Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jaxon
The room goes quiet as I walk in, every eye shifting to me with a mixture of wariness and curiosity, though not a single one directly meets my gaze. They know things change today and I’m not fucking around anymore.
We’re at my father’s house in the meeting room. Sitting around the long mahogany table are: my father, Levka, Magnus, Eric, our three senior brigadiers, and my personal favorite: five guards from the Creed’s Citadel.
They are who you bring in when people have been murdered. Normally, we’d call in the Bratva senior enforcers, but today, I’m employing my powers beyond the Bratva.
This will be a meeting like none other before.
I glance at my father as I get closer. His eyes hold a silent testimony, speaking to me without words and telling me he was right. Someone did try to poison him weeks ago. They probably didn’t try again because the Creed guards have been stationed here. Come to think of it, my father looks more like himself. The color has returned to his cheeks and the life to his eyes. But he’s the kind of bastard who would be happy Damian and Yuri are dead so he can stop worrying about them trying to kill him.
The problem now is our prime suspects are both dead.
I sit next to my father and allow the acrid silence to stretch for a few more seconds. When it gets too much, I clear my throat and look at every single person at the table, taking in every twitch and flicker of expression on their faces.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” I start, my voice low and meticulously measured. “I know one of you killed Damien and Yuri. So, just confess.”
I’m going for straight to the point today. I’m tired as fuck from running around all night looking for Salvatore, and this situation here is just one more thorn in my side.
The only good thing I can take from it is that Damien and Yuri are no longer a threat. But the threat is still here.
My theory is that Levka and Magnus turned against them. I would have assumed it was the cartel guys if not for the fact that Damien and Yuri were poisoned.
“What makes you think someone here did it?” Levka is the first to speak like I knew he would.
Fool. He doesn’t know that opportunity I threw on the table was his chance to confess.
Now I glance at Eric, who nods at me, giving me the backing to go ahead and do what I must.
On my way here I decided this shit needed to end today. Now that people are dead—members of my family—the stakes got raised.
“Tell me where you were last night,” I throw back my own demand at him.
His brows knit. “I was fucking two strippers.”
“And you, Magnus?” I look at my only remaining uncle.
His face is stern but holds no real emotion. “I was at home all night. There’s surveillance in my house. You can check it.”
I smile back at him and Levka. “Surveillance and fucking. You think that’s enough to save you?”
“Are you suggesting we did it?” Levka’s eyes widen and he grits his teeth.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
“This is an outrage. What do you think of this, Uncle?” He looks at my father, who issues him the same dominant stare.
“Let the Pakhan speak. This is his court, not mine,” Father replies.
“You must have an opinion on the matter.”
“I do. And I would kill you right the fuck now if it were up to me. Be grateful your Pakhan is giving you a chance to save your neck.”
That’s the first time my father has ever taken my side. I glance at him, and we nod at each other.
Levka and Magnus suddenly look like two frightened birds sitting in a hot seat.
“You’re talking like there’s evidence,” Magus fumes.
“Here’s what we have so far. Solid evidence that shows someone here set up for my wife to be kidnapped months ago. We also have evidence of a bomb being left at the company that was supposed to kill my father and me. And lastly, there are secret dealings with the cartel to kill me.”
“You think that was us?” Magnus shouts, his eyes wild with fury.
Levka’s eyes, on the other hand, tell a different story. He was never good at keeping a straight face for too long. He looks panicked. The way a guilty person would look when confronted with an accusation.
“What do you have to say, Levka?” I focus on him, and so does everyone else.
“I think you’re fucking mad.”
I nod at the Creed guards, who get up and seize both Levka and Magnus. Two grab their arms and hold them in a lock behind the chair, while two more holds guns to their heads. The fifth opens the little case of poison specially prepared for this occasion.
“What are you doing?” Levka yells.
“Giving you the chance to save yourself or your father by telling the truth.”
“I didn’t do it. Neither did he.”
Magnus is so stunned and scared he can’t even talk.
“Father, why don’t you tell us what that is in the box,” I say to my father, keeping my gaze riveted to Levka as the fifth guard pulls the little vial of poison from the box.
“It includes a potent dose of thallium that will kill you within a few minutes. Thallium was my favorite poison because of the way the symptoms take effect. Some people say it feels like your insides are turning to liquid. I wonder how you’ll both feel.” Father smiles. “Give it to Levka first.”
When the guard grabs Levka’s arm, he starts shouting and cursing us all to hell and back in Russian.
“Magnus, are you really going to let your son die?” Father says, looking at my uncle.
I stare at my father with narrowed eyes because he speaks with certainty. As if he knows something. Then I’m shocked when Magus cracks.
“It was me,” he cries. “I set up the kidnapping for Gabriella and the bombing with Damien.”
“Stop,” I say to the guard just as he’s about to administer the poison. Then I look back at Magnus. “Keep talking.”
