One could tell that in its glory, the old home used to be a beautiful testament to fine living, but now it was shabby and in need of serious power washing. Still, it was more than she could have ever hoped after her split with Leo.
By all accounts, she should have been dead, locked in a barrel full of acid and discarded in the Hudson River, but she had been saved, yet again.
It had been a turn of luck that she had not expected, but each and every day since that day, she had thanked God for life and tried to live it with full appreciation.
And how could she not?
The night that Vasily ran up the stairs of Leo’s home to stop him from beating her, she thought that he was surely dead when Leo’s man shot him. Only the bullet that went through his body didn’t kill him. His friend, Yakov, got him to an underground doctor that removed the bullet and put him up for a few weeks until he could get out of New York and down south to a man named Anatoly who gave him a job.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know that Vasily was alive until a couple of months after she and Leo were married.
It had been a bad idea to become his wife, but one that she had little choice in. Prior to being convicted on money laundering, violating the RICO Act and first degree murder charges, Leo was in the country on a work visa from Moscow. He had been using that visa for years until Immigration and Customs Enforcement started to dig into his international business dealings. As soon as his visa lapsed, they threatened to send him back to Moscow. A move he could not afford because of his enemies there. His solution to the problem was an elaborate wedding to her.
She wanted to say no for all the moral reasons to Leo, but for the immoral ones that all included millions of dollars and a comfortable lifestyle, she had agreed.
She would never forget the night that he took her to dinner at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan and over a candlelit dinner in the famous Bear Lounge proposed that they get married for all the wrong reasons and learn to love each other for the right ones. In truth, she knew that he was lying. He had no intention of loving her, and she had no intention of loving him. She just didn’t want to give up her lifestyle. Plus, she knew that if she turned him down, with all that she had seen and all that she knew, he would kill her. Having his last name was her life insurance policy.
After the pseudo-proposal, she got a huge engagement ring to show off to the other mob wives and girlfriends, followed by a car with a driver and a Black American Express card.
Life was good for a minute. But after the newness of marriage wore off, Leo forgot his promise to never hit her again. Then the real Leo came back out, and being slapped around became a normal occurrence, only there was no Vasily to make it stop.
Life for Lilly became unbearable. In just a short time, she went from loving being Mrs. Rasputin to contemplating suicide to end it all. She prayed to God for an answer, begged Him to forgive her for marrying for the wrong reasons and even tried walking on egg shells around her husband. Nothing worked.
She was just about to look into poisoning him when God finally heard her prayers.
Normally, Leo had men who would tip him off when the Feds were sniffing around, but he hadn’t been informed about the latest and most serious set of charges that he was being brought up on by the U.S. District Attorney. They came in the middle of the night. Swift and hard, they pounced on their brownstone and arrested everyone except for her and Yakov, who was spared because he was not at the house that night.
In a drastic and desperate move, as the Feds came up the stairs to their bedroom after him, Leo gave Lilly a bag of diamonds that he had just heisted to hide for him until he returned. She had hidden them in her bra, under her ample breasts. When the Feds came barreling through the door and saw her in her night clothes, they gave her enough privacy in the corner to get dressed. That kindness ultimately allowed her to hide the precious stones better.
They took Leo with them, handcuffed and cursing.
They left her there with $20 million in untraceable diamonds.
Shortly after that, she sought her opportunity to get revenge on Leo for killing Vasily and testified against him in court. The DA was hounding her for her testimony, especially since all of the witnesses kept being murdered. She was sure that Yakov had a hand in it because he was the only one who wasn’t in jail, but she was not absolutely sure until the night he came calling late with a blade in his hand, if she was in danger.
She convinced him that it was worth his while not to kill her. And they made a deal—a quiet one that only the two of them knew about.
Once convicted, the DA managed to find a way to take everything from Leo including the brownstone, all the cars, the jewelry and the money, but they didn’t get the diamonds.
Hours after his sentencing, she was smuggled out of the city by Yakov and taken to Memphis where she saw Vasily for the first time since that dreadful night.
Yakov handed her over to him and said goodbye forever. Vasily took her deep into Mississippi, a place where credit was not necessarily a necessity and black women were never expected to be the wives of crime lords. She was damn near invisible, just the way she needed to be. She took a job in a roadhouse, got rid of all airs and became a completely new woman.
Here she made her life, one that included nothing from her past… well almost nothing.
After he left her, Vasily never checked on her or gave any indication that he remembered who or where she was. In fact, he had explained that that would be her sign that everything was safe.
As long as he didn’t come around, and as long as there was absolutely no communication, it meant that Leo was still in jail and still worlds away from her.
Now with Leo’s breakout, nothing and no one would be safe. She had to get out of here quick. Besides, considering all the time that had passed Vasily had probably moved on with his life and forgotten about her.
Pulling up to the front door of her home, she turned off her loud car, grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and jumped out.
She knew that she didn’t have a lot of time.
