Darkest Deeds: Cavalieri Della Morte

by Kenborn, Cora

  When I broke out of Sergei’s prison of forgotten souls, I was a different man than the one who went in. I knew the only things I’d ever put my trust in again would be myself and my gun. I walked through the next eight years a machine, living only for death and revenge. However, somehow, the one woman responsible for destroying me has managed to be the one responsible for repairing the pieces that were left. After having her, I’ve tasted what it’s like to be human again, and I can’t let it go.

  “You’re not going alone, Ava. End of discussion.” I wait for her inevitable argument, but instead she tucks a strand of wild red hair behind her ear and grabs a bag of chips sitting on the counter behind her.

  “Fine,” she huffs, pushing past me. “But you’d better hurry because we’re already late, and it’s almost an hour drive to Miami.”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to comment that she’s practically still in her underwear, when I hear her phone ringing from the living room. Ava’s ringtone is distinctive, some kind of girlie fairy chimes that sends her flying like a bat out of hell from the bedroom.

  Shit.

  Ava’s phone died not long after Rose gave it back to me at Seven. With the damn meeting with the FBI asshole looming, I brought it in from the car late last night and charged it to check for more texts. It seems the guy actually grew a brain and stopped messaging her. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the ringer.

  We dive for the phone at the same time, limbs slamming into the coffee table as it continues to chime. Luckily, I have more practice jumping over targets, because as we both tumble onto the couch, my hand curls around the phone seconds before hers.

  “No!” she screams, clawing at my arm as I hold it above my head. I don’t like the look on her face. It’s pale, terror and panic washing over her in waves.

  “Settle down,” I growl. Holding her down with one hand, I turn the phone toward me and glance at the caller ID. As the fifth ring fills the silence, I stare at the one name I never expected to see. The one name that shouldn’t think to call her. Ever again.

  Clenching my jaw, I answer. “Sergei.”

  “Nikolai, I would ask you why you are in possession of my daughter’s phone, but I think we both know the answer to that question.”

  “It’s not rocket science. She had it on her when I killed her.”

  Sergei laughs, his amusement fueling my rage. “We are men of action, not lies. We both know she is alive and well. Tell me, was having your cock sucked by my daughter worth being made to look like a fool?”

  “Shut up,” I explode.

  Ava breaks free from my hold. Crawling off the couch, she jerks on my arm, and swats for the phone. “Niko, please let me handle this!”

  “Yes, Nikolai. Let my dead daughter speak. I would love for her to hear this too. Put me on speaker.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “That is a shame. I was looking forward to having a discussion on how I discovered she was still alive. It is a fascinating story. One that begins with a trip to my club. You did not honor our initial agreement, but put me on speaker and perhaps we can arrange a new one.”

  “No deals.”

  “That is very disappointing to hear. The thing is, you stole something that belongs to me, and now I have stolen something that belongs to you. I was hoping we could negotiate a trade.”

  “There’s nothing I have you could steal.” The Cavalieri Della Morte have no personal attachments. Arthur forbids it. He sees it as a weakness our enemies can exploit. Besides Ava, there’s only one thing I value in this world and she’s…

  No.

  “You’re lying.”

  “Am I? It has been a long time since I have seen my old friend, Irina. She’s still as beautiful as she was thirteen years ago. Life in New Orleans has served her well.”

  Throwing my head back, I let out a roar, and Ava stumbles backward, falling ass first onto the tile floor. I’m numb as I press the speaker button. Everything she’d brought back to life starts to shut down.

  “All right, you got what you wanted,” I say, my voice low and deadly. “You’re on speaker. Put her on the phone.”

  “Nikolai!” My mother’s frantic and frail voice sweeps over the line, and it’s all I can do not to crumble to the floor beside Ava.

  I blink back the burning in my eyes. “Bud' sil'nym, Mama. Ya idu za toboy.” Be strong, Mama. I’m coming for you. I bite back a curse as her cries get softer until a door slams and they disappear. “Don’t touch her!”

