Stephan

by S F Draven

  “I think that she was also still struggling trying to figure out where she fit in,” I said, “But the difference between the two of you, is that you know what you want, and you know what your morals are. I know you are never going to stray away from that. I’ve seen you in action, I’ve seen you deal with things no one should ever have to deal with, and you still managed to power through despite it all. I’m so proud of you, I’m so glad that we finally have the moment of calm we’ve been looking for since this all began, but I want you to know that I’m here for you. I want you to know that processing all of this the first time around isn’t going to be an easy job, but I’m here to hold your hand through it all, through absolutely anything. I love you so much, Annika.”

  “I love you too, Stephan. I can’t tell you how amazing it is to be talking to you right now. For days I’ve been sitting around hoping that you were going to wake up, but there was always the part of me that worried you never would. That was the one thing I knew I’d never be able to get past, and I never want to lose you again, even for a few seconds, minutes, or days. I don’t know how to process that, and I don’t think I ever will,” she said, and I watched as the tears started streaming down her beautiful face.

  I wiped each and every one of them away, tilting her chin up so she could get a good look at me.

  “I promise you that I’m never going to leave your side, Annika. I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you, and I will make sure that you never have to think about processing any of that. I just want you to be happy, I just want you to have everything you’ve ever wanted. I know that you’ve decided to be a part of this life, but I know you have other dreams, and I’m going to make sure you get each and every one of them,” I replied, kissing her softly on the forehead.

  “I just want you, Stephan. I just want us.” She began crying, and I held her steady while she cried into me, letting out all of the emotions she’d had bottled up inside for days. I knew she was strong, I knew she was going to be able to get past this, but I understood that it was going to take time.

  I promised myself to do whatever it took to help her, to make sure that she received all the happiness in the world.

  It’s what she deserves, and nothing would make me happier than to know she has everything she could ever ask for.

  I’d heard the stories of my brothers’ adventures before I left home for good, and I was one of the only ones remaining at our family home before everyone decided to go off looking for a new beginning. For a long time, I felt like I would never measure up to what they had achieved, but now I see that I was capable of so much more. I looked over at Annika, realizing that she brought out the best in me, and that was all I could ever ask for.

  I knew that we were going to do incredible things together, and we finally had a bit of uninterrupted time to figure out how we were going to begin.

  “Stephan, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, Annika. What is it?”

  “When you were unconscious, both Viktor and my father asked about the location of the painting, but I didn’t think it would be right of me to tell them, so I decided to wait until you woke up. What are you planning on doing with it?” she asked.

  “To be quite honest, I haven’t really given it much thought. I know how much that painting is worth, and as much as I would like to hand it off to a seller, your father, or even my brother, I think after everything we’ve been through together, I want you to have it,” I said, genuinely believing that she was the right person to keep that painting safe, and I knew she would appreciate it much more than I ever would.

  “I couldn’t possibly accept that, Stephan. You’ve been through so much to protect that painting, and you’ve put your life on the line for it countless times. I can’t imagine taking it away from you after all of that,” she said, and I squeezed her hand tightly.

  “I want you to have it, Annika. That painting nearly cost me the love of my life, and I need you to know that I am never going to put myself in a position where I ever have to make a decision like that again. Let’s go get it together, and when you find a space for it in your gallery, everyone is going to come flocking,” I said, remembering that the gallery had been a dream of hers that she abandoned a short time ago to pursue a life of crime.

  “Would you really do that for me?” she asked, beaming at me.

  “I would do anything for you. I should be better very soon, and as soon as I am, we can head out together to retrieve it from its hiding spot, then we can start looking into starting a few collections of your own. I take it you still want to open that gallery, right?” I asked her, trying to figure out where her head was at.

  “I hadn’t given it much thought with everything going on, but yes, I do miss the little things like that sometimes. It would be lovely to start collecting again, and it may even make for a pretty profitable business venture if that’s something you’re interested in pursuing alongside me,” she said.

  I hadn’t even thought about it that way, but she was certainly right. There were criminals all over the globe that would pay an incredible amount of money to secure pieces like the Malevich painting for their collections, and it would be quite the ride trying to secure some of these pieces the old-fashioned way.

  “Who taught you to be such a good criminal, huh?” I asked, teasingly.

  “I learned from the best. After all, you were the one that taught me how to shoot, steal cars, and gun down a bunch of goons in the middle of a cramped hallway if I’m not mistaken,” she said, with a chuckle.

  “You really are something, Annika Novikova. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Stephan,” she said, and I sat on her thoughts for a while, really thinking about what our lives were going to be like if we could enjoy the ride again.

  For such a long time, all I ever focused on was business, wanting to secure more money, and not really caring about enjoying the fun parts of the job anymore. Now, with Annika by my side, I knew all of this was going to change.

