by Mason, V. F.
“Okay, so let’s just have dinner here? I’m starving.” Kon broke the silence and high-fived Jake who rushed inside, wearing his hockey jersey. The kid was obsessed with the sport, I swear.
“So how about we prepare jarenuyu kartoshu, since we have it….” They continued to argue about what to cook while smiling and crashing pans. Larisa their housekeeper would probably have a fit seeing all this mess in the kitchen, but I couldn’t help the sense of happiness overpowering me, as I was finally home.
Yet the heaviness in my chest didn’t go away. And it wouldn’t until our men came back safe and sound.
Yuri
As I hopped from the Jeep in front of the inn, I couldn’t help but frown, because the instincts wouldn’t stop screaming inside my head that something was wrong.
The iron gates a few feet away from us closed with a loud snap and security murmured something into their microphones.
The so-called inn presented as nothing but a spacious, Victorian-like building that spread horizontally on the land that was close to the city. The two-level building had many windows and a neat garden with several alcoves that indeed left no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the place. It even wasn’t far away from headquarters, so logically thinking, it shouldn’t present any danger. Yet the energy around this place indicated nothing but doom.
The butler, because I didn’t know what to call this fucking guy in a suit grinning at us like an idiot and motioning to the main door, called, “Everyone already waits for you.”
“You don’t say,” Dominic replied, and we shared a look, and I knew he thought the same thing.
No cars around, no tire tracks, nothing to indicate anyone was here besides us. In fact, the trembling of the man and his constant nervous glances to the upper level raised my hackles and I turned to Vitya, murmuring, “Is there a sniper on the second floor?” Vitya possessed the eyes of a hawk; he could notice danger even in a slight breeze and he nodded.
Placing my hands inside my pocket, I pressed the call button and Dom’s phone vibrated in his hand as he addressed the butler, “One second. We’ll come inside once I finish this.” The man exhaled in relief and glanced up again. I had a strong suspicion it was the inn owner who probably didn’t want any killing done on his territory.
Aleksei had money but not enough to shut the big guns, especially since he never had any morals or acted nice with them. Between the two evils, they’d be on our side.
Dom spoke into the phone. “No, don’t do anything without my command.” We knew he spoke to all of us and our men stood stoically, not showing an ounce of emotion. Vitya trained them well, as they knew never to show an enemy any kind of advantage.
We knew Anton hid behind the car, preparing the gun to take out the sniper on the roof, and only then would we proceed. “Did you find the files? Where could they be?” He wandered around while I recalled all the information in the fucking file but came up blank with each option.
To deal with a business in this country, Aiden had to kill Dominic and make Aleksei the head of mafia in Moscow. We expected this much and came here fully prepared for the attack. But they weren’t here.
Where were they then?
But then it dawned on me.
Arden was not here.
Punishment is death for a betrayer.
Everything inside me froze as all the pieces of the puzzles became crystal clear to me. Son of a bitch. “Headquarters.”
The men stilled, and behind the barely masked indifference, I could see fear rushing through all my friends.
Because we just delivered our significant others to them on a silver platter with very little protection in sight.
Chapter Nineteen
Dublin, Ireland
Melissa, 31 years old
“You brought me back to Ireland?” I asked tentatively, although inside a raging inferno burned while fury slowly rose.
He’d fucking brought me back here!
He winced at my tone, taking a bigger pull of his cigarette, and exhaled smoke with a heavy sigh. “First of all, I found you almost dead in Russia, okay? If I hadn’t saved you, you would have fucking died.” His words calmed me down a bit, because he was right.
He saved me once again. “Thank you for that. Truly.” Before he could reply though, I added, “But my son and my man are there! Why didn’t you give me to Yuri?” My heart throbbed painfully in my chest when I imagined what he must have been going through in that moment, knowing that once again he’d lost a woman.
And baby.
