Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
ANYA
B oth Nadia and Elena freeze at the sight of Alek. It’s up to me to make sure nothing goes wrong.
I step forward, putting Nadia directly behind me. “What are you doing in here?”
“I remember last time we talked you liked to have a drink.” He has a champagne flute in his hand. “Do you want another taste?”
“I’m good.” I learned my lesson from last time. But unlike last time, when I only had myself to worry about, I now have Nadia and Elena to consider.
“Shame.” He takes a sip, his eyes sliding behind me to Nadia. “Who’s this?”
“Nobody.”
He points at Elena, who’s still huddled on the bed. “Then who’s that?”
“Also nobody. Why don’t you leave? We want to be left alone. A girl thing. You understand.”
“Oh, I do.” He makes no move to leave. “But you know, I think I’d rather stay in here. Seems like more fun than downstairs.”
“I don’t understand how. Downstairs is filled with men closer in age to you. Isn’t that who you’d prefer to talk to?”
“I work with a lot of those men. It’s get boring only talking to them. I’d rather talk to you three. You’re much more interesting.”
“Maybe I am,” I say, making him chuckle. The more relaxed he is, the better. “But I’m not sure what you’d have to talk about with a seventeen year old and a fourteen year old.”
The second I say their ages, I realize it’s a mistake. Alek’s eyes light up like he’s seeing fireworks.
“So young.”
“They are. And we wanted to have some girl chat. So …” I motion to the door.
“But from what I understand, Anya, you’re twenty. An adult like me. So, what do you want to talk with them about? I doubt you have anything in common with them either.”
“You’re … what? In your fifties?”
“Forties,” he says sourly. Shit. Don’t insult the man in the closed room with you, I remind myself.
“Right. Of course. I’m terrible with ages.”
“She really is,” Nadia adds. “Can never tell anyone’s age.”
Alek’s gaze zeroes on her like he’s a predator stalking his prey. Subtly, I move back in front of Nadia.
“You’re pretty,” he tells her.
“She’s seventeen,” I remind him.
“You’re pretty, too.” He points at Elena. “Give it a few more years, and you’ll be a smoke-show.”
“She’s fourteen. So, Alek, how about you and I head back downstairs. You can give me that drink if you want to.”
“Anya, stay,” Nadia whispers.
“I’m fine,” I whisper back. “What do you say, Alek? We can spend some time together.”
“You’ll take this drink?” He holds out the champagne.
“I will.”
“Then take it.”
Slowly, I take the drink from it and hold it against my body. The glass is sweaty from where he touched it.
“Drink.”
I take the smallest sip possible.
“That’s not a drink.” He ambles toward me, and I press my hand onto his chest to keep him back. Nadia gasps while Elena tries to bury herself into the bed.
“Hey,” I say in a low voice. “I’ll drink more, ok? But I’ll only drink more once we go downstairs. So, let’s go.”
There’s a tense, quiet moment when Alek doesn’t move a muscle.
Then he speaks. “I’m good right here. I want you to drink. In fact, I want everyone to drink.”
“They’re not going to drink. They’re too young.”
“Technically, so are you.”
“Alek, why are you doing this? Let’s just go downstairs and forget any of this happened. Ok?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m going to have to tell Erik you forced yourself into this room with me in it. You shut the door. You wouldn’t let me leave. How do you think Erik will take that?”
“I haven’t done anything!”
“You’re trying to force me to drink when I don’t want to. Erik won’t take that lightly. Do you want me to tell him?”
“No,” he says in a ragged voice.
“Ok, then, let’s just leave this room. You and me. It’ll stay between us.”
He’s so close to me, breathing on me. I get a whiff of his breath—it’s clear he’s had a few drinks.
“I can’t go down there. You’re going to tell Erik, and I can’t have that.” He grabs me by the arm and shoves me to the side.
“Anya!” Nadia shouts. Elena whimpers as she hides underneath the blanket.
“You can’t tell Erik,” he growls.
“Alek, you’re only making this worse for yourself. You know that.”
