Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kazimir
“You know you’re not going to find her at the bottom of a bottle.”
Nikolai waltzed into my home office, his nose scrunched in disapproval when he took in the state of the room.
I swallowed the last pool of liquid in my glass, focusing on the phone in front of me. It took two more rings for the other line to connect.
“Pakhan.” Svetlana’s father’s voice boomed over the phone, sharpening Nikolai’s eagle gaze at me.
“I want a meeting,” I said, bypassing all pleasantries.
The man had eyes all over, so I was certain he had been enlightened on his daughter's conduct.
“I understand.” His tone was clipped. “However, I am currently on a business trip in Italy and will be there for another two weeks. Maybe we could see after that?”
Classic deflection. Draw out the situation till the flame cools to smoke and gives you time for damage control.
Too bad this was the type of flame that never dulled.
“Italy is fine,” I replied, to Nikolai’s surprise. “I’ll alert my men and the necessary audience from Russia and we’ll be on our way soon.”
I killed the call before he could give a response. I had what I needed, and I was not going to hesitate.
“Isn’t that a bit impulsive?” Nikolai queried, picking his words cautiously.
“She has not spoken to me in a week.”
“Well, a woman doesn’t exactly want to have chitchats with you after she finds out you referred to her as a warm pussy.”
“She was pregnant.”
“That too. It’s worse when they’re pregnant and they realize their baby daddy—”
“Don’t use that word, ever.”
Nikolai’s lips clamped shut, but I could see the retort lingering in his eyes.
“It was a while ago,” I said, frustration eating at the tips of my nerves. “Long before I… before this became…”
Nikolai gave me a look as if to say, go on, you can do this.
“Long before everything changed.”
He rolled his eyes. “Coward.”
“Careful.”
He lifted his arms in surrender, even though the act barely made a difference. “Alright. Alright, but how do you intend to convince her when you can’t even say the words yourself, and this meeting…”
“You said to give her space.”
“That I did. She just had the most traumatic experience of her life and would be needing some time to recover.”
“Which is what I am doing.” It had taken a level of restraint I never knew I had in me to keep from marching to her house and never leaving till she agreed to hear me out, but Nikolai was right; this wasn’t one of those operations I bulldozed my way into.
“Nope.” He shook his head. “What you are doing is moving the players in the dark.”
“Because I would rather all loose ends be tied before I bring her back into my life. What use is there in waiting when nothing has changed?”
Nikolai’s eyes widened like he was only catching up with my intentions.
“What do you intend to do?”
“Cancel the engagement.”
I reached for the bottle of scotch on my table, hissing when I found it empty. It was halfway filled less than an hour ago.
“That will have consequences, Kaz.”
“Not when Svetlana has made it so easy.”
I clicked on my desktop to view the live reports from the men I’d stationed around Genevieve’s new place.
Everything was clear, and save for an old woman trying to get her cat from a tree, it all seemed peaceful.
“And how does that work?”
I dragged myself from the seat I’d been glued to for hours, gripping the edge of the table to steady myself before walking to the minibar by the corner and pulling out a new bottle of bourbon.
“She undermined my authority and tried to keep my unborn child from me. That alone is grounds for the dissolution of unions with the claim that the family failed to raise their daughter well. Her father knows this; a Pakhan cannot have a woman who undermines his authority as a wife. The women in the Bratva are raised to know their place, and trying to harm a baby who might possibly be the next Pakhan is treason, punishable by death.”
I poured two fingers and relished the burn spreading through my veins as I threw it back. “Svetlana is only alive because I will it, and that is enough mercy.”
Nikolai’s features relaxed a bit. “So she practically handed you the winning ticket.”
“To forgive and marry her would be a sign of weakness on my part, one I cannot allow.”
Nikolai nodded slowly. “And the ports?”
I walked back to the table, lowering the new bottle. “They’ll have no choice but to keep to their end of the bargain. I kept to my end.”
Nikolai nodded, helping himself to a glass. “Guess that solves one end.”
“Not really. There will be resistance,” I said, staring into space. “But I’ll be ready.”
“And Genevieve?”
“She’ll have one more week before I’ll be forced to go see her myself.”
Nikolai’s lips curled. “I knew that watching and waiting game would hardly work for you.”
“I’ve waited enough and wasted enough time with her. This is far too overdue.”
He lifted the hand carrying his glass, pointing to me with his index finger. “Remind me to teach you the ways of the heart and how to talk before you go see her. This can’t be the tone you intend to use with her.”
I sent him a warning look. “I’m very capable of speaking to my woman myself.”
“Yup. And where did that land you?”
I ignored his jab. I’d long realized he was thoroughly enjoying watching me suffer, and I stopped giving into his weak baiting after he advised that I call a performer to recite original poems written by me at her doorstep.
Thank goodness Lev was there to talk my desperate self out of the foolery.
“Get the jet ready,” I said, getting back on my feet. “We leave tonight.”
Nikolai smirked, followed by a half bow. “As you wish.”
It was a six-hour flight, but it somehow felt like an eternity.
Ever since Genevieve was rescued from Svetlana, I’d spent every waking and sleeping hour searching for ways to get her to speak to me without being too intrusive.
I’d gone as far as contacting her best friend and was threatened with cutlery.
Everything seemed to fall apart, and I enlisted every trick in the book till Nikolai came up with his genius solution of giving her a break, like I hadn’t already thought of it.
Breaks were fine, but what if she moved on within that time? What if she mistook my space for nonchalance? Everyone knew it was best to strike while the iron was hot.
But after so many failed attempts, I resolved to try a different way, but even then, I couldn’t completely stay away.
With the issue of her forgiveness on pause, I had the time to look into other things.
It was safe to say the flight was my first time being idle since the event, and the thoughts I’d been running from were beginning to close in.
