“Let’s go now,” Ryan said, grabbing her roughly by the arm.
Anastaysia tried to pull away. “No,” she snapped. “Anatoly!” she screamed. But the music was too loud and all the attention was focused on her brother. Ryan snatched her to him and shoved her into Clover’s arms.
“Get the bitch out of here now!” Ryan ordered.
“But she’s supposed to go with me,” the fat man protested.
“Not tonight,” Ryan said, following shortly behind Clover.
Anatoly knew that he had been drugged, but he also knew that the woman across the room was his sister. “Anastaysia!” he screamed again.
Anil thought Anatoly was hallucinating, so did Marat. “It’s the drugs,” Anil explained. “They make you see things.”
Anatoly pushed up again, this time freeing himself from his brother and Marat. “Stop that fucking woman!” he pointed. “Stop her now!”
Ryan was already headed down the stairs behind Clover, who had picked Anastaysia up and was pushing through the mob of people dancing below. They moved as fast as they could, trying to flee the club before Anastaysia could get to the mysterious man who had recognized her.
“What woman?” Marat asked, looking across the room.
“The blonde in the silver dress. That’s my sister. Stop her!” Anatoly said, jumping up.
His men turned to run after the woman, curious if their boss was seeing things. They had seen no one. Anatoly followed after Anastaysia, fumbling over his own feet. He got to the stairs and looked out over the crowd. After a few hectic scans of the crowd, he spotted her in the clutches of Clover. They were only a few feet from the front door. He could see her fight, trying to get away. He had to save her.
“Stop!” Anatoly screamed. He barreled down the stairs, pushing people out of his way, knocking people to the ground. He stepped over them, stepped on some of them. “STOP!” he screamed again.
When he got to the bottom of the stairwell, the crowd was thick. He pushed past them, his men helped. “Move out of my way!” Disoriented, he squinted and held his head. Everything was spinning out of control. The music assailed his scenes, the lights blinded him.
“We don’t see this woman, Boss,” Marat said, throwing two partygoers out of the way.
Anatoly could not explain the urgency or even comprehend the chance encounter, but he knew that the woman was his sister. He pushed harder through the crowd, knocking over two girls who tried to dance on him, punching a man who protested him knocking over the girls.
“Fuck you, man,” one man yelled, stepping in front of Anatoly.
Anatoly had one mission – to get to the front door. When the stranger put his hand on his chest, he grabbed with both hands and twisted it backward making the man fall to his knees. He then kicked the man square in the chest, sending him falling back. “Anastaysia!” he screamed wildly.
Feeling like he was getting nowhere fast, he reached down into the holster on his leg, pulled out his gun and shot up in the air.
POP! POP! POP!
The crowd screamed, fearing it was another Orlando slaughter. People rushed toward the doors in a stampede, knocking each other over to get out. The glass doors exploded as the people pushed out, falling over each other to get to safety.
“What the fuck?” Anil ran toward his brother. “Anatoly!”
“Get him out of here!” Marat said, pulling Anatoly’s arm down. “Boss!” His eyes were wild. He couldn’t believe Anatoly could make such a stupid mistake.
“Get to my sister!” Anatoly said as people rushed past them, hitting their shoulders and nearly knocking them over. Still Anatoly fought against the tide of the crowd. “Anastaysia!”
Making his way outside, Anatoly looked around frantically for her, but she was gone, cloaked in the darkness and hundreds of scared people. One of Anatoly’s guards drove up to the curb. Marat grabbed his boss and shoved him in the back.
“No! I’m not going. Get my sister!” Anatoly ordered.
“We can’t. We have to get you out of here or you’ll end up in jail. If she’s in Miami, we’ll find her. I promise!” Marat screamed. He turned back for Anil, knowing that Dmitry would not approve of leaving his other son behind.
“Anil, let’s go!” Marat screamed, pushing people out of his way. He grabbed Anil’s arm and got his attention. “You have to come with us!” The screams of the crowd were deafening. Time was running out.
“I can’t just…” Anil looked around at the utter chaos in disbelief. What in the hell had just happened? He held his head in confusion. “This is my job. I need to get order.”
“Fuck your job! Don’t talk. Just move,” Marat ordered, pushing Anil in the car. He looked around to see who was watching them. “We have to go now!”
They sped off into the night with the rest of the cars that fought for an inch of the road. Tires screeched, mingled with the roar of the frantic people and the sound of police sirens coming toward the club. People dashed out into the street, running together to flee the scene while others cowered in the alleyways, afraid of more possible gun fire. In a daze, Anatoly mumbled his sister’s name and gazed out of the window. He had been so close. How had he failed. Crumbling over, he passed out on the seat.
Anil pulled him up and put his head up against the back of the seat. “He needs to go to the hospital.”
“He can’t. He just shot up a fucking club,” Marat scowled. Pulling out his phone, he wiped a hand over his face. “I need to call the boss.”
***
Ryan sat in the back of his car with Anastaysia while Clover drove through the streets of South Beach. His mind raced, trying to figure out how they had landed in the clutches of a Russian mobster.
Anastaysia sat beside him crying, mouth bloody from Ryan’s brutal hand earlier as he fought to cram her in the back of the car. Her makeup ran down her face, a mangled mess of black mascara and foundation made her look like a clown.
“Who was that man to you?” Ryan asked, voice trembling.
Anastaysia didn’t say a word. Her defiance to him was more evident now than ever. She relished in his fear, fed off it with much enjoyment.
Reaching over, he slapped her in the eye. “Who was he to you?” he asked again.
