Prima

by Alta Hensley

Clara looked between us, her eyes filling with pain, and I knew I’d touched on something she’d attempted to gloss over.

  “Tell us,” I repeated softly.

  “He admitted to beating up a man who had overheard something about the bratva planning on moving a shipment of cocaine. He didn’t mean to… to kill him. At least not at first. But when his cousin jeered at him for being a… a pizda, Nikolai shot him and then ran over…”

  Her eyes followed Yuri’s gaze just as mine had.

  “Alek… Yuri, I’m so sorry,” she said as tears she’d kept at bay began to spill. “Nikolai… he… he called the man Maxim…”

  “Our father,” Yuri said between clenched teeth. “That bastard murdered our father after beating him because some asshole called him a pussy? And then he fucking laughs about it? I’ll kill the son of a bitch!”

  I practically dumped Clara off my lap in my haste to stand and grab at Yuri as he attempted to storm past me. “Wait!”

  “No fucking way,” Yuri said, wrenching free of my hold.

  “Please, Yuri,” Clara added, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. “You’ll never get to him. He’s surrounded by his goons, and you can’t get to the penthouse without going up in the elevator, and, I promise you, no one at The Drake is going to simply let you storm in and take out one of their best-paying customers.”

  “Not to mention the fact you’ll be charged with murder,” I added, holding my hand up when he glared at me. If looks alone could kill, I’d be dead where I stood. “I know, I know,” I said. “I want him as dead as you do, but I don’t want to lose you in the process, and I’m not a huge fan of looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life if by some miracle we manage to kill the bastard.”

  “So what? We tuck our tails between our legs and take it?” Yuri snarled. “Talk about being a pussy. Our father would be ashamed—”

  “Fuck you!” I said, cutting him off as fury ran through me. Forcing myself to calm, I shook my head. “Listen, shame I can handle. But your death? That is something I’m not willing to witness.” Releasing his arm, I took Clara’s hand and pried it from Yuri’s sleeve as well. Pulling her against me, noticing her slight wince as I did so, I wondered at what other bruises she was hiding beneath that sweatshirt. Looking back at my brother, I made him a promise I planned to keep. “I’m not saying we let Nikolai off. Believe me, we’re going to make him pay, but we’re going to do it in a way no one besides those who deserve it are hurt.”

  Yuri looked unconvinced, his fists still clenched at his sides.

  “Mother would want us to take a moment and think this through,” I said.

  It wasn’t a lie. Our mother had constantly drilled into us the value of not going off the handle on a whim. She’d never admitted that perhaps my father had done that very thing, and it had cost him his life. Another memory surfaced, and I sat down again, turning Clara to face me.

  “Tell us again what he said about his cousin.”

  “Nikolai said his name was Luka and he shot him because he made some comment about Nikolai being a… you know. I think that was the first time Nikolai had ever been tested, and when his cousin made fun of him, suggesting he wasn’t a real man—”

  “Nikolai shot him and made it look like his cousin had committed suicide after being involved in a hit-and-run accident,” I completed for her. “He couldn’t exactly kill the son of Grigori Petrov and get away with it.”

  It wasn’t pretty, but it filled in a few gaps that I’d discovered in researching the accident. Like, why was my father walking on a seldom-used road so far away from his work or our apartment? How could there be such deep bruising visible when death would have stopped his blood from flowing? What was the likelihood of a member of the bratva taking his own life in some sign of regret over doing what was considered more a rite of passage than a crime in the ranks of the Russian bratva? One easily overlooked when enough rubles were pressed into the hands of the right people. Nikolai had done everything he could to make sure his cousin was seen as some sort of weakling, a coward who’d taken his own life. Suddenly, the beginning of a plan started to take shape.

  “I-I have to go,” Clara said, the wisps of the plan vanishing with her words.

  “Over my dead body,” I said, tightening my hold on her hands.

