Beautiful Agony (Stravinsky Bratva #2)

1. Vadim

1

VADIM

The rain continues to pour as I watch my mother shiver, refusing to step into Pankration as drops of rain join the streams of tears on her face.

"Let me call someone to take you home," I say, pulling out my phone.

She nods, wrapping her arms around herself. The sight breaks something in me. Here stands the woman who gave me life, yet she can barely look at me because I wear my father's face.

While we wait, neither of us speak. The silence stretches between us like an open wound. I want to reach for her, to comfort her, but I know my touch would only cause her more pain.

A few minutes later, a car pulls up to the gate. Before she turns to leave, my mother's eyes finally meet mine.

"Give Olga Romanovna my best," she says softly.

"I will, mamechka ." I don't try to correct her misconception about Olga's kindness, that Olga helped her escape this place out of anything other than a desire to spite Pyotr.

Let her keep that one comfort—the belief that someone in this mansion once showed her real mercy.

Without another word, she climbs into the waiting car, and I watch until the taillights disappear into the rain.

Slowly, I turn and walk inside Pankration, mind still reeling from finally seeing my mother in person again after so many years. My phone buzzes. An unknown number.

Against my better judgment, I answer.

" Privyet , Vadyusha." Sayanaa's voice slithers through the speaker. "Did you miss me?"

My jaw clenches. "What do you want?"

"Straight to business, then?" She laughs giddily. "You have twenty-four hours to give me back what you stole from daddy."

The bible.

"Never going to happen."

"Oh, I knew you'd say that." Her voice drops lower, more dangerous. "That's why daddy gave me two new toys to play with. A scared little kitty with beautiful gray eyes and a pretty little thief with soft, delicate hands.”

My blood turns to ice.

"Twenty-four hours, Vadyusha." Sayanaa's voice drips with cruel pleasure. "Or I start sending you pieces. Maybe I'll start with the little kitty's gray eyes... or perhaps you'd prefer the little thief's hands. Those same soft hands that spent too many nights touching what rightfully belongs to me. "

"You're lying."

"I don't lie, Vadyusha, I'm not you. But go ahead, check for yourself. You know how to reach me."

The line goes dead before I can respond.

My hands shake as I process Sayanaa's words. The little thief with delicate hands and the scared kitty with gray eyes. There are only two possibilities.

Lacey and Serena.

Serena, I can believe. But Lacey? Last time I saw her this morning, she'd been asleep in bed.

I sprint up the grand staircase, taking the steps two at a time. "Lacey!" My voice echoes through the empty halls.

Bursting into my bedroom, I find rumpled sheets but no sign of her. The bathroom stands empty, steam long since dissipated. Her clothes from yesterday are still scattered across the floor.

"Lacey!" I call again, moving room to room with growing desperation. The blue suite. Empty. Her office. Empty. The library. Empty.

My heart pounds against my ribs as I search every corner of the second floor. Where could she have gone? When did she leave? Why didn't anyone see her?

"Vadim Petrovich," Lenka's voice cuts through my panic. She stands in the doorway of the drawing room, concern etched on her weathered features. "What's wrong?"

"Have you seen Lacey?" The words come out rougher than intended. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Not since this morning. I thought she was resting in your room?"

"She's gone." My hands clench into fists, reopening the bite marks she left. "Get everyone looking for her. Now. Search every room, every closet, every corner of this fucking house."

Lenka's eyes widen at my tone but she nods, already turning to mobilize the staff.

I lean against the wall, mind racing. Think. How long has she been missing? Who saw her last? Did anyone notice anything unusual?

The answers elude me as the sound of doors opening and closing echoes through Pankration, accompanied by voices calling Lacey's name.

I slam the door to my office and boot up the security system, hands still trembling from Sayanaa's call. The monitors flicker to life, bathing my face in the cold glow as I start scanning through exterior camera feeds.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

My jaw clenches tight enough to hurt. How the fuck did Sayanaa get to her? The mansion is a fortress. There are cameras covering every angle, and guards at every entrance. No one gets in or out without being seen.

Unless...

The thought hits me like ice water in my veins.

Someone must've snuck her out from the inside .

I rewind the footage, scanning backwards through the morning hours until movement catches my eye. There! Lacey walking towards the conservatory about an hour ago, right around the same time as my meeting with Megan in Monroe.

But something about her gait seems off, almost hesitant.

