by K. J. Dahlen
“What cannot be?” Sergi frowned.
Petr looked at Sergi. “Many years ago that man, Zhora Kanalin and his father Fyodor came to see me about a possible alliance between our families. They came from the outer banks somewhere on the Kamchatka Peninsula. I never even considered it because it was just too far away. Nina begged me to reconsider it but couldn’t imagine my daughter being so far away from her family.” He shrugged. “I thought it was just a chance meeting back then, so I didn’t give it much thought either before or after the meeting.”
“Could she have known him all that time ago?” Sergi asked.
“I don’t know,” Petr admitted. “Its possible but I just don’t know. Maybe I should have a word with him.”
Sergi shook his head. “No maybe I should speak with him. I can do it much quicker and quieter. If he and Nina were together, he might not want to speak to you.”
“I see your point.” Petr nodded. “I’ll leave this in your hands.”
Sergi got to his feet and moved around the room. Stopping here and there, he said his hellos’ to a number of people he knew until he reached Zhora’s table. By this time, there was a much older man sitting there as well and as Sergi stepped up to introduce himself, Zhora pushed his chair back to speak to him.
“My name is—”
“I know who you are,” Zhora cut him offf. He looked back to where Anita was sitting with Levi then he turned to Sergi. “I noticed the woman sitting behind you. Is she with you?”
“Da she is. Why do you ask?” Sergi frowned.
“I once knew a woman who looked just like her,” Zhora commented. “Her name was Nina but the two of them could pass for sisters.”
Sergi shook his head. “No not sisters. Maybe mother and daughter though.”
Zhora turned his head to stare at Sergi. Paling he whispered, “Mother and daughter?”
Sergi nodded.
Zhora got to his feet slowly. He was well over six feet tall, closer to six and half feet tall. He would be the same age as Misha or there abouts but he was still a huge man. Sergi studied him for a moment. “I have a question I need to ask you and I’m not sure how to ask it.”
“Just spit it out,” Zhora ordered.
“Were you and Nina’s lovers back in the day?”
Zhora squared his shoulders and nodded. “I asked her father for a marriage between us but he denied my request. He didn’t even give us a chance.”
“Was she pregnant by you back then?” Sergi asked the next hard question.
Zhora nodded slowly after a long pause. “Yes, it could have been possible she was. She had something to tell me the last time I saw her but I was ordered to go home before we could meet. I never saw her again after that. I was never sure but I always hoped that she and the baby were alive, out there living a good life somewhere. Then I heard Nina died and I was desolate. I haven’t been back here in a very long time.”
“Did you ever know a man named Nico Turchaninov?” Sergi asked.
“Da, I know Nico.” Zhora scoffed. “Or maybe I should say I’ve had run ins with the man. He is nothing but a liar and a cheat. He came to our Peninsula a few times and every time he left, my people cursed his name.”
“Would you like to meet Nina’s daughter?” Sergi offered.
“Why would I want that?”
“Because she could be your child.”
Zhora looked stunned at the other man’s statement. “How do you know that?”
Sergi shrugged. “I don’t for sure. Nico kidnapped her the moment she was born. He allowed Nina to give birth in a dirty hotel room with no medical help at all. Then he allowed her to bleed out after the birth. Her family didn’t find her for days but by then, it was too late.”
“What happened to the baby and Nico?” Zhora demanded harshly as though he were pained to think of this at all.
“He took her back to America and raised her as his own. But he didn’t raise her well. He did nothing but lie to her all her life. Then twenty four years ago, she came here with her boss from America. That’s when I met her. I fell for her hard. Then before I knew it, she was gone and I didn’t find her again until just recently. I found out she gave me a son. That’s when I found Gavril and Nico.”
“And you think she could be my daughter? Mine and Nina’s?”
Sergi nodded. “I do. We already proved she isn’t Nico’s child. Her blood type is different than his.”
Zhora shrugged. “I know what my blood type is. I was involved in an accident a couple of years ago and its B-.”
Sergi felt his heart lift then sink as he realized just what this all meant. If Zhora was Anita’s real father he could demand she return to the Eastern coast with him. The Peninsula they lived on was far away. “Anita is my woman now and has been for a while now.” Sergi made his position clear. “I hope you understand what that means.”
“And I hope you understand that if she is my daughter, mine and Nina’s… I want the opportunity to know her. I want the chance to show her where she came from and I want to tell her I loved her mother once.”
“We haven’t proved that yet and we have this ordeal to get through first,” Sergi suggested.
The older man who was sitting next to Zhora got to his feet and stared at Sergi.
Sergi knew who he was. This was Fyodor Kanalin. Sergi bowed to him and Fyodor bowed back. Each man showed their respect to the other and acknowledged the respect each of them had earned. “Will you introduce the woman to us? If she is Zhora’s child, she is family.”
“Sir, I would be happy to do just that but its almost time to begin. This Tribunal is forty something years in the making and its long past due to happen. As soon as this is over, I would be happy to introduce you to my woman and our son.”
“One question before you go,” Zhora spoke. “Does your woman know Nico isn’t her father yet?”