  “I have to,” Clara said, pulling free though it cost her a wince of pain. “If I don’t… if he discovers I’ve told you anything at all, he’ll hurt Baba first.” When I opened my mouth, it was her turn to shake her head. “You know I’m right, Alek. I’d rather die myself than to allow that to happen.”

  “Fuck,” I said, knowing she was right though the truth didn’t make it any easier.

  “It’s all right,” she said softly. “It’s not too bad if I obey him. He is taking me out to eat somewhere, and there will be others there as well. Something about showing me off before we go to New York to do the show there.”

  Thoughts were flooding into my head, and I snagged one before it rushed by. “Wait… how did Nikolai even know where you were?”

  Clara looked away for the first time since she’d spilled the truth, and warning bells began to ring again.

  “Fuck… it was our fault, wasn’t it?”

  “Our fault? How in the hell do you figure it’s our fault?” Yuri asked brusquely.

  Keeping my eyes on Clara, I pointed out what had become crystal clear in my head. “Clara successfully remained hidden for four years… until the day I brought her into the company. And when you agreed she was principal material after that first performance, who came calling?”

  Understanding removed the anger from his expression as his gaze also moved to Clara. “The committee… from New York.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “And Nikolai is a huge benefactor of the ballet in New York, so it stands to reason Jason Maxwell couldn’t wait to reveal he was the one responsible for bringing Nikolai’s once-favored ballerina back to Broadway.”

  “I-I don’t really understand why,” Clara said so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her actually speaking, but evidently Yuri didn’t have the same difficulty.

  “I understand,” Yuri said. “You have no idea of the treasure you are, Clara; that’s one thing that still amazes me. If we’d left you in peace… if I hadn’t pushed you to do all those interviews, perhaps Nikolai would have been satisfied knowing he might have lost you but at the cost of you losing what you were born to do.”

  Clara shook her head, reaching out to touch him once again. “I don’t blame you, or you,” she added, turning to include me. “I might have been living, but I wasn’t truly living if you know what I mean.”

  “We do,” I assured her, easily understanding that “looks” were what truly mattered to Kosloff. He’d been fine with Clara’s leaving when her career was already in the toilet and her disappearance fed the tabloids, pointing to her guilt at being the one to hurt Lara. But now that news had spread about her triumphant return to the stage, he wanted Prima back on his arm.

  Well, tough shit. Clara was mine.

  “We can’t change the past. All we can do is work together to figure out a way to assure we all have a chance to live in peace doing what we love to do,” I said.

  “And that includes me continuing to pretend all is okay,” Clara reminded us both. “Nikolai can’t even think anything is wrong or he’ll teach me a lesson I won’t be able to live with. I left when I thought he’d arranged for Lara to have an “accident.” Knowing the truth… knowing he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Baba or kill either one or both of you, I can’t live with that. I’d rather die.”

  It took everything I had within me to nod, though I did understand. “All right, but promise me you’ll call me the moment you get free of him,” I said.

  She looked away then sighed and met my eyes. “I will, but it might be tomorrow…”

  It wasn’t necessary for her to finish her sentence, the meaning perfectly clear to all of us. I bit back my anger. “Just call me.”

  �
��If you’re sure you want me to,” she said softly, shame returning some color to her skin.

  “Don’t… it’s all right,” I said even though that was so far from the truth I couldn’t let the statement stand. “Fuck, that’s a lie, nothing about this is even remotely all right, but you are not to feel ashamed of doing what is necessary to survive. It sucks, but it’s all we can do right now. While you’re gone, Yuri and I will come up with a plan, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, and this time when I reached out to cup her face with my hands, she didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, she repeated, “Okay.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” I said, bending forward to kiss her forehead before standing and going to the door. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I told Yuri who nodded.

  “Be careful,” he said to Clara.

  “I will,” she assured him before we stepped out into the hall. It was a promise I wasn’t sure she could keep, but I was praying she could hold it together for at least one more day.