She turned to him, clenching her jaw with her nostrils flared and smiled. “He’s my brother.”
Ryan’s entire body trembled. “Your brother?” he asked.
“Yes, my brother, Anatoly,” she said, unafraid of his retribution at this point.
Clover looked back at his boss through the rearview mirror with a warning glare. “He had Russian bodyguards with Vory v Zakone marks on them.” He turned toward the expressway and flipped on the wipers to fend off the sudden rain. “They called him Medlov, Boss.” It didn’t take a genius to know that the woman in the back of the car had more power than she led on to have. He also knew they were not equipped to handle the Russian mafia, especially since they were holding as a prisoner the sister of a Russian mobster.
Ryan pushed back in his seat and threw his head into the headrest. He had heard of the Medlov men and only through stories and rumors heard of their treachery. What he didn’t understand was how Anastaysia had been recruited in Moscow by people who didn’t know who her brother was.
“Fuck,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Clover, don’t take us back to the house in South Beach. It’s too hot. Take us to the drop house.” Dialing a number, he looked back over at Anastaysia. “Don’t you say a fucking word.”
She turned from him, staring out the window with new hope.
A man answered on the other end of the phone. “It’s late. This better be important.”
Ryan would say so. “I bought girls from you that were supposed to be clean. No families with money. No children. No husbands. No ties that could be traced.”
“And we provided all of that. It’s what we do,” the man insisted.
“Well, how in the living hell did I come to acquire the sister of Anatoly Medlov?” R
yan asked.
The man was quiet for a moment. “As in Anatoly Medlov, the son of Dmitry Medlov?”
“I fucking guess,” Ryan spat sarcastically. He threw up a hand. “He shot up a club just a second ago trying to get to her. You told me she was just some poor maid from Kapotnya. I want my money back. I want you to take this bitch and get me my money back!”
The man’s voice was calm and cool. “Are you sure it was Anatoly Medlov’s sister?”
“YES,” Ryan answered quickly.
“Then lose this number,” the man said, hanging up the phone abruptly.
“Hello! Hello!!” Ryan screamed into the phone as Anastaysia grinned. He threw the phone to the front seat. “Motherfucker!” This wasn’t his fault!
Clover shook his head. They were deep in the shit now. If their contact had done what he thought he had done, they were on their own. Still, he drove quietly, planning his own departure when the time was right. Ryan was the boss, he would let him take the fall for this.
Ryan turned to Anastaysia just in time to see her smile. “What? You think that asshole is going to save you?” He snaked up beside her, hissing in her ear. “Do you think that changes anything?” His words were bigger than his bark at the moment. Anastaysia was his only bargaining chip. If he killed her or got rid of her before he could access the situation, he might be signing his own death warrant.
For the first time since she had arrived in Miami, Anastaysia was no longer afraid. All of those prayers had been heard. God had not forsaken her. Hope was restored. Her eyes were clear and bright, the heroine had flushed from her veins in all of the hysteria and finally she was thinking straight. She turned to him and looked him in his eyes. “My brother is not a forgiving man. You can kill me, if you like. You can sell me off, but he’s seen your face Mr. Ryan Colt. And he will hunt you to the ends of the earth, and he will kill you slowly and painfully.” She swallowed hard and sat up straight. “I think that changes everything.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Books by Latrivia
CURRENT BOOKS
The Lonely Heart Series
The Ugly Girlfriend (2010)
Finding Opa (2010)
The Grunt 1 (2011)
The Contingency Plan (2012)
Highness 1 (2015)
The Grunt 2 (2016)
The Medlov Crime Family Series
Dmitry’s Closet (2010)
Dmitry’s Royal Flush: Rise of the Queen (2010)
Anatoly Medlov: Complete Reign (2011)
Saving Anya (2012)
The Medlov Men Series
Vasily’s Revenge (2014)
Gabriel’s Regret: Book 1 & 2 (2016)
The Agosto Family Series
Ivy’s Twisted Vine (2008)
The World in Reverse (2013)
The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov:
Volume 1-7 (separate short stories)
Seeking Santa (Short Story)
UPCOMING BOOKS
The Lonely Heart Series:
Highness 2
Red & Blu
Gracie’s Dirty Little Secret
The Grunt 3: Gavin
The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov:
Volume 8-12
The Agosto Series:
Wicker Men
The Medlov Men Series:
Anatoly’s Retribution: Book Two
Dmitry’s Redemption: Book One
Dmitry’s Redemption: Book Two
Contact Latrivia
Official Author Website
www.latriviawelchbooks.com
Official Email
[email protected]
Official Twitter
www.twitter.com/LatriviaWelch
Official Blog
www.latriviawelchblog.com
Please “Like” Latrivia on Facebook
www.facebook.com/LatriviaWelch
About the Author
L atrivia Welch (formerly Latrivia Nelson) is a USA TODAY, Amazon and National Bestselling Author of interracial romance and interracial romantic suspense novels. She divides her life into three professions: author, CEO of Welch Public Relations and CEO of RiverHouse Publishing, LLC. Based out of Memphis, TN, she is considered one of the founders of the bw/wm romantic suspense genre. Latrivia is married to the love of her life, Bruce Welch, and is the mother of 2.5 beautiful children. She has penned over 20 novels under the Latrivia Nelson brand. This is her second book under the brand Latrivia Welch. Visit her website at www.latriviawelchbooks.com to learn more.
Anatoly's Retribution: Book One (The Medlov Men 5) Page 25
