Her eye narrowed and I saw her swallow a couple times. “Marek Baranov, fourth son of Ivano Baranov.” The voice was a croak, but it didn’t seem like it pained her to speak. I did notice her eye flit towards the water next to the bed.
I was about to tell her to take a drink when I remembered that both her wrists were dislocated and one of her hands were broken. Normally, an interrogation would be best if the person wasn’t comfortable, but I needed her to speak more than just a few words. Striding over the edge of the bed, I grabbed the glass of water and leaned forward, tipping it slowly against her lips. For the first time, emotion crossed her face; surprise. However, it was gone as quickly as it came. She took small sips of the water until about half the glass was gone.
Stepping back, I placed the glass on the table, her eye following my every move. She’s waiting for me to strike her down, I realized, but I didn’t let the disgust show on my face.
“Who are you?”
Her lips parted for a moment and then shut. After a few seconds, I realized this may have been futile. My hand went to the gun at my waist.
“Rosaria…Rosaria Bernardi.”
“Yabet’.”
She was Carlo Bernardi’s daughter. I didn’t know all their names because he had so damn many but from the looks of her, she was one of the younger ones. I knew his three boys, Domani, Enzo, and Tempo. Domani had given up his position as head of the mafia to marry for love. It was a scandal and I’m pretty sure Domani barely escaped with his life. He’d been smart enough to hide his bride though. It left Enzo to be the next in line as the next head. He was young though. So their father, the ruthless fucking bastard, was still head even in his sixties.
“I should kill you right here.”
Her eye didn’t fear me, there was still that emptiness. “Please do. I’d asked your men but they obviously are useless.”
I barked out a hollow laugh. “If they killed you it would insight a war.”
“They wouldn’t know who I was. They would have thrown me in a ditch and no one would have been the wiser.” Her voice was devoid of all emotion.
“Do you have a death wish, króshka?” Using the word baby seemed appropriate. She was a child, a little girl who seemed to be too knowledgeable about our world.
She blinked a few times at me. “If you met my father, you would too.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Explain to me the series of events that brought you to my doorstep.”
Rosaria took a deep breath. “You are aware of my fathers reputation?”
I nodded. Cruel, ruthless, leading by fear, threatening his own men. Oh, I was well aware of Carlo Bernardi’s reputation. My father and Carlo did not get along. There had been more than a few disputes, and a couple of wars, in their time. Our reach and resources always edged him out. It chaffed him to no end that he couldn’t get us out of New York. As of late, he’d been quiet but my brothers and I were always ready.
“Well, he’s worse when he knows he can get away with it. When it’s his own blood.” Her eyes, for the first time, left me and fell to her lap. “The men fear him but know that his blood means next to nothing outside of Enzo.” The hatred in her voice when she said her brothers name was shocking.
She continued. “The men enjoy themselves with us girls. Some of my sisters are willing but most of us…” Her voice trailed off for a second.
“They rape you?”
Rosaria nodded. “My father found out his second in command had raped me. He called me a slut, a whore of the highest degree. He’s been off his game recently, his punishments aren’t as severe. I think old age is finally getting to him. Can’t quite whip with the same vigor he used to.” Her snort made her cough.
Stepping up again, I helped her slowly drink the rest of the water. The eye that had left me now stared at me and every single move I made. When I stepped back this time, I sat down on their chair Kamilia was sitting in when I came in.
“I’d managed to get out this time; get free. The guards were all in the house getting drunk because they signed a merger with one of the Spanish cartels. I was able to get out and I walked. The sun wasn’t going down, but by the time I was in your territory, it was. I’d listened for the first Russian I heard. Apparently, I’d reached my limit.” She grimaced.
“How do you know my mother name?”
Her eye still hadn’t left mine. “Long ago, when I was a child…” I snorted, she still was a child. “…one of my father’s wives spoke of your mother. Apparently, they were in the same friend group. It was a detail I filed away. All information is valuable, no matter how insignificant it seems at the time.”
My jaw locked. That was something my father had said. ‘Mar, always be listening. Always listen and remember. One day, knowledge can save your life even if it seems stupid now.’
