by K. J. Dahlen
“You know about the rumors?” Sazon asked surprised.
Oh yes, I know about them.” Nikoli gritted. “I have many friends willing to pass along any and all rumors like this.”
“So what are you going to do with this information?” Yuri asked.
“I’m going to call Moscow, but only to inform them of my next steps. Then I will confront Grigori but instead of killing him on sight, I’m going to bring him up in front of a tribunal. I will have the chance to show the evidence here and allow a panel of our peers set his fate.” He turned to Nicky and Raven. “I may have to ask you to testify as to what kind of life you had because of the circumstances you were forced to endure. Would you be willing to do that?”
“If this is the only way to put an end to this madness I will,” Raven agreed reluctantly.
“You don’t want to do this?” Nikoli looked surprised. “Why?”
Raven shrugged. “I did what I had to do to protect who I thought was my little brother. Our life wasn’t a good one but we were together. The rest matters but its secondary to being with him. Not everyone has a good home to grow up in. You said once that you understood that because you saw it with these five. I hate what happened and I’ll tell whomever you need me to tell but I how much sympathy will they have for me when they find out it was my mother who did this? They could say that maybe my life wasn’t changed at all.” She looked over at Nicky. “Or worse yet, they could claim I was part of the plot.”
“That’s ridicules!” Nicky exclaimed. “You were just a child when this went down.”
“Of course it is but they could claim it anyway.” Raven shook her head as her gaze swung up to Yuri, reminding him of the accusations he’d made at first. “I’m a no body and he is part of the Russian Bratva. He’s equal to your position and I’m a hostess in a restaurant. He can say whatever the hell he wants.”
Yuri sighed as he realized he had accused her of that. He’d only done it to get to the truth and he did have the truth now. “Unfortunately, she’s got a point.”
“I agree.” Nikoli slumped back down in his chair. “The bastard is going to get away with this, isn’t he?”
“Not necessarily.” Yuri got a grin on his face.
“What do you have in mind?” Nikoli leaned forward.
“We could always give Grigori a taste of his own medicine.”
“How?” Nikoli frowned.
“You know how I feel about history?” Yuri asked. When Nikoli nodded he said, “Well, I bought an old fort deep in the swamp. It was mostly a ruin but I was able to rebuild it. There is nothing around it for miles except swamp and gators, along with other nasty little creatures of the night. We could kidnap him, take him out there and keep him prisoner for as long as you like. Or until he confesses. The tribunal wouldn’t be able to not pass judgement if he confesses everything he did and gives them a reason why. That would cause him to lose everything, wouldn’t it?”
“It would certainly cause him to come under review,” Nikoli agreed. “Then they would find everything he’s been hiding. That would be his breaking point because we all know he’s had many secrets from the powers that be. He hides behind so many layers, no one really knows the truth about him and his enterprises. He’s ever more complicated than our friend Carlos.” He thought about it for a moment then grinned. “This could actually work.”
“But how do we keep him from getting away on his own power?” Sazon asked.
“The fort was actually built on a small island back in the Civil War and it is surrounded by miles of murky infested nasty water. It had its own dungeons. Whoever built the fort didn’t plan on reclamation being part of the equation. From what I understand, the first ten years or so the water was held back but slowly it began seeping into the foundation until the fort became a danger to live in.” Yuri paused a moment then went on, “Now if we left him on his own he might find a way out of the swamp but if we kept an eye on him and hindered his efforts every chance we get, we may just keep him there long enough to drive him out of his mind.”
“One thing I know about Grigori that might work to our advantage is the fact that he hates to be alone. He’s got someone with him twenty three hours a day. The only time he wants to be alone is when he’s answering nature’s call,” Nikoli informed them. “If we take away his cell phone, he’ll be lost.”
“Plus, the fact that he has severe OCD,” Mikial added. “Everyone knows this. Just being that close to filthy water is going to drive him crazy.”
“This might just work.” Nikoli nodded. “But we have to record the whole event so the tribunal knows what is happening. We have to be able to show them we did nothing to influence his confession.”
“I can do that,” Nicky claimed.
“You can?” Nikoli looked surprised.
“Nicky is quite good at working a computer. He works at a garage to earn money toward computer equipment. He had hoped to start school this fall,” Raven explained.
Nikoli gazed at his son with pride. “We’ll have to check it out but if you can get the fort wired with a camera and sound that would certainly help.”
“I can do that,” Nicky agreed.
“Good, then let’s go with this. As long as we can’t touch him any other way.” Nikoli nodded. “I want his confession to the murder of my wife and the kidnapping of my infant son. That will bring his empire down and ruin him. The Bratva does not condone murder of family members unless they have committed some sort of crime and kidnapping of innocents. Bethany’s only crime was being in love with me.”
“I’ll need some things from the computer store,” Nicky told them.
“And we’ll need to collect Grigori.” Sazon grinned. “This is gonna be fun.” He rubbed his hands together.
