Chapter 20 - Alisa
“When do you think they’ll be here?” I asked nervously and checked the time on the wall clock.
“Soon,” Dante said, giving me a soft smile. “Would you like a glass of wine to take the edge off?”
I shook my head and managed to mutter a no thanks of some sort. I didn’t care if he heard. I was way too strung up.
My stomach had twisted itself with anxiety over this upcoming meeting. It had been Dante’s suggestion to let his brothers know what we had learned about my father’s involvement with the Pavlovs, along with what he promised them: Me.
That morning, over breakfast, Dante had filled me in on everything he knew about the Pavlovs. By the end of it, one thing became clear. They weren’t the type of men who gave up.
“If they’re coming for you, Alisa,” Dante pleased. “We need all the help we can get. Which means we need my family’s support.”
I knew he was right. Even if I didn’t want to face the truth, the truth was what it was. Dante was insistent that we had to get my security in order.
I paced his office from end to end.
Dante watched me for a while, then spoke. “Alisa, we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”
I stopped pacing and faced him. “No, I am. I just… “ My voice trailed off. What could I say? That a part of me still wished his family would not pass judgements on my father?
Somewhere in my heart, I still believed my father made a mistake and that he wasn’t as evil as the conversation we were about to have would make him out to be.
Just then, we heard the voices down the hallway, growing louder. The Lebedev brothers were here.
I threw a nervous glance Dante’s way, and he leaned over to give me a soft, reassuring kiss on my forehead, pulling back just as the door opened.
Caspian, Federico, Giovanni, Luca, and Achille walked in, and I fought the urge to shrink back. I knew what they were.
Bratva.
Like Dante.
And while Dante was good and kind to me, while his family was nothing less than lovely to me, I didn’t know if their courtesy would extend all the way to my father.
“Hello, Alisa,” Caspian smiled warmly at me, then gave Dante a curious look.
“I was in the middle of something. What’s going on?”
“Yes, we’re all eager to know,” said Achille, his eyes landing on me.
I knew what they were thinking. What the hell was I doing here?
Dante motioned at everyone to get comfortable. Caspian pulled up a chair. Federico slouched back on a recliner after asking if I wanted it.
I shook my head and kept standing while everyone got comfortable.
“So, we’ve got a situation,” Dante said and leaned back against his desk as he surveyed the room.
When his eyes landed on mine, he paused as though he wanted me to give the green light.
He knew how worried I was about this meeting, and Dante, being Dante, didn’t want to push me into something I didn’t feel comfortable with.
But it was right for us to tell his brothers. We’d discussed this earlier—they needed to know everything. If the Pavlovs were coming for me and I was married to Dante, the entire Lebedev family was at risk.
“So, what’s the situation?” Caspian asked.
“It involves the Pavlovs,” Dante said.
The room went silent. Cold.
“The Pavlovs?” hissed Federico. “What business do we have with those fuckers?”
Then, he looked my way sheepishly. “Sorry, Alisa.”
“I’m sure she’s heard the word fuck before, you know?” Luca rolled his eyes.
I couldn’t help but feel a little more relaxed.
“Guys, focus.” Dante brought them all to silence. “Marc Montes wanted to meet Alisa, and we set up the meeting. I was nearby, listening in, until I had to pull her out of there.”
“Why did you have to pull her out of there?” Gio asked, leaning forward on his chair.
“Because he’s deep in debt to Arko Pavlov, and to pay it off, he promised Alisa as a bride to him.”
Everyone looked stunned.
“Jesus Christ,” Giovanni muttered.
Caspian stood and walked toward me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Tell us exactly what happened.”
I told him everything we knew: How my father had admitted to owing a debt to the Pavlovs, how he’d begged me to come home with him, and how he’d let Arko’s name slip in his anger.
“He seemed terrified,” I added, remembering the fear in my father’s eyes. “Whatever he owes them, it’s big enough that he was willing to sell his own daughter to clear it.”
“That fucking bastard,” Luca snarled, slamming his fist into the wall. “Who does that to their own daughter?”
I flinched. This right here was exactly what I’d been so damn afraid of. Their judgment.
“I mean… we still don’t have the complete picture,” I tried to calm them all. “We don’t know what kind of debt. These guys are dangerous, right? Maybe my father’s truly petrified.”
None of them acknowledged that they heard me. In fact, they even looked at me with pity, and something inside me shrank.
