Chapter 40
Nora
S ince Leo’s release from the hospital, we’ve gone back to our blissful bubble of sex and laughter, holed up alone in the house.
I should have known the bubble was about to burst.
“Alright, see you soon,” Leo says, hanging up the phone. “That was Nikolai, he’s on his way over, he has some important information to share with us.” He rolls over in bed and kisses me.
“I guess that means we’ve got to get up and take a shower together, doesn’t it,” I reply, my eyes sparkling with mischief as I recall the last time we showered together.
Leo growls, nipping my lip. “You’ll be the death of me, woman. As tempting as that is, if Nikolai finds us like that, he’ll take it as an invitation, and then I’d have to kill him.”
“Better not, then. I’m curious to hear what he has to say,” I reply with a grin.
I hear the doorbell sound as I’m finishing my shower, and I quickly get ready and head downstairs. Nikolai is there talking to Leo in the living room, and much to my disdain, he’s accompanied by Tatiana.
“Nikolai, it’s good to see you,” I say with a genuine smile. “I didn’t realize you were coming too, Tatiana,” I add coolly.
“Finally, you two are fucking. It suits you, no?” Tatiana says unabashedly.
My cheeks flush and I wonder how she knows. Did Leo tell them the intimate details of our newly discovered sex life?
“Don’t worry, lover boy didn’t say anything. A woman just knows. You have an… aura,” she says with a flick of her wrist.
I choose to ignore her and instead turn my attention back to Nikolai. “Leo said you had some important news.”
“Well, not exactly. We have the possibility of it,” Nikolai replies vaguely.
“Care to elaborate?” I reply dryly.
“Nadya, managed to speak to me briefly in private. She was frantic and very insistent that she had information that could help you, Nora. She gave me a note but wouldn’t tell me anything.
She insisted that if we want to hear what she knows about Dimitri and your father, she will only speak to you face-to-face. ”
I try to process this for a moment, wondering if it is some elaborate ruse set up by my father.
Nadya was my best friend and to hear she’d been spying on me the whole time broke my heart.
But I could also see from the pleading look in her eyes that there was more to the story, that she was as trapped as I am, and that maybe she did truly care for me.
“What does the note say?” I ask.
“I don’t know, I haven’t read it,” Nikolai replies, retrieving it from his pocket.
“A foolish decision,” Tatiana interjects snidely. “For all we know this is a trap to test our loyalty to Dimitri, or we’ve helped Nadya and Nora to spy for Quinn.”
I shoot daggers at Tatiana. “I’d appreciate you not insulting my integrity in my own home,” I snap.
“You don’t know me well, but trust me when I say I wish my father was dead.
I’d be the last person to help him. How do I know you’re not working with him and Dimitri to test us? Why should I trust you?”
Tatiana sniffs, looking at me with a hint of admiration. “My loyalty is to Nikolai and Leonid, I would never betray them.”
“But not your Pakhan?” I ask.
“On the surface, of course, I am a loyal member of this Bratva, but I will rejoice the day Leo takes his place and the old man is in his grave,” Tatiana replies.
“Why?”
“Because he killed my mother,” she replies simply.
“Tatiana was the result of an affair,” Nikolai explains, gently stroking his wife’s hand.
“Dimitri killed her mother in a fit of rage when he learned of her unfaithfulness. No one knows how he found out only a short time after Tatiana was born. Tatiana was sent to live with relatives in Russia until we were married.”
I think back to the way Dimitri flirted with her the other night, and my stomach turns at the thought.
“I’m sorry,” I say to Tatiana, softening a little toward her. “My father killed my mother when I was eleven.”
Tatiana nods once at me in response, an understanding of our shared trauma. It’s a truce of sorts.
“Can I see the letter from Nadya?” I ask Nikolai, who nods and hands it over. I read it in silence.
Nora,
Words cannot express how sorry I am for betraying your trust. While it’s true I became your friend at your father’s request, I did truly grow to care for you deeply.