“We also need to take care of another piece of business. We have to pick up Joshua Huntington. He’s working with the Ukrainian mob, under Joseph Polancov to replace us. That’s where Nicky got the stack of fake hundreds that have been showing up all over town,” Yuri told his brothers.
Sazon smiled. “Ok, Barshan and I will go to New York and bring Grigori back here in two days. The rest of you can take care of Joshua and his Ukraine boys. Nicky can wire the fort.”
“And what does that leave me to do?” Raven asked.
“You and Nikoli can continue to go through Carlos’s files.’ Yuri nodded at the mess on the table. “I don’t want there to be any more surprises. I want to be able to tell the Council everything he’s been doing.”
“What more could there be?” Nikoli asked.
“We don’t know yet, do we?” Yuri surmised. “We have no idea what secrets these papers hold.”
“There is one thing that I would like to know before this goes any further,” Nikoli stated. He turned to Raven and asked, “When we first confronted Andria, she called you by another name. I believe it was Rebel, why would she do that?”
Raven smiled. “Because that was my name before we changed it to Raven. Rebel Elayna Waterson. When we left Carlos’s house that night, we had to go on the run. We changed our names and our appearance as much as possible. Every time we moved to another town or city, we would reinvent ourselves. I’ve tried to keep my name as close as I could to my real name. Raven is as close to Rebel as I could get.”
“But Nicky kept his own name? Why?” Nikoli asked.
She smiled. “He was so young when we went on the run and he couldn’t always remember his new name, so we kept his as Nicky. Only the last name we used would change. Except that his real name is the same as yours.”
Nikoli frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Andria told me his name was Nikoli Gregor. When she would get upset with him, she would tell me he was just like his father, but otherwise she never mentioned his father at all. When she became really upset with him, she would scream at him. She would call out his full name Nikoli Gregor. At the times, when she wasn’t mad at him, she would call him Nicky so that’s the name we stuck with.”
A
single tear rolled down Nikoli’s face and for a moment, he couldn’t speak. Then he cleared his throat and told her, “At least she kept most of her lies as close to the truth as possible. My son was named after me but his last name is Silvanoc. Bethany named him just before he was born but she was too weak from the loss of blood to even see the baby. They had to delivery him by C-section. She went into shock as they delivered the baby and she never got to see her son, she never got to hold him either and I know that was the one thing she couldn’t wait to do.” Nikoli took a deep breath and blew it out of his lungs. He took her hand and led her back to the table. “Come child, we have work to do so they can get to their own jobs. There is much to be done yet in preparation for what will happen next.”
Sazon and Barshan left to go to New York.
Mikial and Roman left to find Kosta, so they could pick up Joshua and Joseph.
Nicky went to make a list of the items to be picked up from the computer store.
Yuri came over to where Raven was sitting and knelt on the floor beside her. He reached out his hand and put it to the back of her neck then hauled her close to him. “I know you don’t want to hear this but you are mine.” With that, he crushed her mouth under his as kissed her long and deep. Then he pulled back. “When this is over you and I are going to talk. You think you can walk away when this is done, but you cannot. I will not allow it. I will leave you alone until this is concluded but then you are mine.” He kissed her again then without another word, he got up and left the room.
Chapter Eleven
Raven was shaken as she stared after him. Finally, she turned to Nikoli and asked, “Has he always been like that?”
Nikoli smiled. “He has indeed.”
“What an arrogant prick,” she whispered.
Nikoli chuckled. “That may be true, but he’s your arrogant prick now.”
“That’s what scares me.”
He kept chuckling. “He will grow on you. He is a good man.”
Several hours later, Raven swore under her breath. Shooting her chair back, she got to her feet. The paper in her hand crumpled under her fingers as they tightened into a fist.
Nikoli looked up in surprise. “What is it child? What did you find?” He saw her deathly white face. Her eyes were huge and held a haunted glaze. She was trembling so hard, she was shaking. He grew concerned and his frown deepened.
Raven glanced in his direction but didn’t really see him. Shaking her head, she ran from the room.
Nikoli got to his feet and followed her.
She was standing at the window staring out over the city far below. Her hand was still clenching the crumpled paper.
Nikoli reached for it.
She let him take it as tears blurred her eyes.
He smoothed out the wrinkled paper. At first, he didn’t know what he was looking at, then it hit him. It was a birth certificate. Glancing over at Raven, he looked at the certificate again. His eyes widened as the names and dates began to make sense.
“Rebel Elayna Constantine. Mother: Joy Valenti. Father: Misha Constantine. Date of birth: July 4, 1991” Nikoli shook his head. “What does this mean?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn’t even think her mind was so troubled. Her head lifted and she stared at the paper in Nikoli’s hand. Slowly her own hand reached out and took the certificate from him. Smoothing the paper, she stared at it for a moment. Then she looked at him. “What does this mean?” she whispered. “I don’t know these people.”
Nikoli led her over to the sofa and helped her sit down. When he sat beside her, he took her hands in his own. “Have you ever seen this document before?” he asked her gently.