  She brought such light to my life, and she was even more skilled than either of us realized, making getting into business with her probably one of the best decisions I could’ve ever made for my career. I could see the excitement creeping into her expression, realizing that she was finally going to have everything she wanted, opening up a gallery of her own, flipping pieces to criminals for cash on the side, and not having to compromise anything.

  It was the perfect middle ground to meld our two worlds together, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start chasing the dream again with her by my side. Now, our families were getting along, our enemies were laying dead, and we finally had everything we needed to start anew without the worry that we still had targets on our backs, at least for right now. I knew that the time would come where we’d have no choice but to get involved in such issues again, but I wanted to enjoy the slow periods while I could.

  Chapter Eighteen: Annika

  I finally feel like my life has begun to make sense again like I understand what I want to do with my life now that things have calmed down. I feel like Stephan and I really could start to build a life together, chasing the dream, all while doing what we love. It’s strange to think that I ended up here, that I want to spend the rest of my days getting involved in the crime world, but I couldn’t deny how wonderful it felt to be working alongside Stephan. We have big plans for what’s to come, and I can only imagine that there won’t be a day that ever feels dull again.

  I helped Stephan get out of bed so he could get ready. He was looking much better, almost back to his old self, getting ready to retrieve the painting that he wanted to give to me, the first in my personal collection that would one day be hanging in my gallery.

  I couldn’t believe that after everything he went through to keep that painting safe that he would hand it over to me without the slightest hesitation. He trusted me with it, he trusted me with his heart, and I couldn’t be more grateful that we found each other when we did. He
saved me on countless occasions, and he had lived up to his promise of keeping me safe.

  I could tell that he was still a little bit on edge, and I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I was afraid he was going to say something that would land us right back in trouble again. I worried that he was starting to have doubts about something, something that I should’ve been aware of, but I knew all my questions would be answered in due time. I just had to keep my head up, help him get the painting back so we could move onto our next job.

  I watched as he slipped into his button-up shirt, slicking his hair back, and trimming his beard, looking a lot more like himself again. He caught me staring at him, smiling back at me, inching closer so he could pull me in.

  “What are you looking at?” he asked, teasingly.

  “Just admiring, is all,” I replied, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

  “Trust me, I’m the one that should be doing all the admiring. You look beautiful, as always, and if you want we could stay in a little longer before we head out,” he said, his words interrupted by the kisses he was trailing down my neck.

  “There will be plenty of time for that once we tie up our last loose end, hm?” I asked, reminding him that the longer we let the painting sit in one place, the more worried we’d be that someone would find it before us.

  “I hid that thing so well, and there is no one that knew of its location that would ever double-cross us,” he said, pouting at me, wanting to pin me down on the bed and take me right there. The thought was tempting, but I knew that we would both be able to enjoy ourselves a whole lot more if we had the painting safely in our possession.

  “Come on, now. I promise we can spend the rest of the day or the week doing whatever we want once we have this back. I know how much it meant to you, and while I still don’t want to accept you handing it over to me, I think it’s best we at least get it back,” I said, and he nodded reluctantly.

  “Alright, but I’m going to have you all to myself once we get back.” His grin said everything about what his intentions were.

  “Oh, yes you will.”

  We had been staying at Viktor’s home on the lake for what felt like months, but it was only a few weeks ago that I’d brought Stephan here with my family to try to save his life. We were getting used to the quiet and the calm, and I was starting to wonder whether I was going to miss that when it was gone. I decided that there would be plenty of time for that in between all of the excitement that we were going to find along the way, and I couldn’t wait to see what Stephan was planning to do next once we finally had everything settled.

  The sun was high in the sky when we got into one of Viktor’s cars that he lent us for the time being, bidding everyone goodbye before we took off, heeding the warnings we got to be careful regardless. I’m sure that was the kind of thing that was uttered every single time anyone left the house in a family of crime, and it was nice to get to know all of Stephan’s brothers a bit better while my family was off buying new properties and deciding where they were going to move to next.

  They had managed to clean up our old home, getting rid of all the evidence and bodies that had been scattered across our entryway and living room floors. Every time I thought back to that night I shuddered. I couldn’t help but feel rather grateful that we all managed to make it out even though the odds were most certainly not in our favor.

  I knew that the thought probably crossed Stephan’s mind as well because I would catch him daydreaming every so often, lost in thought when I’d have to bring him back down to reality again. I could tell that he was still processing everything but I was just happy that we had each other because I was well aware that I never would’ve been able to do it alone.

