by K. J. Dahlen
“Mother, there’s been a slight change in plans.”
The silence from the other end of the call was almost deafening. “What sort of change in plans?”
“I’m not really sure,” Nick admitted. “Someone found out about Eugene. They dug up all the old newspaper stories and photographs.”
“Oh, my God…” Regina whispered softly. “Have they made any demands yet?”
Nick closed his eyes. “They want me to let Eugene go to jail where he belongs. But I can’t do that either.”
“Why not?” Regina asked sharply. “He belongs in jail.”
“I know that and you know that but he told me that if he goes to jail the press will find out who his father is. He said he’d let the whole world know about his father’s affair with his mother and how father reacted fifteen years ago when we found out about him. And we don’t want that little secret uncovered now do we?”
“Don’t get snippy with me young man,” Regina rebuked him in a not so gentle way. “This is your father’s mess not mine. He’s the one who strayed not me. He’s the one who lied and covered everything up. I would have handled thing much different but then no one ever asked what I would do, did they? And now, I, umm…we just have to live with it.”
Nick sighed. “Ok Mother what would you have done differently?”
“My dear boy, I would have buried the bodies much deeper. That way they wouldn’t have ever been able to dig them up. Problem solved. You see where there’s a will there is a way. Of course, if your father had been able to keep his dick where it belonged none of this would have been necessary in the first place.” With that answer, Regina hung up.
Nick bent his head and heaved a huge sigh.
He couldn’t believe his mother. Everything in her world was black and white never any shades of grey. But she lived in another reality than everyone else. Regina Bennett was old money and her solution was always the same, there was nothing money couldn’t buy. But this was something money couldn’t make go away.
Then he sat there thinking about what his mother had said. She would have buried the body deeper. Well that was a thought… Maybe if Eugene wasn’t around… his problems wouldn’t be either.
He sat with his back against the wall and thought about this solution for a long moment. Eugene was really his only link to this filthy trial. Eugene’s wife and her sons were no longer here nor did he think he’d see them again. If something were to happen to Eugene, he could finally be free of this whole mess. Free to live his life the way he wanted to without worry. He could go on to win his seat in the Senate and then someday, the White House.
But how to do it without getting caught? That would be the real trick. So far, no one knew who he was other than Eugene’s attorney and he wanted to keep it that way. Then his eye caught the pile of trash on the floor.
His eyes narrowed as he thought about who else knew about Eugene. Someone else in this godforsaken city knew about his family’s secret. They wanted Karma to do its job but what if he helped? He just had to find a way that wouldn’t come back and bite him in the ass.
Nick suddenly got a smile on his face. He knew something about Eugene that no one else did he realized. A secret he never wanted to know but Eugene hadn’t been able to stop himself from spilling it. He’d been drunk, sloppy falling down drunk the night he was arrested. Drunk and crying like a baby, a disgusting condition by the time Nick had gotten to the jail. He insisted on Nick helping him fill out the arrest report and when Nick asked him about any allergies or medications Eugene had told him about the severe allergy he had to bee venom. That brought back the fact that Eugen was his father’s bastard after all. That was the one thing he shared with their common parent although if he thought about it they shared one more common trait, sticking their dick where it didn’t belong. That they shared as well.
The secret was something no one else would think twice about. Something not even modern medicine could stop. Eugene like their father had a severe allergy to bee venom. Nick’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he thought back to the day fifteen years ago when Seth Bennett died. Everyone had thought at the time he’d had a heart attack. His mother hadn’t wanted an autopsy done, preferring to leave her husband’s body intact, even insisting on it actually but the state required the performance in a questionable death.
The results had come in weeks later and that’s when he had learned of his father’s allergy. She hadn’t shared the original report with anyone else, only his immediate family, herself, Nick and his sister Lisa. She had released a press statement claiming her husband’s death was in fact a heart attack. But remembering back, he discovered the fact that his mother had known about the allergy all along. She had changed the subject every time it had risen but he knew her tell. When Regina Bennett was lying, she would fiddle with her wedding band.