“I’ve met some of your sisters. None of them seemed as knowledgeable as you are in the mafia.”
Again, she snorted. “I wasn’t useful in any other way to my father. When I was a baby, I was stolen out of my crib. I received burns on part of my shoulder. Marring me and decreasing my value to selling me off. Therefore, I became his favorite plaything. He could now mark me as he wished, destroy me as he wished, without fear of my value falling.”
How she spoke of herself…I felt it stab into my heart. If my sisters ever spoke like this, or my nieces, I would kill whoever told them their worth was based on their bodies. Anger flared in me and now more than ever I wanted to put a bullet in that man’s head. He’d taken many of our men over the years, our brothers. Apparently, he did the same to his own.
“Your father has already started to look for you.”
She wasn’t surprised. Two days ago, our men had caught the Italians skirting not just our borders but the Irish as well. They’d asked permission from the American mafia group but it seems like they doubted her going into that territory.
“I’m sure it’s a kill order.”
Again, she was right. Under the suspicion of deflecting, a woman was to be killed on sight. The issue was, there was no photo, no name, nothing for anyone but the Italians to know her. Juri was already headed back from Moscow when he heard the shuffling of men on the border.
“I’d go out there and let them kill me but giving my father the satisfaction that he finally managed to kill his whore of a daughter irks me.” Rosaria scoffed.
“Did he…” Fuck, I didn’t know how to ask this. “Did Carlo every touch his own daughters?”
Her eye stared deep into me. Searching for something before she sighed. “It was a family affair.”
Rising to me feet, I turned from the bed and made the two steps to the window. My hands felt like they needed to break something. Kamilia would say I shouldn’t believe her, not without confirming her story. Her eyes, how she said every fact, made me believe her. It was the same as someone rattling off a rap sheet. Cold hard facts, laid out with in a disgusted manner. I felt gross. This girl had been violated by her own family. The ones who should be protecting her.
“Are you the youngest?” I asked without looking at her.
“No. I have three younger sisters.”
My lips curled. “How old are you?”
“19.”
Whirling around, I took the girl in. Yes, she was still a child compared to me but she looked younger. Hell, her body was so small I’d honestly thought she was fifteen or sixteen. Her face was blank, still staring at me.
“Our Vor will be back in a day. He will decide what to do with you. Until then, you will be confined to this room. My sister will continue to tend to you if she so wishes. Answer her questions.”
Striding out of the room, Lev, Kamalia, two of nieces and one of my nephews, along with Aleksei, fell back from the door they had been leaning against as I threw it open. Passing then without a word, I knew Aleksei was following but I didn’t care. I needed some air. As I walked back out in the garden, the wind picking up as a storm rolled in, I realized this wasn’t what I needed. The itch to just shoot someone, to rampage across New York, or that I needed out of my skin.
“Marek…what…?”
I continued to walk, going to the car park in the back of the property. Throwing open the garage doors, I got into my Audi A3 and took off. Aleksei was left behind in the garage. At first, I didn’t have a destination but my car drove to the fighting ring. It had been years since I’d been here. I was no longer a young man needing to prove myself and they seemed idiotic. Now they would be a way to unleash this fury and rage I was feeling.
Pulling into the lot, I slammed my door and headed in the back. Julian, the proprietor of the fighting pits headed me off.
“Mr. Baranov, it’s been a while. Are you here to bet?”
Undoing my cuff, I continued through the crowd. “No. I’m here to fight.”
His eyes widened. “I…well…we can put you in a couple fights but I don’t know if I have anyone else in your…class.”
Age, he meant. Because I needed to feel older today. Lord almighty, I wouldn’t be able to hold back today.
“I don’t care who you send in, Julian. Just send someone good. If they aren’t, I’ll kill them.” Pulling my shirt out of my pants, I stripped it off and pulled off my belt as well. Dumping them on the bench by the locker room, I took off my shoes and socks. Rider, Julian’s second hand man and brain behind this moneymaker, came up to me. He pulled out my hands and started to wrap them.
“Try not to kill them today. I don’t know if we can break even if you do.”
I snorted. “Don’t send someone weak in and I won’t.”
