108

RUSLAN

We’re down only one man and yet it already feels like a much smaller group. Mikael, Arkady, and Nikolai don’t address our missing vor, which is how I know that Fyodor has already informed them of the betrayal.

“I opted for mercy,” I start without giving them any context. “I opted for leniency. And he decided to spit in my face.”

Fyodor’s eyes go wide. “Who are you—?”

“I released Adrik a week ago. He repaid me by hunting down my family and taking them. Now, it’s time to end this.”

Nikolai clicks his tongue, a surefire sign that he approves. “This dance with Adrik has gone on long enough. It’s about time.”

“I agree,” Mikael says with a curt nod.

Arkady inclines his head towards me. “As do I. We are with you.”

Fyodor clears his throat. “Then you should know all the facts. I told you about my brother’s betrayal and I told you he was working with Adrik this whole time. What I didn’t tell you is why they decided to ally with one another.”

Kirill takes his seat heavily. “Does it matter, Fyodor?”

“It does to me.” His voice is raspy, his eyes cold. He doesn’t look at me when he drops the bomb. “Adrik is Vadim’s son.”

Nikolai is in denial. Arkady is in shock. Mikael is the only one who nods. “I fucking knew it.”

“How?” Kirill asks with one raised eyebrow.

He shrugs. “I used to watch them together at parties and clubs. They seemed to get along really well, until someone showed up. It always felt like their friction was a setup for the benefit of others.”

“Glad you waited ‘til now to mention it,” Kirill snaps.

Mikael simply leans back in his seat. “I had no proof. And I wasn’t about to accuse a senior vor of keeping a secret like that.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Fyodor growls. “The past is immaterial. What matters is the decision we have to make now.”

I turn to my father squarely and look him in the eye. “There is no decision that we have to make. It’s my decision, Otets, and I’ve decided that enough is enough.”

“Ruslan, think about this. He is your cousin.”

“And he’s known that a lot longer than I have. He still abducted my family—my woman, my kids. That will not go unanswered.”

“Then lock him up. Keep him confined to a cell for as long as you want. But killing him—” He stops mid-sentence and glances around the room. It’s as though he’s just realized that he’s not the boss anymore.

“Give us the room,” I order.

My vors exchange pointed glances as they follow Kirill out of my office. I walk around the table and sit down beside my father. His eyes look hollow, a man so wracked with grief that he can’t even bring himself to sit up straight.

“This is not about Adrik at all, is it?” I rumble.

Fyodor gazes out the windows. “Killing Vadim’s only son… Ruslan, there will be no coming back from that.”

“Tell me honestly, Otets: do you see Vadim coming back from any of this?”

Fyodor flinches and closes his eyes. “He is the reason the Oryolov Bratva survived in the first place.”

“It was his duty to make sure it would,” I say. “I’m not trying to belittle what he did and I’m not trying to play down his sacrifices. He took care of you, of us, after the accident. He saved the Bratva. But that doesn’t give him the right to burn it down as and when he pleases.”

Fyodor sighs mournfully. His breath sounds raggedy in his thin old man’s chest.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “I know you still care for him. And I know you feel the need to save him—”

“He is my family.”

“No,” I say, leaning in closer, “I am your family. Emma, Josh, Reagan, Caroline—they are your family. You may not be a husband or a brother anymore but you are still a father. Leonid’s death didn’t change that. And you are a grandfather now, too.”

His eyes brighten infinitesimally but the light goes out almost instantly. “He wasn’t just my brother, Ruslan,” he says softly. “He was also my only friend.”

“I gave him a chance, Otets. These events have proved that Adrik is not capable of allowing us to live in peace. He wants revenge and he won’t stop until he gets it. Which means—”

“I know.” He turns his sad eyes on me. “I know.”

I get to my feet. “Forgive me, Father. My hands are tied.”

He looks up at me. There’s a question in his eyes but he refuses to ask it. Instead, he nods and I turn and leave him to the lonely room. I hate to have to do this—but it’s the only way.

Kirill, Nikolai, Mikael, and Arkady are sitting in the main living room when I walk past. The four of them rise to their feet, waiting on my instructions.

“We need a team. We’re going after Adrik today.”

Kirill frowns. “What do you mean? We don’t know where he is.”

“We will. I just have to talk to my uncle first.”

I leave them to make the arrangements while I head towards the cell block. I dismiss the two guards standing outside Vadim’s cell, then open the door and step inside.

He’s sitting on his bed with a book in hand, his back resting against the cement wall. “Nephew, what a delightful surprise. What brings you here?”

