Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
DEMITRI
I look at Mia, who raises a brow at me. Challenging me to say something to him about his comment. Guess it runs in the family.
“That is usually the best place to start,” I tell him.
“You know some of the family history. You know that our great-great-great something-or-other worked for that man’s great-great-great whatever.” He nods his head to Daniel, who sits up straight, listening hard. “You know the families broke ties when one of ours and one of theirs ran away together in the name of love.”
I nod. I’d heard the family history my whole life.
“Our father was sent back home. He was told to raise the good Russian sons and not come back until we were powerful enough to take over from them.” He looks at Daniel again. “My father was a cruel man. Hard. Taught us in fists and blood, power and money. He did not love us, only loved what we would be able to do for him when we were big and strong.”
I know very little about my grandfather other than the old stories. I nod at Sasha to continue.
“We did what our dedushka wanted. We became big and strong and mean. We came back and Ivan took care of business. He wanted it more. Not only had he been beaten by our otetz , but by us. He was the baby. We made him what he was, Demi. It was all our fault.”
“Hush,” Aunt Linda admonishes. “Not your fault.” She turns to us, rolling her eyes. “I’ve been telling him for years this wasn’t his fault. He wouldn’t believe me.”
“And we’ll be coming back around to that statement.” I glare at Aunt Linda, who has the good graces to look a little ashamed. “Go on.”
“I knew if we were going to succeed here, we had to get smart. Not just strong. We all went to school for things that would help the family. Stanislav went into finance. Ivan got his MBA. Misha and Sergi went into IT. I went into criminal justice and eventually earned my Juris Doctorate—my law degree.”
I raise my brows in surprise at that. “Law?”
“How can you break the rules if you don’t know them?” He shrugs. “It was during that time I met someone. Someone I knew would make the family very unhappy.”
He stares at Aunt Linda and my stomach drops. “You…and…Aunt Linda?”
He nods. “ Da . For over forty years. She’s been my confidant, my partner, my keeper, and my wife.”
The room is eerily quiet. It’s like everyone has quit breathing.
“Demitri, I’ve been a government asset for decades. I was the mole. I was the one who connected you to Linda. Gently pushing you all those years to be better than we all were. To not become what Ivan did. Or your sister.”
I flinch at the mention of my sister, but she’s not the one we should be talking about now. At least I know she’s not out here wreaking havoc. She’s behind bars, where she’ll stay for the rest of her life.
“I thought Davis pushed me in that direction?”
Sasha stares at me, not saying a word, waiting for me to connect the dots.
“But he broke his cover for me.”
“At my request, Demi. Even he knew you weren’t going to listen to me, and he wanted to help.”
“What is your deal with this other woman who says she’s my sister?”
“I’m a Pavlov. I’ve been in hiding since the heat began, that’s all they needed to know. Someone wants to grow their power in the Pavlov family? They need a Pavlov behind them. They asked no questions.”
“So you’re here to what? Get information and turn it over to the feds?”
“I’m here to make sure she doesn’t hurt you. First and foremost, I protect you. Then I share what I know with the people I work for.”
“I don’t know how to respond to this. I can’t believe it.” I look at Linda. “And you. You made me trust you. Lean on you. You were like family when I thought all of my family had turned on me. You kept this secret from me. Why? Was it like a sick fucking game? Did you get off on it?”
Do I notice the hurt in Linda’s eyes? Yes. Am I going to take back what I said? Abso-fucking-lutley not.
Mia stops me by putting her palm against my cheek and turning my face to her. “Demitri, baby, take a breath.” I do as she says. “Good. Now take another. Do you need a break?”
I stare at her, the love on her face making me weak. “Maybe.”
“Good enough. We need a break.” She turns to the group, who have all been very vested in what Sasha has been saying. “You can grill them while we’re gone and fill us in when we get back. Gracie, you’re on.”
Mia stands and pulls me up by our still connected hands, walking us past everyone and into the hallway. Before we make it to her office, she pulls me into her body, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and hers around my waist.
We stand there for what could be seconds or hours. I don’t know, but I need this. I need her to keep me calm. Her presence quiets the demons that have haunted me for years.
“I’m so sorry, Demitri,” she soothes, rubbing my back.
“I don’t know what to think, Krasotka . Or what to do.”
“What’s upsetting you the most?”
“Would it be completely wrong to say it’s that Aunt Linda is my actual fucking aunt?”
She chuckles, and I can’t help but join her.
“No. I don’t think that’s wrong.”
“I feel betrayed. I feel like they used me like a fucking puppet. Pulled my strings and made me do things I might not have done otherwise.”