Rewinding further, my unease grows as I spot another figure heading the same direction. Olga. Her silver-streaked hair and ramrod straight posture are unmistakable, even from this angle. The rings on her fingers catch the light as she moves with that cold grace she's perfected over the decades.

I look at the timestamp.

She entered the conservatory an hour before Lacey.

What the fuck were you doing, Olga?

I get up from my chair and walk towards the conservatory.

When I arrive, I find the door is slightly ajar.

Pushing it open, I'm hit by the musty smell of earth and aging flowers. A streak of lightning tears across the sky, and briefly lights up the glass ceiling, casting long shadows across forgotten plants.

My eyes find the back door's handle. It turns without resistance.

Unlocked.

The door creaks open to reveal an overgrown pathway winding through dense foliage. Branches hang low enough to obscure any view from the main house. The path curves away from Pankration's walls before connecting to the service road that leads to the highway.

This spot sits in a perfect blind spot between our security cameras.

The thick vegetation blocks sight lines from the guard towers. The curve of the path keeps it hidden from the road cameras.

This is the same path Mom took when Olga helped her escape, all those years ago. It has to be.

And Lacey…

Lacey must have gone to Olga after what I did to her on the stairs. After I proved myself to be exactly like Pyotr.

My stomach churns as I recall her words: " You took all my choices away. " Just like Pyotr did to my mother. Just like Pyotr did to countless others in this very mansion.

The bitter irony of Lacey seeking help from Olga—just as my mother once did—isn't lost on me. History is repeating itself in the cruelest way possible.

But the very route that once offered salvation has now been used to deliver Lacey into Sayanaa's hands.

The pieces start falling into place, each revelation hitting harder than the last. Olga's unexpected arrival in Paris. Her revealing Sayanaa to Lacey in their first conversation together. Her convenient arrival back here in Pankration.

Olga was the one who told Kirsan where to find my mother.

There's no-one else who could.

I slam my fist against the doorframe, reopening the bite mark on my palm. Blood oozes, but the pain barely registers through the fury coursing through my veins.

And Mom spoke about Olga with such reverence.

" Give Olga Romanovna my best ," she said.

That traitorous bitch played us all perfectly. She waited until I was far enough away before making her move. She found all the gaps in our armors, and pried them apart at her leisure.

The rage building inside me feels different from anything I've experienced before. This isn't the cold calculation of a pakhan, or even the hot anger that drove me to kill Nathan Walker. This is something else entirely.

Olga didn't just betray the bratva. She betrayed my mother's trust. She endangered my sister.

And she's handed the woman I love over to a monster.

This is beyond unforgivable. This is beyond revenge.

This is war .

I pull out my phone as soon as I return to my office, and dial Sayanaa's number, knowing she'll answer. And she does on the first ring.

"Well, Vadyusha?"

"How did you get them both?" My voice comes out deadly calm despite the rage burning through me. I need to hear her confirm my suspicions.

"Mmm, straight to business again?" She giggles. "But I suppose I can tell you, since you asked so nicely. Your stepmother was very helpful. Always thinking about what's best for the bratva."

My grip tightens on the phone. "When I get them back—and I will get them back—I'm going to kill you, your father, and that treacherous bitch Olga."

"Oh yes," Sayanaa's breath hitches. "Tell me more about just how you're going to kill me. Are you going to wrap those big strong hands around my throat and squeeze until you've choked the life out of me? Are you going to make me hurt before you kill me? I love it when you talk like this."

"You're sick."

"It's so hot when you make these threats." She moans into the phone. "But know this, Vadyusha. Every threat you make now, I'll repay tenfold when your time runs out." Her voice drops to a whisper. "And who knows? Maybe I won't be able to wait that long. Twenty-four hours is such a long time to wait. I might get impatient..."

"Shut the fuck up and tell me where you are." My voice drops dangerously low as I plug my phone into my laptop.

The tracing program boots up, scanning for her location. But I need to keep her talking for a few more minutes.

"Mmm, so commanding." Sayanaa's breathy moan makes my skin crawl. "But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

With bile rising up in my throat, I know what I have to do.

"You want to know what I'm going to do to you?" The words taste like acid in my mouth.

" Yes. " She practically gasps. "Tell me everything ."

My jaw clenches so hard it hurts. "I'm going to make you hurt. If you touch a single hair on either of their heads, I'll flay your skin until you're raw and bleeding."

