Chapter 32
?
Roman
A fine drizzle has started outside, and the dark clouds gathering overhead seem designed to reflect exactly what I'm feeling right now.
Fury, betrayal, shame.
I allowed this man access to my life and to the people who matter most to me, only for him to stab me in the back. The problem with people like him is they think everyone else is stupid, that no one will suspect anything - but that's exactly the mistake that leads to their downfall.
Niko is waiting for me in Washington Park, smoking under the same tree where we talked after our father died. His coat is drenched with rain and his hair is wet, but when he looks up at me, I see the same fire burning inside him that I feel in myself.
"When did you figure it out?" he asks, and I pull out a cigarette of my own, taking a few drags before answering.
I'm not sure exactly when I first sensed something was wrong, but I know precisely when I got confirmation. When I saw Denis's face. The shock in his expression was too genuine to be masked or faked. It was an honest emotion. Innocence.
"When Denis looked at me like I’d kicked his puppy," I say, still seething.
I had to hit Denis, had to pretend he was the traitor, just so he wouldn't see that I knew.
"When I heard you quote The Godfather to him, I knew something was wrong," he tells me, his voice full of hatred. Like me, he’s figured out who was responsible for everything that's gone wrong lately. When we were young, Niko and Denis were obsessed with The Godfather and often forced me to watch it with them. I must have seen that movie at least fifty times. I needed to send Denis a message that I believed him, that I knew he wasn't guilty. The message had to be subtle enough not to attract attention from anyone listening, but clear enough for Denis to understand that I needed his help and cooperation.
"But you know what I don't understand? Why now? He could have done this ages ago, when we were actually vulnerable," he says.
I've been asking myself the same question. Why now? What changed? The only new variable in my life is Luna, and my only theory is that the bastard thought I was too distracted by her to notice what he was planning.
"We'll find out soon enough. Anton cut some security cameras and I called him to come fix them. Urgently."
My cigarette butt lands a few feet away from us, and the only sound is the rain. Communication has been difficult in the last few hours because we've been skirting official channels to avoid alerting the wrong people.
"Come on, Ro," Niko says, and together we head toward my SUV.
For the first time since our father died and left me in charge, there’s a bitter taste in my mouth, and it's not from the tobacco. It's the taste of disappointment, and I don't know how many hours of torture it will take to wash away this feeling.
My phone rings in my pocket, and when I check it, I see a message from Anton confirming the location. I grip the phone tightly and close my eyes for a second, trying to gather the calm I need. I want to make sure I don't kill him too quickly.
"Niko, call Sofia. I want her to have Damien make the transfer within the next hour, like we discussed," I tell him, watching my brother give a short nod, his jaw clenched.
I'm someone who expresses anger through torture, while Niko is more reserved. He's always preferred our legitimate business dealings, favoring clean, well-kept suits over ones stained with blood or other fluids.
He ends the call, and when our eyes meet, I read the pain over what we're about to do, but I can only remind him of what we stand to lose.
"He has eyes in our house, Niko. He has our accounts in his hands. Lev dies today!"
?
The meeting place is an old barn storehouse outside the city where we keep artwork to sell on the black market. Inside, we have top-of-the-line preservation technology to store the art until the pieces reach their final buyers. Currently, we have only three pieces here: Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez—which everyone believes is in Madrid, but the original will go to an oligarch who now owes me a favor—a Renoir, and a Duchamp.
Their delivery is quite urgent, and we've used this opportunity to lure that treacherous bastard from his den. If I go to him, he might have alerts set up, and I can't risk losing his trail.
"How long until he arrives?" I ask Niko as my fists clench involuntarily.
"A few minutes, but...try not to kill him too quickly. We need answers," he tells me, and I glare at him, ready to strangle him too.
As angry as I am, I know when to stop, especially when dealing with someone who's had access to so much information about us. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth, but when I see his car parking out front, all my fury boils to the surface.