“You can’t tell him.” He grabs my arms and slams me against the wall. The champagne spills out of the glass, soaking the wood floor.
“I won’t tell him. Ok? Just let me go.”
“Let her go!” Nadia says, smacking his arms. He spins toward her and backhands her across the face. Nadia falls to the floor.
And all I see is red.
My body reacts on instinct as I smash the champagne glass against the wall. It becomes a jagged weapon. I slam it into Alek’s throat, and he grunts and stumbles into the wall.
I scream as I rip the jagged glass out of his throat. Some of his blood sprays onto my face. Alek grunts as he slumps to the floor.
All I see is red. Red, red, red. I need to protect Nadia. Nothing else matters.
Until Nadia herself puts her hand on me. “Anya. What did you do?”
I blink, and the room comes into focus. Alek, lying in a heap on the floor, bleeding out. Small groans escape him, telling me he’s alive.
For now. But he won’t be for long.
I drop the glass. “Shit.”
“What are we going to do?”
I answer as honestly as I can. “I have no fucking clue.”
“Is he dead?” she whispers.
Alek grunts again and extends his hand out to me. “No … I don’t think he’s dead.”
“You should get Erik. He’ll help you. He’ll protect you, won’t he?”
“I just stabbed one of his men in the throat.”
“He’s my father’s friend,” Elena whispers from the bed. I whirl around to look at her, having forgotten she was there for a moment.
“He’s Ivan’s man, then?”
Elena nods as her eyes dart to Alek and back to me before burrowing back under the blanket.
“That’s even worse,” I whisper. “Erik won’t be happy with me if I ruin his relationship with Ivan.”
“So, what do we do?” Nadia asks.
“This isn’t your problem. Nor is it Elena’s. You should leave. You don’t want to be a part of this. Let me handle it. I’ll tell Erik what happened, and …”
“And?”
“And hope he forgives me.” And that he doesn’t try to torture me again. Not when we’ve been making progress. Not when he convinced my father to bring Nadia tonight just so I could see her.
I can’t ruin what we’ve been tentatively building.
“I’m not leaving you,” Nadia says, taking my hand in hers.
“Nadia—”
“No. You’ve stuck by me. You stabbed him because he hurt me. You’ve only ever tried to protect me. I’m standing by your side, Anya.”
“I have to get Erik. Stay with Elena. Unless … bring her to my room. She doesn’t need to see Alek, and I don’t want you guys to be alone with him.”
“Um … I’m not sure that’s going to be a problem any longer.” She nods towards Alek, and I turn to look.
And find that he’s dead.
No more grunting and groaning. No more reaching out for help. His eyes are wide open and lifeless.
“Shit,” I whisper.
Nadia bends down to grab the broken champagne glass, but I stop her.
“Don’t. It has my fingerprints on it. It doesn’t need yours, too. Come on. Elena shouldn’t have to see this.” I don’t think Nadia should have to see this either, but I don’t think she’ll appreciate me saying that right now.
Nadia goes over to Elena. “Hey, we need to leave.”
Elena’s only response is to bury deeper under the blankets.
“Elena, I know you’re scared,” I say. “But you shouldn’t see this. Come with Nadia. She’ll protect you, ok?”
Slowly, Elena peeks over the blanket and blanches when she sees Alek’s dead body. “Are we in trouble?”
“No. Just come with Nadia. Ok? Please.”
Nadia holds her hand out for Elena, who takes it after a long moment. I get them into my bedroom and tell them to lock the door before I go into the bathroom and wash my hands and face. Some of Alek’s blood is on the front of my dress, but I just have to hope no one notices.
I just killed a man. Yes, it was self-defense. He hit Nadia. I had to stop him.
But I still killed him. If I’d wanted to save his life, I would’ve run out of the room and gotten Erik. But I didn’t do that.
I froze, and Alek died, and now, his death is on my hands. I’ve become the thing I judged Erik for being.
A murderer.
And now, he’s the only one I can go to for help. How ironic is that.
My hands shake as I leave the bathroom. I curl them into fists and walk downstairs. The party is in full swing. No one seems to have noticed what transpired upstairs.
