29. Viktor
VIKTOR
Wren didn’t quit.
She stayed up all night, at the computer, typing away and maneuvering through all the windows and apps and programs. Without taking a break, without considering a pause, she stayed with it and fought in a creative way that blurred defense and negotiating and deceptive communication.
It was a path that was more outside the box than what any of us considered, and I imagined that only she would be able to pull it off.
I checked on her again, worried that she was getting dragged down by the stress of the situation. She looked… frustrated. But also something else.
A headache was the only thing she admitted to, and I brought her water and painkillers.
I had food arranged for her, too. Adrik had set up both her and Elena with whatever they would want to eat or drink as they worked throughout the night.
A maid and guard waited outside Elena’s office, ready to get them anything they needed.
Elena insisted on sticking with Wren, and Trojan was pulling his weight remotely too. While Elena was a supportive backup, she wasn’t as versed with navigating all the programs as Trojan and Wren were. But she stayed and helped.
I didn’t linger, despite how worried I was about Wren and the stress of it hitting her so hard. She was brave. She was strong. She was smart. Yet something about her seemed off.
“Ready to go?” I asked the men in the car with me.
They confirmed that they were.
While Wren, Trojan, and Elena worked to scramble the communications and mix up the wires, so to speak, the rest of us headed out to protect the residences of the Bratva men on the list. Stefan Rossi, the Mafia boss from New York who was an old ally of ours, assisted too, sending out cyberattacks to the buildings that had coded entries so no one could easily break in.
For the more spread-out homes, we relied on more of guerilla warfare, taking out the perps as they approached the houses our men called home.
Some were captured. Lev and Alexei headed up that part of the counter-operation. So far, most of them seemed like independent hires and wouldn’t be able to direct us to who had ordered this massive plot against us.
“I don’t think it’s Smithson,” Nikolai said once we were driving home after it was all over.
I shook my head. “I don’t think he was the original mastermind behind it all either. Not this time.” He had a part in it, orchestrating the toned-down law enforcement response. But someone else had stepped up to fill in the shoes for Yusef Antonov, Gregori’s former second-hand man.
“But it’s all the work of Gregori,” I said with a tired sigh. “I can’t wait until he is dead.”
“Again,” Nikolai quipped just as tiredly.
It’d been a while since I’d pulled an all-nighter like this, and while I was tired, I couldn’t shut down until I knew that Wren was okay.
I came back to the mansion, finding her in a guest room. Elena must have led her there once the time of the scheduled attack was over with. I showered as quickly as I could and joined her in bed.
It was different to be in a guest room with her since she’d always been at home with me, but I wasn’t surprised or concerned that she wanted to sleep in.
I let her be, knowing she’d more than earned it with her ingenious plan to save the day.
Literally, she’d saved so much damage and death from happening.
I couldn’t wait for her to wake up and I could confirm that we hadn’t lost a single man last night.
She had to have gone to bed too tired to wait for me, but she was in contact with us all throughout the night.
I couldn’t wait to praise, reward, congratulate, and worship her to show how much she meant to me and my family. But if she needed to sleep, she could sleep.
It’d been a while since I’d stayed in the mansion.
It was a large residence that my father had built and added on to over the years.
With more than enough room for him to raise all six of us boys, since he had taken Alexei and Lev under his wing when Gregori “died” the first time, it was more like a hotel than a house.
We’d all moved out over the years and had our own properties, but none of us were too far from this headquarters. Taking advantage of the quiet morning and being here at “home”, I went to visit my father.
I didn’t come by often, because I had a hunch that if my father were alive and lucid, he’d harp on me to not linger.
Not to dwell on the wait for him to die.
He was a man of action, and I had a strong suspicion that was why he hid his cancer diagnosis from us all.
He hadn’t wanted to be coddled or anything like that.
Dmitri Volkov was a man who’d lived all his life to the last possible second.
I sat in the chair next to his bed and sighed.
“Not living life to the last possible second now, are you?” I asked wryly.
I leaned over, resting my elbows on my knees, and clasped my hands together. He could go any day now, and I had to trust that was for the best. To put him out of misery. The only reason we kept him as stable as possible in this coma was because it was his order, his words in his living will.
“I’m determined to, though. I’ll live for you.” I sighed, shaking my head at how much he’d shrunken, how his life was already leaving him.
“And I’ve got someone to live with, Father.” I smiled crookedly, imagining Wren waking up in the guest room soon. “Let me tell you this. She’s a keeper.”
