3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Tatiana Andreeva
“H ow are you holding up?” I looked at my best friend sitting on the floor of her old bedroom, the blank expression on her face making worry clutch at my chest.
She was totally checked out. Gone. The lights were on but nobody was home. It was clear that she was in shock, having trouble coming to terms with the events of the last twenty-four hours. Not that I blamed her. I was having a hard time believing it too.
Dimitri Volkov was like a nightmare. The “John Wick” of our world. A literal boogeymen in expensive Armani suits. He was the type of man monsters ran away from. How was it that such a powerful and fearsome man had been kidnapped? From his own home?
It was something all of us were finding difficult to accept, but especially Illayana.
She had that “No one can beat my dad, he’s a superhero” kind of mentality. Except, Dimitri was more like a super villain .
When Illayana didn’t answer, I climbed off the two-seater couch I was sitting on and crawled towards her.
My arms wrapped around her tightly, squeezing, trying to give her as much comfort as I could.
My touch snapped her out of her daze and she returned the hug earnestly, her grip almost painful.
She sobbed into my shoulder, her emotions spiralling.
Loud banging came from her bedroom door. “Illayana? What’s going on? Are you okay?” a deep voice boomed.
I rolled my eyes. Her guard dog of a husband was still standing outside her room. Her cries had been loud enough for him to hear, and now he was losing his mind with worry. It took physically shoving him out of the room to get him to leave the first time.
I knew my best friend. She hated showing weakness in front of others.
She tended to keep her feelings close to her chest, not revealing them to anyone.
I understood that Arturo was her husband, but the relationship was still relatively new.
All it took was one glance at Illayana’s face to know she wouldn’t let go until she was alone.
Well, there was no way I was going to allow that to happen. I wasn’t going to let her sit there all by herself and try to deal with the emotions I knew would bubble over at any moment.
She clung to me tightly like I was her lifeline, keeping her grounded. Her tears soaked into my shirt, her cries muffled as she buried her head deeper into my shoulder. I let her cry for as long as she needed, not rushing her. After a few minutes, she leant back, her eyes red and puffy.
“Fuck,” she breathed out, sniffling. “I haven’t cried like that since—” her words abruptly cut off. Pain flashed in her eyes.
I didn’t need her to finish the sentence to know what she was talking about.
“I need to get a grip. All this crying isn’t going to do shit,” she chuckled humourlessly, trying to laugh it off. She was wanting a distraction. I was happy to oblige.
“How crazy is the whole ‘Aleksandr and the cartel woman thing’?”
It had been one hell of a shock for me, that was for damn sure. I’d seen Aleksandr with women, sure. That gold-digging bitch, Mila, for example. But I’d never seen him like that .
That tiny woman had somehow managed to tame Aleksandr, the hard, control freak prince of the Bratva. I thought I’d die before I saw the day.
The subject change worked and Illayana smiled. “I know. So crazy. He told me about her before he left Arturo’s party.”
I gasped, hand flying to my chest in mock hurt. “And you didn’t tell me ?”
Her smile widened a little bit more. “Like you tell me everything,” she said, rolling her eyes.
She was joking, just fucking around. But I laughed alongside her, pretending like I wasn’t the big, fat, fucking fraud I was.
Illayana thought I told her everything, that I’d never hide anything from her.
The truth of it was, though, that I’d hidden the most agonising and traumatic thing that’s ever happened to me.
Guilt overcame me, like it always did whenever I thought about how much I was keeping from my best friend.
When things first started with Nikolai and I, I’d been afraid to tell her, afraid she would get mad at me for doing the nasty with her older brother. As more time passed, it got harder and harder to tell her.
Nikolai and I snuck around for over a year, fucking in those hidden rooms they had throughout that maze of a bloody house.
It had been the most exciting and exhilarating time of my life.
The thrill of getting caught. The way he’d fuck me up against the wall, his hand covering my mouth so no one could hear my screams of pleasure.
“Such a wet, tight little pussy you have, my Tati.”
“Can you feel how deep I am inside you? Fuck, you feel so good baby.”
“Mine. All fucking mine.”
He’d whisper the filthiest, dirtiest things in my ear while holding me pinned to the wall, his breath hot on my skin, and I’d absolutely crumble beneath him.
