by Kat Mizera
One of the men called out to him in Russian and Dom just continued to sing under his breath, weaving back and forth across the street as his phone began buzzing in his pocket. Reaching in he turned it off, hoping to keep it quiet, and then glanced up. He averted his eyes so he wouldn’t make eye contact with Anton and pretended to trip, catching himself at the last minute. The two men with Anton started to chuckle, calling out words that had to be insults. Dom just smiled, acting oblivious. He was aware the moment Anton recognized him because his eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he turned to the side. It was now or never and the odds weren’t good, but what choice did he have?
Toli walked into the building feeling the first tingles of fear crawling down his spine for the first time since all of this started. He really didn’t want to die tonight, but he didn’t have any other choice except to keep walking. They may or may not have located Anton, but he didn’t know one way or another. His phone was in his pocket, with Zakk on the other end, listening for any sign of trouble before it was too late, but Toli knew that was probably a futile precaution. If the people waiting for him were going to kill him it wouldn’t matter who was outside; if something went wrong over the course of their conversation, Zakk wouldn’t get there in time anyway. It was a depressing thought.
Toli paused when the door closed behind him and he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
“Come, Toli. Join me.” A voice called out to him in Russian and he frowned, thinking it sounded familiar.
Toli stepped forward, wondering what the hell he was doing here and promising himself that if he got out of here alive he was never, ever coming back to Russia. Heritage be damned; he and the people he loved were all a hell of a lot safer in Las Vegas.
“Sit.” The man sitting at a small card table was wearing a hat and smoking a cigar, so Toli couldn’t see his face. “Vodka?”
“I don’t know—are you going to kill me? If so, sure. I’d rather die drunk.”
The man laughed, deep and hardy, and Toli froze as he recognized the sound. Holy shit. He swallowed hard. As shocked as he was, he was more concerned about his son and he took the seat across from him without hesitation. “Where the hell is my son, Mikhail?”
The man laughed again, shaking his head. “On his way here. Do not worry, Anatoli—I would never hurt the boy. He is innocent in this.”
“And your daughter? Is she innocent too?”
Mikhail narrowed his eyes. “Her loss of innocence lies on your shoulders!”
Toli was startled, but he scowled at the older man. “Mine? How the hell is it my fault? I asked her to marry me over and over—and she said no. Right up until she started sleeping with my brother and got pregnant by him.”
“Bah!” Mikhail spat on the ground. “Married to Sergei! That is also your fault—why do you go to America? Why not stay in the KHL?”
“Because she wasn’t going to marry me,” Toli said in a huff. “I asked her at least a dozen times. And the money was a lot better in the NHL!”
“You went to America after the Army—she couldn’t go! She was too young. And then you got that girl pregnant. We thought you would marry her, so we were forced to change Tanya’s plans.”
Change her plans? Toli wasn’t sure what was going to come out of Tatiana’s father’s mouth next, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. “What the hell are you talking about, Mikhail? And where’s my son?”
“Soon, Toli.” Mikhail poured another shot of vodka into a glass and pulled a second glass from the bag next to him. “Now we can have a shot.”
Toli made a face but nodded. “Sure, why not?” He took it and downed it in one gulp, his eyes glued to the other man’s. “So what now? We sit, we drink, you threaten my son and try to make me feel guilty about things I had nothing to do with? Then what? Can we skip to that part? I’m fucking tired of this shit.”
“Do you know what she endured because of you?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” Toli said dryly, reaching for the bottle of vodka and pouring another shot.
“She had one job—seduce you and keep you in Russia. Even at 16 she was useless as a seductress.”
Toli wanted to defend her, but opted to keep things simple so the old man would keep talking. “She was a virgin,” he said. “How seductive did you think she was going to be?”
“Her virginity wasn’t enough for you?”