“There you are,” my father says, grabbing my arm the second I reach the bottom floor. “Where’s your sister? You haven’t kidnapped her again, have you?”
“You beat me for every single day of my life. You don’t have the right to ask me that.” I rip away from him and leave him standing there, open-mouthed and in shock.
Erik is talking to Ivan when I finally find him.
“Ah, Anya. There you are. I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”
“Just needed some time alone with my sister.”
“My daughter seemed taken with you,” Ivan says. “She’s shy, so the fact that she took to you was astounding. Thank you for that. I’m assuming she’s been with you.”
“She has been. She’s uh… upstairs. I think the party was too much for her.”
“She does tend to get overstimulated when it comes to these things. So, thank you for that.”
“And thank you,” Erik says to me, placing his hand on my low back. Always showing everyone I’m his in some way. “Ivan has been a little bit worried about working together, but he told me that after seeing you be so kind to Elena, he’s not as concerned.”
“Oh,” I say tightly. “That’s great. Uh, Erik. Can I talk to you in private? It’s important.”
He motions for Ivan to give us a minute before we head to a quieter corner of the room. “What’s going on?”
“Uh … I need you to come with me upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Because something bad happened, and I …” I can’t believe I’m about to say what I’m about to say. “I need your help.”
Erik’s eyes narrow. “What happened?”
“It’s better I show you. I’ll explain everything. Please, let me explain everything.”
“Anya,” he warns.
“Just come with me. I can’t tell you in front of all your men.”
“Ok, then. Let’s go.” He takes my hand and leads me toward the stairs. He stops as my father comes running down, breathing heavily. “Sergei?”
“Alek is dead. Upstairs. His throat torn apart.”
Erik’s eyes flash as he quickly looks at me before he turning back to my father. “Ok. I’ll get to the bottom of it. You stay here.”
“Alek is dead?” Ivan asks, moving through the murmuring crowd. “My man? What do you mean he’s dead?”
“Upstairs,” my father breathes out. “I found him like that.”
“What were you doing upstairs?” I ask.
“I was looking for Nadia because I don’t trust her with you, and I was right not to. You came downstairs just a moment ago. And then I found a dead body upstairs. Care to explain, daughter?”
Everyone in the room looks at me. I can feel their eyes judging me, even though they don’t know the truth.
“Isn’t Elena upstairs?” Ivan asks. Without waiting for an answer, he goes upstairs, moving fast on his crutches, and it’s like a dam breaks. Everyone in the room starts talking at once. People demanding answers. Looking at me like I’m evil. Men running upstairs to get a look at the body.
Then Erik speaks.
“Everybody, stop!”
The men who are halfway up the stairs actually do as Erik says. Everyone stops talking.
“Now, no one else will go upstairs except for my wife and me. I will get to the bottom of this. Is that understood?”
Everyone tentatively nods.
“Good. Now, move out of my way,” he growls at the couple of men on the stairs. I cling to Erik’s arm like a lost, little child. He’s the only one who can possibly help me right now.
Yes, these are not good men. They’ve all committed crimes. But they don’t take kindly to others killing their own. And I’ve killed one of their own.
“Which room?” Erik growls.
I point down the hall and he storms right for the guest bedroom. Ivan is already in there, staring at Alek’s dead body.
“Where’s my daughter?” he demands. “You said she was with you. Was she with you when this happened? Tell me!”
“Elena is safe. She’s in my room with my sister. They’re both safe.”
Ivan storms past me and down the hall. I can hear him bang on my bedroom door and demand for Elena to let him in.
“He needs to know what happened,” I say to Erik. “Before this gets more out of hand.”
“I’m assuming you did this.” He nods at Alek.
“Yes. Which is why I need to explain. He needs to hear it from me rather than Elena.” I run down the hallway to my bedroom. Ivan is still pounding on the door.
My father is also in the hall, looking at me with so much rage in his eyes it makes me cold.
“I told everyone to wait downstairs,” Erik growls.
“I already saw the body,” my father explains. “And this involves my daughter. Both of them. I have a right to be here.”
