But there was something about the mention of Pinocchio. My mind was flashing little bits and pieces, but I couldn’t put it together. Pinocchio… I had never actually seen the movie, or so I thought, but now I was seeing parts of it in my head. Okay, I was sure I had probably seen segments of it from TV—advertisements or something—but now all I could hear was screaming. Pinocchio was singing for the puppeteer, but my mother was screaming; screaming at me to stay in the room and watch the movie.
“Tyler?” she said softly, breaking my thoughts.
“You were raped?”
Her face fell slightly and she swallowed. “You remember?” she barely whispered.
I shook my head. “Not really. There was…a loud sound at the back door and you jumped up…you told me to stay on the couch and watch the movie…you screamed, and then it was quiet. I called for you and you yelled at me to stay where I was and watch the movie…” She was crying again when I looked at her. “You were raped, weren’t you?” She didn’t even have to answer because it all made sense to me now. Finally I took a deep breath and said, “Dad thinks you cheated on him. He knew the baby wasn’t his.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“But you didn’t tell him what happened?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t. It would have been the end of us all.”
The room was quiet again until I said, “I don’t understand.”
“It was my fault,” Kristof interrupted.
When I looked at him he actually looked ashamed.
“You see, Tyler, when you have enemies, the first thing they go after is the people you love. Although Olivia and I were no longer together, it became well known that I still cared about her very much. She is the only woman I have ever loved. That is something you never want your enemies to know…”
He looked at me with a sad expression and it forced me to look down at the floor.
“I had to be pretty firm with you, I know, to get you to see what kind of danger Jayden was in. I allowed Dean to play the games that he did, to threaten you and to cause you pain, so it would force you to stay away from her.”
“And why couldn’t you just tell me the truth?” I asked bitterly.
“Because it doesn’t work that way. I had to play things just right. Because of who we are dealing with, I had to be prepared for his methods.”
It clearly wasn’t making sense to me, so he began to give me a history lesson.
“When I was twelve years old, I escaped from a horrible, abusive, disgusting orphanage. I ran away and never looked back, deciding that I could take care of myself no matter what, even if I had to live on the streets. And I did, for almost five years. Until one day I picked the pocket of the wrong man—or the right man, depending on how you look at it—and he caught me. He talked me into coming to work for him, a business where I could earn more money than I could dream of. I had no values; I had no sense of what was right or wrong. I held no concern for what he did for a living. He was kind to me and he took care of the people that were important to him. He took me in. I even ended up moving into his home and it was more lavish than I could ever imagine a home to be.
“This man’s name was Vladimir Meinikov, and he had a son a year my elder, Aleksey.” He paused for a moment and crossed his legs. “Alek was…” he chuckled with disbelief “…something else. He was spoiled and arrogant…and he despised me. The jealousy in that boy was unmatched by anything I had ever seen of jealousy. He did all sorts of awful things to me, just so I would be punished and looked down upon by his father. But over the years, Vladimir was able to see the things his son was capable of. And after one very large, very costly mistake, Vladimir dismissed Alek from the organization, and allowed me to take over his part of the business. This was a very risky decision on Vladimir’s part, for the smart decision would have been to have Aleksey eliminated…albeit he was his son.
“But Vladimir wasn’t your typical crime boss,” he smiled. “He was a little…unorthodox. What he wanted was for Aleksey to see the error of his ways and desire to return. He wanted him to learn humility. But he soon learned that Aleksey had no intention of making such change, and Vladimir knew that he had released his son into the world: a smart and cunning young man, yet lacking a soul entirely and completely evil to the core. Vladimir felt that his own days were numbered, so he reinforced his home to become a refuge,” he motioned throughout the house, “a safe haven for him to live out his days until his son finally came for his revenge.”
He glanced toward the window and I realized for the first time that it was beginning to get light out. I stood up and walked toward it, and I was surprised that I wasn’t surprised. There were acres of grass that surrounded the estate, and beyond that were miles of trees. Just before the trees was a black iron fence that seemed to surround the entire property. I couldn’t tell how tall it was, but it looked pretty high tech. I could see cities in the distance, but they must have been miles away.
I returned to the couch and sat down. “So what happened with Vladimir?” I asked.
“Well, fortunately he exceeded his own estimated life expectancy. His son never came to claim his life as he feared, but it didn’t mean that the day would not one day come. He continued his business affairs effectively and the organization was a monumental success.” He saw my disapproval and nodded his head. “I understand your hatred of my work, Tyler, and I’m sure I could never get you to understand. I’ve accepted that. Obviously I have taken Vladimir’s place since his death twelve years ago. This is who I am. This is all I know.”
I didn’t respond, so he continued.