Tears slid down my cheeks as a sob slipped past my lips. “My baby,” I whispered, and his eyes widened as he immediately moved closer with a tissue in hand.
“No, no, darling. No need to cry. He is alive. Your son. He’s alive.” The information stilled everything inside me, and for a second, I didn’t even breathe.
“What?”
He nodded, wiping away my tears. “He’s in the hospital because he was born premature, but he is fine. Your baby is very much alive, darling.”
A sigh escaped me as overwhelming relief washed over me along with happiness. A happiness that filled my soul so much I was afraid my chest would burn out with it. “Alive.” But then it hit me. “Is he here? Take me to him.” I ripped out the IV drips and removed the blanket, but his hand stopped me, and my brows furrowed. “Arden, take me to my son.”
He gritted his teeth while avoiding my gaze, and my stomach flipped, dreading his next words. “He’s not here.”
I froze, the feeling of doom coming back at me.
He shook his head. “No, and before you unleash mama bear on me, I will explain.” He took a deep breath and then dumped the information on me. “Jaroslaw killed the doctors—well, he thought he killed them, as one of them was me. We left the baby with ventilation in an incubator, alive. We knew Jaroslaw informed Yuri, and well, your baby is with your man in Russia.”
Oh my God.
I needed to hold my baby in my arms to know he was all right, to meet him for the first time, and know that all those evils of his father’s and my pasts couldn’t touch him. He needed his mom.
But with all the pain that came with the knowledge I couldn’t do those things, also came peace, because he was with Yuri. Which meant he could find solace in our child until I got back to him.
“Take me home,” I ordered, and he shook his head while anger rose in me. “Dammit, Arden! How could you have brought me back here? Your family slaughtered mine! And now my family is in another country, suffering thinking I’m dead.” I screamed into his face, but he didn’t even flinch, meeting my gaze head on.
“And I saved you!” he shouted right back, and then continued more calmly, “I’m asking you as a friend to help me.”
“Are you insane? I need to go to my child! And Yuri.”
“This is the child trafficking case. We finally have the chance to close the ring—”
Unbelievable!
“We have no information on it! And we closed one. Isn’t it the same? We’ve been trying for years. Why are you kidnapping me to accomplish it?” Arden was acting so out of character I didn’t know what to make of all this!
“It’s not! It’s still very much on and I need to find the kids.” He got up, furiously pacing back and forth and pulling on his hair while my brows rose.
Arden was about control, always. No matter what life threw his way, even the fire, he came out of it completely put together, calculating his every move and words.
This man though? He was guided by emotions, and it scared me, because in his line of work, it was dangerous.
“Okay, let me contact Oliver and everyone else—” My suggestion was not met well though.
“No! We have no time and Dad is fucking suspicious. I need you to act a role for me.”
“I need to see my child!” I shouted again, hoping to get to him. He sounded insane! And act a role? What the hell did this mean anyway? Aiden probably hated me and wouldn’t let me close to his brotherhood. After al
l, I came from a line of snitches and escaped it while young. Why would he even welcome me to his house?
I knew Arden well enough to predict that was his plan, to take me back home.
“I need to see my child too,” he cried out, and I blinked in shock. What? “My daughter. He took my two-year-old daughter and sold her, okay? While I had no clue she existed. If I don’t find her, God knows what awaits her. I worked so hard for all the other kids. I’m not going to leave my child in hell. And you will help me!” He pointed a finger at me while I was at a loss for words.
God, Aiden’s cruelty knew no boundaries. The mother of the child probably wasn’t anyone worthy, so he got rid of the “bad blood,” as he called the kids born from whores. “You are a mother. But your child is safe. Mine is somewhere scared. I’m sorry, Melissa, but it’s either this or nothing.” He gazed into my eyes, and I knew I had no choice but to agree to this.
Not because he ordered. But because no parent or child should go through such hell.
I’m sorry, Yuri. I’m so sorry.
But if he were in my position, he would have done the same.