And then it all changed.
In the blink of an eye, our relationship came crashing down, spiralling out of control. No matter what I did or said, I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t—
I slammed the door shut on that train of thought instantly. The pain of what happened was too much to bear the first time around. I couldn’t let myself go down that road again. I couldn’t relive it. There’s no way I’d survive it.
“Aw, T. It’s okay. I know you’re worried about my father and what it means for the Bratva, but don’t worry. We’ll find him. And until then, Aleksandr has it covered,” Illayana said, patting my arm comfortingly.
She thought I was upset about the situation, that the look of sadness and despair in my eyes was about the attack. All the lives we’d lost. Not about—
NO!
“Thanks, girl. But I should be the one comforting you .”
Illayana smiled affectionately. “You did. Now it’s my turn. That’s what best friends do. We look out for each other.”
The guilt smothering my chest made it difficult to breathe. I ignored it, like I always did. I was getting pretty good at it, to be honest.
“I’m so excited for you to move to New York.
” Illayana got to her feet and walked through the open door of her ensuite, going for the sink.
She turned on the tap and splashed some water on her face before running her hands through her hair and tightening her ponytail.
Her eyes locked onto mine through the mirror in front of her.
“I’m sorry I won’t be there when you first get there.
I can’t leave Vegas right now, not while my father is missing. ”
I waved a hand through the air, getting up to join her. I leant against the doorframe. “Don’t even worry about it. I don’t leave for a few weeks anyway. Hopefully by then he’ll be found, and all this shit will be dealt with.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Hopefully.”
I could tell that she didn’t believe it, that she’d already accepted in her mind that she wouldn’t be seeing her father again. At least, not alive.
I’ll admit, the odds weren’t great. But if she couldn’t have faith that we’d find him alive, I would just have to have it for her.
“Remember that time Dimitri took out an entire gang when they tried to jump you guys when you were kids? Or the time he killed six men with a knife sticking out of his gut? Dimitri is tough. The toughest, scariest son of a bitch I know. If anyone can make it out alive, it’s him, Illayana.
Believe in your father. Have faith in him. Trust him.”
Illayana exhaled heavily. “You’re right.”
“I know. I’m always right,” I winked.
She turned, flicking water at me playfully. “Are you excited to finally move out and go to college? It’s what you’ve always wanted to do.”
Warmth spread through me, right down to my fingers and toes, and a bright, beaming smile curled on my lips. “Excited is an understatement.”
A month ago, I got my acceptance letter into FIT, The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I didn’t tell a single soul I was applying, just in case I got rejected. Not my dad. Not Illayana. Not even Nikolai. No one.
I filled out the application, wrote a kickass admissions essay and submitted pages and pages of my designs, not really thinking I’d actually get in. Imagine my fucking surprise when that letter came!
To Miss Tatiana Andreeva,
We are pleased to inform you-
I only read up to there before the scream erupted from my mouth.
I’d jumped up and down with excitement, screaming so loudly that my dad had come running up from downstairs because he thought I was under attack or something.
He kicked down the door like he was the LVPD doing a drug bust or some shit, a gun in each hand and eyes filled with panic.
I ended up telling him I’d seen a spider and he’d instantly relaxed, because a huge screaming fit was a perfectly normal reaction for me whenever I saw a spider. Creepy, eight-legged freaks.
“By the way,” I began, giving my best friend a suspicious look. “How did you manage to convince my dad to let me go?”
Illayana winced slightly. “Yeah, uh...look, I had to offer him something you’d never in a million years be okay with.”
“Then why did you offer it?”
“Because it was the only way to get him to agree. After you told me you’d been accepted—which, by the way, I’m still ticked off that you waited three damn weeks to tell me about—I spoke with Ivan.
I offered him the damn moon and stars and everything in between to let you go.
When that didn’t work, I threatened him. ”
I arched a brow in amusement. “Threatened him?”
“Not with pain. Come on, give me a little credit. I wouldn’t hurt your dad.” I didn’t think she would, but I chuckled lightly as she continued. “I told him if he stopped you from going and living your dream, I’d have Father assign him to the pit.”
A barking laugh ripped from my mouth. Ohhh, that was cold.