“Goddamn it,” Erik mutters and grabs his phone and calls someone. “James. You need to make sure no one leaves the house. Not until I’ve had a chance to explain to everyone what happened. Got it?”
James must give his reply because Erik nods and hangs up. “Ivan, stop banging on my bedroom door.”
“My daughter is in there.”
“So is mine,” my father says.
“Elena and Nadia are safe,” I explain. “Just let me explain.”
“What happened?” The Ivan I met before was so jovial and kind. Now, it’s like a beast has overtaken him.
“Elena had disappeared.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ivan,” Erik says. “Let my wife talk.”
With a huff, Ivan goes silent. My father just continues to look like a smug, evil asshole as he looks at me.
“Nadia and I went looking for her and found her in … the guest room.”
“The one with a dead body in it?” my father asks in a deadpan voice.
I flush but don’t lower my gaze. I won’t give my father the satisfaction of seeing me cower in fear.
“Yes, the same room. Nadia and I went in there to talk with Elena when Alek showed up. He shut the door behind him. He was drunk. I think he … wanted to hurt us.” I glance at Erik and see him tense.
“Bullshit,” my father says. “The Alek I knew has been nothing but kind.”
“That’s how I would describe Alek, too,” Ivan adds. “I’ve never had any issues with him. He’s been a good employee.”
“A good employee and a good man are two very different things.”
I can tell right away that it was the wrong thing to say by how angry Ivan and my father get.
“Let her finish,” Erik advises.
I swallow hard, but my mouth is too dry. “He wanted me to drink some champagne. I tried getting him out of the room. I didn’t want him around Nadia or Elena. It didn’t feel safe. I was trying to protect them.”
“And then what happened?” Erik asks.
“He grabbed me,” I whisper. “He threw me up against the wall. And then Nadia tried to help and he … he hit her. Just … backhanded her across the face. She fell right to the floor. And I, and I, and …” I inhale deeply. “And I just reacted. By then, I had the champagne glass in my hand, and I broke it. And all I could think about was saving my sister and Elena.”
“Where was Elena during this?” Ivan asks.
“On the bed, under the covers, hiding. I just needed to protect them. And then I …”
“You what, Anya?” Erik asks in a softer voice.
I spin around to face him. “If I confess to anything, am I going to get in trouble? Or will you protect me?”
“She can’t ask you that!” my father exclaims. “Anya, if you murdered that man, then you need to face the consequences.”
Erik’s eyes never leave mine. “It sounds like it was self-defense to me. I will protect you. You’re my wife.”
“I stabbed him in the neck,” I say, keeping my eyes glued to Erik.
“Did he die right away?” Ivan asks. “Or did you let him die?”
“I froze. And I wanted to get Nadia and Elena out of there. And then he died. He was bleeding out so fast. Even if I’d gotten help a couple seconds sooner, he’d still be dead.”
Erik nods once like that settles it. “Ok then. I’ll call Charlie to come get rid of the body.”
“Charlie?”
“My man who disposes of bodies.”
“You can’t just get rid of his body!” Ivan looks wildly between Erik and me. “He needs to be put to rest. And justice needs to take place. Your wife murdered one of my men. That cannot stand, Erik. I was having doubts about you before, but now … Now, this changes everything. I can’t be partners with you if I can’t trust you.”
“I’m the one who did this. Not Erik. Blame me, not him. And I only stabbed Alek to save your daughter! He was going to hurt her.”
“How do you know? All you said was that he hurt you and your sister. My Elena seemed like she was fine.”
“She wasn’t fine,” I hiss. “She was cowering on the bed as Alek tried to get to us. You weren’t there. If you don’t believe me, ask her yourself. You trust your daughter. You know she won’t lie, and neither will Nadia.”
“I know how close you and your sister are. Who’s to say she won’t lie for you?”
“Alek hit her in the face. She’ll have the bruise to prove it.” I nod toward my bedroom door. “They’re in there. Scared. Because of what Alek tried to do to us.”
