2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Natalya
M y father’s funeral happens fast.
My mom found out what happened to him within a matter of days. Turns out, there was an attack on him and Denis outside a restaurant. My father was shot down in broad daylight.
The men who shot him took his body and dumped it down by the docks.
Tatiana used her connections to get his body back so we could have a funeral. She planned it all without shedding a tear. My mom is the kind of woman who goes into action and doesn’t stop until the problem is solved.
Now, me and my three sisters sit in a pew inside the large church, listening to the priest talk about my father as if he knew him.
Lev Petrov was not the kind of man who ever went to church.
I can’t remember the last time he set foot in a place like this.
But now, he’ll spend eternity buried next to the church. I can’t help but find that ironic.
The service is lovely but I expected nothing less from my mom. She might have had conflicted feelings for Lev but she was always loyal to him and knew he deserved a fine funeral to go out in.
She’s beside me, keeping her head up. My sisters and I have all shed tears over the past couple of days since losing our father but Tatiana hasn’t cried once.
I place my hand over hers and she flinches slightly, like she wasn’t expecting me to do that.
She’s the kind of mom who would give a hug if necessary but she never offered them willingly.
Only something bad would have to happen for her to give them.
I’ve seen my mom give my sisters hugs more in this past week than she’s ever had our entire lives.
But I know she loves us. She has fought hard this past week to plan the funeral and keep us safe from our uncle, who she still doesn’t trust despite learning that he was not responsible for his brother’s death.
After a moment, she places her other hand on top of mine and offers me a grateful smile.
Irina is next to me, bawling her eyes out. Ana is the same while Sasha only looks at her lap without crying. I think she’s trying to be tough. She’s always felt like she needed to be tough where me and Irina and Ana were soft.
I glance around the church as the priest continues to give the eulogy and see that we’re surrounded by friends of my father.
As well as coworkers. I’m assuming that since I haven’t met even half the people in this room.
My father kept his job away from us but now that he’s gone, it’s going to start encroaching on us slowly, bit by bit.
It’s then that I notice a man near the back of the room. He’s leaning against the wall.
The stranger. The unnamed man I met at the theater.
His eyes catch mine and he inclines his head.
I turn around with a gasp.
“Are you all right?” Mom asks.
“Fine,” I say through numb lips. Why is that man here? This place is for people who knew my father which means…
He knew my father.
Did he work with my dad? Is he part of the world my father kept me from?
I sneak another peek at the man and find him watching me. I stare back for a moment before turning around. I knew he was dangerous when I met him at the theater. He just had a certain energy about him that I knew I couldn’t trust.
And yet, I still want to go over to him and ask him his name. I want to talk with him. I want to feel that electricity I felt when we spoke.
The priest finishes the eulogy and then it’s time for anyone else to speak.
Mom heads straight up to the podium to talk.
We all agreed she would speak for us. My sisters are not in the right head space to speak in front of a crowd.
Irina and Ana haven’t stopped crying for days. Sasha has barely spoken for days.
As for me, I’ve tried to be strong like my mom but it’s been impossible.
I had to drop out of Swan Lake. I can’t focus on dancing every night right after my father just died.
They all understood. My understudy, Rachel, was more excited than she should be at the mention of my dad’s death.
She knew that if I wasn’t there to perform, she would take the lead she worked so hard for.
I don’t blame her for seizing an opportunity but it still stings. How easily I’m replaced.
I was told I could come back whenever I was ready but I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to dance again. Dancing was something I did for my dad. I worked hard to make him happy. He was the one who always bragged about me to his friends.
Now, I have no reason to dance.
We don’t need the money. My father left us millions of dollars in his will. Besides, the ballet barely pays anything. People dance for the passion of it, not the paycheck.
Dance is already feeling like a distant memory to me.
“Lev was a good man,” Mom says, her voice steady as she speaks into the mic.
“He wasn’t perfect but he was always good to me and our girls.
We had an arranged marriage. Many of you know this.
So you can understand that we had a complicated relationship because of it.
We didn’t exactly love each other but we always respected each other.