Toli chuckled. “I had groupies across Russia and North America clamoring after me—Tatiana’s beautiful, but come on. What 18-year-old doesn’t want to explore the world a little? Besides, she wasn’t old enough to move to the U.S. with me, so we went our separate ways for a while.”
“But you got that girl pregnant. That changed everything.”
“I was still in love with Tatiana! I had an accident with my son’s mother, but my feelings for Tanya never changed!”
“I could not afford to wait. She was my only child and she was my only option.”
“For what?”
“Carrying on my work.”
“She’s an incredible doctor! The top of her field, just like you—what could possibly be more important than saving lives?!”
Mikhail waved an impatient hand. “It’s overrated! There is no power, no wealth…but you know this. This is why you play sports in America.”
“Partially. I also play because the level of skill and competition is the very highest and what fun is the game if you always win?”
“Spoken like a man who’s used to winning.”
“Dammit, Mikhail, this is ridiculous—we’re talking in circles. It’s three o’fucking clock in the morning—what the fuck do you want?!”
“You weren’t to marry the American—you were to marry my Tatiana.”
Toli sighed. “I tried. She chose my brother. I’m 36 years old—it was time for me to move on. I want more children and I want to wake up next to the same woman every day... Is that too much to ask?”
“Perhaps.” He looked at Toli and shook his head. “You made her feel guilty. You ruined her.”
“Made who feel guilty? Tatiana? The woman who cheated on me with my brother?! She actually felt guilty?!”
“She was resigned to her fate, ready to carry on the family tradition—but no. You had to fill her head with loyalty, honor, education! Instead of carrying on the family tradition, she chose medicine! She chose a life of doing good for others! Bah!” He spat out the word and glared at Toli. “Your fault!”
Toli would have defended himself but the door banged open at that moment and he spun around, shocked to see Anton and Dom being ushered in at gunpoint. “Anton!” He breathed out his son’s name but didn’t dare go to him.
“Dad.” Anton seemed subdued as well, but Dom just looked pissed.
“You all right, son?” Toli asked him.
Their eyes met and Anton nodded.
“Dom?” Toli wanted to ask him what he was doing here, but figured he already had a good idea.
“I’m good.” Dom glanced at the man with the gun, whose eye was almost swollen shut, with a smirk.
“Well, we’re all here,” Toli said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Mikhail. “What’s your next move? ‘Cause I’ve got nothin’.”
Mikhail picked up his phone and spoke to someone. “Where is she? What do you mean? They were there! Well, find them!” He threw the phone across the table. “We await more guests. Vodka?” He looked at Dom and Anton, who shook their heads.
“You can have a shot,” Toli said to Anton dryly. “You might need one.”
“Nah,” Anton shrugged. “I need my wits about me more than I need a drink.”
Toli looked down, trying to hide his smile, but Mikhail laughed out loud. “You are raising him well, Anatoli! He has fire!”
Toli met the older man’s gaze. “Let him go, Mikhail. He has no purpose here. What is it you want him to see or hear?”
Mikhail put down his cigar and lit a cigarette, taking long
, deep puffs before twirling in in his fingers. “You’re right. He should go home.” He paused. “However, where should I send him? My understanding is that no one is home at the apartment in Barrikadnaya.” That was the suburb where Toli’s parents lived.
Toli felt a chill run through his bones as he thought of his mother, Tessa and Tatiana. “What did you do to them?” he hissed, starting to get to his feet.
“Nothing, nothing!” Mikhail held out a complacent hand. “I sent men to fetch my daughter and we discovered no one home. In the middle of the night. Did you send them away, Toli?”
“No! They were waiting on word about Anton!” He looked at Dom, who looked alarmed now as well.
“My men will find them.”
Toli shook his head. “You sent your men after my mother, my wife and my sister-in-law?”
Mikhail smiled. “Of course. They’re joining us this evening. I was disappointed your father disappeared—I would have liked to see him.”
