Chapter 35
Taking a Trip
Sammy
Two months later …
It’s a given that Maldonado has let my dad know that I have taken a trip. This is the furthest I’ve ever gone without my parents’ permission first, but I needed to make this trip.
I had to come to Russia because this is where Uncle Misha is. I finally understand the vision from my birthday in full. I can save Miss Onyx and Patrick’s grandpa. However, I’m going to have to bend the truth a little.
It begins with Uncle Misha. Lovie and Jamie already know the parts they have to play. Now Uncle Misha needs his.
I’ve seen what happens when I don’t lie. As much as I hate lies and lying, I have to do it this time to save the people who are important to me and the people I love.
I have seen that I will not lose their trust for long after what I’m about to set in motion. I will be able to make them all understand what I have done. Jamie and Lovie will help.
Besides, this move brings peace to the Alliance until I’m needed. There won’t be a strong enough enemy to challenge us for years after this.
“Sammy?”
“Hey, Auntie.”
She pokes her head out of the door, looking around. I guess she’s looking for my family. I’ve come all on my own. Maldonado is the only person who has traveled with me. I left him at the car with the rest of our things.
“I’m looking for Uncle Misha,” I say to clear up her confusion.
“But who are you with? Where’s Mo-mo? Does your dad know you’re here?”
“Maldonado is supposed to text with my location. I’m sure he has let them know I have arrived.”
She eyes me warily for a moment. I smile back at her, waiting for her to let me in. She’s still in shock and worried I have come with bad news.
Maldonado comes up behind me as I wait. Uncle Misha is on his way to let us in. I can see it in my mind’s eye.
Just as I’ve seen it, he turns the corner with Mishutka Mishyenka in his arms. We all call Misha’s oldest son Mikhail, Mishutka Mishyenka. It’s his nickname.
One day, the woman who loves him will call him Mishutka Mishyenka out of love. He will be one of my friends too. However, he will piss me off a lot.
“Your father called. You should call Tasha, da. She is upset with you. Come in. You stay here until I take you home,” Misha says.
“You don’t have to take me back. I can fly back by myself. I have come to talk to you. You should know what I know. You will have to talk to the O’Briens. Brooklyn will help you smoke her out.”
He places Mishutka Mishyenka on his feet and nods for his mom to take him with her. I step into the house with my bag and place it down at my feet. Maldonado is at my side with his bags as well.
I have brought enough with me to be away from home for a month. My family is headed out on vacation. I will join them, but I have things to get in order first. I have come prepared.
“Come with me. I show you your rooms and then we talk.”
I nod and pick my bag back up, grab my rolling suitcase Maldonado brought in as I follow Uncle Misha through his house. I’ve been here once before with my father. I know my way around.
“I can train with you while I’m here,” I say as I walk beside him.
He sighs. “Da, you can.”
LaSalle
“Sammy is where?” Tasha growls after she drags me into my office, away from the kids.
She’s hot, having just called all the kids down so we could head out for our flight. I was so exhausted when I received Maldonado’s text that I hadn’t realized what he was telling me.
I thought Sammy was heading to Uri’s, not to Russia. Now Maldonado’s confused reply after I told him it was fine makes sense. Clearly, I need to give those texts way more attention.
“He’s in Russia. He went to see Misha.”
“He went to see Misha,” she mocks. “How can you be so calm and cool about this? He’s eleven. It’s time to set boundaries.
“Waking up and jumping on a plane isn’t okay, not after all that has happened. Maldonado should have known better. A simple text isn’t enough in circumstances like this.”
“Tasha, I’m calm because Maldonado is with him. Misha wouldn’t allow anything to happen to our son and it’s Sammy. He knows how to handle himself.”
“He’s eleven,” she growls.
“This is what he needs to do. I thought we agreed to support his journey to finding his way.”
“When I say I want to support him, I don’t mean giving him access to a private jet and the freedom to travel the world all willy-nilly. He took his passport from my purse. We were all on our way out for a family vacation.
“We’ll be gone for a month. This is not okay, LaSalle. We have a wild, unpredictable bitch out there gunning for us all and God knows who sent those assholes. Maldonado shouldn’t be the only one with him,” she says.
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. She’s pissed. I get it; she’s not entirely wrong, but I’m trying to trust my son’s judgment here.
“I will talk to him about taking things out of your purse. I’ll also set some new protocols for Maldonado to follow. However, Sammy has saved our lives by taking action. I don’t want to place restrictions on him that will hinder him and cost a life.”
Tasha sighs as she frowns at me and places her hands on her hips. I love how fiercely she protects our son. She has never treated our children as hers and mine; they’re ours. All our children are as much hers as mine.
“This isn’t right. I understand he’s different, but what kind of example are we setting? Would we be this okay with this if it were Elijah or Karen? Lord knows, if Paulie was older, he’d be driving us crazy right now because Sammy doesn’t have to be on vacation with us.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes, you know I do.”
“Then trust me with this. I will make this right. This isn’t a normal parenting situation. We’re going to have to learn to pivot and set boundaries as we go.”
She sighs in frustration and purses her lips. Walking over to her from my perch on the side of my desk, I wrap my arms around her.
“Baby, the last thing I want is for us to constantly be at each other’s throats. We have to face this as a team, or it’s going to tear us apart. Sammy needs us together. I need us together.”
“I know. This is just crazy. I wasn’t expecting to wake to find one of my children missing right before leaving for a family vacation. I feel like a bad mother. How did I miss him planning this?”
“You are not a bad mother. You have six other children who require your attention as much as Sammy does. You can’t do and see everything.
“This is as much my fault. I was too focused on business and trying to handle everything before we needed to head out. We will take some time to relax while on vacation so we can be refreshed when we return.”
“LaSalle, I’m not going on vacation without our son. We’ll just have to postpone and go some other time.”
“Sammy has landed and is safe with Misha. He will be fine with his uncle for a few weeks.”
“No,” she says firmly.
I groan. “Baby, can we leave if I promise Sammy will be with us before the week is out?”
She side-eyes me. “I’m listening. What’s the plan?”
“It might be time for a retreat. I’ll make the calls. It’s not like I don’t need face time with most of the table. Give me an hour and I’ll rearrange the plans. I’ll have Misha bring him to us.”
Her face lights up. “If … and only if you can pull that off will I go.”
“To the island it is.”
“I love Locatelli Island. This vacation just upped its game. Make sure there are enough transport boats on reserve for the mainland this time.”
I wink at her. “I’ve got it, baby. I’ll book some spa treatments on the island and shopping trips on the mainland. I’ll handle everything.”
“I’m still a little annoyed with you, but you’re doing great making it up so far.”
“We’ll talk more about this later. I’m not ignoring how you feel. We are going to have to find middle ground on this.
“I don’t think this has ever hit the parenting handbook. We’ll be writing this chapter for ourselves.”
She sighs and lifts onto her toes to peck my lips. I palm her ass and deepen the kiss. This is all a challenge, but if anyone was made to handle this with me, it’s this woman right here.
“Yeah, I know,” she says when she breaks the kiss and looks up at me.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Mommy,” Paulie whines somewhere in the house.
Tasha rolls her eyes. “So it begins. Fix our vacation, babe. Plenty of staff for me and the girls. We all need a break for a bit.”
“I’ve got it.”