Sergi nodded. “Da, she does. Nico tried to make me a deal to tell her about her mother in order to walk away from my wife’s murder charge. He has no clue that she knows he’s not her real father.”
“Then perhaps if it is acceptable to you, my father and I could move closer and provide a united front,” Zhora offered.
Sergi grinned. “I have a better idea. You and your father can sit near us along with Petr Bodana. If he sees all three of us together to protect Anita, he’ll know he’s lost his bargaining chip.”
“Our being that close to Petr Bodana might not be a good idea,” Fyodor suggested.
“Then this isn’t going to work. We need to protect my Anita, not keep a feud going. I will protect her with my own life, if you are unwilling to do the same, then this will not work.” Sergi shook his head.
Zhora studied him for a moment then asked, “You seem pretty sure that this woman needs your protection. Why is that?”
“Because all her life, she’s never had anyone who cared about her, never had anyone to watch over her or tuck her in at night. Nico and his father Gavril didn’t give a damn about her when she was growing up. When she was grown, they sent her here to distract me so her boss Adrian could set up a drug route here in Russia. You know how I feel about that. What you may not know is Adrian turned out to be Dmitri Salvo’s grandson, Anton. He got in and made the deal then left her to face his mob business partners. He left her high and dry to take the rap for his deal. His partners lost a lot of money that I think he used to set things up here.”
Zhora snorted. “We know all about Anton and his little drug route. He tried setting one up on our peninsula but it didn’t take. We made sure of that. We ran him off our land at least twice before he got the message.”
“Was that the young man you had escorted out of the hall?” Fyodor asked.
“Da, that was him. I have a feeling he was here to kill someone. Anita told me he liked to use a blade and I have a feeling he might have a blade up his sleeve. I think he was after Dmitri first. I don’t think he even knew Anita was here yet.”
“Do you think he would come
after her next?” Zhora asked.
“Oh, I know he will.” Sergi nodded. “I just don’t feel like giving him a chance to get close to her.”
“Why would he come after her?”
“Because she can identify him and tell everyone what he was doing here twenty four years ago. The crime for dealing drugs here is harsh, but he also cheated his business partners back in America and I don’t want them coming here to try and collect their due. I don’t want to bring bloodshed to our streets or put innocent people in their path.” Sergi shook his head. “I won’t do that.”
“Then you need us to stand behind her, so everyone knows if they come after her, they will not succeed. You will have people all over Russia standing behind her and you.” Zhora nodded. “If she is Nina’s daughter, then she’s my daughter as well and its high time Nico paid for what he did to both of them.” He shrugged. “Even if that means standing with Petr Bodana.”
“I know this is hard for you, I get that—” Sergi began but was soon interrupted when Zhora growled.
“You have no idea how it is to lose the woman you love more than life itself. How hard it is to even breathe because she is no longer in your life.”
“You would be wrong about that my friend.” Sergi snarled back. “I lost my wife to Gavril when he came after me and took her instead. I wanted to die but I couldn’t because I had a son to raise. Then I found Anita and I could finally breathe again. But that wasn’t meant to be back then either and she was snatched away from me. I didn’t find her again, for twenty four years and now I’m not going to give anyone, not even you, the chance to take her away from me. Not this time. So don’t you tell me I don’t know your pain. I live with it every day. I will stand to protect both her and our son.”
The two men locked eyes in a hard stare of wills and a shared grief.
Then Zhora smiled widely. “So not only do I find my child after all this time, I find a grandson as well?”
Fyodor grinned. “This is great news. Your people will be very pleased to hear this.”
“His people?” Sergi asked.
“My son has become the Bratva leader on our little peninsula. He is a good leader, fair yet just.”
Sergi paused…Yes he remembered this now that he thought about it as he nodded. “This is good. Maybe when things settle down, you can come and visit a while, give Anita and Levi a chance to know you and you to know them. She is a wonderful woman, beautiful, inside and outside.”
“Then she is indeed Nina’s child,” Zhora informed him. “Now let us move closer and show Nico his deal is dead and now he has to pay for everything he did to her.”
An hour later, Gavril and Nico Turchaninov were led into the hall under armed guard and in chains. No one said a word as both Gavril and Nico were stunned to see everyone sitting on one side of the hall.
On one very crowded side of the hall, the members of the High Council were sitting in their seats of power while everyone else sat on the right side of the room. The different fractions were all sitting beside and behind and all around where Sergi, Misha, Anita and Levi were sitting.
Nico looked at the people around her. He saw Petr and Zhora and Fyodor. He went pale when he realized they knew everything and there would be no deal. The doors opened again, and he saw Adrian being escorted back into the hall in handcuffs. His chest was bare and he saw the tatter of his shirt showing the leather straps that once held the blades Adrian loved so much.
Nico knew there was nothing left to bargain over and he hung his head in defeat.
Chapter Twelve
After hours of grueling testimony and members looking over the many files, the Tribunal was over and both Nico and Gavril had been sentenced to death for their part in Tasha Constantine’s murder, Nina’s murder and the kidnapping of Nina’s baby forty three years ago. They would die by firing squad in two days.
