by Maggie Marr
“I think her cousin. Heard they was takin’ the family plane out of Santa Monica airport. I’m sketchy on the details, but I hear she’s coming back in a couple days. Want me to fill you in if I hear more?”
Devon shook his head. “No, no. But thanks.”
“Maybe you should call her. Right? I mean, you two seemed solid. Hard to find solid and love.”
Devon nodded. Wedge was right, solid was hard to find, plus love? The two together could mean a lifetime of happiness.
“Well, chin up buddy, okay? Lots of women in the world.” Wedge hopped on his bike and started to ride. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Unless she’s your one and only. Then you’re totally screwed, man.”
Devon took a deep breath. Yeah, unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more he realized Wedge was right. Devon was, indeed, totally screwed.
Chapter 19
The hospital smell clung to Ilana’s skin and coated her throat. She remembered this odd mixture of smells from Mama’s death. The smell choked her, and she stifled her gag reflex by swallowing over and over. Alexi walked beside her down the long corridor. A cold chill slid over her skin. Deep breath. She’d learned more about her father on the trip to New York, forced herself to face the facts of what he had done. The most recent details had included the trafficking of Russian women in and out of the U.S. It was worse than she had imagined.
“You okay?” Alexi asked. Thank goodness she wasn’t alone. Could she have made this visit alone? Yes, theoretically, but she wouldn’t have done it. No, the strength of her family was helping her to face him. No matter how small, how physically weak, how unable to harm her he was, this man, her father, still had some incontrovertible hold over Ilana.
“I can’t believe I’m here.”
Her heart beat a fast pace, like she’d been running. Running toward this moment, when she would finally confront the man who’d loomed large as a Russian bear during her childhood. The man who from thousands of miles away still molded Ilana’s thoughts and words and fears. The idea of him had dictated what she shared with friends, for fear that he might find her and take her from her mother. Her mother—my God, her mother, who was the strongest person Ilana knew—had been scared of this man.
Now she’d finally see him again, after more than two decades. Please let her put the fear to rest. Let it slide from her body. A guard stood outside Sergey’s hospital room door. She pulled in her breath. Of course, he was still an inmate, a prisoner.
Ready?” Alexi asked.
She nodded and entered the room. Just inside the door was another uniformed guard. Her eyes went to the bed.
Her father lay there with one arm handcuffed to the bedrail. Tubes ran from his arm to plastic bags that dripped clear fluids into his body. He was asleep. Smaller than she remembered…much smaller. She remembered a giant of a man who, when enraged, towered over her and her mother. Now, laying beneath a blanket with an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, he appeared not much bigger than she was. A machine beeped with each beat of his heart. He’d be dead within two weeks. That’s what the doctor had told her uncle.
Bristly whiskers in different shades of gray decorated his face. His hair hung limp against his head. His skin was an unnatural color, not simply gray, but more like dishwater. His shallow breathing barely fogged the mask. Although he was Uncle Dimitry’s identical twin, such different lives had ultimately created very different faces. Today, Ilana’s father might pass for her Uncle Dimitry’s father, so old, so small, so ill was he.
A nurse entered behind them. “You’re his daughter?”
Ilana nodded.
“Saw at the desk that you’d come to visit.” The nurse moved around Sergey and wrote on a chart. “He sleeps a lot now. When he wakes up, he’s still lucid. We have him on palliative care.”
Ilana bit her bottom lip, her feelings a muddled ball of emotion. This was her father. The man who, once upon a time, had loved her…hadn’t he? Even in his own sort of twisted way. But now…after decades…who was he? The monster that everyone believed he way? The dangerous Russian mobster who’d killed countless people and trafficked drugs and women? Would he even recognize her?
Sergey’s eyes fluttered open. He squinted, as though he was making certain of what he saw. “Ilana?” His voice muffled and soft from behind the mask he wore over his face. “Ilana?”
She nodded. Her heart twisted and tore.
He pulled the mask away from his face. His gaze drifted past her to Alexi, who stood beside her. “You look like my brother, which means you look like me. Are you his boy?”
