Chapter 23 - Ivan
Stepping out of the interrogation room, I winced as I pulled my gloves off and flexed my knuckles while they ached.
Despite the subtle bruising there, I shook it off and kept moving through the warehouse with the hostage's words fresh in my mind still.
Forcing myself to otherwise leave that mental state behind, pushing down the man's cries and the way my fist collided with his mangled skin again and again, I pulled my phone out and called Aleks while I headed for my car parked out front.
He picked up on the second ring, asking, "What's going on?"
"I just got done with the hostage we found snooping around the other day," I returned, closing the car door once I was inside.
"And what did you get out of him?"
Taking a breath, I started the engine and eventually pulled out of the laneway leading to the highway. "He was a Kuzmin associate...apparently Rurik has people working on his behalf...and they're making moves behind the scenes as we speak."
I caught the edge in Aleks’ tone, bording on tightly controlled anger. "What kind of moves?"
"From what we've already seen, they're scalping shipments and trying to gain some sort of upper hand. They need weapons and numbers, and it seems he has somehow scraped up more men on his side. I can only imagine they're gearing up to do something bigger...something more coordinated."
His irritation festered. "How can he do anything while held in lock up?"
Sighing, I watched my surroundings, focusing on driving despite how my mind was also fixed on the topic at hand. "I'm assuming he had some sort of protocols in place for his guys to follow if something were to happen to him...maybe he has a trusted inner circle working to hold down the fort in the meantime. That's how it sounded to me, anyway."
Aleks was quiet for a moment while he mauled over my words, and then he sighed. "Whatever it is, we can't let these uncoordinated goons get the better of us. We've been lucky enough to stop them so far, but if they are gearing up for something more, then we need to be prepared."
"We will be," I returned, confident in that fact, while I took a turn and headed for the inner city. "Given how poorly they executed that last attempt to hijack our trade, they walked away with less than they had to start, and I doubt they'll pull themselves together for some bigger hit."
"I hope so...but I wouldn't write them off just yet," Aleks murmured, sounding guarded. "Remember how Kuzmin managed to fool you, Dima, and Olivia with his sister...he might still have tricks up his sleeve yet, regardless of being locked up."
My chest ached at the mention of Daria and how my brothers still didn't know the whole truth of it.
It wasn't like me to keep anything from my family, and that guilt tried to push its way up, but I swallowed it back down again.
As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew Aleks was right. Rurik and Daria did manage to trip us up before, but I wouldn't let it happen again.
"I'll keep my eye on the situation and see if anyone else feels like spilling more information."
Aleks huffed out a breath, then hummed to himself through the phone. "All right...keep me posted. We'll beef up our numbers for deliveries moving forward."
Knowing that was the best option, for the time being, I nodded and found myself approaching my neighborhood. "Will do."
Before I could reach the house, we both said our goodbyes, and then I ended the call and forced out a breath.
As much as I didn't want to think too deeply about the situation after work, it was heavy on my mind anyway.
Given how hard we worked for everything we had, no part of me wanted our progress to be undone by the likes of Rurik Kuzmin. I refused to let anyone shake our empire—especially not him.
Pulling in through the gates, I made my way to the garage, parked, and headed inside.
Forcing out a breath, I tried to let go of everything that clung to me throughout the day and reminded myself that I'd be with my wife in a matter of minutes. Whatever that might entail, I wanted to find out as soon as possible.
Pushing through the front door, my brows furrowed the moment those angered words reached me. At first, I didn't recognize that voice, but then I caught Dima's next, and the realization formed a lump in my throat.
That couldn't be good...
Not wasting a moment, hoping it wasn't as bad as I expected, that notion fizzled out at the sight of Olivia and Dima standing in the living room while Daria was on the couch with her head down.
Given Olivia's tight expression, she was furious.
It didn't take long for me to realize what happened...to know the jig was up, and I had some explaining to do.
I completely forgot I asked Dima to run an errand for me, and I got so caught up with work that I didn't warn Daria ahead of time. I didn't think it would've led the two of them inside, but knowing my brother, he was likely pushing it. And without telling Daria, she wouldn't have known to stay hidden until they left again.
Casting another glance at Daria, picking up on how ashamed and embarrassed she looked, I could only imagine what Olivia had been saying to her.
She would be the angriest out of everyone to know she was still around...and in my life, to make matters worse.
When she heard me come in, Olivia looked in my direction with the most heated expression I had ever seen on her face.
"There you are," she muttered, looking between me and Dima before turning her attention to Daria again. "We were just having a chat with your wife ."
So they knew that much, at least...it seemed they managed to get some information out of Daria in my absence.
Before I could say anything, Dima took a few strides towards me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me to the side. His brows fixed tightly together.