“Your son.”

Vadim’s eyebrows rise but his eye is twitching tentatively. He’s had years of practice, keeping his fear hidden. But I see it now. His fingers never sit still. They keep moving, moving, moving.

“What have you done to him?”

“I released him.”

“What?” He shoves himself upright. “When?”

“A week ago.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Why do you think?” I spit at him. “Family is everything. It may be your motto but it’s ingrained itself in my head all these years. Family means something to me, too, Uncle. Even now.”

Vadim is sweating from the forehead despite how cold it is down here. I ignore that. I will not allow myself to feel sorry for him—not now.

“I gave him a chance. I gave him his life. I gave him his freedom. And what did he do with it?” Vadim’s jaw starts twitching now, too. “He took my wife. He took my kids!”

It crosses my mind that she’s not my wife. Not yet.

It also crosses my mind that, as soon as I have them back, I’m putting a ring on Emma’s finger, dressing her in white, then taking her to bed until the whole world hears her swear she’s mine.

I push the thoughts away and all the prickly nerves that come with them. “I extended an olive branch when I let him go—and he spat it back in my face.”

Vadim’s usually watery eyes are clear as day right now. Maybe that’s why the fear in them becomes more and more prominent. “He’s acting foolishly because he knows you have me. He’s—”

“He’s throwing a tantrum is what he’s doing,” I interrupt. “And I’m not about to tolerate that.”

I’ve never seen Vadim look so weak. The man has always exuded strength, power. Even as he got older and he started to age visibly, the iron in his veins stood strong.

The difference now is that he has something to lose.

And he knows it.

“Ruslan, I’ve never asked you for anything…”

“You picked a bad moment to start asking for favors, Uncle,” I snarl.

“He’s my son… my only child. What would you do in my place… if it was Josh?”

I grit my teeth. “You have some balls asking me that question.”

Vadim snorts angrily and continues. “How old is the boy—nine? Ten? You have no idea the kind of man he’ll become. I used to think Adrik was an introvert. I used to think of him as easily bendable, easily manipulated. But he’s got a mind of his own and I couldn’t always rein him in.”

“Did you even try?”

He nods slowly. “I’ll admit, there were things he did that… I regret.” He winces as he speaks, which makes me curious.

What is it that Adrik’s done that Vadim regretted?

No—it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know. Not anymore. Their fates are sealed.

“But the thing is, no matter what your children do, no matter what they become—trust me, it won’t matter. You will always try to protect them. Always.”

I take a deep breath and nod. “It’s obvious we both love our families. So I propose we make a trade.”

Vadim leans closer in desperation, those bushy eyebrows of his rising. I feel something twist in my gut but I ignore it. I have to.

“What trade?”

“You must know where Adrik has taken them. Even the house that Adrik was keeping Sergey in—that was your house, wasn’t it? That’s why we couldn’t find out who owned it. You didn’t want it linked back to you.” Vadim coughs and I take that as confirmation. “So I’m guessing you know exactly where Adrik is. Which means you know exactly where my family is. All you have to do is give me that information and I’ll spare his life.”

Vadim’s lips purse up. His jaw is clenched tight and his eyelid is still twitching. “You’ll really let him live?”

“He will be banished from the country, of course,” I say. “But as long as you’re alive, I promise not to kill him.”

Vadim flinches. His eyes meet mine and he holds the stare. He’s trying to find the lie in my face. I don’t let him see anything but what he’s hoping to see.

In the end, he nods and his chin droops to his chest. “There is a place on Henderson Street, in Uniondale. A house with ivy growing through the windows. You’ll see it. You’ll know.”

I nod and drift back towards the door. I stop at the threshold as my heart rate races up. Am I really going to do this?

“Do you have any real love for my father?” I’m not sure why I ask this question now. Probably because I know it’s my last chance to ask him anything.

Vadim drags his weary eyes up to mine. I wonder if he knows what’s coming. “He is my older brother. Of course I love him. But love can walk hand in hand with hate sometimes. There’s a fine line.” He shifts uncomfortably on the spot, his eyes darting over my face. “Ruslan,” he whispers, “you promised.”

I nod. “I promised not to kill Adrik as long as you were alive. And I will keep that promise.”

He is still my father’s brother. He is still my uncle.

Which is why I wait until he looks away before I raise the gun and shoot. It happens so fast that he doesn’t see it coming. He slumps against the wall, his eyes closing instantly.

I don’t need to check his pulse.

I know he’s gone.