Chapter Ten
Kirill
I skim an eye over the gathered mourners, finally feeling like I can handle the overload this day has brought. Losing my mother has been one of the most difficult things I had to endure, yet being with Tiana helped me clear my head. That woman is a drug, and I can’t get enough of her.
But that doesn’t mean I can just forget about all the shit that’s hanging over me.
I know my mind isn’t going to rest until I find out what the fuck is going on with my ex-wife.
I have a feeling that somehow she is connected to the shitstorm that’s been is going on with Tiana’s father and that motherfucker Petrov.
I know she’s up to something. I can feel it in my bones.
And somehow I feel like she’s using the child as leverage.
Stepan.
I feel for the boy, but for whatever reason, I don’t have a connection with him.
It’s not that I’ve missed his childhood till now.
Something is off and I can’t put my finger on it.
Perhaps if Dima gets proof that he’s actually my son, I’ll feel different about him.
And if he’s not my son… Well, that will put a lot of things into perspective.
I’ll cut the ties with Zoya and get her claws out of my world once and for all.
Then, I’ll be able to focus on the rest of my life with Tiana.
The woman my mother chose for me.
The thought makes me want to smile. Even though her mind was compromised, my mother never lost her true nature. She’d always been astute. A keen judge of human nature. If she believed that Tiana was special, that’s good enough for me.
As I think of her, I scan the restaurant, realizing I don’t see her anywhere.
Casting occasional glances toward the service area and the restroom over the next few minutes, I start to grow concerned when she doesn’t emerge from either.
She’s not in the restaurant, and she’s not in either of those areas.
I look around again, trying to catch sight of a wave of dark hair, the curve of her cheek, the familiar features that have become etched in my mind.
Where the fuck is she?
“Have you seen Tiana?” I frown at Dima, who’s still hovering nearby.
He shakes his head. “Not for a while, Boss.”
“How long is a while?” I narrow my eyes on him.
He shrugs. “Twenty-five… thirty minutes?”
I don’t think I’ve noticed her in that time either.
Half an hour.
Blyad!
“Check with the others. See if anyone else has caught sight of her,” I tell Dima. Without question, he melts away into the crowd while I make a quick check of the adjoining rooms, including the office we’d just been in.
No sign of her. She’s nowhere to be found.
When I turn around to see Dima back beside me, his expression tells me all I need to know.
“Nothing, Boss. None of them seems to know where she’s gone to.”
“How?” I snap. “They were supposed to be watching her!”
“Uh… she was with you, Boss.”
I run a hand through my hair, realizing he’s right. I’d probably been the last one with her. And if they’d seen her with me, they’d assume that I had things under control.
Except nothing is under control. She’s not here. A knot of worry starts forming in my gut. It doesn’t improve when Zoya cruises up, eyeing us curiously.
“Anything wrong, Kirill?” As usual, she has no qualms about interfering in my business.
“Have you seen Tiana?” I ask abruptly.
“Tiana?” Zoya flicks an imaginary piece of lint off the low-cut neckline of her shirt. “Your little bird has flown the coop,” she says airily, sidling up closer to me.
“She did what?” I snap, ignoring the fact that I’m drawing stares from those in the gathering as my voice rises and I grow increasingly agitated.
“She left. Didn’t tell me where and I didn’t ask.” Zoya examines her nails nonchalantly.
“And you’re only telling me now?” Rage bubbles up inside me. I resist the urge to grab her by the throat. Instead I snarl, “What did you do?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything.” Zoya shrugs. “I told her it’s not a good idea, but she told me not to worry. What was I supposed to do? She’s an adult, right?”
My hands clench into fists. This is not the first time this happens.
She escaped me once and I allowed it to happen again.
But why would she try to flee now? Especially after what we just had together.
I’m pretty sure we shared a moment back then.
Not to mention that she knows exactly how dangerous it is for her out there.
Unless Zoya is involved in this somehow.
“Chush’ sobach’ya! You’re lying!” I tell Zoya.
“Why would I lie to you milaya? ” Zoya shrugs.
I glare at her. I know her well enough to tell when she’s up to something. And a flicker in her eyes is enough to tell me that she’s behind Tiana’s disappearance.
Blyad!
The bitch is up to something. But I don’t have time to deal with her manipulative bullshit right now.
“Dima, get a team together,” I bark. “We need to find Tiana.”
“I don’t understand what the big fuss is,” Zoya interjects. “She’s a big girl. I am sure she can take care of herself.”