Nick’s smile turned into a slight sneer. He would take a page from his mother’s book. No one would be the wiser and his father’s mistake would be gone long before any found one knew what happened to him. He thanked God that only Seth and Eugene shared this particular allergy. Both he and Lisa had been spared this flaw.
He thought about the note he’d received earlier. They wanted karma to do her thing? Well, this would be a bitch slap from that fickle lady and it would come down hard on the man who deserved it.
Chapter Nine
New Orleans…
Iosif walked into the hotel and went to the bar. Ordering a vodka, he sat at a table and watched the people coming and going. Vasilli had shown him a picture of Yuri and the other brothers. He hoped to make contact with one of them.
Vasilli also told him of the shooting at Roman’s house a day or so ago and he was concerned. He wanted to make contact with his brother before anything else happened. He couldn’t lose him now, not when he was so close to finding him again. Vasilli didn’t know who the target was but Iosif prayed it wasn’t Roman. He wanted to get to know his brother again.
When Yuri walked into the bar and straight over to his table, Iosif raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?” he asked.
Yuri’s fingers curled into fists and it took everything in him not to take a swing at the other man. “I know who you are and you’re not welcome here.”
Iosif just stared at him. “I don’t think you’re the one to tell me that. That’s up to Roman isn’t it?”
“I don’t think you understand—” Yuri began but when silent when Iosif interrupted him.
“No you don’t understand. Roman is my brother. The same blood that flows in his veins flows in my veins. I lost him once a very long time ago and I want him back.” Iosif shook his head. “You cannot deny me in this. I won’t allow it.”
“You do not have a choice.” Yuri snarled. “He is our brother not yours. That’s the way it’s been for a very long time and whether or not, you are his real brother we will always be his true brothers.”
“I think that’s for Roman to decide not you,” Iosif told him steadily.
“Zaebis. I will do something you should have done a long time ago.”
Iosif smiled slightly. “And what would that be?”
“I’ll protect him from this bullshit.” Yuri growled. “Where the hell were you and your father when he needed you? When he was starving in the streets of Moscow? Huh? Where were you when he was so cold he couldn’t feel his toes or fingers? Where were you when he was running from the gangs and the police, just trying to stay alive? When he needed someone to watch his back? You and your father weren’t there for him but I was. I was there along with the others.” Yuri sat down at the table and curled his hands into fists. “He doesn’t need you now. He’s got us. So go home and forget him. He’s a grown man now and he knows who his real family is. You died for him a very long time ago.”
Iosif shook his head. “Nyet. I think I’ll wait until he tells me that. All I want is the chance to explain.”
“Explain what?” Yuri sneered. “The fact that your father walked away with you and left him behind? You grew u
p loved and cared for. You had a full belly every night when he often went hungry. He was alone and scared until we found each other when we were around ten or so. From that day forward, we were together and we formed a bond that you will never have, not with him. The five of us survived hell together and became closer than you and he will ever be.”
“What happened wasn’t my fault or his,” Iosif insisted. “It just happened. I don’t know what happened that day, why he wasn’t there when our father arrived but it wasn’t my fault. I was only two fucking years old. I couldn’t even protect myself let alone anyone else.”
Yuri leaned forward in his chair and snarled, “Do you want to know why he wasn’t with you when your father got to the apartment? I can tell you why. He wasn’t there because he was on the streets looking for food to feed you with. Your mother had left the two of you alone in that damn apartment days before and she didn’t leave much in the apartment to feed you. When the food ran out, Roman had to leave you to go find something for you to eat. He couldn’t let you go hungry, that why he left that day and when he came back, you were gone. But he never told anyone that.”
“How did you find out then? You know if he never said anything.” Iosif swallowed hard just thinking about what the other man had told him.
