Chapter 57 #2
Mikhail rose to his feet. “You listen to me, young man, she is my sem’ya.” Family. “Moy.” Mine. “If you think I had anything to do with what happened to Misch…I’m sorry, Kinsley’s disappearance long ago, you’re wrong. I would never sell her to another,” he hissed.
Confusion set in as I tried to piece it all together. “Wait, you guys think he’s the Mask? Why? I’m so confused. Are you?” I asked, suddenly afraid. He didn’t sound like him.
“My child, no, I didn’t kidnap you. As I said, the story is a long one. One I’d love to share with you. At one time, Owen Taylor was my best friend. He was charged with watching over your father as a child, and you as well.”
“You sent Owen to rescue me?” I pushed my way through the guys.
“Yes, he was charged with finding and rescuing you. Once I determined that the little girl buried with my boy was not biologically his, I knew you were still somewhere. It took us two long years to find you.”
He took the photos that were on Christopher’s desk and handed them to me. My knees buckled, but Nik’s arm immediately wrapped around me, supporting my weight.
“I’ve got you, malyshka,” he whispered in my ear as I shuffled through the photos of me as a baby, a toddler, and a small child.
“I have more back home of your father,” my grandfather murmured, his voice becoming emotional.
“I propose we all sit down like adults and discuss this situation,” Christopher said, ever the diplomat.
“Yes, dear,” Sophia exclaimed, sensing the change in the room. “Perhaps over drinks, Konstantin, Mikhail?”
I continued shuffling through the photos once more.
“Kinsley, why don’t you go change?” Christopher murmured, and I flushed, realizing I was practically naked in front of everyone.
Nik took the photos from my hands and put them on the table, pushing me toward Alek, who took my hand and led me out. He didn’t say a word until we were in my room. He held me for a few minutes, calming me, and pushed my hair back.
“You okay?” he whispered as I took a deep breath and nodded. I would be okay now that they were here. “Go change,” he said.
I went to take off Sebastian’s jacket, but my robe had come loose, and Alek halted my steps. He stared wide-eyed before pushing the material to the side. Cocking his head, he sucked in his breath.
“Kitten, what are you wearing?” He licked his lips, and desire raged in his crystal blues.
“It’s a long story, but in essence, it’s for you.” I sighed, my face filling with heat.
“For me? I need to hear this story,” he said, pulling on the straps in the front and hauling me against his body as he pushed the robe off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor.
He nuzzled my neck, kissing it lightly as his hands traveled down my back and then gripped my ass.
“Fuck. Get dressed. We need to have this conversation with these men.” He released me, then thought better of it and hauled me back into his embrace.
“Just put something on over this. Don’t take it off.
I want that privilege. Or hell, maybe I’ll fuck you while you’re wearing it,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” I replied, blushing. I turned to walk toward the closet when he grabbed my hand once more and pulled me toward him.
“Wait, stay for a minute longer.” He kissed me, his fist wrapped around my hair.
His tongue slid into my mouth with an urgency that made me shiver.
I moaned, savoring him. Breaking away, he muttered, “I’ve missed you so much.
” And then returned to taking possession of my mouth.
Eventually, he sighed and pulled back, rubbing my nose with his. “Go.”
I walked into the closet, found a pair of jeans, and pulled them on. I couldn’t wear a regular T-shirt with this outfit, so I grabbed the new hoodie I’d added to the list of things Marcus picked up for me, and threw it on.
Alek was waiting and once more took my hand. “Tell me, is the man in my parents’ drawing room the man who terrorized you?”
“No, Sir, 100 percent no. I would know his voice from any other. Why do you think he is the Mask?” I shifted and looked into his eyes.
“There’s something you need to know about your grandfather and uncle.
” His words only increased my nervousness.
“Your grandfather was once the trusted advisor to Stepan Fedorov, the Pakhan. The Russian Mob leader. He deals in the skin trade. Your grandfather was the Sovietnik, and now your uncle is. Do you know what that means?”
“My family has ties to the mob?” I stared, blinking, trying to come to terms with what he was telling me. The Russian Mob?
“We don’t know for sure he wasn’t behind what happened to you. The most recent abduction, the man being Russian, coincided with your grandfather’s release from prison.”
“Prison?” I repeated, my heart beating faster inside my chest.
“Yes, sweetness. I’m going to need you to trust me and let me do the talking. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, Sir,” I said, wrapping my arms around him.
“I won’t let him hurt you. I’ll kill him before that happens. You understand that?” He tilted my face up and then dusted my cheeks with kisses.
“Let’s talk first, please,” I begged, and he sighed and let me go.
When we returned to the drawing room, everyone else was sitting. All eyes turned toward us, and Sophia handed both Alek and me a drink. Her hands lingered lovingly on mine. I sat next to Alek after meeting Ivan’s and Nikolai’s eyes. They were both on edge.
“Mr. Romanov, why don’t you tell us what you are doing here, uninvited, no less?” Alek asked.
“It’s rather simple. I’ve come for my granddaughter.” His voice was measured yet direct, and despite his age, he didn’t appear fragile. In fact, quite the opposite. His eyes were glued to mine while he spoke, not even bothering to look at Alek.
“Interesting. Why is it you’re coming forward now? Why didn’t you come for her years ago? Why have another man raise her? Hell, for that matter, why did you raise one son but not the other?”