Coward.
The word haunted every corner of my brain. I heard it first thing in the morning, last before I slept, and most times, I’d wake in a pool of my own sweat with it echoing in my head.
Coward.
At first, I wasn’t sure what it meant; I was the man who never hesitated or showed fear, but with every new letter I sent Genevieve, it became clearer. I was indeed a coward.
The admission wasn’t an easy feat for a man of my calibre to accept, but I was no liar.
The truth is, things only got this far because of my failure to admit to what was in front of me and take responsibility for whatever followed.
I dragged my palm through my hair, fisting hard to give the inner turmoil somewhere to go before I punched a hole through something.
Lev had gone behind my back to empty the bar of all forms of alcohol before the flight, and now, I had to deal with my emotions with a clear head.
It was not something I would recommend to anyone.
“We’ll be landing in fifteen minutes,” the pilot announced, causing a sleeping Nikolai to crack open his eyes.
“Where are we?”
“Wonderland,” Lev replied with a stone face.
He sent Lev a death glare, stretching his frame out on the makeshift sofa.
Lev barely acknowledged his gaze, turning to me almost immediately. “What’s the plan, Pakhan? You’ve barely spoken.”
I looked at the man built like a brick. When Lev asked for a plan, he meant an attack scheme. I had no doubt he already had men waiting.
I swirled the glass of water I’d been pretending was vodka. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
“And if it does?”
My vision blurred slightly. “Leave no survivors.”
Among the most important lessons I’d learned from my father and grandfather was the importance of fear and respect amongst men.
If Svetlana’s family came up with a slippery scheme, I would be more than willing to put an end to the lineage before stories of my benevolence spread.
The pilot's voice echoed a few more times before I felt the wheels hit the tarmac. By the time we got out, three cars were lined up and waiting.
Nikolai and I took one whilst Lev took another and headed out.
It took less than thirty minutes of Nikolai’s bland analysis and reports on Genevieve’s wellbeing—details I already had—before we arrived at our destination.
Svetlana’s father received us in a study lined with old books I knew he never read and portraits of men who’d built his family’s name on the same blood mine had been built with.
He was a small man who’d learned to make himself look larger through the company he kept, and today he looked smaller than I’d ever seen him.
“Kazimir,” he said, standing. “I assume this isn’t a social call.”
“Where is everyone?” I questioned his lack of kinsmen.
“I assumed this was a matter of the utmost delicate nature.”
We exchanged a brief glance, which was enough for me to know he understood the implications of his daughter’s actions.
“Your daughter kidnapped a pregnant woman and held her against her will,” I said. I didn’t sit. “I trust you’ve heard.”
His jaw tightened. “I’ve heard a version of events.”
“There’s only one version,” I said. “My men were there. Nikolai was there. Svetlana ran the moment she saw us coming, which tells you everything about how confident she was in her own defense.”
He was quiet for a moment, calculating and weighing what a fight would cost against what a concession would save. “What is it you want?”
“The agreement ends,” I said. “Tonight, on paper, with both our signatures. No war, no retaliation, no talk of broken honor. Your daughter did this to herself.”
“You understand what you’re asking,” he said. “Fifteen years of alliance, undone in an evening.”
“I understand exactly what I’m asking,” I said, taking a step closer. “And I understand that if you refuse, I’ll make sure every family knows precisely why the engagement ended, in detail. Your choice is how much of your dignity you keep on the way out.”
He looked at Nikolai, who offered nothing but a flat stare, and then back at me. Whatever he saw in my face made the decision for him.
“I’ll have the papers drawn up,” he said.
“Tonight,” I said again.
“Tonight,” he agreed. “But in the meantime, what do I offer you? The agreement might be broken, but we’re still in business, I presume?”
“Nothing.”
He regarded me for a while before nodding. “I’ll draw up the contract then.”
Nikolai waited till the door shut behind him to speak.
“That was a bit too easy.”
“Or he got proper guidance and realized it was in his best interest that this stayed as contained as it could. Svet is a disgrace.”
“I am aware, but—”
“He lost. And he knows it. He doesn’t even know where she is.”
“And how exactly do you know that?”
“Because he’s making no negotiations on disciplining her and returning her better.”
The door swung open and he reappeared with his second in command and son in tow. All three wearing scowls of different levels.
He held out a paper. “Here it is.”
Nikolai took the document, perusing it before taking a picture. “It’s for the lawyer.” He flashed a toothy grin, handing the paper to me. “Now we wait.”
I read the content; it was brief and precise, stating the annulment and also reaffirming its peaceful and mutual nature and the decision to continue business regardless. It seemed to have been printed before our arrival.
Nikolai’s phone pinged and he checked it before turning to give me a nod.
I took a pen from my pocket and signed my end of the sheet.
Svetlana’s father signed, then Nikolai and Vasily signed as witnesses, and it was concluded.
“Nice doing business with you, gentlemen.” Nikolai's voice rang out as I made my way out of the library.
I alerted Lev on the peaceful nature of the deal and headed for the car with Nikolai in tow.
“Feel any different?” he asked the moment we pulled out of the resort.
“No,” I said, and it was true. There was no grief in it, no relief either, just the quiet of a debt finally paid. “Should I?”
“Fifteen years is fifteen years,” he said. “Even you’re allowed to feel something about it.”
“The only thing I feel is that it took a kidnapping to make me do what I should have done the day I met Genevieve,” I said.
Nikolai glanced over at me, something almost like approval in it. “Then let’s go home and see if she’ll let you prove it.”
I looked out the window at the lights of a city that wasn’t mine, thinking of the one that was, and of the woman in it who wanted nothing to do with me.
Cutting Svetlana loose was the easy part. What came next would take considerably more than a signature.