“When he was twelve years old, he got pneumonia. It was a brutal winter that year and we were all sick. No food, very little water and no medicine. He could barely breathe and every breath he took his lungs rattled a death march. We didn’t have money for medical care. He was burning up one night and his fever was so high we thought he wouldn’t see the morning sun. Me and another brother stayed with him, sharing our body heat to try and keep him alive. He began rambling in his fever. In his delirium, he spoke some of what he’d been through and his greatest fear was of what happened to you. He never knew who took you or why. He prayed you were still alive and ok. His fever broke sometime around dawn and he never mentioned it again.”
Iosif sat back in his chair and lifted his drink to his lips. His hands were shaking as he slammed the liquor down his throat he barely tasted it. Looking over at Yuri he said, “I didn’t know.”
Yuri shrugged. “No one knew. What happened to Roman before he came to us he has never shared with anyone. We haven’t pushed him because his past is just that, his past. He doesn’t like to share. He isn’t looking for sympathy or justification, although he got a small piece of his past settled a few weeks ago. ”
Iosif narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
Yuri shrugged. “If he wants to tell you he will, but that’s his place not mine. However, right now is not a good time to make contact. I spoke with Sergi on this matter and you and your father were supposed to wait for him to make initial contact. By coming here you broke your word to Sergi.”
Iosif shrugged. “My father didn’t want to wait. He’s already waited thirty four years and he couldn’t wait another day.”
“Not my problem.” Yuri narrowed his eyes at him. “As I said before, now is not a good time to try and make contact with Roman.”
“Why not?” Iosif demanded.
“Nyet, not your business,” Yuri insisted.
“It could be.” He swore. He motioned for the waitress to bring another drink. When she put the new glass on the table and moved away, he glared at Yuri. “My father will not understand this delay.”
“Then he shouldn’t have jumped the gun.” Yuri shrugged. “Sergi would have kept his word and made contact the proper way.”
“My father is in a strong position in the Bratva. They will not be happy about this,” Iosif vowed.
Yuri stared at him for a moment. Then leaned forward to speak low, “That sounds very much like a threat. I don’t do threats very well and neither does Sergi. I understand your father’s impatience with this, but he really should have waited for Sergi. Sergi likes protocol, plus he of all people knows how strong family ties are. He knows very well that impatience brings mistakes and mistakes can make a man sloppy. He also knows the feeling of not knowing if someone is family or not.” Leaning back, he shook his head. “I’m not sure what he’ll do now. You may have put yourself in danger as well as Roman and his woman.”
“Roman has a woman? I had heard something about that,” Iosif whispered. “Is it serious?”
“It’s as serious as it gets.” Yuri nodded.
“What exactly is going on here?” Iosif demanded. “Rumors are someone took a shot at Roman’s home. Was anyone hurt? Who was the shooter after and why?”
“That is not your concern.” Yuri kept glaring at him. “Just go home until Sergi contacts you.”
Iosif shook his head. “I can’t go back without some answers. That would just piss my father off. He’s a bit of a hot head, if you know what I mean. I’d rather not start a war inside the Bratva.”
“I don’t want that either,” Yuri admitted and ran his fingers through his hair. “But I will not be bullied into giving you your way either. Your father should have followed the rules, just as we all have to. Sending you ahead was his mistake not ours.”
Iosif curled his hands into a fist. “It shouldn’t be this hard to meet my brother. That’s all I wanted, a chance to meet the brother I lost thirty four years ago. Is that too much to ask?”
“Normally no. But now is just not a good time. Roman’s woman is in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Yuri shook his head. “As I said before, not your concern.”
“It could be if it might get him killed. Then it would very much be my concern.” He glared at Yuri for a moment then told the other man, “I’ll be right here in this hotel until he agrees to see me or at least talk to me. I’m not going home without trying as hard as I can to see him.”
“I’ll arrange a room but don’t expect too much anytime soon. We have a lot to do to get this mess straightened out in the next few days. Things should calm down in about three days or so. Noka,” Yuri said his goodbye, got to his feet and walked out of the bar.
