Chapter 6
Kasimir~
I knew that Zoya was nervous, but that couldn’t be helped. Viktor didn’t have much of a sense of humor when things weren’t tense, much less when they were, but that was something that Zoya would get used to eventually.
I also knew that she was struggling, which was weighing on me heavily.
When I had pressured her to call her grandparents, I hadn’t ever imagined that they would insist on having Darya’s ashes sent to them, and it’d been like Zoya losing her all over again.
She no longer had anywhere significant to mourn her mother, and I knew that it made her feel lost. It made her feel like she didn’t know what she was supposed to do with her feelings now.
There was no gravesite where she could go talk to her mother symbolically, and neither was there a beautiful urn that she could feel close to.
Even if it was unexpected, people still had an expectation of what happened after a loved one passed, but Zoya didn’t have that anymore.
Her grandparents had both her mother’s and her uncle’s ashes, leaving Zoya completely alone, except for me.
My biggest fear was that Zoya might fall into a depression that she may need medical help for.
As it stood, she had no family, no friends, and no job.
Her only hobby was reading, and even if she’d had another one, her bullet wound, cracked ribs, and broken fingers prevented her from doing a lot.
So, she was stuck in our house, with nothing but books to keep her entertained enough not to fall apart every other hour of the day.
I also knew that she didn’t care about Viktor returning the favor and picking up the slack for me at work now.
She didn’t care that I loved her or that I was here for her.
Neither my love nor my presence was going to bring her mother back to her.
It wasn’t going to make her heal faster, and it sure as fuck wasn’t going to make her feel less alone.
She’d have to love me back for that, and she didn’t.
If she did, she was too busy feeling all kinds of other things for that to matter right now.
Zoya hadn’t lost her mother to a random car accident or unexpected heart attack.
Zoya had lost her mother to a brutal robbery and shooting, and PTSD was a real thing that could result from a lot of different experiences.
“I am glad to see that you are healing well, Zoya,” Viktor told her as soon as she got comfortable on the couch. I had picked the living room for this meeting, believing that my office or the library would make it feel too formal, causing Zoya unnecessary stress.
“I am, thank you,” she replied quietly, and that’s when I shot my brother a look, silently ordering him to sit down.
Viktor quickly shot me a look back, but he followed my silent order anyway. Now, once upon a time, single-Viktor would not have cared about a woman’s delicate sensibilities, but married-Viktor was a lot more understanding now when it came to the fairer sex.
“Has Kasimir explained to you why I’m here?” he asked once he got comfortable in one of the armchairs positioned next to the couch.
Zoya nodded. “He...he did.”
“Well, you’ve no reason to be concerned,” he told her, trying to soften his presence for my sake. “We just want you to tell us the truth about what happened that night. While I don’t doubt what you’ve already told us is the truth, I want the whole truth, Zoya.”
“I just...how do you guys know that...that I didn’t already tell you everything?” she asked, and it was almost enough to make me breathe out a deep sigh, but I didn’t want to come across like a condescending asshole.
“Because we’re not stupid, Zoya,” Viktor answered, and though his words had sounded harsh, he was still trying to keep his tone patient and understanding.
“I...I wasn’t implying that...that you were,” she quickly rushed out. “I’m sorry, Mr.-”
I placed my hand on her thigh, squeezing it lightly. “Relax, lepestok,” I ordered softly. “Relax.”
She looked at me, her hazel eyes wide. “I just...I didn’t mean to offend-”
“Relax,” I repeated. “Relax.”
I shot my brother another look as Zoya took a calming breath, and my issue wasn’t that she was intimidated by Viktor, because most people were.
My issue was that he was going to be her brother-in-law soon, and she obviously still wasn’t a believer if she was letting his presence rattle her this much.
Whenever I thought about how Aurora didn’t give a fuck how many Korolevs she was up against, that’s what I wanted for Zoya.
I wanted Zoya to recognize that she was the most powerful person in this room right now, and all because Viktor knew what I’d do in her name.
Since she was focused on me, Viktor rolled his eyes while he threw his arms up in a what-the-fuck-do-you-want-from-me gesture.
If Zoya could see him like that, it’d go a long way to easing her discomfort, but Viktor was here as the Korolev Sovietnik, not as my brother, so he would never let her see him acting like we were back in high school.
“Sorry,” Zoya finally muttered before looking back towards my brother.
“Here’s the thing, Zoya,” Viktor said, trying to start over. “The life that we lead has helped us...well, we are rather good at reading certain situations, and the attack on you and your mother just happens to be one of those situations.”
“What do you mean?” she asked softly.
“When you run a criminal enterprise, you tend to learn how criminals think and how they act based on how they think,” he explained.
“So, with you and your mother living in a modest neighborhood, having no vehicle to speak of in the driveway, and with your yard being less than kempt, it’s very hard for me to believe that those two men chose your house to rob at random.
” Her face paled a bit, but she didn’t say anything.
“It also doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t believe that you have no money once they’d made their way into your house.
When Kasimir went to retrieve your things, he explained that the inside of your house didn’t boast of anything special...
no new furniture, no state-of-the-art appliances...
nothing. So, why would they insist that you have money when your house suggests otherwise? ”
“Well, I-”
Viktor put his hand up to stop whatever she’d been about to say.
“Before you think to lie to me about any of this, I also know that there is a big difference between someone that’s out to rob you for a quick buck and someone who is willing to torture and kill you for money, Zoya.
If this had been some random robbery as you’d like us and the police to believe, then the men would have left within a few minutes of realizing their mistake.
They never would have risked getting caught by sticking around to torture you for over an hour. ”
Before she could say anything to that, I added, “Plus, you said that they left as soon as they shot you and your mother, suggesting that they didn’t want to get caught and arrested.
No one, and I do mean no one, sticks around to torture someone for a few hundred dollars, Zoya.
What happened to you and your mother only happens for a significant payday. ”
“So, while I’ve no doubt that the events happened as you described at the hospital, you left out significant details that could help us find these men, and that’s not supposition, Zoya,” Viktor continued.
“Now, I’m sure that you had your reasons, and we will get to those soon enough, but right now, you need to tell us what you know about why you and your mother were targeted the way that you were. ”
“And...and then what?” she asked tentatively.
Viktor sat up straighter in the chair. “What do you mean?”
“If...if what I tell you helps you find the...the men who did this, what are you going to do?”
Viktor arched a brow before shooting me a look, letting me handle that question. While we both knew the answer, he was leaving it up to me to deliver the disturbing truth because it was me that was going to have to convince her to still marry me after giving her a glimpse of who we really were.
“What do you want to happen?” I asked her.
Zoya’s hazel gaze slid my way. “What?”
“As I’ve stated earlier, you are a Korolev, even if it hasn’t become official yet,” I told her.
“And for better or worse, you’ve already experienced what happens when someone betrays our family.
We do not take these offenses lightly, Zoya.
So, your question isn’t necessary because you already know what we’re going to do, so I am asking you, what do you want us to do? ”
She looked so broken when she said, “I...I don’t know. I’ve never...that’ll be another death that I’m responsible for-”
“You are not responsible for your mother’s death,” I bit out sternly. “I know you’re feeling raw right now, but sooner or later, you’ll understand that none of this is your fault.”
“You won’t be saying that once I tell you everything,” she replied quietly.
That had me and Viktor sharing an uneasy look.
This was not good.
“Well, how about you tell us what happened, and then we’ll go from there,” I suggested. “Whatever it is, it changes nothing between us, lepestok. Nothing at all.”
She shook her head as she said, “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
“Even if it’s drenched in blood, what we have will always be a good thing,” I informed her.