Alexi nodded.
Sergey’s now sharp-eyed gaze cut back to Ilana. “Come to see the dead before I die.” His tone held no warmth. His cold gray eyes bored into her even as he lay with his breaths unwinding toward the final one. Unforgiving. Hard. Relentless. But no longer all-powerful and controlling.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Twenty-two years since you saw me, but I’ve seen you.”
Ilana’s heart twisted and pain thrust through her. She wasn’t surprised. After learning of the secrets Mama had kept, little would surprise Ilana about her parents.
“You’re my daughter, no matter how desperately your mother wished to hide that fact. You’re mine. My blood. My only living heir. My child.” There was a force to his words, a gravitational pull that clasped her heart. He could no longer steal her from her life, but yet, the pull was present.
“You’re mine, so I’ve watched. I’ve seen you and known all that you did. Even now, I know.” A snarl curled over his lip. Anger colored his gaze and…was that hatred in his eyes? “You disgust me.” His voice rasped and his breath came in short pants, unable to keep up with the velocity of his emotion. “You with that Travati scum.”
Ilana didn’t move. She didn’t step back. This man…to break his hold over her she needed to take in all of his words, to see him, all of him, for what he was. A man filled with rage. A man who had been willing to do anything for his own success. To sell human flesh.
“What you were doing was wrong,” she said quietly.
“Wrong?” His eyebrow lifted and the corner of his mouth raised. “You want to talk about wrong? I made money. I was a businessman who helped other businessmen.” He looked away from her. A long dark silence and slowly his gaze returned to her. “Ask him. Ask your lover how could he know so much about my business, about what I did, about who I was, enough to put me in jail for the rest of my life, unless he’d known exactly what was going on?” A vindictive smile curled over Sergey’s lips. “I don’t need to tell you. And I don’t need to seek revenge.” Sergey shook his head. “No, he’s already ruined himself. Why else flee from his family, his friends, the life he knows? He was involved, Ilana, he tested my goods. How else could his testimony put me in jail?”
Ilana stilled the gasp on her lips.
“Oh yes, my daughter, you’ve fallen in love with a man who is exactly like me.”
*
“You don’t need my permission to date Ilana.”
Devon sat across from Dimitry Rashnikov in the family’s library. Tonight, Devon’s eyes caught the differences between Dimitry and his twin brother Sergey. Dimitry appeared less identical to his brother than the first time Devon had seen him. That night, Devon had been blindsided, his entire body flooded with adrenaline, thinking that by some foul trick he’d been lured into a trap by Sergey.
No, Dimitry was markedly different than his twin. There was a refinement in his features as well as his demeanor that Sergey lacked. Of course, Dimitry was also harsh and doggedly determined. He was, after all, a first-generation immigrant who’d climbed the ranks of shipping and import-export to become a billionaire. One didn’t make that ascent without nerves of steel and the ability to exploit opportunities, no matter who you metaphorically killed.
“No, I don’t.” Devon glanced toward his whiskey neat, still untouched on the table in front of him. “But Ilana just found her family. Fam
ily means everything to me, and I have a sense that you and your boys and your wife will very quickly mean everything to her. I won’t…I can’t ask her to turn her back on you. I would never do that. She…you’re her family, and if we can’t be okay…if we can’t find a way to, at the very least, coexist…What I’m trying to say is that if my presence in Ilana’s life means that you won’t be in it, then I need to walk away.”
Dimitry examined his long lean hands. Then his gaze locked onto Devon.
Heat surged through Devon’s heart. Unmistakable anger filled Dimitry’s gaze, perhaps even a threat.
“Put yourself in my position, would you? Consider if perhaps your brother…let’s say Leo? The one that was with you here. Consider if Leo went down a dark and dangerous path. One that was different than the path you’d chosen. A path so dangerous that you had to discontinue your relationship with him, to keep your family safe. You cut nearly all ties with Leo. Severed for years. But then, he was charged with multiple felonies and found guilty, primarily on the testimony of one man.”