Chapter 15
Still listening because Toli’s phone was on, Zakk panicked. He didn’t want to disconnect, but he had to tell Louie that something had happened to the girls. He didn’t want to leave Toli, though, especially now that Anton and Dom were in there with him. He only had two choices: Disconnect and let Louie know about the girls, who might not be in any danger, or stay on the line and help Toli, Dom and Anton, who were definitely in danger. He sighed, leaning back against the building and wondering what to do next. He’d been in some sticky situations in his life. Growing up in North Dakota, and as physically large as he was, sometimes trouble just found him. Bar fights, sneaking out of a teenage girl’s bedroom window getting away from her shotgun-toting father, going up against Molly’s dirty cop ex-husband, and of course, facing Marco Fucking Rousch, who’d kidnapped his pregnant fiancée and strapped her to a table on display at a fucking sex club. Yeah, he’d been through some shit, but damn, this really took the cake. He was in Russia, for God’s sake, without a freakin’ visa. He had no idea what could happen to him if he got caught, and he figured there was probably prison time involved.
He grimaced at the thought of spending time in a Russian prison and focused on what was going on inside the warehouse. He could still hear the conversation and had to shake his head at the parts he understood. The conversation was mostly in English, but now they were talking Russian again and he sighed in frustration.
Headlights caught his attention and he pressed his body back as close to the building as he could get as the vehicle slowed to a stop. He was startled to see a woman getting out and his mouth fell open when Tatiana pulled the scarf off her head and made her way towards the door. He looked back at the car and made out two more people inside. What in the hell was going on? Tatiana disappeared inside and then another woman got out of the car, while the woman who was still inside started to call to her frantically.
Tessa? Had the woman just called her Tessa?! He shook his head as if to clear it and leaned forward to get a better glimpse of her. Sure enough, Tessa was sidling up to the building. Without hesitation, he ran in her direction, grabbing her around the waist with one arm and covering her mouth with the other.
“It’s me!” he rasped as she struggled. “Jesus Christ, what are you doing?!”
“Tatiana’s the target!” she breathed. “Not Anton, but Tatiana!”
Toli had been sure events couldn’t get any worse until Tatiana walked into the room. Despite her drab black garb and mussed hair, she was as cool and aloof as he’d ever seen her. She strode across the room as if she was the belle of the ball and she paused only in front of Anton, putting a gentle hand on his lip, where dried blood had formed an ugly, cracked scab.
“You’re okay?” she asked softly.
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.”
She winked before turning to face her father and switching to Russian. “Papa, what is the meaning of this?”
“Come give your papa a kiss,” he said with a throaty laugh.
She rolled her eyes at him. “As if you’ve ever wanted a kiss from me!”
He smiled. “Made you tough, did it not?”
“You do realize I have a vagina, not a penis, yes?”
“Seems to me you have a bit of both.”
She turned to Toli and met his gaze with a troubled look. “What am I going to do with you, Toli?”
“Nothing?” He arched an eyebrow. “That was pretty much your thing most of the time we were together.”
She chuckled. “So it was.” She turned to Anton. “Your grandmother is outside in a blue Audi. Get in and tell her to take you to the airport. You can be on the first flight out in a few hours. Do you have your passport?”
He glanced at the two men who’d been guarding him and Dom. “They have it.”
She said something in Russian and the two men jumped. One of them got Anton’s backpack and tossed it at him. Anton opened it and found his passport, nodding.
“Go,” she said softly. “Your grandmother will take you to the airport.”
“I’m not leaving my dad here,” he said, scowling.
Tatiana smiled. “You’re a good kid—even better looking than your dad. I’m really proud to have known you all these years, even though I know you didn’t like me.”
Anton’s face got red but Tatiana leaned over and kissed him, once on each cheek. “It’s okay, kid. I had to be a bitch so that no one would know that deep down I adored you—your dad will explain it when he gets home. For now, it’s best if you go.”
“I won’t leave without my dad.”
She sighed. “Damn, you Petrov men are stubborn.”
