After Alekzander had passed the baby over—something they both seemed to be doing all the time—he accepted an affectionate hug from Nika. She said something too quiet for Sacha to hear, which caused a sickening feeling to take up residence in her stomach. She tried not to resent the familiarity between him and the women but couldn’t help it. The last beautiful female she’d seen so close to him had faked some very convincing sex.
She slapped on a smile when Nika turned to her with dazzling but cautious green eyes and asked what she and Yana were cooking.
The next hour was tense and uncomfortable for Sacha. They ended up joining the men in the living room, and after what turned out to be an amiable reunion with Gabriel and Vincente, Sydney showed up with Micha. She appeared put out because her son and daughter had chosen to stay behind to go rabbit hunting with someone called Jak.
Casual talk flowed, though Sacha didn’t miss the looks she kept receiving, especially when she and Alekzander got within touching distance of one another. Her eyes were continually drawn to him when she remembered something he’d said or done the night before. Was the love she could feel radiating from her as blinding as it felt?
“Sacha?”
Her head snapped up to find him standing in front of her with Lekzi arching her back and reaching for her. Sacha placed the empty coffee cup she’d been staring into on the table next to her and jumped up to accept the baby. She’d been feeling naked and not very useful since everyone had wanted a turn holding Lekzi.
“I’m not sure if she’s hungry, tired, or just needed you.”
“Of course. I should have seen that she was getting fussy. I will feed her and put her down.” With an apologetic smile aimed at Nika, who’d been sitting next to her, generously allowing her to stare off into space, Sacha escaped.
♦ ♦ ♦
When Sacha left with her and Alek’s treasure—Vasily still couldn’t look at that baby and not fall in love all over again—she took the happiness in the air with her. Judging by the way the girls grew quiet, his nephew hadn’t been the only who’d noticed the silent conversations Vasily and the boys had been carrying on with barely perceptible head shakes, brief frowns, and quirking brows.
He was glad to see an irritated light in Alek’s eyes because it meant that I-don’t-need-to-know mentality he’d held onto for so long was indeed fading. Ever since Renee and Evan’s death, Alek had slowly been lowering his guard and allowing himself to accept who he was.
Alekzander had been born Bratva, and like his father and Vasily, and even Gabriel, if another example was needed, Alek had attempted to deny it. For his own reasons, he’d focused on his legitimate dealings with much more gusto than he’d ever brought to family issues. But, as expected, that was changing. Eventually, whether they were in their teens like Vasily and Evgeny had been, or in their thirties like Gabriel and Alek, they were pulled into this life because it was in the very blood that ran through their veins.
And ultimately coated their hands.
While it broke their hearts.
Bending, Vasily pressed what he hoped was a reassuring kiss to the crown of his daughter’s head. “We’ll be back.” He motioned the boys to follow him. When he entered the foyer, he waved the others lingering by the front door to come, too, and led the way to his second-floor office.
“What the fuck happened?” Alek demanded as the morose group filed into the large room lined with walnut bookcases and a matching desk that sat in front of the bullet-proof window.
Maks, Gabriel, Alek, and Vincente sat around the table in the center of the room while Micha, Anton, Dmitri, and Quan played sentry around the perimeter. Muscle rarely sat during meetings.
Vasily nodded to Maksim, who slid his phone over. It came to a stop at Alek’s elbow. Going behind him so he could watch over his nephew’s shoulder, Vasily saw a video loaded and ready. Alek hit play.
The area around what used to be the warehouse in Brighton Beach came up.
“Different days,” Maksim said to Alek. “Different streets, same time-frame each day, same vehicle parked at least two blocks from the warehouse.”
Then images of the warehouse itself appeared, with Sergei and Reynard nonchalantly wandering along, but stopping every so often to place something in the corner of a window, then at the top of a door frame, then along the base of the building.