  Before I opened the door that would take her outside, I pulled her to a stop. “I’m serious. If you don’t feel safe, or if you fear Nikolai knows you’ve shared his confession, you get somewhere safe and call me. I won’t relax until I know you’re safe. In the meantime, I’m going to call Babka and invite her to dinner to meet Yuri.”

  Relief flooded her eyes and had me swearing to myself that absolutely no harm would come to Olga… not on my watch.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “No need for thanks, remember?” I said, bending down to kiss her softly. She nodded though I wasn’t sure she actually took my words to heart. That was fine; she’d learn I didn’t say things I didn’t mean. I watched as she slipped out the door, making another promise.

  I’d do whatever it took to assure Nikolai Kosloff was out of her life as soon as humanly possible. How I’d keep that promise I couldn’t yet say, but I was willing to bet my life on my ability to assure the words became the truth.

  29

  Alek

  “You’ve got one shot at convincing me you have some sort of plan that avenges our father.”

  The statement was the first thing I heard as I stepped back into my office. “Or what?” I shot back. “You’re going to go off half-cocked and get yourself killed?” I knew I should have regretted my words, but I didn’t. Still, I sighed and went to drop heavily into my chair behind my desk. “Look, I understand you’re pissed. I am, too, but fighting each other isn’t going to do any good. We need to work together if we’re going to get through this as unscathed as possible.”

  “Like you’ve been working with me for the benefit of the company?” he said, his anger palpable. “I told you this would happen, I warned you to stay away from her, and what do you do? You not only don’t listen, you’re fuck—”

  I was up and out of my chair before he could finish, my hands gripping his shirt, my face an inch from his. “Don’t!” I gritted out. “Don’t you ever let me hear you so much as hint that any of this is Clara’s fault. It’s my fault. It’s your fault. It’s Kosloff’s fucking fault, but Clara is absolutely innocent of any blame. She was a kid when she fell prey to that bastard and still had the courage to walk the fuck away. She had rebuilt her life and, instead of puttering in her garden or teaching kids how to dance, she is doing only God knows what in order to keep her grandmother safe… to keep us safe though we are the ones who dragged her back into this fucking mess.” Releasing him, I added, “You can kick my ass when this is done if that will make you feel better, but right now, I’m asking you to get off your fucking high horse and help me figure out a way to get her out of that bastard’s hands.”

  The storm in his gray eyes was still raging, and yet he finally nodded, reaching up to smooth the wrinkles in his shirt. “Fine. So what is your plan?”

  The one I’d been considering seemed to be just out of reach. I knew it had a good basis, but I felt as if some vital part was missing.

  “We need reinforcements,” I said, walking toward the door. “And I know where to find them. Come on.”

  As we walked out of the theater we’d both worked so hard with our mother to build, we both looked back. Seeing Yuri’s eyes reflecting the same concern I knew dwelled in mine, I slapped his shoulder. “We’ve come a long way together and, I promise you, I’ll do everything within my power to make sure we make our parents proud.”

  He turned to look at me and nodded once again. “You may be an asshole, but I know you will.”

  I chuckled, relieved to see he was more his normal self. A surly younger brother I could handle.

  A half hour later I watched as Yuri fell head over heels in love — with an older woman. Olga had over half a century on him, but as the saying goes, age is only a number. The moment Yuri set his eyes on Clara’s babushka, he was hooked and, when she took his hands and pulled him into a hug, telling him how much he reminded her of our father but had our mother’s eyes, he swallowed the bait. When she thanked him for making her granddaughter smile again, Yuri blushed and looked at me, sincere remorse evident in his eyes.

  “Clara is why we’re here, Babka,” I said.

  Olga’s eyes closed briefly, her head nodding. “So you know.”

  “We do,” I concurred, watching as my brother took my role, sliding his arm around her tiny waist and helping her to her chair. Once she was seated, Yuri and I took a seat on the small couch, both sitting on the edge of the cushions, our arms braced on our thighs.

