27. Sonya
27
SONYA
E ven though Eva, Irina, and Kelly kept me company all day, I couldn’t ignore that the love of my life was out on a mission to kill the fiancé I never wanted.
Life couldn’t get more twisted than that.
“Sonya?” Irina asked when Eva and Kelly went to get some more snacks for us from the kitchen. With how crappy it looked outside, rainy and gloomy, we made the big living room our spot. Numerous skylights should’ve made the space more open and airy. The many lights we had on worked to liven up the room, though.
“Hmm?” I glanced at the former Petrov. She’d killed her father a couple of days ago, and just like a Mafia princess was expected to be, she was over it. I supposed a lifetime of loathing her parent made her accept her actions faster and with relief.
“You okay?”
I nodded. “Just thinking about Ben.”
She almost smiled, wryly. “Worrying, you mean?” She nodded, as if answering her own question. “I am too, about Vik.”
Her fiancé was heading after the Ilyins with Rurik and several other Baranov soldiers.
“Kind of silly, huh?” I idly rubbed my stomach, finding the motion so comforting even though I didn’t have much of a noticeable bump. Irina didn’t either, and she was right about the stage that I was in pregnancy, give or take a few days or so.
“What’s silly?”
I flicked my finger between us. “Worrying about them. We grew up with this. We learned that this is how life goes. That there is always a chance for danger and violence.”
“Yes, but it’s them . It hits so much closer to the heart when it’s our men out there risking their lives.”
“It is. But they’ve also grown up with this, too. They’re no na?ve amateurs. They’re professionals.” Ben was an elite professional, a skilled and experienced hitman. “But,” I said, sighing, “it is harder.”
“Because they matter so much more,” she replied. “Because we can’t imagine our lives without them.”
I refuse. I’d only just started my life, the one I should’ve had all along. I’d be damned if Ben died on me before we actually started.
“Hey, that reminds me.” I got up and walked over to a side table to grab some paper. “I need to send a letter.”
Irina huffed a laugh. “A letter. How old-fashioned of you.”
I ignored her teasing and began what would likely be the first draft of a letter to the Petersons. I thanked them and explained the vague details of why I couldn’t tell them who I was and why I’d taken their truck. Once Oleg woke from his nap, I’d have him send a hefty thank-you gift. Depositing it in an account with an untraceable large sum would be an ideal way to pay them back for saving my life and giving me a chance to get home.
Kelly rushed back into the room without Eva. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide open. Immediately, I set the pen down and stood, furrowing my brow as I studied her. “Kelly? What’s wrong?”
She lifted her hand. It shook as she showed us her phone. “I… I…” She forced a hard swallow. “I just got a call.”
Thunder boomed, and we all flinched at the loud sound.
“What call?” Irina got up, joining me in reaching her across the room.
Right then, Eva showed up in the doorway, her arms full of bags of food and more beverages for us so we could continue lounging and relaxing. Neither would be happening based on how freaked out Kelly seemed.
“Whoa. Hey. What’s going on?” She frowned, looking at each of us. Her expression deepened with more worry as she focused on Kelly. “Kel?” Setting the food and beverages down, she hurried toward us.
“I just got a call,” Kelly repeated in that shaky, scared tone. “I got a call.”
I shook my head, showing her this freak-out thing wasn’t going to roll with me. Gripping her upper arms and forcing her to look at me, commanding her to ground herself and make eye contact, I ducked to level with her gaze. “Kelly. Breathe. Who called? What is it?”
More thunder boomed, and she slightly flinched this time. “A soldier.”
“One of ours?” Eva asked, standing at my side.
Kelly nodded, but it turned into a shake. “Yeah. A soldier.”
“Was it a Baranov?” I asked. It was or wasn’t. I wondered if she knew.
“It had to be.” She sobbed, covering her mouth with her free hand. “He said Rurik was killed.”
I looked at Eva quickly, seeing the same instant doubt on her face. “Kelly, who called? What was his name?”
“I don’t know!” Panic clung to her every word and hitched breath as she practically hyperventilated. “I don’t know. He just said Rurik was killed in the fight against the Ilyins.”
I shook my head again. “No. Kelly. A soldier wouldn’t— No. They would identify themselves and, no. Just calm down. Who called?”
“I don’t know,” she sobbed again. “He’s dead.”
“You don’t know that,” Eva said.
Kelly shook out of my grasp and walked away.
“Kelly, you don’t know that.” I didn’t walk after her since Eva was already there. Irina and I exchanged a worried glance.
“I do! I was just told!” Kelly insisted.
“It could be a ploy,” I said.
Eva nodded, gesturing for Kelly to give her the phone. “We’ll trace it.”
“What if it’s not a ploy? What if it’s true? What if it’s real?” She dropped to sit on the couch, then shot right back up to stand. “What if I’ve lost my husband? What if?—”
“What if it’s a ploy?” I replied loudly and firmly so she’d have no choice but to hear me.
Kelly hadn’t been born in this life. She wasn’t as versed with how things could go. Yes, she’d married Rurik and she was learning, but she had to get a thicker skin and gain some healthy skepticism we Mafia princesses had.
“I need to go find him. I need to see with my own eyes?—”
Eva grabbed her arm as Kelly tried to run out of the room. “No. You’re not.”
“Soldiers don’t just call a wife,” Irina said. “There is protocol and?—”
“No!” Kelly screamed. “I need to know if my husband is dead!”
I grabbed my phone and called Ben. Irina did the same, probably calling Vik for confirmation. Eva continued talking Kelly down from her panic, but it didn’t help when none of the men could be reached. I tried Lev. Then Ben again. Even some of the other upper soldiers who I knew went with Rurik and Vik against the Ilyins.
No one answered.
But that didn’t mean anything. Today was intended to be a complicated and stressful day of lots of bloodshed as our enemies were eliminated. That was why Oleg was resting. A nap was best for him while he still recovered from his ordeal.
“Kelly, we will all stay here and wait. Word will come. And you have to consider this could be a trick, a trap, or a?—”
The lights cut out. The hum of the fans and air units in the house died down. It was already dark with the storm out there, but now, no light shone to cut through the bleakness in here.
The power was down.
I caught my sister’s gaze, knowing this had to be deliberate. This wasn’t some little house. This mansion was state-of-the-art, equipped with generators if a storm were to sever a line.
Someone’s here.
I nodded at her, knowing that she’d understand without a word.
She dipped her chin once in reply, herding Kelly back toward the couch. “Come on. Irina, let’s sit together.”
She would keep them there.
I ran off to grab a gun.
It didn’t matter that I’d only been living in this house for a few days again.
I was defiantly devoted to my family and always would be.
If someone dared to break in here, they’d have to get past me.