Calm, Roman.
This treacherous bastard steps out of a Maserati Alfieri that easily cost 140 thousand dollars of my money. Money I gave him without ever thinking this man would be capable of betraying us. Clearly, this isn't about money. It's personal. I know how much Lev makes working for me, and we're not talking pocket change.
I watch him approach and realize he wouldn't last through an hour of torture. Lev is a thirty-three-year-old man, with an average height of five foot eleven and brown hair worn rather long, hanging down to his shoulders. It's his eyes I focus on. And I notice for the first time how empty they are. I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me because I know what he's done, but something's missing in his gaze. Something I hadn't noticed until now. Or perhaps I had but preferred to attribute it to how this life damages us all.
"Ro, you know I could have sent someone to fix these. My soul freezes in this weather," he says, and I hear him laugh.
My fingers twitch toward the knife I always carry in my jacket's inner pocket, the temptation to plunge it into his throat nearly irresistible. But that would be too quick a death for him, so I put my mask back on and burst into laughter.
"I don't take chances with security when I have millions of dollars at stake," I say, and he nods seriously.
"Well, let's get to it. Niko, did some girlfriend reject you? You look quite grim," he says, giving him the once-over.
I shoot my brother a look, one I know he understands. Now's not the time for a scene. For him, the betrayal burns more personally than for me. He was the one who proposed we hire Lev in the first place. And I didn't object then. It was a logical decision. The man was talented with computers and security, and we'd known him for years, since high school. He was even Russian like us.
"I think Lorelai refused to stay on her knees," I say with an amused tone and gesture for them to follow me. Lev seems to have forgotten about Niko's frown, but I don't want to take any chances.
I’m waiting for Damien's message confirming he's handled my request. Until then, I need to buy time.
When we reach the cut cameras, I show them to Lev and take a few steps back. I'll strangle him if I get too close.
"Damn amateurs. They always cut with a serrated blade," he complains as he pulls out tools to repair the wires.
In a few minutes, he's fixed the first camera, and I see Niko getting restless. We have four more cameras. There's time.
"Niko, go inside and double-check the shipments with Anton. I don't want any surprises with the Irish again," I tell him, needing him to leave. I can feel his fury seeping through his suit, and if he could breathe fire, he would.
"Fine." That's all he offers before turning and leaving, understanding my message.
When we reach the second camera, Lev stops with the tools in his hand.
"Have you heard anything else about Devin?" he asks without looking at me.
The bastard.
"No. I hope to learn more from Denis after I finish here."
"We never expect the people closest to us to be the ones who betray us," he says, his tone eerily calm. Too calm. Not the slightest inflection in his voice.
My hand involuntarily moves toward the gun I always keep at my back while I watch Lev continue working on the camera wires, his back to me.
"A bullet to the head doesn't seem like your preferred way of handling these things, Ro."
His tone is glacial. Calculated. I have the gun in my hand, aimed at the back of his head.
"Fifteen years. You've been with us that long," I spit out.
He's still working on those wires, and when he slowly rises and turns around, all I see is a smile.
"Fifteen years of waiting to watch you burn. It's a long time, isn't it?" he asks me while raising his hands in surrender.
I yell for Anton and Niko. Right now, I don't trust myself not to kill Lev on the spot.
The look Niko gives me is enough to see his panic. Damien hasn't responded yet, which means we're taking a risk. I don't know what kind of safety measures Lev has in place, but there are clearly instructions that will be followed after his disappearance.
"You know you can't kill me. Not if you want to keep your companies intact," he says, the arrogance clear in his tone.
At that moment, a ring sounds from my pocket, and I don't even need to check it.
I knew Damien wouldn't disappoint me.
I'm the one who starts smiling now, and his look takes on a note of suspicion.
"That was the signal that we can start the fun, boys."
While Lev was making his way here, Damien and Luna went to his house with a small army. The plan was for Damien's hacker to transfer all the data from Lev's system through a Multipartite virus installed on one of his computers, leaving us invulnerable.
