Sinful Embers (Vegas Bratva Kings #2)

19. RADOMIR

Chapter 19

RADOMIR

I wake up to an empty bed.

The sheets are still warm beside me, her scent lingering—a mix of wild roses and something uniquely Leigh. My body feels heavy, sated from the night before, but something is off. The silence, the absence of her weight against me. I stretch my arm toward her side of the bed, only to feel the soft rustle of paper beneath my fingertips.

A note.

A cold wave crashes over me as I sit up, yanking the letter from the pillow. My heart slams against my ribs as my eyes scan the words, my fingers tightening around the paper with each line.

Dear Radomir,

This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I lost my heart, body, and soul to you the moment our eyes met that first night. While I was locked away in that dungeon, I realized how much I loved, missed, and yearned to be with you. Which makes this so much harder, as being without you for a week was torture—a lifetime will be hell.

But there is no future for us. Our worlds are not only different, but I know the code you live by, and by that code, you’d have to make a decision to end my life. I know there’s never an excuse for taking a life, even if it was to save my own and those of three people who meant the world to me.

My memories came back with force while I was locked away, and I now know who killed your father and your uncle—it was twelve-year-old me.

I’m the Greek Matriarch you’ve been searching for this past decade. Now that I remember who I am, I remember everything about my family, and if you come after me, my family won’t stop until every one of yours is gone. I can’t have more blood on my hands, so as of tomorrow at 4 p.m., I will be erased from your life and everyone else’s.

I wish there was another way.

You will always have my heart.

Leigh

My fingers tighten around the paper so hard it nearly rips in half.

A growl of fury rumbles in my chest as I swing my legs out of bed. The rage—hot and burning—threatens to consume me, but beneath it, something deeper, something raw and unnamable tears through me. She fucking left me.

She didn’t trust me. She ran instead of talking to me.

I slam my fist against the wall, the impact jarring my bones. How dare she make that decision for me? How fucking dare she?

A dozen emotions claw at me—anger, betrayal, disbelief—but the one that tightens like a vice around my throat is this ferocious, undeniable need to find her. Not just because she killed my father and uncle.

But because she’s mine.

And she fucking ran.

Within the hour, I gather the people I trust most. Sabrina, Oleksi, Dmitri, and Wanda are physically present. Gavriil, Galina, Nikolas, and Mark join via video. The only one missing is Carla—she has a doctor’s appointment for her broken ankle.

I don’t waste time with pleasantries. I slam Leigh’s letter onto the table and read the part where she confesses to being the one who shot my father and uncle.

Silence. Deafening, suffocating silence.

Mark’s face pales on the screen. Nikolas exhales sharply, his jaw tightening. Sabrina presses her lips together, her fingers clenching around the chair she’s sitting in.

“I want to know what the fuck happened that day,” I demand. “How did a twelve-year-old end up in that dungeon? How the fuck did she kill three grown people twice her size?”

Nikolas sighs, rubbing a hand down his face. “Vivienne thought Leigh had stolen her journals and dragged her to the dungeon to teach her a lesson about what happens to lying, cheating, thieving bitches.”

Galina flinches at the words, and Nikolas glances at her. “Those were Vivienne’s words.”

I turn to my mother. “You were there?”

Galina nods. “I was in the dungeon beside that one. Tied to a chair. I didn’t see anything until Nikolas and Sol rescued us.”

I clench my fists. “So, no one saw exactly what happened?”

“No,” Nikolas says, his voice tight. “By the time I arrived, Leigh had been shot with a poisoned arrow.”

“Hold up,” Sabrina interjects. She pulls a book from her backpack and flips through it. “This isn’t mine.”

“Oh, I put that in there,” Dmitri says. “I thought you could make sense of it. It’s written in a language I don’t understand.”

I arch a brow. “What is it?”

“It’s Leigh’s memory journal.”

The room stills.

“You can read it?” Dmitri asks.

Sabrina nods. “Yeah.”

“What does it say?”

Sabrina’s breath hitches. “Oh, my God…”

She begins reading, and with every word, my stomach twists tighter, my rage building, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Vivienne. Gunther. My father.

The things they did. The things they tried to do to Leigh.

Gunther’s tongue reaching for her. Vivienne slicing her clothes open. The way they brutalized her before she fought back.

I see red.

The room fades, the sounds around me disappearing as I can all but see the scene in my head. If Gunther weren’t already dead, I would kill him. Slowly. Painfully.

How the fuck does a child survive that?

The door opens, breaking the silence. The butler enters, holding a package from America. It’s for Dmitri. He opens it, revealing a note from Leigh.

I have it on good authority that you are still viable for the antidote. Try to stay out of the way of golden arrows. –Leigh

Dmitri stares at it in shock, then lifts his gaze to me. “I was there that day. I walked in after Vladimir was shot, but I do know what happened. There was a witness.”

His voice is quiet but weighted with something dark. “Carlos shot Gunther.”

A heavy pause.

“What?” I growl.

Dmitri nods. “Carlos killed Gunther. And he shot your father just before the feed was cut.”

Judy and Viktor step forward. Viktor lifts his shirt, revealing scars—horrible, deep, whip scars.

“You’re Tor?” I breathe.

Viktor nods. “Your father and Gunther chained me. Stripped me. Whipped me. Sodomized me. And Vivienne… she raped me. Then made me watch as they did the same to Judy.”

Judy nods, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “One brave twelve-year-old saved us. And she didn’t shoot your father—Gunther did. On purpose. He was jealous. He wanted Vivienne to himself.”

My chest tightens. My jaw locks.

Judy hands me a thumb drive.

“It’s all on there,” she whispers. “Everything.”

I don’t know what to say.

Dmitri steps forward. “Leigh saved my life when she was three. She is one of the bravest, most loyal, compassionate people I know. I’ve seen that video feed, Radomir. It’s rough. But trust me, I will protect her with my life.”

Sabrina pulls something from her pocket and hands it to me.

A pregnancy test.

Two pink lines.

My world tilts.

Sabrina smirks. “Looks like you’ve got another reason to find her, Daddy.”