Devon’s heart beat hard. His jaw muscles flinched. A thick anger pulsed from Dimitry to Devon.
“Then that man…the very man who put your brother, Leo, in prison, decided to start dating Leo’s daughter.”
Devon stiffened. Leo would never become a felon…but what if…
“How would you feel about that man fucking your niece? Even if you hadn’t seen your brother Leo in decades?”
Devon’s nostrils flared. Heat thrummed through his body. “I wouldn’t like it.” His voice was firm. “I would quite possibly hate it,” he continued. “But If I loved my niece, and this man was a good man, I wouldn’t punish her for the errors her father made.”
Dimitry answered with a wicked smile. “Ha, such a diplomatic answer. I agree with you, I do, on not punishing my niece for the sins of her father. I even agree with you about if he was a good man. But here is the problem, here is my concern, Devon. Are you a good man?”
Devon’s eyebrows creased as his gaze remained on Dimitry. “I…” Was he?
“Your hesitation makes me wonder. I ask, because my brother, as much as I love him, was not a good man. I know that. I can see that. You can love someone and be aware of their flaws. Sergey had a multitude of sins that ate away at his very soul. I only ask that God will forgive him. But he was not a good man. Are you?”
Devon pressed his lips together, the heat in his chest giving way to a clutching anxiety.
“I wonder because you, the man my niece has fallen in love with, knew enough about my brother’s business to testify in court. You had enough facts to put my brother in prison for a very long time. In fact, I’ve heard through my contacts at the Department of Justice that if you’d declined their deal to testify against my brother, you too would have been prosecuted and quite possibly been found guilty.”
Devon’s heart thudded in his chest. Was he a good man? He didn’t deserve Ilana…but did any man deserve the woman he fell in love with? “I…” Devon took a deep breath. “I was able, in hindsight, to put together facts, which, at the time, I overlooked.”
“Ah, so the ends justified the means, is that what you’re saying? You were able to ignore the inconvenient details of my brother’s business as long as there were no police at your door and your clubs were making money?” Dimitry leaned forward and picked up his glass of vodka. “I’m guessing a multitude of businessmen who frequented your clubs were pleased with the wide array of gorgeous women. Were they not?”
Devon’s nostrils flared. “I wasn’t aware of the magnitude…looking back, I should’ve been. I know that now. I should have been checking and keeping tabs, realizing something wasn’t right. I relied on people for the day-to-day of the clubs that I shouldn’t have relied on. I didn’t ask the questions I should’ve asked. I’ll pay a price for that the rest of my life.”
“Really? What kind of price? My brother will die with his arm handcuffed to a bed, and you? You come here a free man and ask me if you can date his daughter. If I can see past the things that you did. So that you can possibly marry and have children with my niece? Children who would carry the Travati name. Hmm…perhaps you understand my hesitation, as I do want to be a part of my niece’s life. I’ve always wanted to be a part of my niece’s life, and now I want her to find a good man to spend her life with. A man who will ask the hard questions, a man who will do the right things, a man who will always put her interest and the interest of her and her family first. Without lies.”
“That’s the man you’ve been for your family?” Devon let loose the words without thought. They slipped from his mouth.
Dimitry’s eyes flashed. He glanced at the drink in his hands, took a sip, and put the glass back on the table. “I’ve been the man I am. I can say that while I may have skirted the law, I’ve yet to traffic in women or drugs. I’ve never killed or had anyone killed for the benefit of my business.” A slow smile crept onto his lips. “Business is business and competition is fierce. I’m not judging your decisions when it comes to Travati Financial and the hospitality division. I’m merely pointing out what I want for my niece.”
“We’ve divested of all our clubs.”
Dimitry steepled his fingertips and stared at Devon. “Oh, I’m very aware. Lichtenfeld Finance purchased them, yes?”
“The details aren’t public yet, but yes, a private company out of—”
“Germany.” Dimitry’s lips curled upward. “Primarily funded by German money, with some from the Swiss. Correct?”
