by Mason, V. F.
We did.
Unknown to everyone in this room, Jaxon had been my best friend through my entire life. We survived a nightmare together, escaping from it stronger than ever, and gave our vows to never give away what we stole.
What guarded the innocent from the wraths of our fathers, as both of them were dirty sons of bitches who didn’t care about anything but their business that brought them the most money.
Although Jaxon’s battle was way more complicated, as he had to act a lot in order to achieve his goal.
I chose running and changing identities, because the other choice was only suffocating to death. “The time has come to forget about it, then.”
He hit the table with his hand and then rested on his palms, and I could practically see all the veins straining in his neck.
That was how much control he willed himself to have so he wouldn’t snap at me. “Everyone out,” he said. Shifting his attention to Dom, he added, “It’s important, Pakhan.”
In normal circumstances, no way in fuck would anyone let the offense slide to Dom; he’d kill anyone who dared to. But he proved once again that he was the best leader I could have as he squeezed my shoulder, silently giving me his strength, and motioned for everyone else to follow him.
In under a minute, I stood alone in the office while Jaxon exhaled heavily. “If he gets the information, everything I’ve built… Dominic built… Don built… even everything fucking Gael built will be destroyed. Not to mention that he knows the truth,” he whispered the last part, and I stilled as voices from the past echoed in my ears.
I can’t do it, Yuri. I can’t. They will know.
No one will know. He is dead; you are not. Come on.
What we did back then was unforgivable and had to stay buried forever, the truth dying with us. “I love her, Jax.” He froze at my words and I rubbed my chest, speaking the words for the first time and cursing myself for not saying them to Melissa first.
Melissa. Closing my eyes, I could imagine breathing in her scent, and it calmed me in a way, giving me strength to continue even though just the mere idea of what was going on with her in that moment with my father clawed at my insides and disturbed my sanity.
But I couldn’t let it snap, couldn’t let it rule me until she and our son were safely back in the headquarters.
“My family is on the line,” I continued, and this time he turned to the side, hiding his face from me, and I knew my words cut him deep.
After all, he fucked up the situation with his woman royally.
“Okay,” he finally agreed and our gazes clashed. This time, traces of the little boy with whom I shared a cell were long gone. In his place stood the head of the Brooklyn mafia who had no mercy for anyone disobeying him. “I will send the codes now through the secure system. You know the drill.” I nodded, as we’d discussed it once, where we had a way to share the information without anyone tracking us down. “I’m sorry, Yuri,” he told me softly, but I didn’t reply.
Instead, I rushed to my laptop to get what my father so desperately wanted, because otherwise he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt my family.
Melissa
Breathing heavily, I gazed at the ceiling. I couldn’t move a muscle. The tight leather wrapped around my wrists and ankles, leaving me open for the evils surrounding me.
Jaroslaw finished the call and laughed, leaning toward me again, but this time he rubbed my cheek instead of slapping it. “I’m sure he is frantic now with worry. Just imagine.” He slid his hand down my collarbone and clucked in displeasure. “You don’t even possess the qualities of a female for whom men give up freedom. But alas, my son will do anything, if not for you, then for—” He slid the hand lower and settled it on my stomach as revulsion rushed through me, and my baby must have felt the distress as he kicked against his palm rather fiercely.
My little warrior.
“Too bad I’m not sentimental or I would have kept the boy to be an heir. But—” He leaned even closer, grazing my ear with his lips, and whispered, “The boy has no meaning to me, as he serves me better dead.” He finished and I turned my head, spitting in his face. I fisted my hands, digging the nails into my palms that indented instantly.
He jerked back and then wrapped his hand around my neck, squeezing it so hard I could barely breathe. The ringing in my ears started, and the monitors attached to me beeped loudly. “Sir, you are going to kill her,” one of the doctors said, and the grip on me loosened only a fraction.
I gulped as much air as possible, but then he smiled sinisterly, lifting his mouth to the side while giving me nothing but blue eyes full of hatred and victory. Like bringing so much sorrow to Yuri and me was his ultimate goal in life. “But your stubbornness doesn’t amuse me as much as it does my son.” With that, he clicked his fingers and ordered, “Get the baby out of her.”
There was silence for a beat, and then the same voice from earlier spoke. “Sir, we are about to give her a medication—”
Through my blurry vision, I saw him wave his hand dismissively, as he barked, “Don’t care. Cut the baby out of her, and don’t give a fuck if she bleeds to death. Get me the baby.”
Fear instantly filled me, and I struggled against the hold, willing all my muscles to listen to me and do something in this situation, but all my attempts failed as he laughed even more. The sound quickly became the one I despised.
“He will die, you will kill him,” I rasped through my lips, concentrating on the situation, although my head and body throbbed so much all I wanted was to close my eyes and succumb to oblivion. My baby was only six months old. Babies barely survived at this stage in a hospital; he wouldn’t live in these circumstances. “Please, don’t do this,” I begged, because I didn’t have anything else.
For my baby, I’d do anything.