"Oh God , yes." She lets out a breathy moan. "Keep going."

Bile rises in my throat but I force myself to continue. "I'll break every bone in your body. Starting with those fingers of yours."

" Fuck ," she moans louder. "Are you hard thinking about hurting me, Vadyusha? About making me bleed?"

The sound of her pleasure makes my stomach turn. But I need more time for the trace. Just a little longer...

"You want me to hurt you?" The words taste like poison on my tongue. "I'll hurt you worse than anyone ever has."

" Yes! " Her moan echoes through the speaker. "Tell me how you'll punish me."

My eyes stay fixed on the tracing program, watching the circle narrow down. Just a little longer.

"I'll cut away those lips of yours." My voice drops lower, channeling every ounce of menace I possess. "The ones you can't seem to keep shut."

Her breathing grows heavier, more erratic. "What else?

"Then I'll move to your throat." I force myself to say. "Wrap my hands around it until you're gasping for air."

"Don't stop." She lets out a high-pitched whine. "I'm so close."

My free hand clenches into a fist, Lacey's bite marks stinging as they reopen. The pain helps ground me, reminds me why I'm forcing myself through this sick game.

The tracking circle continues to narrow. Just a little longer.

"I'm going to break you in ways that would make the devil himself weep," I growl into the phone, hating every word but knowing I need to keep her talking. "And when I'm done, I'll make sure you're still alive enough to feel what comes next?—"

Her scream of pleasure cuts me off, echoing through the speaker as she wails like a banshee.

The sound sends my skin crawling.

" Oh God , that was good." Sayanaa's voice comes out breathy and satisfied. "But you know what would make it even better?" Her voice returns to an icy clarity. "If you weren't trying to trace my location this whole time."

My jaw clenches. The tracking circle on my screen is still narrowing, but not fast enough.

"What's wrong, Vadyusha? Cat got your tongue?" She giggles. "Or should I say... kitty? Your sister really does have the most beautiful gray eyes. Just like yours. Maybe I'll pluck out one of them and put it in my martini while I play this conversation back tomorrow night."

My grip tightens on the phone until my knuckles turn white.

"But thank you." Her voice drips with mock sweetness. "For the lovely phone sex. We should do this again sometime. Next time, I'll let you listen while I play with my new toys. I have the feeling that they're both screamers. "

And then, the line goes dead.

"Sayanaa!" I yell, but it's no use.

That monster has both my wife and my sister—a sister I never knew existed until tonight.

Twenty-four hours to return the Archbishop's bible, or they both suffer.

That bible contains everything needed to destroy Kirsan's operation. Years of financial records. Names of corrupt officials. Evidence of human trafficking routes across three continents.

With it and the deal I just struck with Megan, I finally stand a chance to end his reign of terror.

But at what cost?

If I hand it over, I'm essentially surrendering. Everything Irina died for would be wasted. The women trapped in Kirsan's web would remain there, with no hope of rescue.

But if I don't...

I close my eyes, but all I hear is the giddiness in Sayanaa's voice on the phone. The things I know she's capable of doing to Lacey and Serena...

The choice tears at me. What matters more—my crusade against evil, or the lives of the two women I'm meant to protect?

What kind of pakhan sacrifices his own wife and sister?

But what kind of man lets innocent women continue suffering just to save two lives?

The tracking window flashes red on my screen, and my heart nearly stops.

Coordinates found.

That psychotic bitch was so caught up in gloating, she didn't realize the trace completed while she was gloating. The map shows movement heading south from the Seattle docks towards Tacoma.

A savage satisfaction courses through my veins. For the first time tonight, something's gone right.

I dial Demyon's number, and he picks up on the first ring.

"Get every boeviki you can find," I command before he can speak. "Olga betrayed us. She handed Lacey and my sister to Sayanaa."

"Your what? "

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need two teams. Send one to the docks—kill any of Kirsan's men still lingering there and pick up anything out of place. The other meets me on the road. I'm going after that crazy bitch myself."

"Understood." Demyon's voice shifts to pure business. "How many men?"

"As many as you can get. I want overwhelming force." My fingers trace Lacey's bite marks. "And Demyon? Tell them no mercy tonight. Every one of Kirsan's men they find is dead."

"Consider it done." He pauses.

I hang up and grab my keys, checking my weapon as I head for the garage. Sayanaa wants to play games? Fine.

I'm going to teach her that there are real fucking consequences for losing.