  “Silence! It is my turn.” Sergei lets out a satisfied sigh. “Hello, myshka.”

  Ava doesn’t move. She doesn’t even breathe. The only sign of life coming from her still body are two steady streams of tears, one rolling from each corner of her eyes.

  “My darling, tell your lover about how you have been lying to him.”

  My eyes snap to Ava’s.

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” she sputters.

  “Oh, come now, myshka. The boy is not completely stupid.” Amidst Ava’s hysterical protests, Sergei shatters everything. “Do you really think she was searching my office at Seven, Nikolai? Did you not wonder why she came back emptyhanded? I suppose she did not tell you she was meeting with Dmitry, did she?”

  “Ava? Is this true?”

  Tears are now freely spilling down her beautiful face. “Yes, but you don’t understand. We were working together to bring him down.” She points a shaking finger at the phone in my hand. “But I couldn’t do it anymore. After we…after you and I…” She stops to brush the tears away with the back of her hand. “I went there to confront him and tell him I wanted out. I was going to tell Ethan the same thing today.”

  “Yes, that is all heartwarming, but I know everything that happens in my club. Imagine my shock to find out my own daughter was the mastermind behind a plot to ruin me.”

  “No!” Ava screams, lunging for the phone. “I didn’t mastermind anything! What the hell did Dmitry tell you?”

  Sergei is unfazed. “Dmitry did not tell me anything, myshka. You did.”

  There are only a few beats of silence before a voice I know intimately speaks from the other end of the line. But unlike the panic coming from the one sitting by my feet, this one is calm, forcing me to hear ice in her voice I can’t ignore.

  “We need to talk.”

  “You are looking well for a dead woman.”

  “This isn’t working.”

  “Well, what do you expect? You have been on vacation doing whatever it is you are doing with the man who kidnapped you.”

  “Look, I’ve bought us some time, but you’re going to have to get your hands dirty. I’ve got my own problems to worry about at the moment.”

  “We had a deal, Ava! What am I supposed to tell the Feds? We promised them Sergei’s head, and because of your little phone call, they want Garetovsky’s too.”

  “Tell them to give me a few more days, and I’ll hand them two murderers on a silver platter.”

  The recording stops, and I stare straight ahead at a framed black-and-white picture of the Miami skyline. I have to because if I look down, I may put my hands around Ava’s neck and finish what I started at her apartment.

  “Niko, that’s taken out of context.” Ava’s voice is hushed, as if knowing raising it above a whisper will set me off. “I can explain.”

  “You see, Nikolai, your suka tried to sell both of us out but realized too late that her plan had a flaw. Eliminating me does not free her. Dmitry learned everything he knows from me. She can cut off the dragon’s head, but another one will grow back in its place.”

  Still, I defend her. “She wouldn’t do that.”

  Why not? a voice in my head asks. She did it before. All to save her own ass when it was on the line.

  “No? Then how else did I know your mother lived in New Orleans?”

  “He’s lying!” Ava hurls herself against my chest, curling her fists into my shirt, her knees buckling in her hysteria.

  I want to belie
ve her. But I can’t help but remember a starkly honest conversation. One that contained information that was very unlike me to share.

  “Do you ever see your mom?”

  “Only once. After I made it out of Sergei’s prison, I hid her in North Carolina, but when I left for Moscow, somehow your father found her. He sent her a letter saying as long as I hunted him, he would hunt me. Once I made it out of Columbia, and joined the Tabella Della Morte, I took her somewhere she couldn’t be found and never visited her again. It was for her own safety.”

  “Must have been hard for her.”

  “My mom is resilient. Besides, there’s enough swamp to keep her feeling at home and enough eyes on her to keep me sane.”

  I pry her hands off me and back up. “I’m a fucking idiot.”

  Ava collapses back onto the floor. “He’s lying!

  “I am at Seven with your mother,” Sergei announces, as if he’s been waiting for this all to play out. “Bring me my daughter, and I will free her. Fuck with me, and she will never make it off this plastic.”