Adrian, AKA Anton Bazin was sentenced for drug trafficking and was on his way to a Siberian prison for the next twenty years to life, doing hard time. All his assets would be collected and returned to his business partners in America and in return, they would not seek revenge for his duplicity.
Later that same day, there was a meeting at Sergi’s townhouse. Petr and his family came and were all smiles, along with Zhora and Fyodor Kanadin. They had discovered by finally reading Nina’s diaries that Zhora was indeed the father of her child and that they had planned to meet up in the town Nina died in but Nico intercepted her. He dragged her away from the meeting with Zhora, then he held her hostage until she went into labor where he then he held her until she had the baby and died because he wouldn’t get her any medical help.
Petr’s wife Mara brought out a picture of Nina and for the first time in her life, Anita saw her mother. “She really was beautiful wasn’t she?” she marveled at Nina’s picture.
“Just like her daughter is.” Zhora smiled.
“So you and my mom…” Anita paused.
Zhora chuckled. “Da, me and your mom. “We loved each other very much. She was on her way to meet with me, so I could take her home with me. I wanted you to be born on my peninsula. I was ready to offer you both a good home, a good life with me and mine.” He shook his head. “You both would have been treasured for the rest of your days, if she had made it to our meeting point.”
“I’m here now, can you accept that?” Anita asked.
“What do you mean daughter?” Zhora asked.
“I am with Sergi. I am his woman, can you and Petr accept that?”
“I can as long as he is honorable toward you and the son you bore him,” Zhora stated.
“She belongs to me and no other,” Sergi claimed firmly with no room for anyone to doubt his words. “Her son will carry my name and one day, so will she.”
“Just don’t make that day too long in coming,” Zhora quipped.
“It will happen when it happens,” Anita told her father. “Besides, it isn’t all up to him. I still have to accept it if and when, he asks. I love him but I will not have my life dictated by anyone. Not by you and not by him. I already have a name that means the world to me, Kanalin. That is the name I should have had when I was born. Turchan was never my name, it wasn’t even their name. Levi can take his name of Constantine because it is his right to have it.”
“Honor demands a man to do certain things in his life,” Petr scolded her. “So does pride. You belong to him and he should make you his wife.”
Anita shook her head. “I won’t be any man’s wife because of pride or honor. Yours or his. I’m sorry but I just won’t.”
Sergi raised a brow at her. “Crazy ass stubborn,” he stated in English.
The Russian men around him, all looked puzzled by this strange phrase.
Levi sat in the corner of the room as Misha stood close by. He and Misha had heard this remark by their father and the both of them grinned. What made it even more humorous was that no one else in this crowded room knew it for the joke it was.
Looking around, Levi shook his head in wonder. There was only one reason he knew of that his mother would marry Sergi and from the looks on everyone’s faces, they didn’t understand what that reason was. Not even Sergi.
This would be interesting. Levi thought to himself.
Misha came to sit down next to him. “What is your mother doing?” he asked also puzzled by Anita’s stand.
“What do you mean?” Levi turned to his brother.
“Why is she refusing to marry my father?”
“She isn’t refusing.”
“The hell she isn’t,” he grumbled. “She as much as said it.” He shifted in his seat. “What more does she want from him?”
Levi didn’t say anything as he gave his brother a shrug of his shoulders. He knew what she wanted from him, but would Sergi figure it out?
A short time later, the house was empty except for the four of them. Anita was about to excuse herself for the night when Sergi poured her a drink.
Misha and Levi seemed to realize what w
as happening so they both said good night and left them alone.
“I petitioned the courts for a name change for Levi after the tribunal today,” he told her.
“Do you think they will grant it?” she asked as she sipped her drink.
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I have already declared him to be my son.” Sergi swirled the drink in his glass. “I thought when we go to court for the decree, we could stop by the judge’s office and get married at the same time. Maybe before your dad goes back home.”
“Why?” she asked simply.
“Because it long overdue, Dragotsennyy. People need to know that you belong to me,” Sergi told her with a lift to his brow. “I do love that endearment, Sergi Constantine. It is unique.” She paused then she shook her head. “I’m sorry but no.”
Sergi bristled at her refusal. “Don’t tell me no woman. You belong to me and me alone. No other man shall have you.”
Anita shook her head. “I don’t’ want any other man you silly nut. I only want you.”
“Then we’ll get married,” he stated.
Anita nodded. “Someday I imagine we will, but not right now.” She sighed and yawned. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed.” She got to her feet and looked down at him. “Are you coming?”
Sergi got to his feet and he looked furious at her casual shoot down of his proposal of marriage. He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder.
Anita gasped at this. The man was actually carrying her, caveman style!
He stomped up the stairs and marched down the hall. He opened his bedroom door and slammed it behind him. He set her down and promptly divested her of her clothing then he kissed her deeply.
Anita melted at the touch of his mouth on hers. Her fingers quickly unbuttoned his shirt and her hand pushed it off his shoulders. As soon as it dropped to the floor her hand was unbuckling his belt and reaching down inside his boxers. Her fingers wrapped around his cock and Sergi lost it. He pushed her down on the bed and entered her with almost no effort at all.