“Yet you’ve been sleeping with two of them,” Mikhail snorted. “Waiting for the kid to grow up and become the third?”
Anton’s face turned an even darker shade of red and Tatiana swung around, eyes blazing. “Whenever you think of these things, just remember you created me! Anything I’ve done was because of you!”
“If that was true, you would be married to the right brother and he would be working with us, instead of you marrying the weak one who follows you around like a lost puppy!”
She glared at him. “He loves me, you fat old man! Are you so old you’ve forgotten what it’s like to love? Or so jaded you don’t remember what it’s like to be happy?”
“So you follow him to your pathetic little life in America, raise another pathetic little Petrov boy, and forget who you are? Who you were raised to be? Four generations of Russian—”
“Killers?” she interjected snidely. “Say it, Papa. Four generations of killers. From the Red Army to the KGB and beyond—I’m so proud to come from a family of killers!”
“This is how you got your fancy medical degrees and live the life you have!”
“Toli and my fucking vagina are the reason I got my fancy degrees! When you refused to pay for tutors so I could pass the entrance exams, Toli paid for them! When you wouldn’t give me money for extra classes in the summer, Toli did! And when you stopped protecting me so that I would become a weak, helpless woman and would be forced to manipulate my rich boyfriend, I slept with all your enemies and they paid for it!” Her chest was heaving as she screamed at him.
Toli glanced at Anton, who was staring in fascination, and then at poor Dom, who didn’t understand a word being said.
“The boy should go,” Mikhail said abruptly. “Soon.”
“Anton.” Toli’s voice was deep and strong as he stood up, realizing that something bad was going to happen. He didn’t know what it was, but he was positive he didn’t want Anton to see it.
“Dad!” Anton faced his father, prepared to argue once again.
Toli walked over and hugged him tightly. “I love you so much,” he whispered. “I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you for a son.” He paused and looked into eyes that were almost identical to his own. “Please go. If they kill me, I don’t want you to watch! You’ll never get over it—it will haunt you for the rest of your life. Please—do it for me.”
Anton’s eyes filled with tears and he threw his arms around his father’s neck. “No! They can’t! No!”
“Shh.” Toli held him for a moment and then gently disengaged. “Remember that I love you—more than absolutely anything in this world. You’re my greatest achievement, and my proudest honor has been being your father.”
“Dad!” Anton refused to move, the fingers of one hand digging into his father’s forearm.
“Take him,” Toli said to Dom. Their eyes met with painful understanding and Dom swallowed hard.
“Come on, kid.” Dom gripped Anton’s arm.
Anton was still protesting when the door burst open and a group of tough-looking men came in. Toli didn’t recognize any of them and something told him these guys weren’t here to help.
“Did you find him?” Mikhail looked at the men who had just come in.
“Oh, Papa.” Tatiana let out a sad, resigned sigh. “Can’t you ever let anything go?”
“Never.”
“No, sir.” The man in charge stepped forward. “We assumed he would be nearby, but so far we cannot locate him.”
Mikhail turned to Toli and pulled the gun from his pants again, pointing it at him. “Where is your brother?”
Toli frowned. “I have no idea. You told me to come alone.”
“Bring me the boy.” Mikhail didn’t break Toli’s gaze as one of the men grabbed Anton and pulled him forward.
“Dammit, Mikhail!” Toli spat out. “What do you want?!”
“Me.” Sergei walked in through the main doors and strode towards them.
“Sergei!” Tatiana’s face turned white. “Dammit, Sergei!”
“I’m sorry, love.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “But he wants me and he’s using Toli and Anton to do it. I’m done hiding. You want me, old man? Come get me.”
Every one of Mikhail’s men raised their weapons, pointing them at Sergei, and Mikhail stood up with a smarmy smile. “You aren’t the man I wanted for my daughter. I hoped she would come to her senses, but now it appears I have to take matters into my own hands.”