Iosif watched him go. This man was fiercely protective and dangerous. Not that Isoif cared. He had been in Bratva for his whole life. He’d met men just a fierce. But this meeting with his brother was much harder to accomplish than he’d anticipated. He wouldn’t stop though. He too, a had a lot at stake. His only brother…His blood. Then if all of what this Yuri said was true. Roman had cared for him as a child. Certainly enough to at least come to meet him? Or maybe he didn’t after all these years. Then the danger Roman was in. He wondered what the hell was going on and why they wouldn’t tell him.
Stevie finally had a moment alone. She was in the kitchen making herself a sandwich when Raven came in. She turned and gave the other woman a smile. “I hope you don’t mind I just helped myself.”
Raven smiled and motioned for her to continue. “Please, help yourself anytime.” Sliding into a seat, she observed Stevie with concern. “So how are you holding up?”
Stevie took a deep breath and exhaled. “You know I’m not quite sure.”
“What do you need?” Raven asked.
Stevie shrugged. “I don’t really know, maybe just a moment to catch my breath?”
Raven watched her for a moment then said, “You know you can count of Roman and the others to keep you and Benny safe don’t you?”
Stevie nodded. “I know. I hate the fact that they have to but I do realize that they would jump in front of a bullet for me.” She hung her head. “I don’t know why they would do this but I finally get it.”
When she lifted her head, Raven could see tears in her eyes.
“How did I get so lucky as to find the one man I could love by running away from an impossible situation back home I don’t think I’ll ever know but that’s just what I did. I don’t want to lose Roman but sometimes it feels like all I’ve ever done was put him in danger. I don’t think I would survive if anything happened to him.”
Raven smiled. “You know I feel the same way about Yuri. He’s smart, strong and st
ubborn up the ass but I love him with everything I’ve got. I live and breathe for that man and he knows it because he feels the same way about me, even with all my baggage.”
Stevie smiled. “What baggage would that be?”
Raven rolled her eyes. “I found out after the fact that my father and grandfather are the head honchos of the Russian Bratva. Yuri and his boss Nikoli answer to them.”
“Oh…wow. He’s in a delicate place in the order isn’t he?” Stevie giggled.
“And the boy I thought all my life was my brother ended up being Nikoli’s stolen son. He was taken when he was less than a day old while Nikoli’s wife was dying. My mother stole him and brought him home with her. I was young enough when she told me he was my brother I believed her.” Raven shook her head. “It all worked out in the end but there were more than a few days when I thought they would kill me for my part in all this.”
Stevie didn’t say anything for a moment then she asked quietly, “So you think there might be a small chance that this thing between me and Roman could actually work out?”
Raven reached across the counter and took her hand. “Honey, you’re carrying the one thing Roman wants most of all. His child. A small piece of humanity that shares his blood. The one thing that connects him with another human being. All these guys have ever wanted was to belong to someone and call them family. They were all alone before they came together. They stuck together and they formed their own sort of family. Now they are still together but each one of them have found love and they have started to realize their dreams of having families of their own. For those five guys that’s a dream they never thought to have come true. Roman loves you and he loves this baby.”
Stevie smiled. Her hand cradled her still flat belly. “I kind of like that myself. I’ve been alone for most of my life too. Living in foster homes wasn’t easy. While some of them were ok, none of them was really my home and when I went to live at the Harris house, I hated it there. Mrs. Harris was so mean and her kids were just plain nasty. When Benny came to live there, I found something in him I could relate to. I felt an instant connection to him and tried to protect him the best I could.” She hung her head and began pulling on the crust of the bread of her sandwich. “When Mrs. Harris sold me to Caulder I went a little nuts. I grabbed Benny and ran but I couldn’t hide quick enough to keep him safe. They hunted us down real quick. Benny was too young to live on the streets then and I just didn’t know enough to keep him safe. When I got away the second time I had to leave him behind.” Tears rolled down her face. “That about broke my heart. That was when I met Silas and his friends. They taught me so much about living and surviving on the streets. I could still watch over Benny and stay hidden from Caulder and his brothers.”