Chapter 28
ZORA
Bogdan has his hand on my elbow and Yefim walks two steps ahead of us through the station with his shoulders set.
It's like Yefim's in this trance, like he forgot he cares about me and that I'm his little sister.
He's just letting them send me off like this, and he hasn't tried to stop them.
And it's pointless to try to get help from anyone around me.
With his fighter hovering over us, anyone who might think about helping would be too intimidated.
I can hear Oleg's footsteps, keeping pace without crowding.
He's one of Yefim's fighters, here to "escort" me to where I'm going.
They say it's for my safety, but I know they're making it so I can't run.
They really think I'm going to take this lying down, and I'm not.
Even if they get me all the way to Novosibirsk, I'm not marrying some farmer, and I'm not staying.
I'm smart enough to find my way back to Perm on my own, even if Kazimir wants nothing to do with me.
The train is already on the platform with its doors open and passengers filing in through the forward cars.
Yefim stops at the third car from the back and turns to face me.
He actually looks remorseful for a minute, like he realizes all of this is because he didn't stand up for me or at least tell me the truth to begin with.
All of our history flashes between us in the blink of an eye—childhood growing up together, making pillow forts and hiding from Mom and Dad.
Who knows what they've told our parents.
Probably that I'm happy to be marrying the farmer to make this deal or something. I can't look at him. It hurts too much.
Instead, my eyes scan the platform, searching for Kazimir's face. I told him what was happening and where I'd be. I hoped that maybe he'd get the message and come for me. But maybe I was wrong to believe that he really does love me and that his love would prevail over the mistakes I've made.
"This is a fresh start for you," Yefim says. "Pyotr Hazan is a good man. You'll have a comfortable life in Novosibirsk and the family will make sure the child's taken care of."
They want the baby to be raised in the family, trained to fight, groomed to carry the Volyn name into the next generation and eventually aimed back at Perm and the Kuzin operation for a takeover that might take twenty years, but my brothers want total annihilation for Kazimir.
I swallow the bile that rises up and look away from him.
I can't even answer. I'm not letting them have my baby. It's the last part of Kazimir I have left, and I won't let them do that to me, or him.
"Get on the train, Zora." Bogdan tightens his grip on my elbow, directing me toward the step, and he doesn't let go until I move toward it.
I step up onto the car and Oleg's right behind me, close enough that I can feel his body heat on my back as I walk the narrow passage past compartment after compartment until he taps my shoulder and nods at one on the left.
I walk in and take the window seat, and he drops into the seat across from me and settles his hands in his lap.
He looks so unhappy to be here with me, I don't even want to talk to him.
He's here to make sure I get where I'm going and that's the full extent of his interest in me as a person or mine in him.
Through the window, I can see Bogdan and Yefim on the platform.
Yefim is talking to him and if I didn't know better, I’d say he was trying to get Bogdan to change his mind.
But I know it's a waste of time. Bogdan only thinks in terms of usefulness to this family, and I'm only useful if I'm doing a job.
I'm done with this job with Kazimir and he's sending me off to my next one—to marry a farmer and align our families somehow.
I'm a problem to be solved, and he's found his solution.
The station clock above their heads reads 9:14.
I sent those messages to Kazimir more than twenty minutes ago and he never responded, and every minute that passes makes it more likely that he never will.
Yefim has no clue I took his phone and have it tucked in my pocket, and I hope to God he doesn't figure out it was me.
Oleg squirms a little, glancing around the car.
Then he stands and leans out into the narrow passage between compartments and grumbles under his breath.
When he turns to look at me, I feel intimidated by him.
He's so large, he has to turn sideways in the doorway to fit through it, and even then, his chest and back brush the sides.
"Stay here. I gotta take a leak," he growls at me, and I nod quickly, frightened by him.
Then he's gone, squeezing out the door toward the toilets at the back of the train.
My very first thought is that I can run.
The train hasn't started moving yet. They're still waiting for people to board, and the muscle is taking a break, so there's no one here to stop me.
And when I look out the window to find Yefim and Bogdan, they're no longer standing there watching the door.
I'm on my feet in less than a second, rushing back the way I came. Oleg is out of sight, and the door looms in front of me like a beacon of salvation. I don't even stop and think about where I'll go or what I'll do. I just run.
I slip off the train, pushing against the flow of passengers trying to get on and into a crowd of folks still on the platform waiting.
People complain as I push between them and others around them, and I make sure to head the opposite direction from where Bogdan parked, but I hear a commotion. It makes me stop mid-stride and turn.
Kazimir has Yefim on the ground, kneeling on his chest with his left hand fisted in Yefim's collar and his right pounding into Yefim's face.
I can't believe it. Kazimir came to get me after everything that happened and what he knows I did.
I take a moment watching him beat the shit out of my brother to wonder why he would do that.
Then I realize what's happening and run straight into the fire again.
"Kaz, no!" They may be total monsters and they may deserve every single blow Kazimir can throw, but they're still my brothers.
