Three of us stepped over the debris of the hole we made of the entrance. After a quick debate, Lorenzo told us he could cover himself and not to worry about him. He deployed the drone he had left and it was hovering above us. Keenan and I were leading while Marek was just behind us.A few shots came from the second floor and I adjusted, looking up and taking quick shots as I moved. If anything, I knew this place like the back of my hand. I knew every squeaky board. Every blind corner, every room and every loud hinge. It was easy to know where the guys were coming from but there were only a few.“They are holed up in the study. Only a few guards left. Most are injured or confused. They aren’t organized and aren’t poised to attack.”I motioned for the guys to follow me as I raced up the stairs. Turning to the left, I walked down the open walkway before I turned down the very last hallway. At the end of this hallway was my father’s study. It was where he brought men after they had done b
*** Marek’s POV ***I ran my hands through Ria’s hair. She was sleeping soundly next to me in my hospital bed. Kam had warned her multiple times that she was not to walk anywhere. Ria still snuck into my room after the night shift and crawled into bed with me. I’d never kick her out though. I don’t know why they didn’t just put us in the same room.In the past, I never really worried about things. If something bad happened, I just fixed it. End of story. The lack of light in Ria’s eyes made me add her emotional wellbeing, not just physical, to the list. She was still trying to force herself to not feel. Part of it I knew was because she was waiting to hear what Juri had to say. I wish I could tell her she didn’t need to go that far but I knew better. Even I didn’t know what was going happen next.The door opened and I heard an exaggerated groan. “YA klyanus'. Yesli ona budet prodolzhat' v tom zhe dukhe, ona naneset nepopravimyy vred svoim nogam.” [I swear. If she continues like this,
I stared at the papers in my hand. Ria, somehow, had finagled an early release from the hospital. With the condition that she would come by every week to make sure she was healing properly. Now though, we were facing the black SUV that would take us to my brother. Her hand slipped into mine and she squeezed it. Really, it should have been her that was afraid. Instead, I was the one hesitating.Kam came up behind us. “Come on. I have to go too.”I helped Ria into the back seat with Kam before I walked around and got in the front with Wren. He was one of Juri’s men who did a lot of his driving. Keenan had been the only one to come to the hospital. Lec or Boris hadn’t shown up, which disappointed me a bit. Still, their oath was to the bratva, not to me directly.The ride was quiet and I kept glancing back at Ria. Her elbow was on the windowsill and her chin resting in her hand, looking at the city. I never really thought I would get here. Where I would put someone above the bratva, above
Juri threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t leave the bratva. This is your family, Marek.”“I can. The contract we signed when you became head of the bratva allows for me to request leave once in my lifetime.”Ria looked at me, shaking her head. “Marek, it’s…it’s okay. You don’t…”I smiled down at her and brushed her cheek. “The both of us have done our time, zhena. I’ve been thinking, what it would be like for us to live normally. The two of us, raising a family, without the darkness looming over us.”“Request denied. Now, moving on.” Juri waved his hand but Kaz caught his wrist.“That’s now it works, Vor.”Juri yanked his hand out of Kaz’s grip. “Why the hell not? I’m Vor. I decide who comes and who goes. Who can leave and who can’t.”“Right. But there are consequences to saying no when one of us asks. Marek’s contract being the severest one of all of us.”Kam nodded from her lean against the bookshelf. “Da knew that if Marek was forced to leave, forced to invoke the contract,
The speed limit wasn’t even a suggestion at this point. We didn’t have time to wait. I’d managed to get First Class tickets out of the country that would be just under the three hours but we needed to leave as soon as we could. Pulling up to the penthouse, I double parked next to the elevators. Ria was already unbuckling but she’d been quiet the entire ride from the house.Getting out, I slammed the car door shut. I’d speak to her when we got onto the plane. When I felt like we were safer than walking into a building filled with my brother’s men. Stepping into the elevator, I pulled Ria to me. Holding onto her tightly, I tightened my hand on the gun I’d grabbed from the glove box.The elevator dinged and I raised the gun, only to see Keenan in regular clothes. His eyes widened and he put his hands up immediately. I took a breath and nodded to him, dropping the gun.“Keenan? What…?”Keenan flashed Ria a smile. “I’m coming with you.”Ria looked from him to me. “But…you have family…and…”
We pulled up to the airport in record time. Keenan dodged more than one cop and ran every red light on the way. Throwing open the doors, Lec and I made sure to do a quick sweep before letting Keenan and Ria out just in case he needed to take off with her.“Well, well. It took you long enough.”Lorenzo rolled up on us, smiling as he leaned forward in his wheelchair. There was a guy next to him and he stepped forward, grabbing our luggage as we took it out. Reaching in, I helped Ria step out of the car. She smiled and hugged Lorenzo, kissing him on the cheek.“I’m surprised you agreed. Having to leave all your women behind.” Ria chuckled but it sounded far more malicious than happy.“Yeah, yeah. I had to sell Terrance too. But I plan on getting one just like her. Terrance 2.0 wherever we end up.”I shook my head. “We are supposed to not stand out, Lorenzo.”“See here, cognato, I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart. For my little sister.”Lorenzo handed me a folder and I opened
*** Five Years Later *** I rubbed my shoulders before lifting my glasses up and rubbing my eyes. There was a knock on the door and Ria pushed the door open with her back. She was holding a tray and stepped into my office. Setting it down on the edge, she put her hand on her hip. “You didn’t break for lunch. Again.” “I know. I’m sorry. Your brother sent a few more things for me to look at and I got engrossed in it.” Shaking her head, I reached out for her and pulled her into my lap. “How did the appointment go?” “Fine.” My eyebrow rose. “Just fine?” “Well, we figured out the issue. If that’s what you want to know.” “And?” I looked at her over my glasses. Ria had been struggling with her equilibrium lately. It started with when she was carrying something heavy, usually Alek. He was somehow in the ninety-nine percentile for his height but fairly middle of the road for his weight. Still, he would jump at Ria like he was two instead of five. Then, it started to get bad e
I glared at my second. Aleksei was a bit of a jokester and more often than not he had a smile on his face no matter the situation. It balanced my perpetual frown that was etched onto my face for years. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled. Not even Aleksei’s greatest jokes would make me crack a smirk. An eyebrow raise but nothing would get me to smile; not anymore. For once though, he wasn’t smiling. We were in the middle of an arms deal with the Colombians. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted. There were three other brothers they could contact that wouldn’t be finishing up a deal to handle something.“Why are you telling me this and not contacting my brothers?”Aleksei rubbed his palms against his pants. “Juri is in Russia right now, Kazmer is in Florida handling a different deal with the new port opening up, and Lev is arms deep in baby shit since the twins came home. It’s up to you, pakhan.”My lip curled. Aleksei knew better than to call me that. I was not ou