  Before I can respond, he disconnects the call. With the whole conversation replaying at warp speed in my head, I turn around and slam the phone against the wall. Ava wisely remains on the floor, saying nothing.

  Since I smashed the shit out of hers, I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Mikhail. He barely gets out a greeting before I cut him off. “Get over here now. I need you to watch Ava. I’ll be gone when you get here, but she’ll be secure. Try to keep your eyes open this time.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Ava speaks the words quietly, as if her lack of hysterics will change anything.

  “Like hell you are,” I growl, stomping into the bedroom. I tear everything out of the bag I packed for us. My clothes, the new clothes I bought for her, ammo, guns, everything goes flying until I finally find what I’m looking for. Making my way back, I force myself not to think about anything but my mother.

  “It’s the only way you’ll get your mom back,” she says.

  “I think you’ve done enough for her, don’t you?”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Don’t I? Let’s see, since you’ve been back in my life, I’ve killed some asshole for attacking you in a parking lot, stolen a body and had it delivered to your father so he’d believe you were dead, killed my neighbor because you ran and called the FBI, and drove you to a senator’s house so you could pump an entire round of bullets from my gun in his chest. How fucking stupid does one person have to be not to see I’ve been played?”

  “That’s not true.”

  “I don’t know what’s true and what’s not anymore! Did you bank your life on the assumption you were still my weakness? Was I part of your elaborate scheme? Did you want to show me how smart you are now?” Bending down, I give her a slow clap right in her face. “Well congratu-fucking-lations, Ava. You’re smart. You fooled me.”

  Throughout my entire rant, she doesn’t flinch or defend herself. Instead, she lets me fly off the handle and yell. When I’m done, she crawls to her knees and folds her hands around mine. “Please let me go with you. I’ll prove to you that I’m telling the truth.”

  “Truth?” I throw my head back and laugh. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

  A curtain falls over her face. “Fine. Believe what you want to believe. Just trade me for her so you can get your mother back.”

  Jerking my hands from between hers, I drag my finger across my hairline. “Do I have moron written across my forehead? I worked for the man for five years, Ava. I know how he operates. Once I bring you to him, he’ll kill all of us.”

  “Listen to me! It’s a trap!”

  “I said, no! I’ll deal with you later.”

  “What do you mean…?” Her eyes widen as I pull the zip tie out of my pocket I grabbed from my bag. Her hands shoot out in front of her as she scoots backward. “Niko, don’t. You need me!”

  “Shut up. I can’t worry about you and my mom at the same time.” Wrestling her to the ground, I jerk her arm against the couch leg and tighten the tie around both of them. I stand, admiring my handiwork. “There. That ought to keep you from breaking it.”

  “Niko!” she screams as I turn toward the bedroom. “Niko!”

  “Mik will be here in a few to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. Try not to get anyone killed this time.” Returning to the bedroom, I unzip the black bag X gave me at the airport. Grabbing a few guns, I throw them in my rucksack and head out the door to the sounds of her screaming.

  I can’t help but think back to something Arthur said when I first took this job.

  “Delilah and Sampson, my boy. Behind every great man’s downfall is a woman. Many men’s empires have crumbled because of a female’s betrayal. Let that be a lesson to never get attached to just one.”

  I should’ve listened.

  Ava

  “Ava?” I hear someone call my name, but I don’t move. If I don’t move, then I’m not here. If I’m not here, then he can’t take me to the kitchen.

  The shadow gets closer and closer until it sits beside me. It reaches out a hand and brushes a tear from my cheek I don’t even know is there.

  “I’m so sorry about your mom, pchelka.” A hand takes mine, and instead of it being cold and angry, it’s warm. Warm and loving. The hand’s fingers curl around mine and stay there. “It was a horrible accident, but you’re not alone.”

  Accident.

  A shudder runs through me at the memory of his hands over her mouth. Her eyes in silent apology as they find me in the darkness.

  The hand tries to pull me into a pair of arms, but I stiffen. No. No. No. I don’t want hands over my mouth too. I don’t want to sink today. The hands quickly let go, and instead, something is tucked behind my ear. I don’t know what it is, but a sweet smell of jasmine fills my nose.