“Do you really feel that? Or are you upset that they omitted the entire truth to you?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s okay that you don’t know. Makes you human, Dem. I think you need time to process everything. You wanted to hear him out, so do that. Then get away from them for a little while. Sort through your feelings and figure out what you need to know more than the rest. Start there.”
“Thank you.”
I pull her in tighter and close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
When I wake up, I’m in a room I don’t recognize. Alone. I’m in a chair, with my arms bound behind me and my legs tied. There’s a desk, one of those old things that looks like it’s about to rust through. No lights are on, but there’s a window letting in the fading light of day. Or it’s so covered it looks later than it is, I can’t tell. Two doors, one leading to what has to be the exit and one that I’m guessing is either a bathroom or a closet. I check in on my body, and nothing seems to be broken. I feel a bit sluggish, but not too bad.
I practice the breathing exercises Mia showed me that help her through a panic attack. I’m sure my family has something to do with this, and the last thing I can afford to do now is panic. I test the bonds on my hands and arms. Tied with precision, of course. I’m not getting out of them. My legs are bound as well, but looser. I know this tactic, of course. They can’t play someone who watched the game for as long as me. I know the loose ties are to make me think I can escape. But, really, it just means someone is planning pain.
I try to feel my back pocket for my phone, but it’s gone. Not a surprise. It’s a shame I don’t have one of those watches Joker gave Mia. That would come in handy right about now. I’m being a sarcastic ass to myself to pass the time when the door finally opens.
“Look, the printz is awake. It’s my lucky day.”
“Andrey. I’m so surprised to see you.”
“ Poshyol te nakhuy .”
“No thanks.” I smirk, antagonizing him.
“I promised you I’d make you pay for turning on the family.” He grins at me. It’s evil and makes my skin crawl. “And now I can.”
“You know, if you kill me, you’ll never see the money.”
“Who said I was going to kill you? Today anyway.”
He moves close, so close I can smell the alcohol oozing from his pours, the sweat stench in his clothes. He looks like he’s aged twenty years in the last five. Time has not been kind to him.
“Aren’t you supposed to let my dear sister talk to me and tell me what she wants before you start hurting me?”
That gives him pause. But not for nearly enough time. “I’ll make sure you still have your tongue when she gets here.”
Well, fuck.
He grabs my left hand, and I’m not sure what’s worse. Not being able to see what he’s doing and knowing it’s going to hurt, or if I could see.
When he twists my pinky and I feel the pop of it breaking, the pain momentarily takes my breath away. Yeah, not knowing and being able to prepare is way worse. But I don’t give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry out in pain. He’s forgotten who raised me.
“One down. Nine more to go.” He chuckles behind me, grabbing the second finger and bending it until it also breaks.
Pain shoots up my hand into my arm, and I flinch, but don’t give him any more than that. I refuse to let him see that he’s got any control over me, even if we both know he has all of it.
“Oh, you already started.” Katya tsks as she comes into the room. “What a shame.”
“Hello, dear sestra ,” I say through gritted teeth.
“ Bratt ,” she replies. “We haven’t been formally introduced yet, have we?”
“Is that necessary? I figure why waste the time when you’re just going to let Andrey here kill me when you get what you want.”
“You might be right. And do you know what I want?”
“The money.”
“Of course I want the money. I had to pay for being the bastard daughter of Ivan Pavlov my entire life. I’m due. You got to grow up in the life of luxury with our father. Now, it’s my turn to live the good life.”
I laugh. My entire hand is swelling and going numb. My fingers throb through it. I laugh because this isn’t the first time they’ve been broken.
“What’s so funny?” Katya asks.
“You think I had a good life because our father accepted me as his son?”
“Of course. You were the son. The chosen one. The one allowed to stay because your mother was the lucky one who spread her legs first and got a ring.”
“Oh, lady.” I shake my head, still chuckling. “You were the lucky one. See this bastard right here?” I tilt my chin to Andrey. “Want to know what he got to do on random Tuesdays when my father was in a bad mood? He got to take me out to the barn and beat me. For shits and giggles. While our otetz beat my mother. His job was to make me tough. My mother’s job was to turn a blind eye to all the whores my father slept with. Employed. Like yours.”
She comes up and slaps me. “You will not talk about my mother!”
“Did you even know her? Did you know anything about her?” I spit back.
“I know enough to know she protected me!”
“You’re right. Because if Ivan and Andrey here had found you when he was alive, they would have killed you.”
She takes a step back, staring at Andrey like she’s seeing him for the first time.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I? You sure about that?”