Instead of listening to me though, he placed his hands on either side of my head as he loomed over me, his gaze sweeping me up and down. I felt as if dirt was thrown on me, and my skin prickled, needing to wash his stare away. “You know what they did in ancient Sparta?” My heart stilled as my eyes widened and he chuckled. “The minute the boy was born, they checked him out. If he was weak, they threw him from the cliff, because he wouldn’t be a strong warrior.” Fisting my hair, he arched my head as I held back a cry from the pain searing across my scalp. “If your son proves to be strong, I will consider keeping him. Otherwise, he serves me no purpose but to bring agony to Adam.” He let go of me and shouted, “Follow the fucking command. And no anesthesia.” He moved from my line of vision, and I heard the door slam shut.
“But she will die if—” a vaguely familiar voice spoke, but he was cut short by the other doctor.
“That’s what he wants. Bring me the scalpel. And get the incubator ready.”
“Please,” I rasped silently again as the baby moved inside me, probably hating the distress, and I had no means to soothe him.
It couldn’t end this way for us.
“Maybe at least we can inject her with—”
“Shut up before he comes here and kills us all. Do what you are told.” Something dinged, probably the medical equipment, and then the annoyed doctor dipped his fingers down my belly button, and that was when the second man came into view. I didn’t see much but his mask-covered face and scrubs, but his eyes snagged my attention.
Rich silver, with a hawk-like stare. I’d seen them somewhere before, but where? A sense of familiarity nagged at my mind, but the information seemed to slip through my fingers. So I focused on one thing and whispered, “Please.” And then he injected something into my hand at the same time the scalpel sliced through me, and agonizing pain slashed through me.
It came all at once from all corners, and all I could do was arch my neck and scream my lungs out, while the assault continued like a snowball that gathered everything alive in its wake.
At some point in the never-ending misery, everything went blank.
Jaroslaw
Stepping inside the room, I walked to the surgical
table where Melissa lay in a pool of blood as one doctor urgently tried to patch up the work, and the other massaged her heart. The heart monitor indicated zero and rang loudly in the chilly place, accompanied by the cry of the infant, barely audible though. “She is crashing.” The doctor by her side addressed the one by her stomach. “What should we do?”
Before he could reply, I answered for him. “Nothing. Step away from her.” Nature took care of the problem itself. For all the fight she had shown me, she didn’t end up strong enough to withstand everything for her boys.
Pity.
He froze and then looked at the other doctor, but I clicked my fingers, bringing his attention back to me. “Cover her with a sheet. Enough.”
“Follow the order.” After a second, he nodded but then stopped as I raised my hand. “Wait. Actually, let me make a video of it and take a few pictures for my son.” I took out the phone and nodded for him to continue as I filmed the process, and excitement built in my bones. Regret zipped through my veins that I wouldn’t be able to see Adam’s reaction when he got it.
I pressed the call button, and on the first ring, he picked up. “Where is she?” he barked, and I laughed, part of me proud that even in such circumstances he didn’t want to bow.
He would though, because he was nothing but my bitch. Always had been. “Instead of explaining, I sent you the video,” I proclaimed and hung up, pressing the send button this time with the video and location.
The car and helicopter already awaited me.
I came closer to the baby in the incubator, various tubes attached to him. He was blue and red from all the shit his mother spread on him, and I noticed the slight rise and fall of his chest. “How is he?” I asked, and the doctor cleared his throat.
“Weak. I attached him to a ventilator, but he has a very small chance of surviving.”
I scrunched my nose, turning away from him, as he no longer held my interest. My family name wouldn’t be passed to someone weak. “Turn the ventilation off.”
“But—” With a single glance, the more compliant one did just that, and then I shot him in the heart. Before the other one could react, I shot him too.
Both of them tumbled to the floor, and I marched outside. I didn’t need loose ends.
Adam would come to seek his revenge wherever I told him.
And then he’d give me what I wanted. That was one of the reasons why I left one of my men here to hide in the bushes so he could make sure Adam saw everything and report the progress to me. Or film his devastation, as it would be a magnificent sight to watch.
In this game, my winning was inevitable.
Maybe if I had paid better attention, I would have noticed the man sliding to the incubator and turning it back on, while wincing and removing the bullet from his vest. And then how the same man removed his mask and dialed a phone for his team to come as he picked up Melissa and disappeared with her into the night.
But I didn’t, and this game I thought was a done deal continued playing.
Yuri
The car screeched against the concrete, and I hopped from it before Gleb stopped, rushing to the secluded warehouse located on the outskirts of the city. The building was on a construction site that mostly stayed closed to everyone. It used to be an entertainment park a few years ago, but then it shut down and no one had claimed the land.
“Yuri, wait!” Dom shouted, but I didn’t listen, just adding more speed to my run, while removing the safety of my guns. By the loud thuds against the ground, I knew my brotherhood was not far behind me.
They surrounded the place while I barged inside, shouting, “Melissa!” She would hold on; I knew her.
She wouldn’t die on me.
The building was empty however, not a soul inside. Droplets of blood coated the floor along with weapons left hastily on the ground. “Fuck. Decoy?” Vitya murmured, but I shook my head. My father was a sick son of a bitch. He wouldn’t have called for me to come here if it wasn’t to show me something.
