Chapter 23
Sasha
Well, fuck.
After struggling into my clothes, I thumped down on the couch, grabbing the bottle of vodka and filling the entire tumbler. What an arrogant ass I was.
I’d reacted as if what my daughter had said while half asleep was some crime.
Shit. I shook my head and took a swill of the drink.
Insensitive much? All my daughter had been doing for the past few days had been teasing us about getting married.
Why would it shock me that after the time we’d spent together, my daughter might have begun to think of Lainey as her mother?
Was I jealous that Nina had wanted her to come take care of her? If so, what kind of monster did that make me?
My head was spinning, a sharp pain right behind my eyes. Yeah, you could call me the most insensitive asshole in the world.
I sat back, placing the drink on my knee. Visions of Lainey’s face continued to power through my mind, one coming after another. A movie reel from the day I’d met her.
Her smiles. The way her nose upturned when she laughed. The way she flipped her hair over her shoulder both while performing and just while being herself. A little flirt.
The way she nibbled on toast, taking the tiniest bites.
Or the way she licked an ice cream cone. Far too dainty.
More important, the way she appeared when she was in the throes of passion.
I couldn’t think clearly and it pissed me off.
My reaction was unacceptable and especially since I’d seen the look of shock on Lainey’s face.
I’d hurt her, something I never intended on doing.
I’d told her the truth. I wanted her with me.
Not just until I could ensure her safety, but for the long haul.
Even this was out of character for me.
Somehow, I doubted she’d want the same after the way I’d acted.
Even after what she’d whispered. I’d heard the words. I’d had a chance to respond and like a dick, I’d had no idea what to say in return.
Which was a fucking lie.
I shifted down, resting my head on the back of the couch. Maybe I could find a way to make it up to her. Maybe she’d forgive me. Maybe she’d… My baby girl was in good hands. The best hands in the world. She’d be okay. Just a tummy ache. Mmm…
Jesus, my head was fucking killing me. Closing my eyes, I tried to stop thinking about Lainey. So difficult to do and…
Exhaling, I willed myself to sit up, even trying to bring the drink to my lips. But…
As the glass slipped from my hand, I knew that something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
Thunk…
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dmitriyev. We’ve been unable to find any evidence of the shooter’s identity.”
“Are you fucking out of your mind?” I lunged forward and had my hand around the detective’s throat before I knew what I was doing. “You fucking asshole. You incompetent son of a bitch.”
“Sasha. Stop, son. Stop. It’s not his fault.” My father jerked me away, pulling me across the room while my uncle tried to explain that I was in a state of grief that made my emotions uncontrollable.
“Then whose fault is it? Huh, Dad? Who? The police can’t find anything. We haven’t found out anything. This is crap. This is fucking crap.”
My father wasn’t the kind of man to go soft on anything and didn’t take crap no matter the situation.
He slammed me against the wall by the shoulders, holding me there and daring me with his eyes to start a fight with him.
If I did, it would be one I’d lose, my bloodied body crumpling on the stained tile floor.
“Listen to me. You need to suck it up, my son. There’s an old saying in Russia that I’ve never forgotten. Istoriya boli i skorbi—eto ne konets. Eto tol’ko nachalo. Rukoy krovi budut napisany novyye glavy.”
The story of pain and sorrow isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning. There are additional chapters to be written by the hand of blood.
After he said the words, he nodded only once. I had no idea what the fuck he was trying to tell me and at that moment, I just didn’t care.
All I knew is that one day I would find the person responsible for killing my wife.
And they would die.
“Fuck,” I hissed, wincing the moment I tried and failed to open my eyes. Whatever the light source, it was blinding.
Shielding my eyes, I realized every muscle in my body ached. What the hell? My mouth was cotton dry. I sat up and was hit hard by a wall of nausea. After blinking a few times, I squinted until I realized the light was bright sunlight. Bright as if it were late morning.
What the fuck?
I jerked to my feet and as soon as I did, I came close to stumbling over the table. How the fuck much had I had to drink?
The bottle was right there. I jerked it into my hand. The bottle had already been opened a day before and maybe three glasses had been consumed. My tolerance was much higher. Something caught my eye and I realized I’d dropped the glass.
Also not like me.
