Chapter 10

ten

Alexandr

I'm pacing my brother's living room, fucking pissed at myself, at Phoebe, at the world, and at fucking Sergi for disappearing for two fucking hours when we need to come up with a fucking plan.

I need to throw something; I eye the crystal vase on the table just as Sofia shouts, "Don't even think about it, Alexandr!" Damian chuckles while I grunt and sit next to him on his sofa.

"We need a fucking plan. Where has Sergi gotten to? I have shit to do!" I grunt out.

Damian raises an eyebrow at me. "You mean shit like confronting your mistress and checking yourself for diseases, because we both know you haven't been wrapping with her, or shit like going to Basil because we know he had a guy follow her, and find where your now ex-fiancée lives and stalk her?"

Sofia chuckles, and I glare at her, making her giggle like a girl. "I wouldn't look at me like that, Alexandr. Just because the brute there knocked me up again doesn't mean I can't smack some sense into you. What on earth were you thinking, making a coke addict stripper your mistress?" I go to defend myself. I know I messed up. I know the reasons why I took Candy as a mistress were weak….

But Sofia is not done reaming my ass.

"I don't care how many happy endings she gave you when Phoebe left; she left for a good fucking reason; you've been sleeping with her sister, her fucking sister , behind her back, and you expected her to say, 'Oh, don't worry, love, I forgive you?' How many fucking times have you hit your head? Then you go and make that slut your mistress because she took 'care of you,' and you try to act like Phoebe leaving was out of the blue. How fucking stupid are you? I mean, come on, you know Phoebe, we all do; she wouldn't have just run off for the sake of running off, she would have had a good fucking reason. And not once did you think, 'oh, maybe she found out about the other women.'" She uses her fingers to quote the last bit of what she said, and I go to defend myself again because I did think maybe she knew, but Sofia chuckles so darkly that even Damian leans away from her a little.

Pregnant Sofia is a scary Sofia.

"Or, let me guess, you did think that but, instead, thought, 'no, she'll never find out about that' like us women are some dumb fucking cunts. If that were me, I wouldn't touch you with your brother's dick! For the last two months, you have acted like you had a right to fuck those women and get a mistress because, to you, it's her punishment for leaving when you're the one who was fucking her own sister like it wouldn't matter to her, so do you want to know what I think?"

Oh shit, I look around to see if I can make a run for it. I fucking hate it when Sofia says it like it is. Damian snorts when he sees me looking toward the kitchen archway, and I glare at him while Sofia continues, "I think you should leave poor Phoebe alone. Go put a ring on your mistress, or Selene instead; neither of them would mind your manwhore ways because seems as though you can't keep it in your pants ." She shouts the last bit, and I stare at her with wide eyes while Damian clears his throat, wanting not to anger his hormonal, pregnant wife. When she was pregnant with Maksim, she threw a meat cleaver at him for complaining about having a sore back. He ducked just in time, and then she proceeded to cry her eyes out because she could have killed him, while he mumbled how glad he was that he missed the mood swings with Mila…but not quietly enough. I stood there in the kitchen in stitches and watched while she grabbed his glass of scotch and threw it at him. He slept on the sofa for about a week.

" Malyshka , this thing with Candy and Selene, while completely wrong, which he understands now, he was just trying to forget Phoebe because she hurt him, broke his heart. He fucked up, he knows this, give him a break, yeah?" he states calmly, and I look at him again with wide eyes, like he has a fucking death wish.

Her scowl has gotten scarier, her eyes narrow, and Damian swallows hard, probably regretting coming to my aid now. "Well, that's okay, then, isn't it? I mean, that's exactly what you did, right, darling?" she sneers.

Oh shit, she has never brought his infidelity up. After counseling, they decided to keep it in the past, but thanks to me, it's being resurrected.

Damian looks at me enraged, and I give him a sheepish smile, which soon turns to a grimace with Sofia's next words, "But hey, at least you didn't fuck my family member, right? Oh, no, wait, you fucking did !" she shouts, her face red with anger.