It's a plan I made with Damien when we first formed this alliance. We're both aware that anyone can be compromised, and we paid good money for this virus, but now every penny is justified.
I also asked Maksim to verify its authenticity, and when I got the green light from him, I knew we had a good solution.
I wouldn't have sent Luna along, but if something came up, she could fix the problem on the spot.
"If I don't make a certain call in twelve minutes, Roman, all your accounts will be emptied into mine," he tells me, and I burst out laughing before he finishes speaking.
"You really think I'm stupid enough to leave all my businesses and money in your hands, you idiot?"
He struggles to comprehend what I mean, so I make his life easier and explain.
"Did you really think I wouldn’t do anything to make sure our money and companies are safe?" I clarify, and the realization that he no longer has this leverage brings a new emotion to his eyes.
Fear. For a second. It's enough. At least now he realizes the situation he's in.
Anton pushes him from behind into the barn, where a whole section is covered with cellophane, on the floor and walls. This is going to get messy.
Apart from a few lights, chairs, and a table, there isn't much visible.
I signal to Niko and Anton to chain him up where Denis had been. I had to chain Denis there so Lev wouldn't suspect I was onto him.
I knew the warehouse was under video surveillance. If he'd suspected I knew about his plans, he would have vanished without a trace, so I had to beat my own cousin to avoid raising suspicion. I knew The Godfather quote would be enough for him to understand I believed him, but that doesn't mean the blows weren't real.
"I must admit, Denis's beating was convincing," he says as if reading my thoughts, and at this I turn toward him.
"I promise to try harder with you," I say, and the smile on my face could probably be described as psychotic.
"Seems there's some brain behind those muscles. I always thought Niko would figure it out, not you, though the alliance with that idiot Devin was probably my mistake. That moron only thought about blowing things up," he says, spitting with hatred.
I barely have time to raise my eyebrows at his pathetic display when Niko lunges at him with his fists. Lev grits his teeth as a sound that I'm sure is a rib breaking echoes in the space.
"Niko. That's enough," I say, but of course he doesn't stop. "NIKO!" I roar, knowing this shout will bring him back from the hole he's fallen into.
Niko breathes heavily, and I watch his shirt expand with each breath. It's quite a paradox - Niko in his dress pants, blue shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows, perfect haircut, and his hands bruised from the impact of his blows.
He turns and raises his foot for another blow that I'm sure turns Lev's spleen to mush.
"We took you into our family, you worthless piece of shit," he spits before backing away.
I know he needs to vent his rage, but I need Lev somewhat whole. At least partially.
"You know what I can't understand? Why? Clearly it wasn't financial motivation that made you betray us like a dog," I say, leaning against the table a few yards away.
Sweat drips down Lev's face, probably from the effort of not screaming from Niko's blows. When he raises his gaze, his eyes burn with fury and hatred, and I wonder what the hell we did to make him hate us so much? And how did I never see any of it?
"You really don't recognize who I am?" he asks, his tone suggesting he’d hoped I would.
"Not the slightest idea," I tell him, my face a mask of boredom.
I watch how my answer eats at him.
"My father was Bogdan Vasiliev."
It takes me exactly three seconds to place that name in my head, and then I can barely mask my shock when I make the connection, but my reaction doesn't escape him.
"Ah. Finally. Do you know how long I've waited to face you without having to hide? I wanted to kill you with my bare hands, but while you had your whole family and their name behind you, I only had my brain," he confesses, and I do nothing but stare at him.
Bogdan Vasiliev was the first person I killed, at age fourteen. An accountant who dared to steal money from my father and thought he'd receive some form of mercy.
I still remember his face when he called me a "monster" like my father, and I still see no resemblance between him and Lev.
"Your father, just like you, got what all traitors get," I snarl, and then my hand, holding the serrated knife, traces a line across his abdomen.