That was how his sick, fucked-up mind operated.
Dread filled me as I ordered, “Look around the place, every hole, every corner. Everywhere.” They nodded and spread out around the property while I ran my fingers through my hair, holding back a roar that wanted to rip from my throat.
I darted to various openings, finding a surgical room with several beeping machines and a dead doctor, shot in the head. The place was coated in blood, and dread filled me at the prospect of not finding Melissa. Noticing the baby incubator on the side, I walked to it and there he was.
So fucking tiny with blood smeared all over him, but he still managed to wear a diaper.
But he was so weak. “Call an ambulance!”
Radmir was the only one who replied in the stunned silence. “Already did on the way. They should be here any minute.” Loud voices said something else, but I couldn’t focus on anything but my son barely holding on to his life.
Someone dropped next to me, throwing the first aid kit to me, and spoke gently. “Sir? Nam nujem rebenok.” I didn’t want to give them the baby, even if they needed him. I already didn’t protect him as I should have. What if they endangered his life even more?
But then he stirred inside the box, and I knew they had to help.
I couldn’t lose my son.
Once they started working on him, they used a bunch of medical terms that meant nothing to me and loaded him into their vehicle, shouting, “We need to take him to the hospital as soon as possible. He is not fully developed yet. Honestly, it’s a miracle he is still alive. Will you be going with us?” I nodded and got inside the ambulance, ignoring everyone.
The door shut, and only then did I allow the overwhelming fear to sweep through me.
And that was when the phone in the back pocket of my pants beeped. I took it out to see a new message with a video attached.
That was the moment all sense left me, and I swirled into a pool of insanity that knew only one emotion.
Deep, dark revenge that would know no mercy.
Chapter Eleven
Moscow, Russia
February 2018
Yuri
The machines beeped loudly as I entered the room, the dimmed blue light the only source of illumination. My hospital shoe covers scratched against the floor as I focused my attention on the incubator in front of me that held the newborn.
He had multiple wires attached to him, including oxygen tubes, as his lungs hadn’t fully developed yet.
I breathed through the mask covering my face as my gloved hand reached for his through the small oval opening, his tiny, soft fingers barely moving as his chest rose and fell.
The hospital clothes almost suffocated me, but I knew I couldn't take them off and risk the health of my baby.
A barely alive son.
I heard the sound behind me as the door closed and then a soft voice spoke. “Your boy is a fighter.” I glanced over my shoulder at the middle-aged woman who wore white scrubs and had several notepads in her hand, clearly a nurse, since most doctors wore green scrubs.
“He is so small,” I couldn't help but say, while tracing my finger over the box above his head, longing to touch him and hold him close so no evil of this world would ever try to harm him again.
Which almost caused hollow laughter to burst from within me, considering I had failed his mother and him not so long ago. It would be a miracle if she ever forgave me.
She can’t forgive you, remember? She’s dead.
“He was born prematurely at six months; he has to be small. But he keeps on breathing despite less than ideal circumstances. Did you give him a name?” She patted my shoulder in a motherly way, as if trying to reassure me.
Her attempt failed though, as nothing and no one could give me peace in this situation.
I shook my head. “She is not here, so it doesn't feel right.” She exhaled heavily at my words, squeezed my arm, and then strolled toward the door, probably to give me some time alone with my son.
&nb
sp; But he couldn't lie here nameless as if no one wanted him.
As if no one waited for him.
As if no one loved him.
No one loved my son more than his mother, who sacrificed everything to bring him into this world, and I’d be damned if I let him live like that another minute.
“Artur.” The nurse halted in her tracks, spinning quickly and frowning. “His name is Artur Radionov.” It was a strong name that would help him in his battle for life.
She chose it. I could still remember the sparkle in her eyes as she excitedly announced to me it was a boy.
Just a day before everything went to hell.
The nurse blinked and wrote it down on her pad while I gently caressed his tiny fingers one more time. Unable to handle it anymore, I dashed to the door and escaped the peaceful yet depressing space.
Outside, the Bratva and Cosa Nostra men waited for me, each one of them giving me a worried look as I swiftly removed the hospital garb covering my three-piece-suit and secured a man-bun at the back of my head.
I could practically feel the coldness sinking into every bone in my body as I pushed back all my emotions and focused on only one feeling.
Deep and uncontrollable fury that would know no mercy.
“Yuri.” Pakhan started to speak, but I raised my hand and he shut up, probably shocked by my disrespect, but I didn't give a fuck.
His woman was not killed in cold blood while the baby was left to die, only luck and a miracle saving him from death.
They cut my baby from my woman and then sent me the video just to torment me. Melissa lying in pools of blood, while screaming in agony from the pain of the knife as they took out the baby, and her passing out because she couldn't take it anymore.
Then they just sent me a photo of her covered in a white sheet, letting me know you didn’t mess with them and leave.
This would be forever imprinted in my fucking brain for the rest of my life, but I wouldn't rest until all the people involved paid.
