Travern asked.
“I plan to give him the same death he planned so long ago for my own son,” Sergi told them all coldly. He looked over at Daemon. “I will need an impartial witness to answer to the council. Would you consider staying for that?”
He nodded. “Of course. I know you have been waiting thirty years for this. It is good to have this done and move on from it. You have been searching the world for this man and now he is within your grasp.”
“Da…” Sergi’s eyes glittered. “It is almost time.”
Chapter Eleven
Danton moved through the trees to his hiding spot and waited. He peered through the branches of the foliage and noted the back patio of the café on Tremont street. He had eaten there more times than he wanted to admit. It was a small café in an out of the main stretch of road, for those looking for an escape from the rush of the city. He had taken note of the foliage that surrounded the back patio and wondered if this place would work for what he had in mind. Just last week, he’d gone exploring and found the perfect place to make this happen.
He was high in a tree and he knew he couldn’t be seen. Here, he could take his shot and be gone before anyone noticed him. He could just melt into the chaos he knew his shot would create and instead of rushing into the fray, he could simply walk the other way. No one would even notice him. As he heard the church bells peal out the top of the hour, he felt a shiver of anticipation flow though his body. He had wanted and waited for this day for thirty years. It had seemed so surreal before, like something he could only dream about.
Now here, today he would make his dreams a reality.
He thought about the fact that he could be betrayed but he knew Bella loved her daughter. She would fight tooth and nail for her little girl. Danton shook his head and wondered why. She was just another mouth to feed, a whiney, little bitch. Shaking his head, although the last three days hadn’t been as bad as they could have been. He had to admit the girl had kept her mouth shut for the most part, answered his questions, yet kept insisting she didn’t know her own father.
Danton chuckled at that. Poor Nikoli, he must be getting soft. He’d gotten caught in the oldest ploy in the book. Some woman slept with him and didn’t tell him he had a kid. Classical blackmail material and somehow fitting for Nikoli. He had gotten himself fixed a long time ago, so no woman could catch him in that scheme. Not that there had been that many women over the years but there had been a few.
When he came here to America, he vowed to make something of himself. He’d written home a few times before his mother died but his letters always came back unopened. She and his three brothers had turned their backs on him for what he’d done. He’d blamed them for that. Then a few years after he’d been here building his own businesses up, he heard through the grapevine that his mother had died the year before and that his brothers sold their father’s farm and split the money between the three of them. He got angry about that. He was a son too and he deserved his fair share of the farm. He knew he couldn’t say anything. If word got out as to where he was, Sergi would send a team of killers after him.
Danton’s lips tightened when he thought about that day thirty years ago again. The blood, the pain and the betrayal. Out of all of that, the betrayal hurt the worst. Betrayal meant the end of his dream of being somebody. Of ever being in the Bratva, of ever having the power and prestige he had craved all his life. Being the youngest of four sons of a farmer meant nothing to Danton. His father had only lived to be forty two years old and then his heart gave out in the fields one day. His sons took over the work and they lived merely for another few years. His mother insisted they keep the farm at least until she was no longer there and so his brothers worked the land while he ran the streets looking for a way to join the Bratva. He made up his mind that that was his way out of the poverty running rampant in the streets.
He’d already made up his mind to being Bratva that the day his father keeled over of a heart attack tilling the hard-barren ground.
So he learned on his own the skills he needed to be a solider for the family. Then when he made his move Nikoli had stepped in.
Now it was time to settle the old score. He needed this to free his soul and clear his mind. He had thought about which weapon to bring, a rifle or a blade. He was better with a blade but for that, he needed to be face to face with his victim. He liked to watch the life drain out of their eyes. It was a thrill that never got old. He had thought about becoming an assassin but it took too much work. To become one he would have to do too much background and plan his way out and that wasn’t something for a man like him. He didn’t mind that sort of work but he also needed money. He didn’t want to take the time to get it all set up. So here he was, setting up his last job in New York before he went west.
With a rifle, he could remain hidden and still accomplice his objective. He was meeting a man later today to sell Nikoli’s daughter in slavery. Then his life was his own. His crew would survive him leaving, if they kept their heads low until the chaos cleared. If not, well then, they would get caught up in the flames and get burned. Whatever happened wouldn’t be his concern, not after this.
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Bringing the rifle up to his chin, he snuggled the scope up to his eye and looked around the café. There was no sign of Nikoli yet but the café was beginning to get full. He smiled, as he thought that would work well for his escape. The chaos the shot would cause would help him leave scene.
Looking through the scope again, he scanned the café once more. He was afraid Nikoli wouldn’t show. But he had to show, he just had to. Danton needed to watch as Nikoli bled out. One man had taken everything away from him not just once but this morning, Ramon told him everything they worked for was gone again. The Bratva had destroyed not only his businesses that had taken him years to build up but had warned his list of contracts in the city not to do business with him or it would cost them more than they bargained for.
He wished before he ended Nikoli’s life, he would be able to tell him exactly what his daughter would have to look forward to every day for the rest of her life. Danton had decided not to spill her blood, but he would make her wish he had. But to say anything to Nikoli he would have to come out of hiding and reveal himself and that just wasn’t going to happen.
Then to his left he saw movement and he turned to view the new comer. That was when he spotted his target. He paused to watch with a half-smile on his face as Nikoli sat down on a chair at a table for four in the courtyard of the café. Danton searched his cousin carefully. He hadn’t changed much over the years, except perhaps gotten into better shape. Back in Russia, he’d been just a tall skinny kid but now he had grown into a well-dressed, well balanced man of means.
Danton gritted his teeth as he could see the man Nikoli was now in just the demeanor he portrayed. With his short cut hair and five o’clock shadow he seemed to pulse the power he held in his hands. He looked well fed and well groomed. His lips narrowed into a snarl and he wanted to crush the other man and grind him into dust. He was just lining up his shot when half a heartbeat later he saw Sergi and Misha sit down with Nikoli.
Danton knew in that half a heartbeat his revenge would never happen. Oh, he could take the shot but he’d never make his escape. He knew the Bratva was waiting in the shadows for him already. Sergi was always well protected. His soldiers were well versed in keeping him and his son safe from anyone and everyone. Especially after what happened thirty years ago. He also knew they wouldn’t kill him in public nor would they kill him quickly. He’d been on the run for thirty years. Scrimping and scratching out a bare ass living all these years. If he knew anything about Sergi, he knew that old bastard held a grudge against anyone who crossed him and almost killing his own son? Well Danton didn’t want to think about it. He did have one chance, slim as it was, he still had Nikoli’s brat.