“The footage from the regular security cameras show light activity from the same timeframe,” Maksim supplied. “At closer inspection, it’s clear the files were doctored. That footage was previously recorded. In one frame that was supposedly from this past Monday, it shows Rusef the Hook walking around. As you know, Hook was killed at the docks three months ago.”
Vasily once more smothered the rising tide of blackness that tried to crest every time he realized again what this had to mean.
Alek replayed it then turned and looked up, his head already going from side-to-side. “No,” he stated flatly. “You’re not telling me this.”
Vasily kept his mouth shut and squeezed his beloved, loyal, trustworthy nephew’s shoulder before going over to one of the file cabinets. He pulled open the bottom drawer and pushed back the hanging files so he could open the false bottom. He had to push aside stacks of different currencies and a variety of passports to get to the two folders he needed. Evidence he and Dmitri had compiled over the last year of phone calls, blown deals, near misses, and one photo of a burned out shell of a car that now took on a whole new meaning.
Rising from his squat, he went to his desk and opened the top folder to show a photo of Kathryn and Eva’s house in Seattle. “Not a word,” he warned as he hit the speaker phone and dialed a number. “Dmitri, have Leo and Nestor move in to block the exits. They are not to let Sergei or Reynard leave unless they hear back from you personally.”
Alek shoved his chair back and got to his feet, his expression vicious. “What the fuck is this? You can’t seriously think he has anything to do with what’s been going on. You think he was planting shit in that video? Maybe they were sweeping.”
Vincente got up and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Alek. “It’s not just the warehouse he’s going on.” There was an apologetic note in his voice that made Vasily sick because it meant Vincente was already convinced of Sergei and Reynard’s guilt.
“Not a word,” he repeated, meeting his nephew’s eyes as his sister’s son picked up the call.
That’s when Vasily slid into that place of suspension he went to when having to perform unpleasant tasks. There was nothing to get in the way of what needed to be done. He merely functioned.
“Hello.”
“Sergei. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I was up.”
“Good. I wanted to talk to you about Alek if you have a moment.”
There was a slight hesitation. “Sure.” Empty tone.
Vasily’s heart started to beat a little faster, and he knew then remaining detached from this one would be next to impossible. “Maksim told me you were there to offer a hand last night at Sacha’s place. Did you by any chance meet Alek’s daughter?”
“No. I was not there long enough to do much of anything. Maks sent Reynard and me to the warehouse.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. She’s quite a little beauty. It will be nice having her around to bring some light into our world.” He couldn’t hide his wince as he lowered himself into his chair. Never had he been so deliberately cruel. “Tell me your thoughts on Alek bringing his family home.”
“My honest thoughts?” Sergei asked with a noticeable difference in his tone. It was harder. Less controlled. Which had been the point of the cruelty.
“Yes, of course. Why would I be interested in bullshit?”
“He should have left them the fuck alone. That is my honest thought.”
A new tension entered the room as the boys took offense to that. “After seeing him struggle through this past year, do you not think he has the right to this happiness?” Vasily asked.
Sergei snorted. “Alek being
lonely would be my choice over him bringing them into this.”
Vasily set aside the urge he felt to climb though the connection and slap the shit out of this man who had fooled them all. He made his voice even. “I’m afraid I don’t agree.”
“Of course, you don’t. You want him happy, and that’s understandable,” Sergei said unexpectedly. “But how happy will you both be when the day comes where he can put their pretty heads on his mantle? Tell me, how fucking happy will he be staring longingly at Sacha and his daughter on those cold winter nights when the nightmares make it impossible for him to sleep?”
A low sound came from Vincente, causing Vasily to look over. As his gaze quickly skipped around the faces, he saw the same thing he was feeling. Confusion. Indecision. No one knew which way to lean here. Did they keep their fingers on the trigger because Sergei was likely the one responsible for the losses they’d suffered? Or did they lower their weapons because they had no choice but to acknowledge why he may have done what he had?
But to them? To his brothers? His family? Was it possible to overlook such a betrayal?