I had to be right… Didn’t I?
“We need to find out exactly what he’s been doing for them,” Caspian decided. “And for how long. How many of our guys has he thrown in prison, huh? Even when they did nothing wrong? Well, now we know, the Pavlovs must have been behind it.”
“They’ve got the god damn Federal prosecutor in their pockets, can you imagine?” Luca hissed. “How convenient.”
My chest started to flutter in panic as I saw what was happening. The Lebedevs were furious at my father, blaming him even for weakening their organization. I had to find a way to stop this before it escalated.
“I can have my guys dig deeper into Marc’s history with the Pavlovs,” Federico offered.
“I’ve got contacts in the courthouse,” Achille added. “They might know something.”
“And I think we should pay Marc Montes a visit,” Luca suggested with a dangerous edge to his voice. “Remind him what happens to people who work with the Pavlovs in our territory.”
My head snapped up at that. “Wait… what?” I gasped in shock.
The brothers exchanged glances, and Dante stepped closer to me, standing beside me like a fort.
“We need to send a message, Alisa,” Caspian said carefully, watching Dante’s defensive stand. “The Pavlovs are trying to establish a foothold here through your father. We can’t allow that.”
“You can’t hurt him,” I blurted out. After everything my father had done, I should have wanted him to pay. But he was still my father. “Please. I know what he did was unforgivable, but—”
“Alisa,” Dante tried to remind me gently. “He tried to sell you. He’s working with people who would hurt you in ways you can’t imagine.”
“I know that,” I said, blinking back sudden tears. “But there has to be more to the story. Why would he do this? He’s always been so… “
The word “loving” died on my lips because it wasn’t true anymore, was it? If it ever had been.
“Look,” Dante spoke at last, “we need information first. Let’s not make any decisions until we know exactly what we’re dealing with. How does that sound?”
The brothers murmured their agreement, but I could see the fury in their eyes. They might have shelved their plans to hurt him for now, but just how long before they sprang into action?
As they continued discussing the next steps, my mind didn’t know how to shut off.
I knew now, without a doubt, that Dante’s brothers were pissed with my father.
I knew that it was a matter of time before they went after him directly, for doing what he did to me, as well as for allying with the Pavlovs.
I couldn’t let them hurt my father, not until I knew the whole truth. There had to be a reason, an explanation for how he’d gotten so deep with people like the Pavlovs. Maybe he didn’t have a choice.
But the Lebedevs weren’t gracious enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. If someone had to prove it, there was only one person who could: Me.
I had to know the truth, and I needed to find it before the Lebedevs did something that couldn’t be undone.
***
The meeting finally ended, and the brothers left, but Dante and I stayed back in his office.
I just sat there, silent, still overwhelmed from all the anger I heard tonight, all of which had been directed at my father.
“Alisa?”
“Alisa…?”
“Hmm?” I looked up at Dante. He looked worried, like he sensed I hadn’t been present.
“I was asking if you’d like a bite to eat. You hungry?”
“Oh.” I shook my head and frowned, my mind still on something else entirely. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Are you feeling okay?” He walked over and gently brushed a strand of hair from my cheek.
I looked up and forced a smile. “I just need some time to process everything.”
“I know this is hard,” he said. “But we’ll figure it out together, okay?”
I nodded and held back my words of frustration.
I knew that in Dante’s head, together meant on his terms. If I waited for together, I’d be stuck doing nothing, feeling helpless as hell.
I had tried leaving this situation to Dante, but it was only getting worse, and his family positively hated my father.
Enough was enough. My brain was going haywire, screaming at me to act. We didn’t have the full story on my father’s betrayal, and Dante didn’t seem to be the least interested in finding out. I had waited patiently for a long time now.
And I was getting sick and tired of it. So if answers existed, I had to find them on my own.
A stab of guilt hit me as I stood up to kiss him softly. He was only trying to help, but I planned to throw dirt in his eyes tonight. But when I did, I only hoped he would understand that this was something I had to do for myself.
“I know,” I whispered against his lips. “I think I’m going to rest for a bit.”
“Of course,” he kissed me on my forehead again and let me go.
I left him in his office, and the minute I reached the corner of the hallway, I pulled out my phone and called for a cab a hundred metres from Dante’s compound.
It was too dangerous to call one straight through the gates. Dante and his bodyguards wouldn’t let me go once they discovered my plans.