“Correct.” Discomfort flooded Devon’s body. How did Dimitry know the private details of this transaction? Where could he be getting his information?
“The company is mine.”
Devon’s heart stopped.
“Or, more accurately, mine and Nikita’s. I purchased your clubs. All your clubs. Seemed fitting that the very clubs that caused my brother to spend the remainder of his life incarcerated should be mine. Especially after what you managed to do to my brother.”
“I didn’t do anything to your brother that he didn’t do to himself.”
“Ah, yes, I could see why you’d think that, maybe even believe it. But truly, you were the one who got away with these things. You were nearly as guilty as my brother, were you not?”
“No I wasn’t. I didn’t traffic women. I didn’t trick them into coming to America, I was not their pimp, I didn’t prostitute them, I—”
“No,” Dimitry interrupted, “you simply allowed my brother to do so out of your clubs. You allowed him to take all the risk while you reaped the financial benefits.”
“That’s not how this worked.”
“Then tell me, how did it work? Your clubs made atrocious amounts of money because those women were present and all the Wall Street men just like you and your brothers ponied up the money to utilize the services of those women. They bought tons of booze at your clubs, and they were there because of my brother and his business. Isn’t that how it worked?”
Devon’s stomach pitted. His face fell. Yes, that was exactly how it worked. And while he hadn’t known…he should’ve. He was smarter than that…he should’ve followed the trail, he should’ve done his due diligence…there were a million mistakes he’d made. Devon closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at Ilana’s uncle. “I made mistakes that I will never make again.”
“What a luxury you have. A bright future that doesn’t include prison. The money you still keep because of Travati Financial.” Dimitry leaned forward. “You say you’re a changed man? A philanthropist, are you not? You’ve purchased the building that houses my niece’s Enrichment Center, among others, and now you’re in talks with Venice Bakes?”
Devon didn’t nod. He didn’t move. He didn’t need to confirm Dimitry’s words, because Dimitry knew all the answers to his questions. He was aware, it would seem, of all Devon’s business moves. Too aware.
“Ah, well,” Dimitry nodded and a smooth smile overtook his face. “We each do what we
can to wash the sins from our hands. I guess the bloodier the sin, the harder the scrub.”
Anger coiled through Devon. He didn’t need to be friends with Dimitry Rashnikov, he only needed to coexist with the man. But if they couldn’t coexist, then for Ilana’s sake…Devon’s heart broke. Would he have to give her up? But giving up Ilana was an impossibility. The past two weeks, Devon had inhabited hell. He’d spent the days wracked with guilt over his behavior and a bone-deep need to have Ilana beside him. The torment had been enough to compel him to sit down with the brother of the Travati family’s biggest enemy. Sergey had not only threatened Devon’s life, but the lives of every Travati, including the children.
“I appreciate you coming to speak with me,” Dimitry said, “but I believe we’re at an impasse. I would never forbid my niece to marry the man she chooses. She’s smart and a grown woman. However, I can guarantee that you and I won’t ever be friends. I want Ilana to find the very best man for her life partner, and I’m afraid, in my opinion, that man will never be you.”
Devon stood he kept his gaze on Ilana’s uncle and his tone even. “I understand. I can live with that. I chose to do what was best for my family. A family that I dearly love. I know you and Ilana’s mother did the same thing for her when she was a girl. You made an impossible choice in the face of a difficult situation. You and your wife gave up a relationship with her to keep her safe. I respect that, but know, I don’t ever want you to make that same choice again.” Devon lifted his brow. “I don’t know if she’ll have me, but if she will, I’ll spend all of my life making her happy and keeping her safe, no matter what we may have to face together.”
Demitry nodded and Devon walked out of the room.
Chapter 20
“Devon went to my parents’ house last night.”
Ilana looked up from her computer and across the table toward her cousin. The flight attendant stood in the galley, pouring Ilana a glass of wine. They had another three hours in the family’s private jet before they landed in Santa Monica.