“Aleksey disappeared for some time after his father refused him. When I began to spend more time in the United States, I naïvely disregarded Aleksey as a threat. I met a beautiful woman—” he glanced at my mother “—and had my head in the clouds. Aleksey seemed to disappear for a time, but what I later learned was that he’d been spending his time getting in with another organization—a very powerful and ruthless family by the name of Derevenko. This family was still offended by a bad business transaction from decades prior, and Aleksey was determined to fuel the fire. In no time he had their trust by divulging inside secrets about the Meinikov organization and their associates. To make a very long story a little shorter, this began the war between the Meinikovs and the Derevenkos. And the breaking point for me has now become…what happened to your mother.”
“They were responsible for…?”
Kristof slowly nodded his head.
I had way too many questions, but the first thing I asked my mom was, “And what about your ‘death’? Why- what did that accomplish?”
“That was Aleksey and the Derevenkos. They found out about the baby and—”
“The baby? You mean…? Who…?”
“Aleksey,” she said quietly. “Aleksey Meinikov broke into our home and…” She took a deep breath and slowly released it. “He was hoping that Kristof would find out about it, but I didn’t tell anyone. Things like that have to be overlooked. You retaliate in any degree and something worse will happen. I didn’t even want to believe that it happened. I just wanted to move on, hoping that I could protect my family from further suffering.”
My stomach churned. It was awful enough knowing that my own mother had been raped, but then to find out it was because of a vengeance that had nothing to do with her?
I exhaled and rubbed my face with both hands. “So? Your death?” I still couldn’t say it without feeling resentment.
“Well, my hopes for putting it behind me meant nothing. Aleksey found out I was pregnant and put two and two together. People like the Derevenkos can make anything happen. They staged everything to happen at the house, and to take place when your father was out of town on a job. The premature labor, the paramedics, the doctor… When he finally made it back, I’d already…died. They replaced the real baby with one that was already deceased, and made it appear as if I were dead as well. My wishes had always been to be cremated, so while a
ll of the funeral plans were carefully orchestrated, I was flown to Russia and…” She began to cry again. “When I sent you to the neighbors…that was the last time I ever saw you.”
I began to feel the feelings of that day; or at least the day I realized I no longer had a mother. “They only wanted the baby,” I stated dryly.
“And his mother, to take care of him,” Kristof added.
This brought us to the next newly discovered bit of information. “So I have a half brother?”
I almost hoped she would tell me no, but she nodded her head. “Yes.”
“And?”
She took a breath. “His name is Trevor.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Not Pasha? Or Sergei? Dmitri?”
I was being mean, but my mother only smiled. “No. Trevor. And he has my maiden name, Anderson.” I didn’t respond for several seconds, but when she asked, “Do you want to meet him?” I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“He’s- he’s here? He lives here?” Duh. Where else would he be?
But she only nodded.
I took a deep breath. Finding out I had a mother and a brother all in one morning… I didn’t know what to say…
“Tyler, I understand how you might feel. This is all…a lot to process. Trevor has had time to get used to you, even though you’ve never met. He’s always known he has a brother. We have pictures and videos—”
“Videos?”
“Of your baseball games,” she smiled. “Those are our favorite. People post all kinds of things on the Internet. We’ve only recently been able to see most of your college games, and some high school games as well.”
I knew my mouth was hanging open, the shock unable to settle, but I still couldn’t believe this was happening. My mother and half brother had lived in Russia—or wherever we were—for nineteen years? And I didn’t even know about it! A different emotion was brewing inside of me but before I could release it, Kristof cut me off.
“I know what you’re thinking, Tyler, but you’re wrong. Your mother did not abandon you. There is still more to explain.”
He glanced at my mom with question, and she reluctantly nodded.
“Your mother wasn’t able to see you because she’s been a prisoner to the Derevenkos and Aleksey Meinikov. Tyler, your mother and brother have not been living here under my care all these years. I only found out about them ten months ago. They’ve been under the control of the Derevenkos all these years.”
“What?” was all I could say.
“It wasn’t like I was locked in a prison cell,” my mother informed me. “But…it was more or less the same, I guess. We actually lived in a house much like this. Basically Trevor and I had our own wing of the residence. But we weren’t allowed to leave, or use the phone or computers… We were hardly allowed to be anywhere without an armed guard watching our every move.”
I eyed Kristof. “When? When did you find out?”
“When I first told you to break it off with your girlfriend.” He waited a moment, no doubt hoping I would see the parallel and deem his intentions to be fair. “I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you, Tyler—”
“Then why didn’t you just tell me she was alive?” I asked loudly.
“Because I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out. I didn’t want to tell you that your mother was alive, only to destroy your spirit once more if something were to happen to her when…when I tried to help her. I didn’t know if we would be able to help her.”
“Does Dean have something to do with it? Is that what he’s been doing for you?”
“Yes, only he doesn’t know she is your mother. Dean had already worked his way into the Derevenko organization. They thought they were using him to get to me, but in fact, it was the other way around. Dean is the one that was able to get inside the Derevenko palace to arrange for an extraction. He hasn’t even seen your mother or brother; he only made the opportunity possible, and then someone inside Derevenko’s organization got them out. It’s amazing what people will do for the right amount of money.”
