Chapter 18
VIKTOR
I’ve had the night to think about everything that Tati said and I’ve had more than a week to consider what Marla might’ve been hiding.
Tati said that she was talking about going to the authorities.
Clearly, she was preparing to do just that when she was killed.
Someone else knows about what she was doing other than Tati and me. Somebody dangerous.
That means that she might’ve known exactly who was responsible.
And given what I know, it seems more clear to me than ever before that Nikolai is somehow involved.
I don’t want to believe that. Whatever he is, whatever he’s done, he loved his son.
He wanted him to be his successor. I can’t believe he would want him dead for any reason.
I’m driving back to his house. Nikolai has summoned me again.
We haven’t really spoken much since Marla was killed, and now I wonder if now that it’s all said and done, is this the time that he’ll address my botching the hit?
I haven’t gotten something like this wrong since I was first initiated, so I can’t imagine what the conversation will be like.
Perhaps he will give me some clues as to who else would have a stake in Marla’s death.
I park my car and my phone buzzes. I check it to see he’s texted.
Meet me in the garden.
I walk around the building’s perimeter and glance up at Tati’s window on the second floor.
The rose trellis is still there. A wonder since it’s the way I caught her sneaking away that first time.
The drapes have been pulled. It’s well into the afternoon, so I know she’s awake up there.
I look away and push her out of my mind.
I need to keep focused and pay attention to whatever is to come from this conversation.
The garden has high hedges flanking a lane of pink, white, and red roses and sits directly off the concrete path leading away from the back patio.
I see him standing among the roses, touching the petals of the red ones delicately despite the stone expression on his face.
He looks as though if I leave him alone long enough, I might witness him crushing the flower under his grip.
He hears my footsteps and looks up at me as I approach. His face softens slightly with familiarity. “Right on time,” he says. “You’ve always been among the most reliable of my men.”
I only nod. I can’t tell how he means that. “You wanted me for something, sir?”
“I did,” he says and turns to me fully. “Let me first thank you for taking care of Ms. Chekov for me. The job was cleanly done despite its difficulty. I hope you can forgive the subterfuge on my part. I had to be sure you wouldn’t protest her removal from our outer circle.”
He doesn’t know that I didn’t pull the trigger. That’s interesting. I’d better play along. “I am Bratva, sir. My loyalty is to you and the brotherhood.”
He’s looking me over, eyes trying to read my expression for falsehoods.
After a few seconds, he nods and says, “I should confess, Viktor, I did not ask you to take care of Ms. Chekov with pure intentions. She was becoming a problem, you see. I’ve been told that she was investigating certain ventures that we’ve been involved in, and as you know, we have a code of silence.
Though she’s not an official member of this Bratva, she has ties close enough to us thanks to her relationship with my son.
Either way, she needed to be dealt with. ”
I don’t say anything to that. He’s not wrong, really. Marla was not Bratva, but I guess that doesn’t make much difference in the end. Nikolai clears his throat and continues.
“The truth of the matter is that I asked you to be the one because I started to question your allegiance to me. It was beginning to appear that certain rumors I’d been hearing might have a ring of truth to them.
” He pauses, still reading my face silently.
“There have been… whispers about you lately suggesting a fracture in your commitment to the brotherhood.”
Tiny alarms pop up in my mind like pinpricks. “Whispers? What about, exactly? I haven’t done anything outside of what you’ve specifically asked me to do.”
“Yes, so it certainly seems. I find it ironic that it is a situation that I have unwittingly caused.” He starts to walk down the stone path, so I follow him.
“Your insolence the night that you brought Tatiana home after she snuck out… It was more than just out of line. It was confirmation that your affection for her might be making you lose perspective. I’m sure you understand that punishment was necessary for that misstep. ”
He slows as he approaches a stone bench and sits down. I remain standing.
“I had to know where your priorities still lie,” he says.
“I also happen to have an unruly child to look after.” He shakes his head sorrowfully.
“That girl and her wild ways will be the death of me.” He glances up at me, and I see apology in his eyes.