Bolting up the stairs in nearly a sprint, she slipped her keys into the wide oak door and pushed it open. Wind chimes jingled on the porch in the wind as she closed the door behind her. Normally, the sound was inviting, but tonight, it sent chills down her spine.
In pitch black with only the street light outside to guide her through the foyer, she moved quickly to the living room lamp to turn it on, but felt someone move from out of the shadows and grab her from behind.
The large arms were strong and unforgiving. With a hand across her mouth to keep her screams muffled, she felt the strange embrace pull her into his body. Only it wasn’t rough or threatening.
“Shh,” he whispered in her ear. “Leave the lamp off. We don’t know who is watching.”
Even as her body shook in fear, the sound of his voice soothed her. She knew the voice and suddenly remembered the touch. Her hand that had been pushing the arm away from her waist, suddenly stroked it. She could feel the muscles in his forearm and feel the scars that she had memorized over ten years ago.
Slowly, he removed his hand from her mouth and allowed her to turn slightly to see his face. Seeing him in the flesh after all those years literally made her heart skip a beat. He was even more beautiful now.
Without thought, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly, soaking up his body heat and melting into his muscles. “Vasily,” she whispered, head pressed against his chest.
Vasily wasn’t expecting the warm welcome but he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it. He held her tight and closed his eyes. Thank God she was okay. Still here. Still safe.
“Lilly,” he answered in a low baritone. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The release was painful. As he moved away, she took a deep breath. “I’m just glad it’s you.”
Vasily’s eyes flickered like diamonds in the light coming through the windows. His mouth curved into words like he was fighting saying something, but a flash of sanity
made him push whatever was on the tip of his tongue back to the recesses of his mind.
Lilly knew that look. He was shutting down. Redirecting to kill the awkwardness, she moved on to more pressing issues. “How long have you been here waiting on me?” she said, praying that he didn’t hear the thud of her anxious heartbeat.
“I just arrived about five minutes before you.” He stepped closer to the window and looked out again.
“How did you get in?” she frowned.
He raised a brow. “Really?”
She couldn’t help but crack a sideways smile, despite the situation. “It’s been a while. Forgive me. I forget who I am talking to.”
Her smile did something to him, even in this situation. He quietly admired her warm face. She was just as beautiful as the day that he had left her here.
He nodded and kept his voice pitched low. “We don’t have a lot of time. I need you to get a bag and be ready to go in five minutes. My car is around the back of the house. I’ll take you to a private air strip… ”
Lilly shook her head, cutting him off. “We have one more stop to make before we leave here then.”
“We don’t have time for any stops,” he urged. “I can’t be certain what Leo’s intentions are. He could already be in another country or right around the corner. Until I can figure out what is going on, you’re not safe.”
Lilly’s chest tightened, but she managed to get the words out. “I have to get my son. He’s at the babysitter’s house. He stays there whenever I’m at work.” Her eyes bounced about, unable to look straight at him.
Vasily froze like a snapshot. “Son?” he asked.
Lilly nodded. “My son,” she repeated. She finally looked at him and exhaled a deep breath.
Vasily licked his lips and took a step back. He wasn’t expecting that. “Where is the father? Is he going to be a problem?”
“No,” she said softly. Her eyes darted again, this time catching Vasily’s attention, though he said nothing.
He nodded abruptly, trying to hide his disappointment. “Good, well then… ” He looked toward the hallway. “Let’s hurry and get your son.”
***
As Vasily had instructed, Lilly left her old battered car in the driveway and made the house look as though she and her son were there. However, even though she was glad to be getting some help, it still felt odd for Lilly to leave her home after so many years.
She tried hard to hide her anxiety as she rode in the car with Vasily. In a state of silent panic, she swallowed down the tears as she watched her home fade in the car’s mirrors. She pushed past the pain in her chest when she was forced to leave the photos on the walls and the finger paintings on the refrigerator.
Somewhere during the transition of being a mafia wife to a minimum wage worker, she had grown a lot, seen the many errors in her ways. She was proud now to be her own person and proud to have something to be proud of that wasn’t based upon someone else’s title or banking account. It had not been easy, but she had survived and now that reality was quickly disappearing.
Not used to the cold air of a luxury car, she opted to let her window down and take in the night air. It blew through her hair and wiped away the excess tears that she couldn’t hold back from the corners of her tired eyes. She was expecting Vasily to insist that she let it back up, but he drove quietly, never uttering a word and keeping his eyes on the road.
He’s angry, she thought to herself. He thinks that I’ve been with someone else.
She had not.
Not since he touched her all those years ago.
Leo had been a lesson in life about bad men, and Vasily had been a lesson in her life about good ones. Both had left an indelible mark on her, changing her perceptions of relationships forever.
She looked over him, brooding in his prickly exterior, and felt the need to reach out and touch him, to reassure him of her undying love but she did not. She kept her hands balled up in her lap, wishing that he could drive faster to get to her son.