He was kind and good to me. That’s more than most people can ask for. ”
My eyes flick to Denis in the pew across the aisle. I wonder why he didn’t sit with us but I’m thinking it’s because Tatiana told him he couldn’t. She has been eyeing him over with suspicion all week, every time he came to the house to help plan the funeral.
He has a small smirk on his lips. Who smirks at their brother’s own funeral? Did he have something to do with it or is he just happy his brother is gone? I know they were never close but Dad never said why they stopped speaking.
And I’m too afraid to ask Denis. I don’t trust him to give me an honest answer.
As if he can feel me watching him, his eyes slip over to mine. I stare back, letting him know that he’s being watched. That he can’t just do whatever he wants. He looks away first, still with that smirk on his face. It makes me want to slap it off him and I’m never someone who’s violent.
“Lev will be remembered by his family,” Mom continues.
“He’ll always be loved by his daughters.
He was such a good father to them. He bragged about Natalya and Irina’s dancing.
He loved taking Anastasia out for ice cream.
And he always thought Sasha could become the first female president because she’s so tough.
” That got a chuckle out of the men in the room.
They humor my mom but none of them actually believe a woman could become president, especially someone like my sister.
“Lev will be missed.” Mom looks up to the sky and smiles. “I’ll miss you, honey.” She nods, then walks back to the pew.
The priest asks if anyone else has any words they want to say.
Denis doesn’t hesitate to walk to the podium. “My brother was a complicated man. That’s something my sister-in-law forgot to mention.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mom mutters under her breath. “Can’t he leave well enough alone?”
“Lev didn’t always love me,” Denis continues.
“But in his final acts, he threw his body on top of mine to protect me. I guess big brother instincts never go away. As the younger brother, I never had the chance to protect him and I wish I could have in his final moments. Maybe then he’d still be alive.
Lev’s daughters. They have all grown into beautiful young women.
I’m sure many of you men are already looking at them.
” That got another chuckle from the men in the room.
I glance around. So many older men I’ve never met and they’re all staring at me and my sisters with hunger in their eyes. I scoot closer to Irina as if that somehow will be able to protect her.
“But if you want them, you’ll have to go through me. I am in charge of them now. I decide who they’ll get to marry. I am taking over for my brother. All his power goes to me.”
A murmur of shock goes through the room. Mom looks furious.
“Did you know he was going to do that?” I whisper.
“No. And by announcing it in front of everyone, he’s making it impossible for me to refute it. I didn’t seize your father’s power this week because I was busy planning his funeral.”
“It’s ok. I will be ok.”
“Oh, Natalya. You may be an adult now but you’re still so na?ve.”
I try not to flinch. I know my mother doesn’t mean it.
“From now on,” Denis says, “I will be in charge of the Bratva. At least my brother’s half. Thank you.” He leaves the podium and heads back to his seat. He used this moment to not reminiscent on his brother but to take power that didn’t belong to him.
A few more people speak on behalf of my father and the entire time, my mom is fuming so hard, she’s practically vibrating. I have to place my hand on her arm to calm her.
Once the service is over, my mom walks across the aisle and smacks Denis across the face before everyone to see. There’s a collective gasp in the room.
“How dare you,” she seethes.
“Someone else was going to do it. It’s better this way, Tatiana. Keep it in the family. Trust me.”
“You should have spoken to me about it.”
“You had to plan your husband’s funeral. You know, woman’s work. Leave the rest to me. As a man, I’ll easily take over my brother’s position. If you wanted it for yourself, Tatiana, then you should know: you were never going to get it.”
She looks like she wants to smack him again but takes a deep breath and composes herself. Everyone is watching. “You will not get to dictate what happens to my daughters. I get a say in who they marry.”
“See, that will not be up to you. As a matter of fact, I’ve already been thinking of who Natalya should marry. I’ll introduce her to him at the reception.”
“I get a say,” she spits. “They are my daughters. Not yours.”
“You’re not the one in power anymore, Tatiana. You lost it the moment Lev died. Just deal with it.”
She raises her hand to hit him again but I grab her arm, stopping her.
“Let’s go,” I murmur. “You don’t want people thinking you’re hysterical.”