“Asking you to babysit her was a way for me to keep an eye on her. Both of you, really. And when you decided to defend her…” He shakes his head slowly.
“It appeared that the suggestions about your relationship were true. That you have become… entranced by her.”
The pinpricks turn to a small rush of panic. I keep it contained. “Entranced, sir?”
“Yes.” His aged face softens into a smile as he looks up at me. “Viktor, I realize that you are married to your job, but you are still a man, aren’t you? Tatiana is a strikingly beautiful woman.”
“I’ve known her since she was a child, Nikolai. I don’t see her as anything other than the teenager who used to follow her brother around.”
“But you are not blind,” he says with a laugh. “There is no shame in being attracted to her. I hardly doubt that any man who is interested in women could blame themselves.”
I shift my feet uncomfortably and say, “Of course I’ve noticed, sir. I also have restraint and common sense. Unlike some of my brothers who are too young to understand that, I know better than to bed my boss’s daughter.”
“Is that so?” He purses his lips skeptically. “You have no affection for her other than the quasi-familial one you say you’ve developed over time?”
I shake my head. “Watching over her has been a job, sir. Nothing more.”
“I see.” He looks away, his eyes focusing on something in the distance. Perhaps his flowers, or the horizon. His smile slips away.
“So, then,” he says after a few seconds of silence, “if someone were to suggest to you that she has turned on her own father, you wouldn’t have a problem taking care of that problem the same way I asked you to take care of Marla Chekov?”
I have to pause. This feels like a trick question. “It depends on who made that suggestion, sir. She isn’t the same as Chekov in that she is your child. There is more to consider.”
He chuckles. “Smart answer. I see you remember my earliest lessons about the Bratva. Loyalty is all, but trust no one. Envy and Avarice among your peers have been the fall of many empires. It’s nice to know you are wise enough to know better than to act on rumor alone.”
“It’s experience, sir,” I say. “I know better than to listen to idle gossip, sir.”
“As well you should.” He’s looking me over, a little smile playing at the corners of his mouth again.
“What if the order came from me?” He gives me a little shrug as if what he’s said bears no weight at all.
“It happens sometimes. Children of Pakhans turning on their parents aren’t exactly an uncommon thing.
What if I discovered that my beloved Tatiana wanted to hurt me and the brotherhood you’re so loyal to?
How far would you go to protect the brotherhood? ”
I sigh as he cocks his head at me. This isn’t a trick question. He’s challenging me, daring me to tell him that I would never, ever do such a thing.
And I would never. But he doesn’t need to know that.
“If the order came from you,” I say, “then I wouldn’t have much choice, would I? I would be obligated to take care of that problem for you.”
“You always have a choice, Viktor,” he says in a measured tone.
“Always. Even if what is requested of you is something you’d rather not choose.
Killing Tatiana, a woman that you say you have known since she was a child, the daughter of your Pakhan and someone who is considered sacred by most metrics within this Bratva…
That would not be an easy task for any man.
Not even the Dark Cloud. I would not be surprised if you hesitated.
Not only that, but I would expect it of you. ”
In all my time with Nikolai, I might’ve heard him referring to a hit as what it is. A murder. A killing. He’s trying to rattle me by saying it plainly. I’ll need to be just as plain if I’m going to slide out from under his suspicions.
Also, and probably most importantly, he’s said that he would ‘expect’ me to hesitate. He didn’t say that he wanted me to choose not to.
“If she threatens the Bratva,” I say, “if you feel that her presence is a threat to this brotherhood, then she must die. The rule is clear, Nikolai. Those who stand against us must fall.” I pause as he analyzes me silently, then add, “I will kill Tatiana if that is what you command.”
He continues to stare, then his smile fades slightly.
“Good,” he says. “Fortunately for both of us, and mostly for Tatiana, her antics have not come to that. Her insolence is just rebellion left over from her teens. It will burn out eventually. In the meantime, your duties to her are done. Any of the Sixes can take your place. I’m going to need you for more important things as the days go on. ”
My heart sinks a little, but I know this is necessary. The game he’s played with me is done. “Thank you, sir.”