His shirt tears instantly and begins to turn red from the blood. Lev's screech is muffled, as if he's holding back from truly screaming.
"Why now?" I ask, and it's the only thing I don't understand. Now that I know why he wants revenge and was willing to work for us for years, something must have caught his attention to make him move right now.
"It's eating at you, isn't it?" he says and starts laughing.
"You son of a—"
Niko wants to jump at him again, but no one will have the privilege of making him scream except me.
I catch Niko by the shoulder, and I know he sees on my face that he needs to calm the hell down or we won't get answers from Lev. There’s something I'm missing, and this feeling gives me the sensation of a thousand ants crawling all over me.
"If you don't want to see your intestines looking like Michelin star borscht, I suggest you start talking," I say in an apathetic tone.
I can't shake the whirlwind in my chest telling me something isn't right. Lev is too calm. For a man hanging from chains, about to be tortured, he's far too peaceful.
My hand moves toward my phone to message Sergey and ask if everything's okay at home, but I see Lev watching me. It seems like he's waiting for me to do something.
"Nothing?" I ask, and I just see him trying to move in his chains. I know his muscles are screaming in pain, but wait until he sees how it feels in a few hours. When I notice he's silent, I approach him again with the same serrated knife which, although harder to use, remains among my favorites. It's the one I know will cause the most damage and pain when it enters flesh, and that's what I want for him. To feel every vein and tissue in his body being torn by the blade.
Maybe if he'd only tried to sabotage my companies and money, I'd have given him a quicker death, but he dared to attack Luna, and the thought that if Maksim hadn't been there…
I refuse to think about what would have happened if they'd managed to kidnap her. I would have found her, I don't doubt that for a second, but not as quickly, and the damage those savages could have inflicted is enough to make my hand drive the knife in right beside his spleen, which I know is already damaged from Niko's blows.
A piercing scream escapes him, and it's like listening to my favorite music. My head empties, and some of the earlier unease disappears, but not completely.
"You know, you're holding up better than your father did," I say, twirling the knife between my fingers.
"Go to hell. You butchered him like an animal," he spits back, and I can feel the fury in his voice.
Good. The angrier he gets, the better chance I have of him letting something slip. Because there's something I don't know. I feel it in my bones. I'm about to toy with him again, but when he sees me approaching, his eyes light up with a dangerous flame.
"Doesn't Luna look good in that pink sweater?" he says through gritted teeth, and his words stop me in my tracks.
This human garbage knows what Luna was wearing today. My Luna.
"What did you do?" I growl in a low tone, staring directly into his eyes. I want him to see how he'll be torn apart if he doesn't immediately tell me what he's planning. Seemingly unimpressed by my demeanor, he continues his monologue, though I can see him struggling to breathe.
"Why now, Ro? Because now you have something to lose. Ever since you had me look up information about her, I knew that in my whole scheme, she was the missing piece. And when her ex seemed interested in keeping tabs on his little girlfriend, I was there to guide him," he says and laughs.
The bastard has the audacity to laugh , so I lunge at him and plunge the blade into his quadriceps. His muffled scream confirms the pain, and without pulling away, I grab his throat with one hand while slowly twisting the knife with the other.
"Keep talking, Lev, or I swear I'll make your death very, very long," I snarl through my teeth, and I know he understands these aren't empty threats.
"Ro..."
Anton's voice registers as if I’m underwater. I feel like all the blood has rushed to my head and I can barely hear my own voice, but there's something in his tone that makes me turn toward him.
I almost rip off Anton's head for interrupting this moment.
"It's Luna," he says, and at the mention of her name, I frown.
Something's happened. That's the only reason Luna would contact Anton. When I check my phone, I see over ten missed calls and messages from her. Without looking at Lev, I leave the barn. Her voice reaches me before I'm fully outside—soft, wavering—and something cracks beneath my ribs.
"He took Roxy."