“I think they’re scared because of what you did, daughter.” My father’s eyes narrow as he looks at me. “You killed a man before their innocent eyes. You should be ashamed of yourself. Are you trying to ruin everything we’ve built? You should be thrown in a cell and never let out. You cause too many problems.” He lunges forward and grabs my hair, shoving me to the floor.
Erik calmly puts his hand on my father’s shoulder. “Let her go now, Sergei, or we’re going to have some issues of our own.”
“We made a deal, Erik. You and I. You wouldn’t risk upsetting me.”
“I made a deal to work with you, yes. In exchange you gave me your daughter. She’s my wife now, and that puts her above you, Sergei. I don’t want to end things with you, but you need to let my wife go. Now.”
My father huffs and tosses me to the side. Erik helps me stand and doesn’t let me go. I’m actually grateful for that. I’m not sure I could stand on my own two feet anyway.
“It was an accident,” I say. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I just didn’t want him to hurt Nadia or Elena. It seems I’m the only one who cares about their safety.”
“Careful,” Ivan growls.
“Am I wrong? Because you just defended the man who didn’t look disgusted at all when I told him Elena was only fourteen. In fact, he seemed delighted by that fact. So, don’t judge me. Not when I literally saved your daughter. You should be on your knees thanking me.”
“Anya, that’s enough,” Erik says.
“You know I’m right.”
“It’s not about being right. It’s about the fact that Ivan just lost one of his men, and it’s a problem we need to solve. Now, Elena and Nadia need to come out. We need to hear it from them before we go any further. Do you agree?” he asks Ivan and my father.
Ivan nods subtly, but my father only glares harder.
Erik knocks on the door. “Nadia? Elena? You’re not in trouble. Anya is out here with us. We just want to talk.”
“It’s ok,” I add. “I’m fine.”
The door cracks open, and Nadia peeks her head out. “Anya?”
“They just need to know what happened. They need to know I’m telling the truth.”
Nadia steps out of the room and shuts the door behind her.
“Where’s Elena?” Ivan demands.
“She’s a little scared. What did Anya tell you?”
“That she killed Alek in self-defense,” Erik says.
“Then she’s right. She was protecting us. She doesn’t deserve to be punished for this.”
“Nadia, let me see your face,” Erik murmurs, gently putting his fingers under her chin. He angles her face up and in the light, the bruise forming on her cheek is clear as day. “There it is. How did you get this?”
“That man hit me.”
Erik steps back, dropping his hand. “See? It seems Anya is telling the truth. Ivan, you need to vet your men better.”
“I want to see my daughter,” he growls.
Nadia goes back into the room, and a moment later, she comes out with Elena by her side. Ivan immediately pulls Elena into his arms.
“Are you ok?”
She nods and sinks deeper into his arms.
“So, if there isn’t any problem here,” Erik says, “then I’ll have Alek’s body moved. He can have a proper burial.”
“No,” Ivan says, letting Elena go. “I want to hear it in my daughter’s own words. What happened?”
“That man was scary,” she whispers. “Anya was just trying to save us.”
“She’s a hero, then,” Erik says. “I know we’ve been a little rocky lately, Ivan, but I hope this means you can trust Anya and me. She saved your daughter. That should mean something to you.”
“And it does. I’m grateful she saved my Elena. But that doesn’t mean she gets to go unpunished. My man died because of her actions. I want her punished, Erik, and I want you to do it in front of all your men down there.”
I scoff. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious.”
“What are you thinking?” Erik asks.
“You can’t actually be entertaining this?” I demand.
“Anything you want to do,” Ivan says. “Just let it be known that no one will get off for murdering one of my men.”
“That’s rich, considering how many men you guys have killed without punishment.”
“Ok,” Erik says. “I’ll do it if it will appease you, Ivan.”
“No,” I whisper. “Erik, no! I did a good thing. I don’t deserves this. If you do this, I will hate you forever.”
His eyes tighten. “I can’t risk losing all my alliances. I’ll make it quick, Anya. It’ll be done, and then we can move on from this.”
“No. No!” And before I can even think, I take off running down the stairs.