Moscow, Russia
September 2018
Melissa
“All I’m saying is this. I’ve seen all your men naked, and you haven’t seen mine. So going by this logic, Vitya is the hottest. M’kay?”
“Whatever, dude,” Rosa replied, but then added, “Dom is the best.”
“Why do we always have to talk about someone being naked?” Vivian groaned and exhaled in relief as Jake came back from his room, bringing a hockey stick with him. “Okay, PG-only conversations please.”
Michael gave her a thumbs-up and then questioned Jake. “What the hell is the stick for?”
“Language,” I admonished, but he rolled his eyes. Sometimes he did it so much I wondered how he could keep them straight. “Like Radmir is minding his language. No, seriously, kid, why do you need it?”
“I wanted to show Melissa something,” he replied, and my brows rose as I straightened on the couch, checking Artur who continued to play with the necklace.
Our dinner was being readied under the watchful eye of Larisa who ushered us out of the kitchen, so we all lounged in the common room.
“See here?” He placed his finger on the letter engraved on the plastic thing and I nodded, so he continued. “Uncle Yuri put them there a few weeks ago, giving it to me as a present from you and him because I went to first grade.” He focused his attention on me and then grinned. “Thank you.”
“Oh, darling, welcome.” He gave out presents on my behalf? How… romantic.
And sad. I’d probably never fully understand kaznachei’s pain from the heartache I made him go through, but I intended to shower the man with so much love he wouldn’t be able to breathe.
The tug on my neck intensified and I winced as the necklace landed on the floor. Artur blinked, tears forming in his eyes. “Shh, darling. Nothing bad happened,” I said, kissing him on the temple, and I leaned to pick up the thing, but Victoria beat me to it.
I expected her to hand it back to me, but instead she raised it closer to her nose, studying it from different angles, and then broke the already cracked thing. “Do whatever you want with it. I hate the thing,” I informed her with amusement lacing my voice, but she shook her head and raised her hand, just as everyone looked her way.
“Did you wear it during your meeting with the guys?”
My brows furrowed as I nodded. “Yes.”
She quickly stood up, stomping on it a few times, as she ordered Kostya, “Call Gleb.”
“Are you insane?” came the reply, but she pointed at the thing and I already knew what she was going to say.
Of course! How could I have been so stupid? “This thing has a microphone on it. If she was wearing it during the meeting, it means he knows about the plan.” She took a deep breath. “They’re in danger.”
“Fuck!” Kostya shouted and fished for the phone, but that was when the gunshots erupted, several coming from different directions, and although they didn’t come inside, it was an attack nevertheless.
“How did they manage to get through the guards?” Rosa asked as she helped Vivian to stand up, wobbling a little with Jake firmly plastered to her side as fear marred his features.
A memory dawned on me of the driver passing the gates and him watching carefully as the password was pushed into the machine by a security guard, and then I understood their careful plan was never about the inn.
It was about headquarters and revenge. To teach Arden and me a lesson while eliminating the head of the Bratva.
Fucking cowards.
“Michael, how many men are here?”
He ran his fingers through his hair as he counted. “Three on the gate, but they are dead for sure. Five guys guarding the doors outside. Recruits in the adjoining houses. And around seven men with them,” he answered, talking himself out of panicking as he removed the safety on his gun. “We have people scattered all over the country and in the city. Everyone else is with Dom.”
Okay, we were screwed.
But then Artur dug his head into my chest and I closed my eyes, because I couldn’t lose him now. They were coming to either kill or take hostages or torture us, and I couldn’t allow it.
I brought this mess on them; I couldn’t let them suffer because of me.
Rising up, I finally spoke out. “Okay. First, we need to protect Vivian and the kids.” I gave her Artur as she hugged him close. “Kostya, where can we take them to hide them?”