  He and I both still had a lot of learning to do about what we could and couldn’t control when it came to the work we got involved in. It was probably the first time in Stephan’s entire life that he actually listened to the advice given by his brothers, and I could see that it already started to make him see things differently. He wanted a future with me, he wanted me by his side no matter what, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

  We’d been through so much together, so much that we still didn’t have the time or chance to tell each other what we really wanted out of life. I had an idea about him, and I was sure he had an idea about me otherwise he wouldn’t have even suggested the gallery at all, but we were nowhere near finished learning about each other.

  Stephan had dreams, dreams that were far more than just getting rich, enjoying the ride, and keeping me close by his side, and I wanted him to achieve every single one of them the same way he’d wanted for me.

  I rolled down the window, taking in the bit of fresh air because I hadn’t been out in days, and I felt the soft touch of his hands grip my thigh, holding me there comfortably while we drove back down to Ivan’s pharmacy.

  He parked outside, leading me into the alleyway that led to the back of the building, pulling apart the bricks in the wall, until he found the little secret lockbox that held the one thing we had been saving for such a long time.

  It had been the subject of all of our chaos, but now it was going to be the beginning of our future, one I couldn’t wait to share with him. I stood back while he unlocked it, looking back at me right before he opened it, but when he looked deep into the lockbox, his eyes widened immensely.

  “What the fuck?”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s not here,” he said, reaching his arm to the very back of the metal box to see if it had slipped, or was moved somewhat that he just couldn’t see it, but when he finally removed his arm and looked back at me, I realized that it was in fact missing.

  “There’s no way it could be missing. Who else knew about the painting being back here?” I asked, thinking back to the night when Stephan had told me where he hid it, not mentioning that he had clued anyone else in on its whereabouts.

  “There’s one other person that could’ve possibly known where it is, but I didn’t tell him myself, though I had my suspicions from the moment I put it back here,” he said, and our minds both clicked, heading back to the front of the pharmacy to confront Ivan. Once we got around to the front, we noticed that the doors were locked, but I looked at the sign that detailed the hours plastered on the window, noticing that the place should’ve still been open.

  “Fuck. I was worried that something like this might have happened. I can’t believe that he would do this to me, to us, after everything he did to help. He probably ran off with the painting himself, and he could be anywhere by now,” Stephan said, and I could see the heartbreak in his eyes, realizing that he might not ever be able to see that painting again or get to hand it over to me the way he wanted to.

  “It doesn’t matter because we’re going to find Ivan and we’re going to get the painting back,” I said.

  “Annika, I don’t think that I want to put you in any more danger right now. We just got our lives back, and I wanted to give you the start of a normal life that you deserve before we jumped headfirst back into criminal activity,” he said, caressing both of my cheeks, but I knew that we had to get the painting back no matter what.

  “We’ve been through far too much to keep that painting safe, so we’re going to get it back no matter what happens. You once said that you were giving me the opportunity to choose whether I wanted to be a part of this life, and I chose to stick by you. That means that there will always be times like this where we have to make difficult decisions, but at least now we’re going to have a lot more support on our side,” I said, referring to both of our families who I knew would offer up some help.

  “How do you know they’re even going to want to get involved after the situation with the Chadov Family? It’s quite possible that they’re going to tell us to give it a rest, and move on with our lives,” he said, but he and I both knew that wasn’t true. Our families had been there for us ever since we were reunited and we were able to bridge the gap and get rid of the animosity bet
ween them. I knew no amount of money or merchandise was going to change that fact.

  “They’re going to help us because they love us and they know how much that painting means. We’re going to call a little family meeting as soon as we get back, but right now, our best bet is to break into there and see what clues we can find. It’s best we don’t head home without any leads, don’t you think?” I asked, and he smiled.

  “You’re always thinking on your feet, aren’t you? Give me a few moments, I’ll fiddle with the lock,” he said, and I smiled.

  I watched while Stephan expertly fiddled with the lock, using a pin that he found on the ground that was small enough to fit directly into the hole. It took him longer than usual, and I could tell that he was frustrated that Ivan had managed to snag the painting when he thought he could trust him, and I was even more surprised that Ivan would be capable of such things. He had seemed like such a genuinely nice guy, and he saved my life the first time that I was attacked by Natalia, so it was hard for me to see him as someone who was just looking to make quick cash.

  Stephan had already made and sent the money down to the pharmacy when he was still healing, asking that it be delivered so that Ivan would be paid back in full for everything that he did for us, and that was part of the reason this had come as such a shock. Judging from the reaction we had received, Ivan seemed to be happy, or that was what we were told. It seemed that he had bigger plans all along, and he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

  “I can’t believe that Ivan would do something like this. I did everything I could think of to apologize for what I put him through in the past, and I gave him back everything that he was owed. I don’t understand why he would double-cross me like this,” Stephan said.