Mikhail’s eyes shifted to Alek’s face and then back to mine.
“I’ve already answered these questions. I’ve come for her because she is my family.
” His eyes filled with emotion, and his hands clenched.
“As to why I didn’t raise her father, that isn’t any of your business.
I’m not sure what you know about my granddaughter’s life between the ages of eight and ten, but—”
“Hmm, yes, the degenerate who kidnapped and tortured her for two long, agonizing years. I don’t know all the details, that much is true.
However, I know enough that she was physically and mentally abused.
” Alek paused as I shook beside him. “We won’t even get into the sexual depravity she was subjected to.
Details for me aren’t necessary. We’ve held her after her nightmares have chased her down in the middle of the night.
We’ve soothed her broken spirit and ensured she knew she was safe. ”
“Safe? Is that what you call what you are doing for her? If you’ve kept her so safe, how did she get taken in Seattle?” Konstantin scoffed.
I gasped. “That’s not fair. It wasn’t their fault. I was told not to go over the wall. That was all me.” My face flushed red in anger and embarrassment. Nik grabbed my hand closest to him and began rubbing small circles on my palm to calm me down.
“Let’s discuss the Seattle situation, since you seem to know all about it. It seems a bit ironic that once you were released from prison, Kinsley was taken once more. Care to elaborate?”
“There’s nothing to discuss, at least not with you.
I’ll be more than happy to discuss it at length with Kinsley.
You see, I don’t owe any of you anything.
Kinsley is my family, and I won’t be denied what is rightfully mine.
I’ve made many mistakes over the years, the first in letting her father go. ”
His eyes flashed, his patience running thin.
“What is yours?” Alek’s eye twitched as his body tensed next to mine. “Kinsley is not yours. She will never be yours. However, she is mine, and you’ll have to go through me to get to her.”
“Me as well,” Nikolai declared, his face transforming before my eyes, and I sucked in my breath.
“And if that isn’t enough for you, I can guarantee you I have the slowest, most painful possible death conjured up in my mind for you,” Ivan said, unsnapping his blade and pulling it out. His tone was so casual it was as if he were reciting the weather. His mother gasped.
“Ivan Matthew King, put that thing away,” she exclaimed.
Mikhail chuckled cruelly. “Kem ty sebia vozomnila?” Who do you think you are?
The room once more erupted in Russian shouts and insults. I got up and placed myself between Ivan and Mikhail.
“Stop!” I shouted, looking at Sebastian.
He whistled an ear-piercing sound that caught everyone’s attention. After everyone settled down again, he spoke. “Kinsley, please. The floor is all yours.”
I turned to Ivan, who was breathing heavily while trying to control the rage within. I traced his tattoo and whispered to him in Russian. He took a deep breath and looked once more at the men.
Turning my attention to them, I said, “I know virtually nothing about either of you. Owen taught me never to trust a man at face value. Surely, you understand why going with you would not be something that I could do. You said you would discuss with me what you know of the Seattle situation.” I shuddered as I thought about the man I killed.
“What is it you would like to know, my child?” he asked, a hint of guilt in his eyes. Immediately, I knew he was responsible. Something in the way his shoulders sagged. My heart grew cold. If he was responsible, then I needed to know his connection to the Mask.
“Were you behind it?” I asked, my frame shaking as my rage built.
“I ordered you be taken, yes. I was afraid that these men you were associating with were keeping you hostage. And from what I now know, treating you as a common whore,” he retorted, then more calmly, “I’d like to know what transpired between you and my man.”
“Ha, you want to know. That’s laughable. What do you think happened? Your man told me you’d be very disappointed because my value was diminished since I was no longer the virgin you thought you would be getting.”
“I’m sorry he said that,” he mumbled. “But—”
I cut him off. “But what you really want to know is why I killed him? Is that what you want to know?”
Sophia audibly gasped, a look of shock crossing her face. Mikhail’s eyes grew wary, and he nodded.
“Very well,” I said. “His actions got him killed. He ordered me to strip for him. He ordered me to…me to…” I shuddered and shook my head to clear it. “He would have raped me, that was his intent, and that is why he’s dead. I’d do it all over again if I had to. It was him or me, and I chose me.”
“My sweet vnuchka…” Granddaughter. “I’m so sorry he did that to you.” He stood and took a step toward me, but I shook my head.
“You’re sorry? Sorry? Do you have any idea what it cost me?
” I shouted. “I killed a man, all because you wanted me. Why not introduce yourself like a normal person?” I asked, feeling exasperated.
“And why, after all this time, did you come for me?” I broke down in sobs, my real truth spilling forward. Ivan wrapped his arms around me.
“It was always my intent to bring you home. Owen disregarded my orders and refused to leave you at New Haven. He then went on the run with you. I regret many of the decisions I made in trusting him. There are things you don’t know—can’t know—about what happened to the ot—”
My heart froze. “Stop,” I exclaimed, not wanting him to say another word. My guys didn’t know about the other girls. If he was going to share anything at all about them, I had to shut it down. I knew instantly what I needed to do.
I placed my hand on Ivan’s chest. “My beloved. I’m okay now. I would like to speak to this man alone.”
Alek shot to his feet. “Absolutely not. There is no way in hell—”
“Leave us,” I bellowed, my voice filled with rage.