Backing away, Rider nodded and held out his hand to motion me to the fighting pit that was in the center of the room. It was surprisingly busy for Thursday, but I figured there was a match these people were here for specifically. For now though, they would have to sit and watch me pummel the shit out of everyone else.
Shutting the door quietly behind me, it was about four in the morning when I got back to the estate. I had barely left the pit and missed the messages from my brothers. Juri already landed and apparently, they had already talked about the Italians. I didn’t know if Rosaria had provided the information to them. Or if they even bothered to ask. I’m sure they were more concerned with covering the border of our territory.Quietly making my way up to my office, I poured myself a straight whiskey and barely sat down when my door slammed open. Kamilia was livid as she slammed the door shut behind her as well.“What the fuck do you think you were doing? Just left, no information about where you had been or when you would be back. We’ve got the Italians up our ass and you decide to just fuck off.”I took a sip of my drink as she seethed. “I’m sure Lev tracked my phone.”“The fighting pits? Really Marek? You’re thirty-nine years old. Next year you’re going to be 40 and you think it’s okay just
“Wake up, Marek. I’m not that late.” Kazmer walked in, closing the door behind him.Shaking my head, I opened up my eyes to watch him sit down on the loveseat on the other side of the room. Of course, Juri was sitting behind his desk, his fingers laced together while his elbows rested on the dark mahogany.“So right now, we have an Italian princess in our guest bedroom.”I amended his statement. “An unwanted Italian princess.”Kazmer snorted. “A dead princess.”Juri didn’t acknowledge either of us. “I will not have a war with the Italians. The Spaniards are up our butt and from what I understand, they have sided with the Italians and our mutual understand with the Colombians isn’t enough to hold them to their word. Not until Damian and Ramona are officially wed.”We all hummed in agreement. Lev looked up from his computer. “So we take an unmarked vehicle, tos
“I would request you don’t call me Miss Bernardi. It feels more like a slur than anything.”I gave her a quick nod before walking to the far wall, where the windows looked out over the front lawn. It was quiet and the morning was clear. It was one of my favorite views outside of my own on third floor overlooking the back gardens.“So your brother decided whether to kill me, or let my father do it himself.”Turning, I looked back at this little bird. Her wings cut from birth, caged in a windowless room. “A third option has been presented by my brother.”“Juri Baranov? Your head?”I nodded. She waited patiently, her eyes defaulting to watching my every move as I tried to sort out my thoughts. I could imagine her outrage when I explained. Her face twisting in disgust much like my brothers. The nail in the coffin would probably be her wanting to choose death over marrying me.“What do you know of my family?” I figured I would put it off as long
My eyes looked up to her but she was caught in my story, leaning forward, her hands clenching the blankets. Looking back down, I continued.“Her father basically locked her down in their residence until our wedding which was six months away. Two months later, she showed up on this very doorstep covered in bruises and crying. She begged me to let me stay, that her father’s men were brutal and she didn’t feel safe.”My eyes caught hers. “Unlike you, she was lying. I wasn’t the idiot that she thought I was. I loved her, but the lovesick puppy ended the first time I found out she cheated on me. She was having an affair with the son of her father’s second in command; Ernesto Gutierrez.”“The infamous sniper? The rumor is he’s cruel, brutal, corrupt and dangerous. He’s never missed but he’s willing to sell his loyalty for a high enough price.”“At the time, it was his father who had the reputation as the best sniper and gunman in the cartel. Though, Ernesto already earned the titles of crue
*** Rosaria’s POV ***I stood in front of him, watching his face. It was ridiculous, what I had just done, but it wasn’t the worst. Whenever the men stripped me to fuck me, their faces contorted in disgust. ‘Well, at least, I don’t have to look at you to fuck you.’ That was their usual line. There wasn’t anything I could do at this point about how it looked and I was far past having shame about it.Marek was beautiful. Not handsome, beautiful. The same beauty I’d admired in fathers third wife, his second or third cousin. By then, most of us kids were already born. She actually had two children, Giovanni and Brianna, twins. They were killed and I had a serious feeling that Enzo did it. My father stopped having children after she died but the whores were on constant circulation.His brothers I’d seen had various fullness of beards but Marek was clean shaven. He was larger than his brot
“Does my age not bother you?” His head was cocked to the side a bit and he almost looked nervous about asking the question.I stared at his chest for a moment before my eyes trailed back up to his. “At nineteen, would you have been able to protect me against my father?”He seemed a little taken aback by the question but slowly he started to shake his head. “No, I wouldn’t have.”