Andrey doesn’t say anything. He’s not going to tell the woman signing his current paycheck that I’m right. He’s a brute. He’s a horrible human being. But he’s not stupid.
“Hurt him,” she commands.
“With pleasure.” Andrey dips his chin.
He walks over to the desk and pulls out a crowbar. I try to control my breathing. The last thing I need is to pass out from pain. And I know whatever he’s got in mind is going to fucking hurt.
Andrey raises the iron rod over his head and swings with precision right at my elbow. I grit my teeth together to keep from making a sound and I absorb the blow. FUCK! That hurts like a motherfucker!
“More?” he leans in close to ask me. “Or are you ready to shut up and do what we want you to do?”
“Fuck you!” I spit at him. Then I laugh. “You aren’t going to get shit. Do you really think I’m stupid? If something happens to me, the money is gone, asshole.”
Punch.
Fuck! Right in the nose.
I feel the blood run down my face, can taste it in my throat. Not the first broken nose I’ve ever had. Probably won’t be the last.
“Do you ever shut up?” Katya asks, grimacing at my newly rearranged face.
“Nah. What’s the fun in that?”
“How about self-preservation?”
“You’ll never survive this life if you’re afraid of getting hurt, malenkaya sestrichka .”
“What does that even mean?” she asks, completely clueless.
I see Andrey roll his eyes at how fucking stupid the woman is.
“You want to take over as head of a Bratva that’s already died out once and you don’t know any fucking Russian, little sister ?”
“I don’t need to know the language to run the family.”
“You probably also don’t think you need a dick. You’d be wrong there, too.”
“Not true. The family has progressed since our father’s death.”
I look at Andrey as best I can with my eyes swelling shut. “You haven’t told her?”
He snarls at me and shakes his head. “No point. Tupaya suka wouldn’t listen to me, anyway.”
“You know, it could be the pain I’m in, but this is pretty funny shit.”
“I’m done listening. You’re going to sign our father’s money over to me so I can do what he would have wanted and make this family strong and powerful again. Do what he couldn’t with the goods I have access to.”
“Gonna be hard to do with the feds breathing down your throat, won’t it?”
“What feds? You’re the only snitch left. Your uncles have been disposed of. They thought they got away, could lie low and come back, but we took care of that. And Uncle Sasha loves me like his own princess.”
I might not ever shut up when I’m under stress like this, but I know when to keep my mouth shut. If she doesn’t know Sasha is the mole, I’m not going to be the one to tell her. I don’t see her being alive much longer, anyway. If she succeeds in getting the money from me, she’s useless.
“Let me give you a little tip. The longer I’m alive and have the money, the longer you stay alive.”
“Hurt him,” she commands Andrey.
Fuck. Me. Try to help your sister out and this is how she repays you?
I brace for impact, knowing it’s going to hurt. Will it be a kidney shot? Jaw breaker? Another finger?
Oh, my ankle. The iron hits and I think I might throw up from the pain. He’s having way too much fun with this.
“Fuck, Andrey!” I finally yell, giving him what he wants. “Fucker!”
Punch.
And there it is, my jaw. Maybe a couple of teeth. Asshole can throw a fucking punch, that’s for sure.
“Shut up.”
“Fug vu fashol.” There. I told him. I’m sure he understood. He’s been breaking jaws for decades.
“Get his fingerprints,” Katya says, moving to the door. “Let’s see what we can do. Leave him in here when you’re finished, in case we need something else.”
Once she’s out, Andrey looks at me, shaking his head. “You never learn, do you? I didn’t want to do this, asshole.”
I roll my eyes at him, my head lulling to one side.
“Not this way. I wanted to pick the time and place. My rules.”
I blink my swollen eyes at him. “Ver wules,” I mock.
“ Poshyol te nakhuy . I survive by my rules. Beating you when you were a kid? So I didn’t get beat. Taking out the trash in the family? Well, he never took me out, did he? I fucking survived. That suka doesn’t have the authority. She doesn’t know the rules or care to find out. We only let her think she’s in charge. You, however, walked away. You told our secrets. This is what you deserve.”
I know if I keep staring at him, he’ll spill his life story, but I don’t care. My hand is numb, my arm is throbbing, my ankle is screaming for help, and my face? Fuck, Mia’s going to think I’m ugly now, isn’t she?
Mia. I’ll survive this for her. Fuck all of them if they think I’ll give up and leave her alone. Mia. I swear I hear her voice. If I close my eyes, I swear I hear her calling my name.
“DEMITRI!”