Beeps sounded from his vitals monitor. Nothing more.
He wouldn’t be lucid again, but it didn’t stop me from talking on and on.
“She’s smart. Sharp. So damn sweet, with a good heart.
Now I know you’d think I’m crazy, and I am—crazy about her—but get this.
She was a federal agent. I kidnapped her when someone tried to kill Adrik.
” I held my hand up, getting more animated than this called for, as if he was engaged in a conversation with me.
“He’s fine. He’s fine. Of course you know he’s fine.
He visits you often. Sorry, I’ll try better.
I know you’d rather I stay busy instead.
But anyway. Wren. My Red.” I sighed and sat back.
“She was an agent and I caught her. But once I realized how much she could know, I couldn’t release her. Right?” I huffed a laugh.
More beeps sounded on the monitor panel, indicating it was capturing his blood pressure for his dying heart.
“I couldn’t let her go until we could get more answers out of her.
But in the process, I got so… so…” I looked off to the side of the room, smiling and shaking my head.
“So addicted. She looked at me like I was the devil himself, but she was this angel I couldn’t let go of. And she is. Angelic, that is.”
I shifted on the chair. “She wants to always make the world a better place. Always wants to take out the bad guys, which is what we’re doing now.
We’re doing our best to stop Gregori. I know how you feel about that.
But don’t worry. We’re a team. We’re working together.
Even Adrik and Alexei.” I smirked at how the two oldest would always butt heads.
“And I’m glad to be able to add Wren to the team. She’s already been on our team, but I can’t wait until she’s really committed. Fully in and sworn in like the rest of the family.”
I watched him a little longer, knowing that he would always look over us, wherever his spirit would reside.
He’d raised us the best he could, and now in the present, we had to make the most of what we could with what he’d taught us.
To defeat his brother and to ensure our legacy would stay strong for the next generation.
I slapped my hands on my knees and got up to go.
It used to break my heart to leave this room, but the closer he came to taking his last breath, I made more peace with it.
There was no chance to save him, and once that was realized, all there was left to do was carry his wishes forward and keep the family strong.
Before I returned to the guest room, I headed downstairs and grabbed a tray for coffee and a light breakfast for Wren. On the chance that she might be awake by the time I got to her room, I wanted to be prepared.
Red, this is what it means to be pampered.
Brace yourself.
I smiled as I carried the tray to the room.
She wasn’t only awake, but also just coming back to bed from the attached bathroom. Turning to face me, she smiled tentatively. “Hey. Did everything end up as well as it seemed to last night?” Climbing back onto the bed, she yawned widely. “Oh! Is that for me?” She perked at the tray in my hands.
I set it on the nightstand and sat next to her, perched on the edge of the bed. “Yes, and yes.” I took her hand, glad that she seemed more relaxed than she had last night. Hell, we all were. “Everything turned out well last night. Thanks to you.”
I leaned in to kiss her tenderly, savoring the warmth of her soft lips.
“No one was killed.” Other than the perps and contractors we ran into on the way.
She nodded, happy.
“No businesses were ruined.”
She smiled more.
“And your idea worked brilliantly.”
“Well, it’s not like I did it alone. Trojan and Elena were there too.” She cleared her throat. “Like a team.”
I looked down at her hand, imagining a ring on her finger to symbolize how she and I could be a team on our own. The two of us. Among the others.
“I want to make sure that you understand how much we all appreciate your joining us to even be in the position to suggest a counter-move like the one we did last night.” I watched her expressive face, slightly amused that she’d at least stayed awake enough to take her contacts out.
“I want to make sure to officially offer you, in case you’ve been waiting for me to spell this out clearly, a permanent place on our ‘team’.
A permanent position in the structure of what makes the Volkov Bratva as strong as it can be. ”
I watched her raise her brows, seeming intrigued and slightly confused.
I wanted to expand and let her know that I meant something much deeper.
I wanted her to know that she would always have our protection. Security. A home.
Tempted to word it like a proposal but being cautious with how Maksim reminded me that the timing wasn’t ideal with this war against Gregori, I waited for her reaction.
“If you want to choose a solid future with me, I hope that you will understand that you’re not a captive. You’re not a woman I kidnapped. You can just belong with me, Wren. No matter what.”
I held her hand and grew more nervous the longer I waited for her to reply.
She couldn’t still want to have a different life from the one she’s sharing with me now, could she?