My head was swirling with information. Information that was clearly information, but I had no idea what to do with it.
“Dean’s request to keep you from Jayden was actually perfect,” he said. “It was what I needed to happen anyway. I didn’t want anyone to find out that you were Olivia’s son, and that I had any personal ties to you.”
“What about this brother you have? Dean said you were trying to get your brother out of Russia.”
“I don’t have a brother,” he replied. “I do have a very good friend, Ivan, and I used his name to provide a reason for what I needed from Dean. He thought it was Ivan’s wife and son that were being extracted from the Derevenkos. We all change the facts along the way, just to keep ourselves protected. It’s the way things are done. You’re in Latvia, by the way,” he added.
I scoffed. “Latvia? As in…between Russia and Lithuania?”
He nodded and looked at my mother, who was also smiling.
“And what is to the south?” Kristof asked.
I thought for just a second. “Belarus, I believe.”
He glanced at my mother again. “See? He’s smarter than all of us.”
I scoffed again. “It’s a little intimidating to go to another continent and not know which country you’re going to end up in. You’d study what you could as well.”
He smiled. “Yes, I realize that. I’m sorry, but you do know—”
“Yes, I know how you work,” I replied.
He chose not to respond and allowed a long moment of silence.
“So how did you find out she was alive?” I finally asked, nodding to my mother.
My mother quickly replied with, “A modern convenience called ‘text messaging.’ ”
I actually laughed. “Seriously? You texted him?”
“Well, Trevor did. I couldn’t figure out a cell phone if my life depended on it, and obviously…it did. So once I was able to locate a current number for Kristof—it took years for the opportunity to finally present itself—we began sending him messages from the phone.”
“How’d you get a phone?”
She sighed. “I had to steal it,” she replied softly, almost like she was still trying to keep the secret. “Some of the employees own two or three different phones. It took some effort, but we were able to send off three separate messages. Trevor made sure each one contained ‘do not reply’ and then we would delete the evidence and return the phone before anyone knew. Once I was sure Kristof knew my location, all I could do was wait and hope for the best. He was my only chance, Tyler. I knew he was the only one that could make it happen.”
Kristof was looking at the floor and I wondered what he was thinking. Had he hoped she still had romantic feelings for him? Or were they already reunited? I had no clue, but I chose not to ask just yet. I was just about to question the “extraction,” but my mother apparently had other things on her mind.
“Do you want to meet him, Tyler? Your brother?”
It was a very long pause, long enough for my mother’s face to betray her disappointment, but I did say, “Uh, yeah, sure.”
Her mouth curved into a smile and she stood, almost nervously glancing about. “Oh. Should I—?” She looked at Kristof and motioned to the hall, and he shrugged. “Oh. Uh…”
I stood. “Can’t you just…buzz him down?” I motioned to the button that had earlier summoned Boris.
Kristof smiled at my attempt to lighten the situation, but my mother shook her head. “No, I’ll go get him.” She immediately began to leave, but turned around at the hall. “Um, Tyler, I’ll be just a moment.”
When she left, I directed my attention back to Kristof.
“She is quite nervous,” he said, standing up with me. “She has been waiting for this day for… Well, for nineteen years, I guess. I’m not sure how much you remember her, Tyler, but… She’s changed quite a bit. Deep down she’s still the same lovely woman, but… The other things—her sense of h
umor has somewhat disappeared, she’s a little more serious than she used to be—those are effects from what she has been through these past several years. It might take some time for her to bounce back completely. I just want you to be aware of that.”
I could understand that. I didn’t know the details of her life with the Derevenkos, and I wasn’t sure if I ever would, but I was definitely aware of the possibilities.
“Just so I’m clear on something… She’s been here for how long?”
“About five months.”
“And you didn’t want to tell me.”
“I couldn’t risk it. I wanted you to see her for yourself. The Derevenkos are outraged. They have no question that I was the one that took your mother from them. Because of that, I needed to take extra precautions.”
“What about Jayden? Now I’m…how many miles away from her?”
“Jayden is safe.”
“What about Dean? What if he’s told them something about her?”
“He hasn’t. He’s still working their organization for a little while longer.”
“Then why all the secrecy? Why can’t I just be with my fiancée? If I should even call her that,” I mumbled.
“I have to cover all the bases. Just in case. Right now the only person I have to protect you from is Dean, and that is being taken care of. He is doing one more thing for me, and then I can arrange for another deal.”
“You’re not gonna just get rid of him?” I replied sarcastically.
He paused momentarily. “I’m a businessman, Tyler. He has done me a great service. And you, too, although he doesn’t know it. He will be rewarded for his successes as long as he follows the terms, and so far he has. I know you don’t care for him, Tyler, but it’s about loyalty, not affability.”
“So why do you keep such close tabs on Jayden if he’s following the terms? How do you know where I’m at and what I’m doing at all times? I think you’re downplaying the situation.”
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