  “Clara thinks she is fooling me, but I’m not blind. I don’t have to see that man to know he has his hooks in her again. She stopped smiling and though she would tell me how hard you worked everyone,” she said, turning her head toward Yuri, “never did she come home limping or have to cover up bruises with makeup. She won’t even discuss it with me, simply states she knows what she is doing and she won’t allow him to pull her too deep this time.” Her eyes flashed as twisted fingers slapped down on the arm of her chair. “Blin! She’s already in over her head.”

  I nodded and reached forward to take her hand in mine, gently massaging as I tried not to grin. Even in anger, Olga was still a true lady… just like my mother had been. She’d used a curse word even small children in Russia were allowed to say instead of the far ruder word, blyat.

  “She is, but this time she isn’t alone,” I said, seeing Yuri’s nod from the corner of my eye. “That’s why we’re here. I’ve got a plan but need you to think back and fill in some blanks if at all possible.”

  Her head bobbed eagerly as her other hand reached to clasp mine so she could squeeze my fingers. “I can do that. I’ve got arthritis, but my mind is still as sharp as a tack. What do you need to know?”

  I was about to tell both her and Yuri what I’d been thinking when the doorbell rang. Olga’s eyes widened, her head swiveling toward the sound, and I wondered if she’d been this frightened when I’d rung the bell a bit earlier.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” I assured her as I nodded at Yuri who stood and went out into the hall. “I was going to take you out to dinner but figured you might still be recovering from the hospital—”

  “Don’t make me change my mind about you, young man,” Olga said, cutting me off with a huff. “You were worried that man might decide to make an example of me in order to keep Clara in line. Don’t you coddle me, either, Alek Volkov! I’ve seen more evil and watched more people suffer at the hands of the devil than you, your brother, and Clara combined.”

  I now understood where Clara had gotten her strength. It came from this woman. “I apologize,” I said. “You’re right. It is easier for me to keep you safe here than out in some restaurant—”

  “But I don’t think you’ll have any reason to complain,” Yuri cut in as he returned, several bags hanging from his hands. “Not if this tastes anywhere near as good as it smells.”

  I spent the next hour filling them both in on my plan, rearranging and shifting things about as Olga corrected me or provided me with facts I’d not yet
discovered in all the years since my father’s death. I’d never felt free to ask my mother as I saw the pain in her eyes any time I dared advance a question once I was old enough to begin to have doubts about the stories I’d been told as a younger boy.

  “So, what do you think, Yuri?” I asked knowing we were now truly in this together. Olga had not only won him over, she’d managed to do what I hadn’t. She’d shown him Clara’s heart with her every move, her every word, their bond unbreakable.

  “I think it will work,” he said with a nod.

  “Not only will it work, it will give a man the justice denied him for two decades,” Olga said. “You both have every right to want revenge and yet the very fact you are willing to work together, to do so in a way that will expose my granddaughter to as little danger as possible… that is what makes you both men and Nikolai Kosloff the pure evil he is.”

  Yuri looked at me, and I saw the conflict on his face and knew I needed to be as honest as Olga had been. Reaching across the table, I once again took her hand.

  “You need to know if this doesn’t work… if Nikolai somehow manages to escape the justice he deserves, we”—my free hand pointed to Yuri and then back to myself—“won’t allow him to go free. Not just for Clara and not just for you… but for—”

  “Your parents,” Olga supplied. “I understand, and God knows if I were capable, I’d take my own revenge, but know I will pray it doesn’t come to that. But, if it does, then know regardless of what man’s law says… God’s law will be done. An eye—”

  “For an eye,” Yuri and I chorused with her only to have her nod and continue with words I don’t remember ever hearing before.

  “Tooth for tooth, hand for hand, wound for wound; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.”

  And really… what else needed to be said?

  The ringing of the phone woke me, making me realize I’d fallen asleep on the couch in front of the television. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and tried to force myself awake — even more so when I saw Clara’s number.