The closer I get, the more it comes into focus. Stepan has Bogdan pinned against a pillar that holds the platform roof up, pummeling him over and over, and I make a beeline straight to Kazimir.
"Kaz, stop," I screech, panting. "Please stop, don't kill him, please."
Kazimir acts like he doesn't hear me at all. His eyes are glassed over, fist so tight in Yefim's shirt, his knuckles are white, and Yefim has stopped fighting back. His head is lolled to the side, and his jaw hangs slack. He's out cold and Kaz is still beating him.
"He's my brother, Kaz. Please!" I grab his arm and tug, and he still hits Yefim a few more times, but then his fist opens and his arm drops. He stands up off Yefim's chest, and Yefim rolls onto his side and coughs blood onto the concrete.
Stepan takes a cue, shoving Bogdan until he stumbles and winds up on all fours, vomiting on the concrete at Stepan's feet, and he looks up at me.
There's hatred in his eyes, because he knows he can't control me anymore.
I'm free from his grip, and though I don't know where I'll end up, I know Kazimir cares enough to come fight for me.
"Kaz, please," I say, coaxing him back as I let go of his arm and press a hand into his chest.
Then he looks up at me with wide eyes and confusion. His lip is busted over a scab where it was busted previously. His knuckles are bloody, and his face is bruised again. He looks confused and angry, and hurt, but he grips my face with both hands and squeezes hard.
"You fucking tell me it's true right now. You tell me," he says, shaking me hard.
Both of my hands come up and cover his and tears roll down my cheeks as I don't know whether to be afraid or relieved.
"It's true… Yes. It's true." I don't know what he's really asking for, just that everything I've said to him since the moment that building exploded has been the honest truth. I am having his baby and I love him, and I never meant to hurt him.
"You're pregnant?" he says, eyes deadlocked with mine.
"Kaz," Stepan mumbles. "Kaz, we gotta go." I hear a police whistle and know someone has called security.
"Yes," I say. "Yes, I'm having your baby."
"Kaz!" Stepan says, more insistent this time.
He hesitates another second and Yefim starts to get up. Then Kazimir takes my hand and pulls me with him.
"We gotta run, okay?"
I nod, and we take off, though I'm slower than him. I see the security people moving in toward my brothers and know if we get caught, there’ll be hell to pay. But we make it off the platform and through the station to the parking lot where Timur waits in a blacked-out SUV.
"Get in," he growls through the open window, and we climb in quickly, barely having the doors shut before he's rolling.
Only then does Kazimir turn to me again.
He grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles gentler than I deserve.
My head drops because I'm not sure what to say to him.
I can barely look him in the eye now. I did so many bad things, though I didn't make that bomb go off or the police raid their gym.
But none of it would've been possible if I hadn't willingly agreed to deceive him.
"You're really having my baby? Not someone else's?" He holds my hand tenderly, thumb brushing over my knuckles, and I lift my chin to meet his gaze.
"Kazimir, I never slept with anyone else while I was with you. I promise you it's your baby. I wouldn't lie about that."
"You lied about everything else," Stepan butts in.
"Shut the fuck up, Step," Kaz snarls, and I get the feeling his family isn't happy about his coming to get me. He turns and cradles my cheek again but this time, it's soft. "You look me in the eye right now, Zora, and you tell me that you're not lying to me."
Tears well up in my eyes and I blink them back.
My lip trembles but I press my hand to his and say, "I give you my word, I am not lying.
I am madly in love with you, and I have been for a while, And I fucked up really badly by letting my brothers push me to lie to you before, but you are the most perfect thing I've ever had in my life.
I screwed up so bad, Kaz, but I can't lose you. You’re everything. "
His lips cover mine and finally, after weeks of uncertainty and fear, my world feels like it's healing. I kiss him back, leaning into it until our bodies are pressed against each other and his arms are wrapped around me.
When he pulls back, I lean into his chest and let him hold me.
I'm not a fool. I know we have a lot to work out and I know life as I know it has changed forever.
My brothers will never forgive me for coming to him, and he may never trust me fully with anything to do with his business again, but we're together.
"Is your uncle home?" I ask, scooting closer as I wrap my arms around his chest.
"He is, and he's not happy…" Kazimir's body is tight, like he's poised to strike.
"And he let you come get me?" I can't believe what I’m hearing. I've heard the stories of how ruthless Roman Kuzin is.
"He did, but there will be consequences." Kazimir presses a kiss to the top of my head, but I sense how much tension he carries. Whatever punishment he has been given or has yet to hear about, I'm sure it won't be easy. I feel so guilty for all of it.
"I'm sorry," I tell him, pulling back to look up into his eyes. "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"I believe you, okay?" he kisses my forehead. Then he says, "We just have to take it one day at a time and figure things out. And Roman is gonna have a lot of questions."
I bury my head in his chest again and close my eyes. I can only imagine how furious his whole family is at me for everything that happened. And they have every right to be mad enough to kill. I just hope they can see how I tried to stop things and be honest.
If Kazimir and I even have a shot at a relationship, it may very well depend on their ability to look past my mistakes.