When their criminal culture could be traced back to the Tsarist era, even though it wasn’t until the 20s and 30s that the Vory had established themselves as a distinct group, there was a lot of history. Which meant there were many cases of backstabbing sons, disloyal brothers, turncoat cousins and nephews. Why had Vasily never entertained the thought that he might one day have one in his own Bratva?
His heartbeat accelerated even more. “I also understand your view on the subject so we’ll close it. Just one more thing before we do; I’m sure there will be a wedding in our future, and on the off chance Alek doesn’t want to remain here with his family, I would like to be prepared. Would you mind accompanying me to look at some homes in the area? You’d know better what would be suitable for young children.” He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at the ache in his chest. “If things go as planned, having something ready might be a nice wedding gift.”
“Yes. I could do that with you, uncle.” Spoken with no emotion whatsoever.
“Thank you. Eva and I were talking, and she mentioned it being too bad her house is on the West Coast. We could have used it here. Though Alek will want something more than a bungalow, I suppose.” He didn’t breathe as adrenaline seeped into his thighs and sickened his gut. He waited for it. And when it came, he could have sworn he felt something in his heart break.
“The house on Mercer Island is two story.”
“Hmm. You’re right.” He was glad they weren’t in the same room because there would have been no way he could have hid his reaction. His whole body wilted as his last hope for an innocent verdict was dashed. “Are you going to be around later? Gabriel mentioned a big card game in Astoria. We could lose some money together.”
“No. Reynard said Maks has a job for us.”
He looked to Maks and received a negative. His attention went from there to Dmitri, who slowly brought his phone up to send a message to Leo and Nestor. Sergei wouldn’t be leaving his house. Not until it was dark and he was being taken out by a group of enforcers chosen by Vasily.
“I have to go. Goodbye, Uncle.”
Vasily felt the loss as he cut the tie that bound him to this man he no longer knew. “Goodbye, Sergei.”
He hung up and explained before he could be asked. “There are very few of us who know where Kathryn and Eva’s house is. Sergei has never been told.”
Gabriel got up and started working off his tension by slowly circling the table. “Could he have overheard you speaking about it?”
“No. Absolutely not. But even if I’d been so careless, there is no reason he should know its exact location. And he certainly wouldn’t know what it looks like…unless he’s been there.”
“Holy fuck.” Alek came to the front of the desk. “I’m so sorry, Vasya.”
“I’m sorry, son.”
They spoke at the same time just as Dmitri’s phone rang.
“What! Fuck. Sit tight. Someone’s on their— Aw, no. Okay. If you can get him inside, do it. If it’s going to make you bleed, leave him and go inside yourself. I will send the boys right now.” Dmitri hung up. “Get a crew to Sergei’s house,” he ordered Maks as he made a call. He spoke into the phone but looked at Vasily. “Yuri, I need you to get to Oceanside. To Sergei’s house. You can’t help Nestor, but Leo was hit in the leg. No. Sergei got Nestor point blank; Reynard got Leo as he rounded the corner. Lock up the house and get them the hell out of there before the neighbors start coming home from work.” He hung up. “Forgive my disrespect, but you, get that fuckin’ look off your face,” he said, pointing the phone at Vasily. “You are not going over there. For all we know, they could be waiting for you or Alek to show. I do not know what Sergei’s end game is, but I can tell you this; it won’t be either of you.”
TWENTY-FOUR
The following days were busy ones for Sacha. She arranged personal visits with her families to let them know she would be going on an indefinite hiatus. The more she’d thought about it, the clearer it became that continuing with her small operation wouldn’t be possible, only one of the reasons being she would now be living almost an hour away from Sunnyside. Unless she and Alekzander eventually returned to their apartment. Even then, Manhattan wasn’t Queens, and the convenience of being readily available and right in her clients’ backyard had been an attractive bonus in their eyes.
