Vanessa #2
Immediately, I pull my phone from my pocket and press my mom’s name in the contacts.
I hear her phone ringing in the kitchen, and I walk over to the small table under the window with the lace curtain.
Her phone is lying there with my name flashing on the screen.
Under the phone is a folded piece of paper with Vanessa scribbled across the front.
Swallowing hard, I pick up her phone and silence it before grabbing the paper and reading the note.
You should know by now I keep my promises.
-R
My body starts to shake as I turn to Braxton, holding the note tightly in my fist. “He took them. That son of a bitch took them.”
Braxton immediately takes me in his arms. I clutch his cut to keep myself from falling on the floor and screaming. This is my worst nightmare come to life. Russ took my mom and sister, and God only knows where they are.
Ozzy grabs the paper from my hand and reads the note.
“I’m calling in a favor.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and presses the screen.
“Nik, It’s Ozzy. We’re out by you and need some help.
” He’s silent for a few moments. “Okay. We’re on our way,” he says and disconnects the call. “We have a meeting with Petrov.”
Nikolai Petrov lives just outside the city on a sprawling estate he apparently inherited from his father.
When he took over after his father died, there were a lot of changes to the organization.
From the rumors around the clubs, Damien Sokolov wasn’t a fan of the changes.
It’s been just over a year since Damien went underground, taking Russ with him.
Petrov seized his businesses, though by that time I was working in clubs other than my stepbrother’s.
He didn’t seem to care much as long as I gave him money.
By the time Braxton parks my car in front of Petrov’s mansion, I’m more of a mess than I was at the apartment.
It’s not every day that you visit the pakhan of the Russian Bratva, especially one who is after a family member of yours—or, you know, after you’ve turned your back on said family member.
Even though Russ is on the outs with Petrov, that doesn’t mean the man won’t see me working with the Black Roses as some sort of betrayal to the Bratva.
And we’re all clear on what a man in charge of the Bratva does to those who betray them.
At least that was the case when his father ran things.
“Hey,” Braxton says as he takes my hands—hands that I’ve been wringing the entire drive here. “You don’t have to be afraid of Nik. He’s good people.”
I quirk a brow, giving him a flat look.
“Fine. Good as far as anyone in this life is,” Braxton concedes. “He’s not going to hurt you just because you’re kind of related to Russ, Vanessa. I wouldn’t bring you here if I thought that.”
Giving him a small smile, I tell him, “I know. My mind is all over the place right now, jumping to every worst possible scenario.”
Braxton reaches over and tucks my hair behind my ear. “Let’s see if we can go get some answers for what those scenarios might be, yeah?”
I nod, and Braxton steps out of the car. Exhaling a deep breath, I take his hand when he opens my door. “Time to head into the lion’s den.”
Nik meets us outside as we walk up the marble steps leading to the double solid oak doors.
“Ozzy, good to see you,” Nik says, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand. Nik greets every brother and Cece before stopping at me. “Vanessa Krainyukov. It’s a pleasure to see you. Though I am curious as to why you’re here,” he says and shakes my hand.
“Mr. Petrov, thank you for seeing us. You know my stepbrother and his boss. That’s why I’m here,” I say in an unsteady voice.
“Please call me Nik. Let’s head inside, and you can tell me about the man I’ve been looking for.”
“I thought your last name was Krain,” Braxton says.
“My father changed our name when I was a baby. He didn’t want ties to his father’s past.”
“Wait, your grandfather was in the Bratva?” Braxton whispers, and I nod.
“He was a low-level soldier who worked under Nik’s father when he took over a rival family’s territory. My dad wanted us far from the Bratva. But when he died…” I shrug because there’s nothing I can really say. My mom didn’t have the same issues with organized crime as my father did. Obviously.
Nik opens the door for us and leads us into an expansive library.
“Nice digs, Petrov. You read all these?” Jude asks, looking at the walls lined with bookshelves.
“Most of them, yes. I knew someone who loved to read. I turned this room into a library after my father died in memory of her.”
“Sorry for your loss, mate,” Jude says, nodding his head.
“It was years ago, but thank you. Please have a seat.” Nik gestures to the couches grouped together around a large dark wood table with a couple of crystal decanters and glasses in the middle.
“Drink?” he asks the group, and everyone shakes their heads no.
Nik sits back in a club chair and crosses his ankle over his knee as though he’s the king of the castle.
Which, I mean, he is. “Tell me how I can help.”
Ozzy leans forward. “We know you’ve been looking for Sokolov. We have been too. It’s time to combine our intel and double our efforts.”
“Russ took my sister and my mom,” I interject. “I was sent to spy on the Black Roses for him and Sokolov, and he must have figured I ratted him out or something.”
“The Russians tried to attack us again yesterday, but it was a trap. When it didn’t go as planned, they decided to punish Vanessa through her sister and mom,” Braxton grits out.
“Fucking pricks,” Nik says. “I never liked your stepbrother. There was always something off in his eyes. When he defected with Sokolov, I knew my suspicions about him were correct. It’s not just about money for him; it’s about making him feel powerful over little girls and women.”
“Lev kept him on a leash when we were kids, but after he died, Russ didn’t have to keep it hidden,” I say.
“Do you have any recent pictures of your mom and sister?” Nik asks.
I pull one up on my phone and hand it to Nik.
He presses a few buttons and hands it back.
“I sent it to myself and put my number in your phone. I’ll get this out to all of my men and make sure they spread the information around.
I need Russ’s phone number; see if we can track him that way.
I’ll look into properties your father and grandfather owned.
I’ll need your mother’s maiden name as well.
We can look into properties her family owned.
It’s an avenue we haven’t used simply because I didn’t know you were involved, but it isn’t uncommon for the men to have their own safe houses.
If your father died and left it to your mother, she may not know of its existence, or she may have told Lev about it. ”
Nik walks over to a desk sitting in the corner and comes back with a pen and paper. I write down everything I can think of and hand it back to Nik. He nods and makes a phone call, speaking Russian to the person on the other end, so I have no idea what he’s saying.
When he disconnects the call, he slides his phone into his pocket. “My best computer specialist is going to get started right away. I’ll let you know what they come up with, even if it’s nothing.”
“We should bring my brother in on this,” Jude says. “He likes to think he has the best hacker in the world working with him.”
“Ah, yes, Sawyer Jones,” Nik says.
“You know Sawyer?” Jude asks.
“I know of Sawyer. I make it a point to know all the players on the East Coast. My specialist isn’t a fan. Something about a bet they lost. They’re still bitter.” Nik chuckles and stands. “If you’ll excuse me, I have another meeting to attend.”
We all stand, and Nik walks us to the front door. “I’ll be in touch,” he tells Ozzy. “Vanessa, if you think of anything else, please reach out.”
“Thank you, Nik,” I say, relieved that this meeting went as well as it did.
At least for once in the last twenty-four hours, the worst possible thing didn’t happen and Nik didn’t shoot me on sight for betraying the former Bratva member.
I guess it’s the whole the enemy of my enemy type of situation, or Nik really did change the way the Bratva has done business for generations.
Nik smiles, but it’s without warmth. “Oh, believe me, if this leads us to Sokolov, it will be my pleasure.”