“Dominic’s gun room. No one has access to it without a password. It’s sound and bullet proof. He has a gun collection there.” He paused and then addressed Rosa. “You know how to get in, right? He’d make it accessible for you.”
She nodded, and I murmured, “Perfect.” Speaking of. “We need guns. Do you have them?” He opened a cabinet where he had several rifles, but it wouldn’t be enough.
“Most of them are in a different wing,” he muttered.
“Take them there, Rosa, and you stay there. Okay? No matter what, do not get out on your own.”
“I’m coming back,” Rosa shouted. “You will need all the help you can get.” Before anyone could protest, she added furiously, “I know how to use a gun, people.” That much was the truth, as Connor had taught her. “I’m going to lock them there, and we can leave food and water for them there as well. Larisa will be there too.” They rushed away, and I had a second to give my baby one last glance then blocked away the pain sweeping through me at the prospect of the danger awaiting us outside. Artur cried and the sounds echoed through the place, but I couldn’t acknowledge them.
In that moment, I couldn’t be a mother. I had to be an agent focused on providing as much help in the situation as possible.
“I’m going on the roof,” Konstanciya informed us, quickly picking up the rifles and ammunition. “I’ll try to kill as many as possible. Based on the cameras, we have thirty men attacking us.”
What? Oh God.
With one last kiss to Kostya, she darted off while I removed my heels and accepted the sneakers Michael provided me—because he always had shoes ready.
I caught the Beretta 98 Kostya threw my way and then did the same for Victoria as we all removed the safeties, and I exhaled heavily. “What’s the plan?” she asked me, and I blinked as I looked at Kostya.
Shouldn’t he navigate the operation? It was their ground.
He shook his head. “Go ahead. I will provide as much protection as possible. You know them better.”
He was right about that. But we had two mafia men hunting us, and I wasn’t sure it fell under my expertise with so few resources.
Just then, I heard thudding at the main door as a man groaned in pain, and someone shouted, “Press his hand to the scanner so we can enter.” And the bullets to the windows continued to come.
Aiden was here.
Which meant one thing.
Catch the women and kids, and kill the men
.
“Kostya and Michael, get out of the room.”
Michael argued, “Fucking no.” I spun around to face him, but we had no time for this. “He wants me for sure and Victoria. They would kill you. Hide and then attack. I will stall them.” Then I told Victoria, “You too. Hide. I will meet them.”
“But what if he wants to kill you?” she asked, and a hollow laugh escaped me. “Trust me, Aiden won’t kill me.”
Wanted to torture and break me? Yes. But never kill.
I still had a debt to pay, after all. I’d deceived Aiden twice; my death alone wouldn’t be enough for him.
With one last shared glance, they rushed off right in time, as the door burst open and various men entered lead by Aidan.
Well, let the show begin.
Yuri
“Now,” Dominic shouted, and Anton fired a bullet, a body fell from the roof, and all hell broke loose.
Everyone fired in various directions as the Kuzmin men came out of the building, and we continued to aim at as many people as possible, but Vitya dragged us all behind the Jeep. “We need to go to headquarters,” Gleb said, pressing his back to the car but then quickly ducking out to kill two guys and coming back, breathing heavily. “Aiden is there. I’m sure Aleksei is lounging somewhere in the city.” The man was a fucking coward; he would endanger the life of his men, but not his own.
“My family,” Radmir hissed, and I fired a bullet at the man sneaking behind him who then thudded to the ground. Our men took a more aggressive approach, as they went for the kill head-on, but with a heavy heart I knew they were dropping like flies as well.
There was only so much we could do in the enclosed territory. “Push all emotions away,” Pakhan ordered, giving us a hard stare before firing. “I mean it. Head in the game. Nothing else.” Which was probably hard even for him to do, as the man lived and breathed for his wife.
But he was right. We couldn’t sink in the desperation.
We had to focus on getting out of it alive.
“I will continue the attack,” Vitya said as Dom dialed a number. “You try to inform Michael.”