He dismisses me, and I walk away, analyzing. He doesn’t suspect me of anything, but despite his brushing off of the ‘theoretical’ question he’s asked, there’s no question in my mind that he believes his own daughter is a threat. That’s a problem.
As soon as I get to the car, Tati calls me. I answer as I’m driving away.
“I saw your car in the driveway,” she says. “Are you here?”
“I’m leaving now. Nikolai asked to speak with me.”
She pauses. “What about?”
There’s a mountain of things I could name. I can’t reveal it all to her. Not with her living under the same roof as Nikolai. “It was an interesting conversation,” I say. “Apparently, people are talking about us.”
She pauses. “What?”
“The Bratva rumor mill strikes again. The long and short of it is that he was testing my allegiance to the brotherhood.”
She sighs softly. “This has to do with that night you brought me home, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does.” I pause, knowing how disappointed she’s going to be once I tell her the result of that part of the conversation. “He’s removed me from your service.”
“Oh.” Then, a little sadder. “Oh. Well, that’s probably for the best, I guess, if everybody thinks we’re fucking. Don’t want to make things any worse than they are.”
I want to warn her. At the same time, I don’t want her to panic and do something foolish.
“Was there anything else that he wanted to talk to you about?” She sounds nervous, or at least tentative about something.
“If you’re wondering if he knows about us in spite of the rumor mill, he doesn’t.”
I hear a breath of relief. “That’s good.” She pauses. I hear her moving through the room and a door shuts before she continues. “Hey, so listen, I sort of did something this morning that we need to talk about.”
“You did something?” My stomach tightens. “What?”
“It’s not that bad, I don’t think.”
“Spit it out, Tati.”
She pauses, and I can almost see her wringing her hands. “Well, while my father was out this morning, I decided to have a look around his office.”
And just like that, my stomach drops into my shoes. “Christ, Tati. I told you to stay out of this and let me do the investigating. Were you seen?”
She sighs and says, “Yanov caught me.”
“Shit. Tatiana, what have you done?”
“Okay, listen, we can fight about my disobedience or we can talk about what I found.”
I’m pissed. Really pissed. I slow down and park my car on a side street. “What did you find?”
“Nicki kept a journal. My father had it locked away in his desk.”
“Please tell me you didn’t pick the lock.”
“I didn’t. I swear.” She pauses. “I found the key instead. Taped under the desk.”
“And Yanov found you with the journal?”
Again, she pauses. “No. But… but he knew I was snooping. He was pretty pissed.”
I’m thinking back to my conversation with Nikolai and talk of assassinations. I hope to God it was just questions and not a veiled suggestion that I might have to kill Tati. I set that thought aside for a moment. “Did you get to read the journal at all?”
“Just a few paragraphs, but it was enough. Marla was right. He was having doubts about being Bratva.”
I don’t say anything. I can’t. The confirmation is bad. Worse than I could imagine.
“I think if I got that journal back, I could find out more,” she says. “But Yanov took it with him. Maybe if I can get it off him somehow—”
“Don’t even suggest that, Tati. You’ve put yourself in enough danger.”
She doesn’t respond at first. Then, “The accident wiped some of your memory, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So… so you don’t remember Nicki talking about leaving the Bratva, do you?”
I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to tell her that I started to see signs of his disillusionment weeks before the accident.
That whenever he did bring the subject up casually, I’d brush him off.
I do not want to go down the path of believing that taking him more seriously might have actually saved his life…
“No,” I tell her. “I’ll bet he confided in Marla, though. She probably knew more than even I did.”
“And that journal might tell us even more than she knew. Viktor… we need it back from Yanov. Please tell me you’ll help me get it.”
“Of course I will, but no more going rogue. You don’t move unless I tell you to.”
“Yes, sir,” she says with a smile in her voice. “I’ll leave the investigating to you.”
She says it sincerely, but even I know better than to believe her. All I can do is my best to keep an eye on her in the meantime.