24. Ben
24
BEN
“ Y ou’re pregnant too?” Sonya asked Irina. Then she looked at Kelly. “And you?”
Both women nodded.
“We’ll fill you in about all that,” Eva said, quickly getting over her hesitation about her sister returning. She had been so standoffish at first, but while we all talked in this lounge, I watched her. She couldn’t stop looking at Sonya, as though she doubted her eyes. The slow and tenuous smile on her face proved she was giving up on any grudges she might have held against her sister. With Sonya’s explanation of how she had been taken, Eva had no grounds to be rude or think something false about her. I hadn’t gotten to know Eva that well, but she seemed like an understanding person. I was happy there wouldn’t be any issues between the sisters when Sonya had been so eager to return to Eva and was so worried about her needing protection.
“This matter of the Ilyins is most important to deal with, and now.” Oleg firmed his lips in a stern line. Looking again at me and Lev, he added, “It shouldn’t take two hitmen long to kill a couple of corrupt politicians.”
“Well, I can’t speak for him,” I said teasingly, “but?—”
“Oh, shut up.” Lev scoffed. “You said you had a hit for Yusef Ilyin too. And who was the one who actually killed him? Me, that’s right.”
I rolled my eyes. “But?—”
“Enough,” Oleg ordered. “I have yet to speak with you privately, Mr. Warner. But should I officially welcome you to this family, you will abide by my rules. The first of which includes not annoying me with bickering among your brothers.”
Brothers. It had been a very long time since I could use that word about myself. I used to have brothers in the Bratva that rejected me and my brother. I used to have brothers in the military as well.
All this time, I thought being solo and independent suited me best. With the easygoing teasing that Lev and I seemed to enjoy in a game of one-upping each other, I felt like I was really finding my place in the world. I grew more confident that the Baranovs were the ones I should stand with. And I’d be damned proud to contribute to and protect their legacy.
“Understood,” I replied, meaning it.
“At least we’ve already done a thorough background check on him to know he’s not an enemy,” Rurik quipped dryly.
“Thanks,” I retorted.
Oleg pointed at me. “You and I will speak later.”
I nodded, not having any intention to screw up my “welcome” here. I’d dealt with Lev and the others so far, not Oleg, but he wasn’t scaring me off yet. Even if the Baranov Boss didn’t want me included in this inner circle, I would never leave Sonya’s side.
“You and Lev can handle Benson and O’Malley,” he repeated, “and then you can join Vik and Rurik with the men to end the Ilyins once and for all.” Shaking his head, he sighed then rubbed his brow.
“Are you all?—”
Sonya and Eva started to ask the same question in unison, then laughed.
“Are you okay?” Kelly asked instead.
He nodded. “It’s just a damn shame it had to come to this. Geoff’s cousin, Nicholas, was supposed to marry Amelia.”
Eva gasped and Sonya furrowed her brow. “My mother?” Eva asked.
Oleg nodded. “They were arranged to be engaged, I think in part because my father wanted to have me marry someone else for an alliance. I saw through that plan and I knew that alliance wouldn’t last. And it didn’t help that Amelia and I fell in love.” He sighed, a heavy sound full of regret. “I tried to do my best to keep her away from the Ilyins, not wanting that fate for her. I was suspicious then that the Ilyins were scheming to take us down, and my father was too ignorant or blind to notice it.
“Amelia also didn’t want to end up with Nicholas. I was already promised to another, but I suggested that she try to become a Baranov anyway, for the sake of her safety. And so… she met Boris.”
“And never loved him,” Sonya guessed.
Oleg shook his head. “She never wanted to marry him, but she wanted our friendship to last. She wanted to be in the Baranov family, no other. That was the beginning of the Ilyins’ big upset with us. They believed we’d taken ‘their bride’.”
“Then they took Sonya as payback?” Eva guessed.
Oleg nodded. “That was my first guess. And I looked far and wide for a clue that would indicate that. But I found no trace of them. Nothing.”
“I was held on a property far north, upstate,” Sonya said.
“And they covered their tracks well, for many years,” Oleg admitted. “At that time of the marriages, though, Benson started to get involved. He’d made it clear that he wanted to back a Mafia family and lean on one for protection, but he tried to play them all, keeping them guessing who was his favorite. If Geoff had Sonya marry Eric Benson, they’d use that marriage as a way to ensure they could reduce our power and have the Ilyins rise in power and wealth.”
Corruption ran rife with these families.
“That won’t happen,” Sonya vowed. “I won’t marry him. I will not be used as a pawn.” As she lowered her gaze, she let out a troubled breath. “I lost too many years of my life in captivity as it is.”
“I won’t let that happen. I’ll kill Eric.”