“I wanted Levka to have a chance to be Pakhan. I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”
“Have you lost your damn mind, Father? Why the hell did you do that?” Levka shouts. “You tried to kill them? And you kidnapped Gabriella?”
“Gabriella was Jaxon’s ticket to the leadership. With her out of the way, I saw a path for you. It was a chance I never thought you’d get. Damien and Yuri helped me because they knew they would get a higher position with you in charge.”
This is definitely a huge change in the tide. I knew Magnus would be involved to some degree, but I thought Levka would be, too.
“Father, you fool.” Levka glares at Magnus.
“What about Damien and Yuri?” I cut in. “Why did you kill them?”
“I didn’t kill them,” Magus says, shaking his head. “I swear to it. I confess to everything else, but I didn’t kill them. I don’t know what the hell happened, but it had nothing to do with me.”
“Or me,” Levka joins in.
I don’t know what to read from their expressions or what to believe. They’re just as bad as each other.
Magnus admitted to attempted murder and kidnapping, Levka maintains his innocence. There’s only one way to eliminate the danger. If only for the moment.
“Take them both away and lock them up. We’ll conduct a full investigation and get to the bottom of this.” My tone is decisive and cold.
The guards usher Levka and Magus out of their chairs. Before they walk through the doors, Levka looks back at me and shakes his head.
“I didn’t do it, cousin,” he mutters, his eyes pleading with me. “I didn’t do it.”
I may have been stumped moments ago as I tried to establish what was going on, but something clicks inside me as I stare at him, and I find that I believe him. I don’t know why, but I do.
If I believe him, that means this isn’t resolved yet.
Levka walks through the door with the others, and that stiff silence returns worse than before.
“Meeting dismissed,” I say to everyone else.
Eric dips his head. “Come by and see me later, Pakhan.”
“Of course.”
The room empties, leaving just my father and me. I look at him, finding he’s already staring at me.
“How did you know it was Magnus?” I ask.
“Fathers and their sons. He’s always been ambitious for Levka. He wouldn’t have told Levka what was going on because it would incriminate him. Of course, if we’d died in the bombing, he wouldn’t have had to worry.”
“No. He wouldn’t.” I don’t bother to point out that none of this would be happening if he’d just given me my birthright.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Gabriella? I didn’t know she was kidnapped.”
“It was weeks ago. There was another attempt to take her last night, but this time, it was her father.” I know that by letting him know about Salvatore, I’m incriminating myself, too. I knew Salvatore was stealing from us. Better to tell him now in case Salvatore decides to bring him into it.
“You blackmailed him, didn’t you? For his daughter.”
“I did.” There’s nothing he can do to change anything. Gabriella and I are married, and I’m the Pakhan.
“Then you definitely earned your stripes.”
I give him a curious stare. “How so?”
“You did what you had to do to get what you wanted, relentlessly . But what are you going to do now that you love your wife?”
“Whatever I can to keep her safe.”
He nods with approval. “What about everything else? What if Magnus and Levka didn’t kill Damien and Yuri?”
“Then we have a problem on our hands.”
“I’d say so, too, son. Could it be Salvatore?”
“Maybe.”
A storm of confusion brews inside me by the time I arrive at Eric’s house.
On seeing my state, he hands me a bottle of beer and a Cohiba. We head out to the terrace to sit and talk, drink, and smoke like we always do.
When we light up, he gives me a look of understanding mixed with sympathy. I remember him looking at me like that whenever I’d go running to him as a boy after Father said or did something to me.
“Quite the show today, Pakhan,” he says, taking a sip of his drink and a puff on his cigar.
“It was one hell of a show. Things just blew up.”
“You can say that again. But you handled it well. I also appreciated that you teamed up with your father.”
I smirk. “If you can call it that. I listened to you, and I gave him a chance.”
“He’s been talking to me about that. He’s trying, and even if some things are done too late, it’s better than never.”
I nod, agreeing with him. “Yeah. I guess if he died and never tried, it would hurt more. At least this way, it gives me some peace. Something more to remember than just the ghost of my mother.”
“That’s all I wanted for you. Something more. Maybe I wanted you to see him the way I did before he lost your mother. He was a good father to Jacob, and I wanted him to show you the same love. You’re stronger as a leader with the support of your family backing you.”
“I think you’re right.”
He chuckles. “I am right.”
I pray I can be as wise as him one day. Maybe I’m getting there slowly but surely. I feel different to how I did even weeks ago. I guess my brain has been pushed to the limit because of everything that’s happened. And everything that’s still happening. “I’m stuck on everything else, Eric.”
“Don’t you believe that Levka and Magnus killed Damien and Yuri?”
“Do you?”
He blows out a ragged breath. “No.”
The knots in my stomach tighten, becoming impossible now to unravel. I was hoping he would tell me the opposite. It would be enough for me to put my mind at rest.
“Father thinks it could be Salvatore. I’m inclined to agree after last night.” When I spoke to him earlier, I told him about the attack at the beach house. That meant I had to give him the context behind it and tell him I’d blackmailed Salvatore into giving me his daughter.