"Fuck's sake, Alexandr, can you not keep it in your fucking pants?" Damian snaps at me to save his hide, and I swallow my chuckle.

Sofia grins. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it, Damian?" I swear her mood swings give me whiplash.

I hear a chuckle from behind. We all turn to see Sergi leaning against the wall with an envelope in his hand and amusement in his eyes. I scowl at him.

"Where have you been? I have fucking things to do, Sergi."

He rolls his eyes at me, then stands straight, walking over to the armchair under the window to my right, and he takes a seat.

"Well, to be fair, Al, your first job is to go get tested, then preferably kill your mistress. Seems she's been going through your phone when you are passed out, getting our account details for our businesses. Three million was transferred to an offshore account; I've just spent an hour getting it all back. And if you're considering going after Phoebe Pie, don't bother; she's already gone," he states, passing us some paperwork but keeping other documents in the envelope.

What the fuck? I look through it, and all the evidence proves what that fucking bitch has been doing. I've been so intent on making Phoebe pay and enjoying the distraction with Candy that I let my guard down. This, right here, is fucking why I'm not Pahkan, and Damian is. I'm a fuckup. I sigh and put my head in my hands. It's a good thing my parents are on a cruise with Sofia's, or I'd be fucking chopped up and fed to the animals I bought Mila, who I am really glad is asleep right now!

Damian sighs. "I can do it if you can't, brother." I snort and shake my head. He's acting like I'm in love with her when, in reality, she was my distraction.

"I'll do it; this is my fault." Then, the last part of what Sergi said comes back, and I stand up.

"What do you mean she's gone? Gone where, and how the fuck would you know?" I growl out.

He sighs. "Sit down, Al; I have a story to tell you all."

I sit reluctantly; he may be my pseudo-brother, but he is also second and higher up than me. He leans his elbows on his knees, linking his hands, with the envelope dangling between them.

"You all know I've been close with Phoebe for years, right?" We all nod. Sofia has made herself comfortable on the biggest armchair in the room, drinking her fruit smoothie. I shake my head. Her pregnancies are crazy.

I look back at Sergi. When I saw her for the first time, I hated how close he and Phoebe were. Every time they would meet up, he wouldn't let us come despite my being engaged to her. Only Mila was allowed to go with him. He'd been meeting up with Phoebe since she was just a small girl, once a month, and would talk to her once a week on the phone. When they met up, it was the only time we didn't see him for a whole day. Well, until the last five months, that is. He seems to disappear on Sunday mornings and some evenings, but he has yet to tell us where. He will when he's ready.

I sigh. We only met Selene because of the contract, but he never got along with her despite his close friendship with Phoebe.

"Well, when Phoebe left, it devastated me, and when I found out why…." He shakes his head, looks at me, and says, "As with Damian, when he hurt Sofia, I did not kill you because you're my family, and I love you like a brother. You both hurt two women who mean the world to me, who I would die for, but Phoebe, I struggled not to hurt you, Al; she's not just like a little sister to me, she's my blood. " This time, Damian stands up in shock while Sofia's mouth drops open, smoothie dripping down her chin. If his bombshell didn't shock me, I would have laughed. "Juan Garcia is my biological father."

And there is the fucking bomb! He drops his head.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell us? We are your family!" Damian growls out with pain in his voice. I shake my head and look down, hurt that he felt we couldn't be trusted. He sighs again, and I look at him as he looks back at us.

"I've known all my life, Damian; my mother never kept it from me, and your parents and in-laws know, too. I am the rightful heir to the Spanish Mafia, but I don't fucking want it; he didn't want me! " I can hear the pain in his voice.

He heaves a heavy breath. "He didn't want me, so I didn't want him! My mother told me about Selene and Phoebe, how they don't know they are related to Juan, and that their father doesn't know. When I was fourteen, my mother thought it would be good to get to know my cousins, but I was dead set against it. I didn't want to know the, but we were all supposed to go to the shooting range together, then to the club. I didn't want to go and meet some spoiled princesses," he growls.