Raven shook her head. “Andria always told me I didn’t have a birth certificate. She said I was born at home and she never registered the birth. She said she didn’t want any record of the biggest mistake of her life.”
Nikoli felt a flash of rage. “What kind of woman would tell her daughter that?” he swore.
Raven glanced up at him. “I don’t know those people. Does this mean Andria isn’t my mother? That she lied to me my whole life?”
“I don’t know child,” he admitted. “The only one who knows the truth is the same one that has lied to you all your life. I don’t think she would tell you the truth now.” He hesitated then added as if an afterthought, “She might be willing to tell you if she got a deal out of it.”
Raven looked at him for a moment then shook her head. “No, I would never ask for that.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t you like to know the truth?” he asked.
“What’s to say she would tell me the truth? She likes to twist everything to make herself out to be the victim when most of the time she’s the one who did the wrong.” Raven got up and walked back to the window. Staring out of the city she said, “No I will not ask her for anything.” She held up the paper and shook her head. “This may very well be the truth but I don’t know these people. I have no idea who they are and they don’t know me. There is no one looking for me like you searched for Nicky all these years.”
“Maybe he didn’t look for you because he didn’t know you existed,” Nikoli reasoned.
Raven swung her head around to face him. “What do you mean?”
“You may not know who Misha is but I do. I met him a long time ago. We came of age together in Moscow. His father Sergi tutored us both into the Bratva. We all came over to America at the same time. Yuri and the others know him as well.”
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“Misha was a friend of mine. He still is but he went back to Russia a long time ago. When we first came over here, Misha was full of himself. He held a great office in the Bratva, he had the power and the money and it attracted a number of women to his side. For several years, he lived the good life, then he met his soulmate. Her name was Joy and they fell in love so quickly. He was going to marry her when she suddenly disappeared. Her family told him she ran off but Misha didn’t believe them. He searched for her for three years before he gave up. He was truly heartbroken. So much so, that he ended up going back to Russia. He said he just couldn’t stay here anymore.”
She turned back to the window. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It was a long time ago and no one cares anymore. It’s just one more lie to lay at Andria’s feet.”
“Don’t you want to know the truth about who you are?” Nikoli asked.
“The truth?” She turned to glare at him. “Yes, I would like to know the truth but you won’t get the truth from Andria. Not when she could lie to tell you what she thinks you want to know. She wouldn’t know what the truth is and I wouldn’t trust anything she had to say. Nor would I ask you to make her any kind of deal. It just isn’t worth it.”
“Maybe we could ask Misha,” he suggested.
Raven shook her head. “I doubt it would be worth the trouble. If he couldn’t find her after three years, he wouldn’t know about a baby she might have had. Besides, it’s been so long, he might not even remember her at all.”
“On the contrary,” he insisted. “I have a feeling Misha would be very interested to know he might have a child out there somewhere.”
Raven shook her head. She nodded at the paper in his hand. “That might be another lie. We found it buried deep in Carlos’s papers. It may just be another scam set up a long time ago.”
Nikoli cupped her chin and brought her face around to his. “All it would take to know the truth is a blood test. Misha would insist, if there was the slightest hope in his mind.”
“Which would only raise more questions.” She shrugged. “What really happened back then? Did Joy run away or was she kidnapped? Who might have kidnapped her and why? Is she still alive or did she die a long time ago?” She looked him in the eye and asked one last question, “Would Misha really care?”
“Yes, god yes, he would care if you were his daughter.” Nikoli growled. “It would mean that Joy did love him. She loved him enough to give you life and a chance to live. It wo
uld mean the world to him.”
“And if that paper is nothing more than a lie?” she asked. “That could break his heart all over again.”
“I believe he deserves the chance to find the truth.”
Raven didn’t say anything for a long time, then she whispered, “I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Of finding out my whole life has been a lie,” she finally admitted. “That nothing I know has been the truth.”
“Then for your own peace of mind, you need to know the truth as much as Misha does.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Let me call Misha and tell him of this. He could be here in a few days and then the truth will come out.” Nikoli hauled her into his arms and held her close. “Be strong enough to let the truth come out.”
It took her a moment but she finally nodded. Looking up at him she asked, “Will you be there too? You and Nicky?”
“If you like.”
“I need someone on my side. Nicky and I have been through so much but we’ve always been there for each other. I’m going to need his strength to face this.”
“And you will face this head on,” Nikoli assured her.
Raven moved away and began rubbing her forehead. “It’s late and I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed.”
Nikoli nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll just wait here for Yuri to return.”
Raven nodded and moved away. Nikoli watched her go into the bedroom and close the door. He went over to the bar and poured himself a drink. Going back to the sofa, he sat down and picked up the birth certificate again. As he stared at it, his mind was going a mile a minute.
He realized it could be nothing more than just another lie. It was found in Carlos’s things after all. Then his mind switched it up, what if the document were true? What if this was Carlos’s insurance if things went south?
He finished his drink and got up to get another when the front door to the apartment opened and Yuri walked in.
He looked at Nikoli and glanced around for Raven. “Where is she?” he demanded.