  The hand and I sit for what feels like hours, maybe days without sound. Finally, the hand lifts mine to a pair of lips and kisses them.

  “You’ll fly someday, pchelka. You just have to believe.”

  I believed, and now I’m sinking again—far away from the attic, the water rushes over me like an old friend. At first, my arms want to fight and push my way back toward the surface, but the deeper I fall, the calmer I become. This is where everything makes sense. Where nothing hurts me. Where I’ve stayed for eight years because it’s the safest place. When I don’t feel, I don’t get hurt.

  “Ava?” Mikhail’s voice sounds far away, and I hear a door close. “Are you okay? You do not look so good.”

  “You ever feel like you’re sinking underwater, Mikhail?” I ask, the room coming back into focus. “Like you’re constantly drowning?”

  “No.”

  “People always say if something you’ve been doing for a long time isn’t working, you should try doing the opposite.” I lick my lips and slowly run my fingernail along designs in the grain of the wood I’m tied to. “Know what the opposite of water is?”

  “No.”

  “Fire.”

  “Ava, maybe you should take a nap or something. Niko should be back soon and he can help you.”

  I smile. He’s afraid of me. Even zip tied to the couch leg, he’s afraid of what I’m capable of doing. Good. He should be. Even I’m afraid of me right now.

  “Mikhail?”

  “Yes?”

  “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Hold it.”

  I roll my head and study his face. He’s handsome. Not as handsome as Niko, but attractive in his own way. He has kind eyes, a deep shade of blue that’s now full of bitterness. “You don’t trust me.”

  “Do you blame me?”

  “No, but where am I going to go? I’m all tied up, and I highly doubt you’re going to fall asleep again. I don’t want to run from Niko, Mikhail. I love him. All I want to do is help him.”

  “I wish I could believe you, Ava.”

  “Believe me or not, but if you don’t let me go to the bathroom, you’l
l be the one cleaning up piss stains all over your own floor.” I curl into a little ball and hold my stomach with my free hand.

  He lets out a frustrated groan. “Do you swear you will not try to run like last time?”

  I open one eye. “I promise I won’t try to run like last time.”

  “Fine.” Mikhail disappears into the kitchen, appearing moments later with a pair of scissors. I hold my breath as he cuts through the zip tie, freeing my hands. Rubbing my wrist, I crawl to my feet and turn to walk toward the bathroom when he grabs my upper arm.

  “I will follow you,” he says matter-of-factly, steering me toward the hallway. “I am not letting you out of my sight.”

  “You’re not watching me pee.”

  “No, I am not. I do not wish to die today, thank you.” He pushes me inside the bathroom, nodding toward the toilet. “You have two minutes. Make it fast, and if you lock the door, I will break it down.”

  Damn.

  Standing in the middle of the bathroom, I take stock of what I have to work with and frown. Typical man, it’s not decorated for shit. Flat beige paint is the only color besides a metal toothbrush holder, a soap dispenser, and an ugly glass candle that needs to be trashed.

  “Your two minutes are up.”

  “Uh, just a minute.” I spin around and flush the toilet as the door starts to open.

  Shit!

  Out of options, I do the first think that comes to mind.

  “Ow,” I groan, bending over and holding my stomach.

  “What is wrong?” Mikhail flings the door open and moves in behind me at the perfect angle. I couldn’t have planned it any better if I’d put an X on the floor and positioned him myself.

  “Stomach cramp,” I groan again, stumbling against the counter. “It’s that time of the month.”

  “Whoa.” Mikhail throws both hands up and turns his head as if a demon is going to come flying out of my vagina and drag him to hell. “I do not want to hear any more.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper. Grabbing the godawful candle, I spin around, and clock him in the back of the head with it. The glass shatters, sending Mikhail to the floor in a heap and me into the wall. A sharp pain radiates up my arm and I look down to see a gash in the palm of my hand, dripping blood onto the tile floor.