“Then no, I have no problem with your age.”His mouth opened up just a bit, his jaw dropping ever so slightly, before snapped back into place. His lips pursed in a thin line.“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” His question came out quiet and breathy.I held his gaze. “Are you?”After a few seconds ticked by, he nodded. “I am.”Swallowing, I ran my tongue over my chapped lips. “Then so am I.”Neither of us moved. Our agreement to marry when neither of us really knew each other felt like a weighted blanket of tension. Shifting slightly, my ankle
“Yebat’.”The curse roused me from my sleep and I turned to see Marek holding a platter of most-likely the bone broth Kamilia had been serving me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, it was easily about mid-day with the sun streaming in from the windows.“You shouldn’t be up.”In a shocking action, Marek set the platter down on the table and dropped to one knee before me. His hands touched my bare legs as the goosebumps exploded all over my body. He gingerly touched my ankle.“This needs to not be hanging down. The swelling went back up.”He lifted me with not even a grunt before placing me gently on the bed. I watched his every move. Not a single movement was wasted energy. He was a fighter but I wondered if his fighting was closer to dancing than it was pummeling the other person.“Búsinka, you need to eat. You’re a twig. I feel like every time I touch you, yo
“Look…Vladimir and I recently decided on moving out of the city. Yes, we bought a house. It’s not as big as the estate but it’s pretty large. I really do love it. We plan on moving in next week. We hadn’t closed on it last time we talked.”Marek called it. She was diverting attention to a different subject. The women sitting downstairs also knew what she was doing. A couple shook their heads and Kamilia outright scoffed.“You bitch, we mean the pregnancy!”Bronya paled over the line and she looked back at the room quickly before leaning into the camera. “How the fuck do you know?”The woman, Sachi I presumed, covered her mouth. “You haven’t told Vladimir, have you?”Marek stood up straighter and all eyes were on his sister. She shook her head slowly.“Are you kidding?”The women were all talking at the same time but Bronya paled even mo
*** 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
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
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…”
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,
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
*** 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,
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
I unbuckled the seatbelt and stood up, looking out the windshield. Sure enough, Lorenzo had pulled up against a brick wall that was part of the closest neighbors boundary. Tapping him on the shoulder, I walked to the back between Keenan and Marek. With a flick of a button, the top of the van started to retract back. I pulled down the metal ladder and climbed up.I had a perfect view of the guards house and the gate . My lips pursed and I stepped back down a couple stairs.“This will be fine. Their numbers went up though.”“Cause he’s back.” Lorenzo pulled out a laptop from the door and opened in. “Yeah, it’s nearly empty inside the house.”I nodded and looked over the top of the van again. “Confirmed location?”“In the study. Ferrari is also in there.”Smirking, I shrugged. “Two for one I guess.”“You need to ensure that he doesn’t run.” Marek added and I looked down at him.Frowning, I dropped down and took hold of the bulletproof vest he was putting on. I shook my head.“You’re not
I couldn’t tell if he was angry or if he was just pouting. Either way, Marek refused to look at me the rest of the drive. He did end up falling asleep and I worried we would need to drop him off with Kamilia but he waved us off when I told him the plan. We were quiet as we drove through the city and back up the way to the hell I literally had just escaped.It sent of jolt of nerves through me but I knew if there was a time to do it, now would be that time. Enzo was gone, we confirmed that. With Juri blowing up locations and knocking in doors, the security wasn’t what it normally was. If we waited even a day, Enzo could regroup and come back to bolster Father’s forces. That and with Marek in hand, Juri would probably stop his assault. He wouldn’t have the excuse of trying to find Marek anymore.“Set up where you can be covered and I can see the entrance from the top of the van.”“I know!” Lorenzo snapped at me.“If you don’t want to do this…” I turned my head to him. “It’s okay.”He gr