Ava
Three days pass in a blur of expensive meals, expensive sheets, and Renat making good on every dark promise he whispered against my skin.
True to his word, he keeps me full of him. Morning, noon, and night. Sometimes gentle, sometimes rough, always possessive. Always with his hand on my stomach afterward, like he's willing his child into existence through sheer determination.
I'm addicted. To his touch. To the way he looks at me like I'm the only thing in his world that matters. To the safety I feel wrapped in his arms despite knowing exactly what he is.
But all good things have to end.
On the fourth morning, Renat wakes me early, his expression grim.
"It's time," he says.
I don't need to ask what he means. I've been waiting for this. Dreading it.
"Today?" My voice comes out small.
"Today." He strokes my hair back from my face. "We make the call. Draw him out. End this."
End this. End my father. End the threat hanging over my family.
End the excuse for Renat to keep me.
That last thought makes my chest tight. Will he still want me after? When I'm no longer useful, no longer leverage, no longer the bait that caught the prize?
"Hey." Renat tilts my face up to his. "Where did you go?"
"Nowhere." I force a smile. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"About what happens after. When you don't need me anymore."
His expression darkens. "I will always need you. That doesn't change just because your father is dead."
"But—"
"No." He kisses me, hard and claiming. "We're getting married. Having children. Building a life. Your father's death doesn't change any of that. It just removes the last obstacle."
I want to believe him. God, I want to believe him so badly.
He studies my face for another moment, then nods. "Get dressed. We have work to do."
An hour later, I'm sitting at the dining table, staring at a burner phone like it's a live grenade.
Renat sits across from me, his laptop open, some kind of tracing software running on the screen. Dariy, another of Renat’s brothers, stands by the window, arms crossed, watching us with an unreadable expression.
"You remember what to say?" Renat asks.
I nod. We've been over it a dozen times. Keep it short. Sound desperate. Give him just enough to make him come, but not enough to spook him.
"And if he doesn't answer?"
"Leave a voicemail. Make it count."
My hands shake as I pick up the phone. I haven't spoken to my father since he disappeared. Haven't even thought about what I'd say to the man who destroyed our lives and caused innocent people to die.
Now I have to lure him to his death.
"It's okay to be angry," Renat says softly. "Use it. Let him hear how much he hurt you."
I nod again and dial the number Dariy traced to a burner phone my father's been using.
It rings. Once. Twice. Three times.
Then: "Hello?"
His voice. My father's voice. The voice that used to read me bedtime stories and teach me to ride a bike and promise me everything would be okay.
Rage floods through me, so intense I can barely breathe.
"Dad." My voice cracks. "It's me."
Silence. Then: "Ava? Baby, oh God, are you okay? I heard—"
"I'm alive. No thanks to you."
"Ava, listen, I can explain—"
"Explain?" I laugh, and it sounds broken. "Explain how you sold out the Bratva? How women and children died because of you? How Mom and Brit are terrified because you were too much of a coward to face the consequences of your foolish, stupid actions?"
"I had no choice! They were going to kill me!"
"So you killed their families instead. Kids died, dad. They were just innocent kids." My voice breaks fully as the weight of it threatens to suffocate me.
"They're not innocent! They're criminals! The Bratva is—"
"The Bratva has me now." I let that sink in. "They came for me, Dad. Just like you knew they would. Just like you left me to face alone."
"No." His voice breaks. "No, Aiv, I never wanted—" The use of the nickname he gave me further enrages me.
"I don't care what you wanted." I shout, breathing deeply to try and remain calm enough to get this out. "I'm calling because you left us in danger. Mom and Brit and me. I don’t care what happens to me, dad, but I won’t let mom and Brit be hurt because of you." I look at Dariy who nods. They’ve got his location. “I’ll never forgive you for what you did.”
I hang up before he can respond.
For a moment, nobody moves. Nobody speaks.
Then Renat is there, pulling me out of the chair and into his arms as I break down completely.
"I know," he murmurs into my hair. "I know, milaya. You did so well."
“You need to go," I say against his chest. "Before he realizes what I did."
“He's in Henderson, at a motel off the highway."
"Good." Renat's voice is cold now. Professional. "Send a team to watch him. I want to know if he runs. If he contacts anyone. Everything."
"Already done."
I pull back to look at Renat. "What happens now?"
"Now we prepare." He cups my face, his thumbs wiping away my tears. "Tonight, we end this. And then we start our real life together."
Our real life. Marriage. Children. A future built on the grave of my father.