The carpet was wet, which meant there’d been liquid in the glass when it fell. A sick feeling slammed through me and I lunged away from the table, my body refusing to work properly. Even my breathing was labored. What in the hell? The house was quiet. Too quiet.
The door leading to the deck was still open.
I turned around, immediately on edge. Something was terribly wrong.
Where the fuck had I put my weapon? I tore through the room, finally remembering I’d placed it in the drawer of the desk.
It was undisturbed, the magazine fully loaded.
Stepping outside, I scanned the beach. Was it possible the girls had sensed I’d had too much to drink and had allowed me to sleep it off?
My instinct told me otherwise.
Because I hadn’t consumed too much alcohol. My body stiffened. Something was definitely off, my dry mouth as unusual as the heavy throbbing in my temples.
I moved quickly toward the door, hugging the wall. With a quick dart of my head into the hall and seeing nothing, I stepped out into the hallway, heading for the stairs. The front door was cracked open.
With the weapon in both hands, I moved quickly, throwing open the door and inching outside. There were sounds of nature coming from every direction. Even the rush of the ocean slicing against the shore could be heard from the front of the house.
The two rental cars were still in the front driveway. Where the fuck was Tony? He’d been on shift or maybe Bernie had taken over. Fuck. My brain was a mess.
This was all wrong. I backed up toward the house, sweeping the weapon from side to side. The sun suddenly reflected off something metal and I swung around, prepared to fire.
Fuck. A weapon. As soon as I bent down, I noticed Tony.
Dead in the bushes.
A moan caught my attention and I swung around with the weapon in both hands. Bernie was struggling to stand. “Shit, Bernie. Are you alright?”
“Someone clocked me, boss. But I shot one. There were three men and… I’m sorry, boss. I tried to stop them.” Blood was streaming down his face.
Horror and terror rushed through me. Fuck.
Lainey. Nina.
There was nothing I could do for him. I raced inside, taking the stairs two at a time. First I went to the room I’d shared with Lainey. There was no sign of her or anything amiss. Just the cold, stark emptiness that was already beginning to crowd into my heart.
Rage replaced everything else.
Spinning around, I threw myself up the stairs to the third floor. The door was open and as soon as I walked in, I knew exactly what had happened.
The bed was empty, signs of a struggle evident in small things. The easel kicked over. The teddy bear Nina couldn’t sleep without tossed to the floor.
Sheets tossed and pushed aside.
And a chair turned over.
A deep, icy chill tore through me. My actions perfunctory, I moved toward the easel, picking it up. As pages began to fall forward from the sketchbook with the help of gravity, I noticed the one my daughter had been working on that I’d seen earlier.
Only I hadn’t seen the note.
I lifted the sketchpad, gasping for air.
To my daddy. I love you. Happy birthday.
As the pad slipped from my fingers, I slowly dropped to the floor.
And I screamed.
Las Vegas
Five days later…
“We need to keep this between us,” Mikhail said.
“Agreed,” Kazimir grumbled. “That doesn’t mean I like it.”
Alexsey huffed. “I spent some quality time with Liam and his men. Two of O’Shaughnessy’s sons were seen in Reno.”
“Are you saying the man who broke into the guest house was one of the sons?” Kazimir threw out.
“No confirmation either way.”
I lifted my head, trying to control my anger. The family meeting had been called after days had passed. That left our resorts and casinos in the hands of our highly paid managers. We were trying to pretend as if it was business as usual.
A necessary tactic since there were always sharks circling in the waters when a prominent crime syndicate family was in crisis mode.
“Did you contact the Costas?” my father piped in. I was surprised he was addressing them by their name since he’d been staunchly against the alliance.
Mikhail nodded. “They’re in the process of determining if the tip Liam received was credible.”
“You think maybe the sighting was meant to throw our scent.” Everything else had been a goddamn ruse. Why not this handy tip that had come out of nowhere? There was a distinct edge to my voice and Mikhail caught it.
“You need to get control of yourself.” His voice was low and he tried to remain emotionless, but I was losing the battle so he would as well.
There was an intense ache behind my eyes. This was getting out of hand and I was losing my shit. Anyone could see that including me.
I sat back against the couch, fingering the weapon that never left my side. In my other hand was a drink. Yeah, at this point I deserved to have one. “How do you suggest I do that, Mikhail? Huh?”