"What the hell, Ivan?" He muttered, keeping his voice low despite his own barely contained anger. "Why didn't you handle the situation like you said you would? Why is she here with you?"
Somewhat caught off-guard by the whole thing, forced to grapple with them being caught up to speed in my absence, I blinked back at him before finding the words. "I wanted to get back at her for what happened in Mexico...so I forced her back here to marry me. But things changed..."
He narrowed his eyes at me, seemingly trying to understand my rationale. "You thought marrying her was the best way to stick it to her?"
Aware of how stupid it sounded in hindsight, despite not regretting it, I scoffed and scrubbed a hand over my mouth. "I needed to tie her to me...it was the easiest way to torment her. And it worked until it didn't anymore."
Still looking frustrated with me, Dima sighed. "I can't believe you did this and didn't say anything...marrying her in secret and everything..."
"I know," I muttered, trying to reorient myself so as not to sound quite so pathetic. "It wasn't my greatest plan."
"No kidding..."
Remembering that Olivia was still there, I glanced over Dima's shoulder to find her standing over Daria with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
"I can't believe you...using me like that...deceiving me," she uttered, looking at her with nothing but hatred and disdain. "You took advantage of my vulnerability and used it against me. You also used Ivan, didn't you? I'm sure you somehow used whatever pull you had over him to manipulate the situation...to make him give you some comfortable life instead of the punishment you deserve."
Daria looked devastated by the claims, meeting her gaze again with a long expression, caught in the heat of Olivia's fury.
"It wasn't like that...I didn't even want to come here. But Ivan—"
"Shut your mouth," she snapped at her, arms crossed over her chest. "You could've gotten me killed with your big scheme...I don't want to hear your excuses. You're a lying, two-faced bitch."
Anger rising in my chest at her abrasive words, I stepped away from Dima. "That's enough, Olivia."
With her attention on me then, I, too, felt the sting of her wrath.
"You're kidding, right? Don't tell me she has completely sunk her claws into you, too."
"She hasn't done anything...not since we locked her brother up," I returned, trying to reason with her. "Rurik was the reason she lied to us in Mexico."
"Bullshit," Olivia spat, not letting anything shake her conviction. "That's probably another string in her web of lies...I'm sure she knew exactly what she was doing and still does. And you're foolish enough to believe her!"
My jaw clenched at her claims, stepping closer to put myself in between her and Daria. "Watch how you speak about my wife..."
Her irritation flared even brighter, raising her voice at me. "Don't act like she's some innocent victim...she has already gotten exactly what she wanted...baby trapping you and everything!"
As her words sank in, my brows furrowed in my confusion, and I glanced down at Daria to find her tangle of mixed emotions. Above all else, she looked ashamed for everything.
It tugged on my heartstrings, and at the sight of what I took as her silent admission to the revelation being true, my chest ached at the good news.
"A baby..." I murmured just above a whisper.
Olivia growled under her breath and gave me a scalding look. "That's right...you knocked her up. And now she's going to pull this family apart."
My surprise and disbelief lingered all the while that fact settled in my skin, making me wish I had found out under better circumstances.
With Olivia's anger reaching its peak, she gritted her teeth and pushed past us, storming off towards the foyer.
Caught between me and his wife, Dima sighed, then gave me an apologetic look before following Olivia. Before long, he disappeared, too, then the front door closed behind them both.
The silence in the room was almost deafening without Olivia's shouting, allowing me to hear the quickened beat of my pulse in my ears.
Trying so hard to process everything that just happened in a matter of minutes, I turned to face Daria with a softer expression than I intended.
"It's true then?" I asked quietly, reaching out to cup her cheek, in silent awe about the idea.
To my surprise, Daria pulled away from me with her eyes averted, voice revealing exactly how hurt she had been by it all. "You should've known this would've happened..."
"What, with Olivia and Dima finding out?"
She forced out a breath before finally looking at me. "Yes...but you didn't tell them or anyone else in your family. You forced me into this mess when you should've just left me in Mexico."
My chest ached at her words, watching how her heightened emotions formed tears in her waterline. "I know I should've told them...I know I didn't handle it right, but we need to talk about this. The baby..."
Sniffling, she shook her head and stood, looking away from me again. "Not right now...I need time."
Watching while she walked away, visibly wrecked by the confrontation with Olivia, I felt more helpless than I ever had before.
I wanted to push my luck and chase after her, but I didn't want to overstep...I didn't want my usual abrasiveness to push her even further away from me. If she needed space, then I had to respect it, even if it physically pained me.
Left alone in the living room, I felt like I was floundering, wondering how such incredible news could be overshadowed so easily.