“And O’Malley,” Lev reminded me.
Obviously. I nodded, though, refraining from tossing a retort back at him.
“We won’t lose you again,” Eva swore, looking at Sonya with deep care and compassion burning in her gaze.
“You were already hired for O’Malley, weren’t you?” Oleg looked from me to Lev, as if he expected confirmation of that. “Or we were in the process of finding you for that job?”
“Yes. I was on task for O’Malley, but once I realized who Sonya was and that we?—”
“You know what?” Eva stood, encouraging Sonya to rise with her. “Why don’t we let the men have their time to speak? Ben can explain more. You and I, though” —she guided Sonya toward the door— “have more to talk about, Sister .”
Sonya glanced at me, smiling. “All right.” As she passed by Lev, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Be nice, Brother .”
He rolled his eyes.
Irina and Kelly exited the room as well, and Maxim trailed out after Irina, signing something.
Left in the room with the upper men of the Baranov family, I braced myself for getting down to business.
Before anyone else could speak, Oleg studied me sternly. “What are your intentions with Sonya?”
“Right out of the gate with that question, huh?”
He scowled, expecting an answer.
I plan to be with her. To love her. To love on her. To raise a child with her. To protect her and make sure she never has to feel like she’s in the dark or powerless or trapped.
“I plan to be with her—however she’ll let me into her life.”
“And you will swear your loyalty to the Baranov name as well?” he asked.
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Maybe I already did a while back. I’ve never taken on a hit to kill or capture any member of your family.”
“Why not?” Vik asked.
“Because you seemed like the only decent ones around. I was sick of the Petrovs and Ilyins. I was waiting for them to cancel each other out.”
“Why would you care one way or another, as an independent?” Rurik asked.
I shrugged. “Because I’m tired of being solo. I’d been thinking about slowing down and finding a group to belong to for a while.”
“So you saw Sonya and decided to get a head start on a making a family?” Lev huffed, still doubtful of me and my intentions. “Something doesn’t add up here. How the hell did you even meet her if she was captive all this time?”
I’d been expecting this discussion. “I took a hit to kill an Ilyin, someone within their organization. It was a hit placed by a Cartel. From tracking that Ilyin down, I ended up near the property Sonya must have been held at. She showed up at a bar one night, sneaking out and escaping because she wanted to lose her virginity. She said she knew she couldn’t get away. Every time she tried to, someone in the small town alerted the Ilyins and she was recaptured, but she snuck out to hook up with someone—anyone. And…” I shrugged. They didn’t need me to spell out the obvious. “I was intrigued by a beautiful stranger and we became acquainted that night.” That was putting it mildly. I then explained how she’d run away and I thought I’d never see her again. How I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“We agreed to no details. Just strangers hooking up. But after I came to the wedding and?—”
Lev growled. “You snuck into my wedding?”
“Yeah. You’d been reaching out to me about a hit, and I wanted a better feel for who you are before I considered taking it. I like to be thorough and deliberate with my research and I only take jobs I truly stand by. When Boris died that night, I was on edge.” I faced Oleg. “Because Igor had previously tried to hire me to kill you. When I showed no interest in the job or his offer, it sounds like he went to someone else.”
Rurik nodded. “That sounds right. The men who shot at him at the warehouse were sloppy.”
“Then when Boris died,” I said, “I wondered if someone else was acting on hits aimed at your family. I wanted to know who my competition might be. So, I went to spy on Igor and Geoff meeting up, and that’s when they talked about ending you. That’s where I heard Sonya’s name, and I got curious whether they could be talking about my stranger upstate.”
They listened as I went on, sharing how I’d eventually followed O’Malley to that strip club and how Sonya had run there from next door. Telling them that we’d fucked again wasn’t necessary. But I slowly brought them all up to speed until the events of today.
I gave them a chance to absorb it all. Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Vik spoke up. “You killed a whole crew of Ilyins to save her?”
“I wasn’t counting how many.” I shrugged again. “It didn’t matter how many. All that matters is that they’re dead.”
Rurik nodded. “Yeah, I like him.” He walked up to me and shook my hand. “Welcome to the family.”
“This is official?” Lev asked Oleg. “He’s in? Just like that?”
The Boss huffed. “I doubt you’ll get him to stay away from Sonya if he’s already gone so far to prove his commitment to protecting her.” With something that looked like a smile, he eyed me. “Welcome, Ben. I appreciate your diligence in keeping my niece safe.”
“That’s it? I’m… initiated?” It seemed so simple.
“Yes,” Oleg said. “And now it’s time to remove all the threats hanging over us.”
Count me in. Mentally, I was already on it.
I couldn’t wait to end the men who posed pending trouble for my woman and our baby.