Damian sits back down while I lean forward, giving him my attention. "I was only half right. They introduced me as a family friend, and Selene was eight at the time, already a complete bitch; she would shove Phoebe and pull her hair, cry when she didn't get her own way, and refuse to go anywhere near me. But Phoebe…." A ghost of a smile appears on his lips, and the love of a brother shines through his eyes as he stares ahead, making my eyes water. He got part of a family he always wanted, but jealousy builds in my chest because he spent all that time with her. "She walked right up to me and grabbed hold of my hand while she sucked her thumb. She was only five. Her hair was in pigtails, looking innocent and adorable, and she asked me if I liked chocolate pie, hence her nickname." He chuckles, then looks at us again. "We have been inseparable since. Selene didn't like that I had all her sister's attention, so after a couple of months, her mother stopped bringing her and only brought Phoebe."

I jump in because I have to know. "Did she know then? That you were related?"

He chuckles again and shakes his head. "Not until she came back at sixteen. When she left, we spoke daily on the phone for six years. I'd fly out to see her several times, and you all thought it was a family vacation. Juan knew we were close, and I don't know why, but he decided to tell her that I was her cousin the day she was boarding the plane back home, and made sure to explain how no one knows." He lets out a small laugh, still in the memories. "She confronted me, asked me if it was true, and when I told her yes, she slapped me!" Sofia snorts "Fucking slaps me across the face, threatening me, that if I ever lied to her again, she would disown me, and then she hugged me tight and told me she was glad I was her blood." He smiles.

"I get why you didn't tell us, brother. I wish you had; we could have supported you, but it was your decision. We need to know, though, how did you come across this information on Candy?" Damian questions, and Sergi smiles, handing him the rest of the paperwork in the envelope. I look over to see what it is, and my brows shoot high. "It's the same way I got this information. Phoebe," he replies. I look at him as he continues, "There are three men; she didn't know two of their names, but she knew Grigoriy. The other two are Boris and Leonid. Those are the three who didn't like you taking over. Grigoriy is the frontrunner for finding the young girls or boys in group homes, and the other two pick them up, and then take them to the meeting point for the Mexican Cartel or the Romanians to pick up." Damian curses up a storm while I feel my rage boiling over.

I look at Sergi and ask, "How did you get this out of Phoebe?"

He sighs again.

"I knew she'd be staying at Juan's Mansion in Brooklyn, so I went to talk to her. Well, first, I had a go at her for answering the door without a weapon in her hand; I could have been a serial killer."

Sofia chuckle, "You are a serial killer, Serg."

He laughs out loud. "That's what she said," making Sofia smile wide. He looks back at me and says, "Anyway, I knew I'd be the one person she would give the information to; she doesn't like to lie to me, even if she kept quiet about what she'd been learning over the years." I rub my hands down my face, and he continues, "I've assured her we'd sort them out."

Damian nods. "Too fucking right, we will."

I look back at Sergi and ask, "What about Juan? How does he fit into this with you?"

He grunts. "He wants to meet with me, but I don't want anything to do with him. Phoebs told me how his wife Valeria got pissed at him for keeping me a secret for twenty-nine years. Apparently, he wanted nothing to do with me because he was afraid his wife would leave him, but now I'm his only heir. Suddenly, she knows, and he wants contact. She blames him for keeping her child away from her, even though I'm not biologically hers; she doesn't see it that way, but like I told Phoebe, I'm not ready." I nod and get up. He stands, too, and I give him a big hug.

"We'll help you through it, whatever you decide," I whisper, and he nods. Then I turn and go to walk out.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Damian questions, but I continue walking and say over my shoulder, "I have a Don to contact regarding his niece and her whereabouts."

Damian chuckles while Sergi gets a serious look on his face, which makes me pause.

"If she does forgive you, brother, and that is a big if , do not hurt her again." I hear the threat, and I'm fucking proud to call him family. I nod, then walk out to my car and go to the office. I'll sort Candy out after I've got my woman back and my ring on her finger. And I'll also tell Mindy where she can go, too.