“I agree it could be Salvatore. He was the first person who sprang to my mind after the meeting when I considered that Levka and Magnus could be telling the truth. If we’re right, this is not good, Jaxon. It means we underestimated him.”
“You mean me. I underestimated Salvatore. And I brought war on us by taking his daughter.” Gabriella has become my Helen of Troy. I cunningly took her when her father had other plans for her, and now he’s teamed up with our enemies. “You don’t come for the Bratva and powerful Creed leaders like us without your own power. Fuck knows who he has working for him if he can get to us.”
“That’s the part I’m worried about. Those guys last night were mercenaries, but they only tend to do dirty work and the bidding for someone else in charge. Someone more powerful.”
“Exactly. They’d have to be powerful enough to find a way of breaking into your uncle’s home and poison him and his son unnoticed.”
I nod slowly. Damien and Yuri were found by the maid in Damien’s study. Yuri had gone to visit his father. They ate together as usual. Hours later, they were dead. The poison that was used to kill them was a synthetic compound that ravaged their faces so they were almost unrecognizable when they were found.
A worried look washes over Eric’s face, and I know he’s about to tell me more things I may not want to hear. “Permission to speak freely, Pakhan?”
I smile without humor. “You never have to ask me that. You may always speak freely. But just for the record, I’ve officially given you my old role, so you are now the Sovientrik.”
He places a hand to his heart and bows his head. “That is an honor I never expected. And one that will honor my family. No one would have achieved such a notable role in the Berlinski family. I would be the first.”
“Then the honor is mine. It is well deserved, Eric.” I nod and give him an appreciative look thinking about all the times he’s been there for me. “What did you need to speak freely about?”
“Your wife.”
I bite the inside of my lip. I sensed he may have wanted to talk about Gabriella. “What about her?”
He sighs and sets down his drink and cigar. “Do you love her? Or is she just a contract to you?”
“I love her.” I set my drink and cigar down, too.
“Then my first task as Sovientrik is to advise you to do what’s best for her.”
A tremor runs through my hands. “I am.”
“Are you? By keeping her?”
“I’m not returning her to her father. I won’t do it. That man is a monster and would sooner see her die.”
“I know, and I am definitely not suggesting that. But there are other ways of keeping her safe. You’re Pakhan now, Jaxon. War will always come to your doorstep. Always . Even if you manage to solve one problem, another one will surface. You may be able to tackle that, but rest assured more will come. Each time that happens, your family is at risk. What happens when the day comes when you can no longer fight back or save your family? When you have kids, the risk is even greater. Your enemies start with your weaknesses. The way they did with mine.”
My heart sinks into the ground as his words ravage my mind.
“Most men in the Bratva don’t marry for love,” he continues. “They marry for business. They tend to have stronger bonds with their children, not so much their wives. That’s why they find it so easy to cheat. Your father and I are the only two I know who married for love. That’s why we’re alone now. Because there was only ever one woman for us. We both lost them to death. I lost my Louise in the worst way possible. I don’t want that to happen to you.”
I’m listening to him and am hearing the words he’s telling me. But I’m also hearing the words he hasn’t said but implied. In my head it sounds like this: if you truly love Gabriella, you have to let her go.
Let her go so she’s safe from the dangers of my world. I remember that conversation she and I had in the hot tub. It feels like a lifetime ago now.
She talked about living a normal life and being with a normal average guy. Someone ordinary and not me. She all but said it.
I saw it in her eyes that she didn’t want to be with a man like her father. Someone who could get her killed, like what happened to her mother.
I didn’t want to be that man, but I may not have any control over that.
Once again, I’m reminded I’m not invincible.
And I know Eric is right.
I find Gabriella sitting outside on the bedroom balcony waiting for me when I reach home.
It’s night again, and she’s got Wuthering Heights in her hands.
On seeing me, she stands, sets the book down, and stares back at me with anticipation.
The last piece of news she got was about Damien and Yuri, so sympathy fills her eyes as I walk up to her.
“Jaxon, I?—”
I press a finger to her lips and glide it over the soft plump flesh. Then I just look at her. I’ve never wanted anything more than her. Never.
But I am her monster. The Beast.
Only I can release her from my fortress, because I have the keys.
Maybe that’s when I’ll become her prince. But there is no happy ever after for me if I can’t be with her.
The thought kills me, and as I hold her, I commit her to memory, everything about her. The way she looks. The way she feels. Her scent. Her heart. Her love.
A girl like this has no business being with a loathsome creature like me.
But I want it all one more time. I want her—my wife—one last time.
I lean in to kiss her and we fall into passion.
I make love to her all night, never wanting the sun to come up and take her from me.
The darkness keeps her with me for as long as I can hold on. But then morning comes.
She lies in my arms, rolls over to look at me, and I kiss her again.
“We have to talk,” I whisper, disbelief writhing through me at what I’m about to do.