You were my only true friend. I was just nine years old when I was sold to the Bratva.
A year later I was trafficked from my home in Ukraine to America to become your father’s slave.
I won’t go into details about what happened, because I think you can probably guess, but by the time I was told to spy on you, I was grateful to do so if it meant an escape from the hell I was living in.
You were the first person to show me kindness and love. I did what I could to protect you, to postpone your inevitable reunion with your monstrous family, but it wasn’t enough. I am told that Leonid and you are happy, I hope this is true.
I don’t expect you to believe me, but if you give me a chance, I can share some information with you that I believe your husband would be interested to hear.
I wish I had been brave enough to tell you everything sooner.
You could have escaped or changed your fate if I had.
I was a coward who didn’t want to lose the only happiness I’d ever known.
I know forgiveness is too much to ask for, and I don’t expect to be rescued, but I need to speak to you face-to-face. I will tell you everything I know.
Your friend,
Nadya.
A teardrop smudges the ink on the page as my tears fall.
Poor Nadya. How could I possibly blame her or stay mad at her when she is as much of a victim as I am?
I know in my heart that she’s telling the truth.
Leo wordlessly takes me into his arms and holds me as I sob for my friend, handing the letter to him to read to the others.
Leo cups my face in his hands and kisses my tears away. “What do you think?” he asks gently. “Can we trust her?”
“Yes, we can,” I reply wholeheartedly.
Leo nods, trusting my word. “Nikolai, Tatiana, do you think you can get her here without arousing suspicion or Dimitri knowing?”
“There’s no way we can take her without him finding out about it,” Nikolai says with a shake of his head.
My stomach plummets at the thought of us having to leave her there.
“But I can request to borrow her,” he suggests. “Tatiana and I can pretend we’re interested in having some fun with her. I see no reason why he would refuse the request, especially if it meant we owed him for it.”
Tatiana nods in agreement. “It’s the best plan we’ve got to get her out of there with minimal fuss or risk.”
“Can you do it now?” I ask, desperate to get her out as soon as possible.
They look to Leo for his approval. “Do it. Take her to a club tonight. If he has someone follow you, it will line up with your story. We can meet you there.”
***
“Is this get-up really necessary?” I ask Leo as I walk down the stairs in the outfit he picked out for me.
It’s a skin-tight leather catsuit, made only slightly classier by its cream color as opposed to red or black. The matching boots I’m wearing are so high that I can almost see eye to eye with Leo.
“Absolutely.” He hums in approval and pulls me close, squeezing my ass.
“It took long enough to get into this thing, you’re going to have to wait until later to get me out of it,” I chide, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he says, his eyes dark with desire.
“I still don’t see why you get to dress normally, and I have to dress like a sex doll,” I grumble, looking at Leo’s well-cut but perfectly presentable suit.
Leo shrugs and flashes a smile at me. “Would you rather I dressed in some sort of leather get up too?”
The thought isn’t a terrible one, I bet he’d look hot as fuck, but I’d rather that be for my eyes only.
“Besides, I have a costume,” he says devilishly, pulling something from his pocket.
My breath hitches as I see what it is. The mask he used to wear as my watcher.
“We’re going to this place in a strictly professional matter, Leo,” I remind him, trying to tamp down how horny seeing it is making me.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun afterward. Besides, it’ll be more convincing if you’re desperate to fuck me,” he taunts.
“You’re so bad,” I mildly scold, but I’m grateful for his teasing. I know he’s just trying to take my mind off the worry about seeing Nadya and fear of something going wrong.
“But on a more serious note, we can’t be spotted going in there,” he reasons, handing me a small mask that covers the top half of my face.
“Come on, let’s go,” he says, taking my hand and leading the way.
If everything goes well, I’ll be reunited with Nadya, and we may find the bombshell that we need to take my father down. If not, well… I don’t want to think about that. We’re playing a deadly game.