Not against fucking Petrov, she can’t.
“Shut up!” I pause and give her a look that speaks more than a thousand words. She blinks back at me through long lashes, her expression pure innocence. Classic Zoya. She’s behind this, that much is clear.
“You stay here. I aim daggers at her with my eyes. “We will talk about this when I get back.”
Before she can say anything, I turn to face Dima. “Get two of the men to keep an eye on her,” I glance over to where Zoya is standing. “Make sure they follow her everywhere, even if she’s taking a shit. I want to know her every move. Do not let her out of sight. Do you understand?”
“Got it, Boss.” Dima nods. “What do you want to do about Tiana?”
I feel adrenaline surge. “Get everyone else to start scouring the place in a three mile radius. Look for anything out of the ordinary. She can’t be far.”
My men scramble to follow Dima’s orders while I head to the back office to see what might have been caught on the security cameras. There’s a guy at the controls, skimming through footage when I arrive. He turns to look at me over his shoulder.
“ Pakhan , I found something! She left this way. About half an hour ago.” He points at the screen. “There’s a camera over the service access.”
I check the security footage and see her slipping out a side door that leads to an alley. It connects the back entrance of the restaurant with the main door.
Blyad!
What the fuck is she thinking? She’s supposed to know by now that she’s not safe out there. I have to find her before someone else does.
With Dima in tow, I charge through the restaurant to the kitchen and out through the service gate. Once outside, I run into the alley she disappeared down. It’s dark. Shadowed. Plenty of places to hide in if you’re a woman on the run… or if you’re a motherfucker hoping to catch one.
“Look for anything, no matter how small!” I bark at my men spreading out behind me.
I’m already scanning the area, searching for any kind of clue that could tell me where she went from here.
It doesn’t take long before I see signs of a struggle.
An overturned trash can, skid marks on the ground.
I sprint closer, running my eyes over the scene.
Then I see it.
A fine spray of blood splattering the sidewalk. Not much, but enough. A single drop of Tiana’s blood is a drop too much. My heart drops into my stomach. She was taken.
Blyad!
I spin around as if she might appear from any direction.
“Tiana!” I roar her name, scanning the empty alley for any indication of which way they went, but I already know it’s useless. The blood on the sidewalk already started to clot which means it’s been there for at least ten minutes.
“Pizdets Nahui Blyat!” I rake both hands through my hair.
How did anyone even know to take her from here? We kept the whole fucking restaurant locked down for tonight’s event. We have security everywhere so that shit like this can’t happen.
I continue to fume, but I already know the answer to my dilemma.
It was an inside job, dolboyob.
Someone who knew about tonight’s event sold us out. There is no other explanation. And I know exactly who that someone is. She gave herself away the moment I looked into her eyes.
Fucking Zoya.
Rage courses through my veins, and I want to break something.
And that will be Zoya’s neck as soon as I get back here.
But there’s no time for that when every second counts.
I must find Tiana. Because the worst thing about this isn’t the fact that Zoya sold me out.
It’s who she sold me out to. There is only one man who has the resources to pull this off.
And that man is very angry at me right now for killing his nephew.
“Petrov.” Dima comes up behind me, muttering the name on my mind.
My blood runs cold and then bubbling hot. And after what I did to Ivan Petrov, I don’t want to think about what his uncle will do to Tiana.
“Fan out into the neighborhood!” I yell to my men, who come running at the sound of my shouting. “Check every building in the area. I want any scrap of information you can find!”
My men scramble to obey, but a part of me already knows it’s useless.
Petrov’s men wouldn’t have stayed in the area.
They would have made sure that I can’t find her.
She’s gone without a trace, vanished into the night.
And that fucker Petrov is going to contact me with his demands.
Or he’s going to try to lure me into a trap.
It’s a waiting game now and I fucking hate waiting especially when there’s so much at stake.
You can’t lose your shit, mudak.
Not when Tiana needs you.
I clench my fists, willing myself to stay in control. I take several seconds to slow my breath… until Dima reappears.
“Boss.”
I turn to look at him. His expression isn’t just grim, it’s filled with dread.
“One of the men found this.” He holds up something. Peering at it in the darkness, glare at the white framed image in Dima’s hand. And I feel my heart stop.
It’s a Polaroid of Tiana, unconscious and bound in the back of a van. Written across it in bold red letters are the words:
“She’s with us now.”