She’d been stunned when Alekzander had offered to find her some commercial space where she could open a permanent daycare. She’d feigned interest in the bare trees that had surrounded them in the woods behind the house until she could swallow the emotion that rose in her throat. Wanting to bring up her hope of returning to school, but thinking it too soon, she’d told him she would think about it but would likely pass on his offer. When he’d blown out a sigh and muttered “Thank Christ. I don’t know who we’d have assigned to watch over you and a nursery full of babies”, she’d laughed at the imagery and nudged him off the well-trodden path they were traveling. He’d snagged her by the hand and pulled her against him, careful not to crush Lekzi, who was in her baby carrier on Sacha’s front. He’d kissed his daughter first, and then Sacha, unconcerned that Anton and Grigori had been ten feet behind, accompanying them on their morning walk.
Today was the day she would let go of her last family. And since she would be in the neighborhood of the women’s center, she was taking advantage and had arranged to meet Angela for lunch. As Alekzander brought Lekzi out and strapped her into the already warmed up Maybach, his brow was down low, and he kept exchanging those silent looks with Grigori and Lucas, communicating who-knew-what.
“Where is your vehicle?” she asked, wondering why they were taking his uncle’s car again. They’d used it to go into town the day before.
“Still at the convention center,” he said absently. “I haven’t had time to pick it up. Maybe we’ll go by and get it on our way home.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anton shake his head, nixing the idea.
She knew by the many closed-door meetings the men had been having something was going on, just not what. She was relieved not to be the only one. When Alekzander’s friends dropped in, they’d gotten into the habit of bringing their women. Sacha had taken to gathering the ladies around the kitchen table, and while she puttered about making tea, leaving them to fawn over Lekzi, they would all speculate about might have happened to cause this new upset.
Last night, she’d again asked Alekzander if she and Lekzi were in any danger. He’d told her as long as she didn’t wander off on her own for any reason, no one was getting anywhere near them.
As the garage door went up to let in the crisp winter air, Sacha gave the tip of her nose a rub. “Um, can I ask you something?” She looked out to see bright white clouds interspersed with dark gray ones, indicating snow might be on the way. “I, uh, thought I might ask Angela to go Christmas shopping next week. Is there any reason that would not be all right?�
�� If it were dangerous, he would veto the idea outright, and she would know for certain he wasn’t telling her the whole story.
She waited for him to straightened from clipping Lekzi’s car seat into its base. He looked intimidating and unapproachable today in his suit and coat with his hair slicked back.
“That should be fine. Arrange it, but don’t mention a time or place yet. Specify the day you’ll go, and on your way into the city on that day, you can tell your shy friend you’ll pick her and her son up within the hour.” She couldn’t say whether he was being insulting or facetious. “She can text her husband her location once you two have settled somewhere, but not where you’ll be going afterward if you plan on traveling from store to store. And, I’m afraid you’ll be taking more than Grigori and Lucas with you. They’ll be visible, but a small team won’t be.”
She bit her lip and took her brand new iPhone out to look at the time. An invisible team? “Are you sure everything is all right, Alekzander? I mean, I know something is going on, but are you sure it is not something I should be worried about?” That wasn’t what she’d wanted to ask right then, but…
A myriad of emotions danced through his pale eyes as he stared down at her. All were marked with possession, and all were so raw and violent she couldn’t hide the shiver that feathered the length of her spine. He smiled when he felt it and lightly trailed his knuckles down her side.
“No, angel. You don’t have to worry. I’m doing enough of that for all of us.” He didn’t look particularly concerned as he tilted her head up with his thumb under her chin and kissed her. “Get in.”
“What is it that is troubling you?” she asked, ignoring the order.
“Many things. But at this moment, getting through traffic to get you to your appointment on time would top the list. Get in. We’ll talk on our way.”
She frowned. “You are coming with me?” she squeaked, the possibility dashing her plans before she could even voice them.
“I’m coming with you. I have a few conference calls that I can easily take part in from the car. It won’t be the first time I’ve done so.”
Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4) Page 27