Despite everything else she couldn’t help notice that the years had been kind to him. He had aged well, become more beautiful in fact. Well-groomed in his black tailored suit, he looked like a man of means, smelled intoxicatingly masculine. Vasily was regal now, a man who had conquered his fears and the world around him. She could see it in his posture, in his stare.
Feeling her looking at him, Vasily glanced over at her, but she quickly looked away.
After hearing that she was a mother, Vasily stood in the living room in the same spot quietly while she packed a couple of bags and then escorted her out of the back door to his car. Somehow, even though he knew there had been many years put between them, he still was not ready for the news that she had moved on, even for a night.
Seeing her again had been earth-shattering for him. When he had held her in her living room, it had been torture to let go. She felt warm and gentle, just the way that she had felt the first time that he had held her. Being around her had sent him back 10 years in life and suddenly for the first time in a very long time, he felt vulnerable.
He had so many questions. Did she love another man now? Was she leaving someone that she truly cared for? Had he been just an instrument to keep her safe?
His questions were endless and his solitude even more so than the moment that he walked away from her.
As they pulled up to the address that she had put into the GPS, he put the car in park and turned off the lights. Staring at the building, he realized just how poor Lilly was now.
“This it?” he asked as a man with a Colt 45 walked pass the car and looked inside.
With a nod, she opened the door. “I’ll be right back.”
“I will go with you,” he insisted, getting out also.
“Do you think that’s wise? You sort of… ” She squint her eyes. “Stick out.”
“Someone could be in there waiting on you,” he said, rubbing his hand over his guns in their holsters. “I can’t risk it.” Plus, he was used to sticking out, especially in the south.
They walked side-by-side through the low-income apartment complex past the people standing outside congregating under the street lights to a unit on the first floor. It was the only one with a welcome mat out front.
Feeling mildly embarrassed, Lilly rang the doorbell.
An older black woman came to the door with an apron on, holding a small baby in her arms.
Vasily noticed the brown and chubby baby, and wondered if that was Lilly’s.
“You’re early,” the woman said, opening the door so that they could both come in. She gave Vasily a look that he couldn’t shake, like she knew him from somewhere.
“Is Dylan still up?” Lilly asked, looking around.
The woman cut a look one more time at Vasily before she answered. “Yes, he’s on the couch watching television. He’s already eaten and had a bath. I was expecting him to spend the night and go to church with us in the morning.”
Lilly looked back at Vasily as he followed her into the small living room. “This is my… ” She was lost for an explanation. Who was he to her anyway?
“I’m Marcus Weaver,” Vasily said in his best American accent. He offered his hand to the woman and gave a deceivingly welcoming smile. “I’m a friend of Lilly’s from back home. Where’re driving back to New York for a family member’s funeral.”
“I’m Maxine Clemmons,” the woman said, shaking his hand gently. She looked over at Lilly. “I’ve never heard her mention any family to speak of.”
Lilly’s mouth dropped open at Vasily’s accent. Nearly speechless, she blinked hard. “Yes,” she said, clearing her throat. She tried to focus, to speak up. Ms. Clemmons wouldn’t believe them otherwise. “Well, I’m not really close with my family, but I felt like I should go pay my respects. We’ll be gone for about a week.” She looked back up at Vasily.
“Give or take,” Vasily added. “There will be a will to review. She has quite a sizeable inheritance coming to her.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sorry for your loss,” Ms. Clemmons said to Lilly. Moving the baby to her other hip, she called into the next room. “Dylan, grab your backpack. Your mother is here.”
Vasily’s curiosity peaked. The child on the old woman’s hip wasn’t Lilly’s? How old was her son?
A moment later a young boy, around eight years old, came around the corner in a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt with his backpack hanging off one arm.
He was tall for his age with a wide, healthy build. He had curly chocolate locks, fair skin, rose-colored cheeks and lips and bright green eyes the color of jade.
“Hey, mom,” he said, walking up to her and hugging her around her waist.
“Hey, baby,” she said, kissing the crown of his head.
Dylan looked over at Vasily and tilted his head. “Who’s that?” he asked.
Lilly looked up at Vasily, seeing the shock paralyze him. “That’s Mommy’s old friend, Marcus,” she said, grabbing his small hand.
Chapter 4
Vasily couldn’t breathe. No matter how he tried to take in deep breaths, no matter how much oxygen filled his lungs, he still couldn’t breathe.
As he watched Lilly and her son load into his car, he felt like fainting right there in the apartment complex—a first for him in all of his life. He had witnessed and committed murders; he had seen men tortured; he had done unspeakable acts without question, but never in his life had he experienced this.
Lilly closed the back door and looked across at him. “Can we just talk about this in private?” she asked as she studied the range of emotions that were crossing his face.
Vasily leaned both arms over the black Cadillac in utter emotional exhaustion and looked her square in the eye. “Just answer one question for me and we can go. Is he… ”
Vasily's Revenge: The Complete Story (The Medlov Men Book 1) Page 4