Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
"Stab the body and it heals but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime."
― Mineko Iwasaki
Volk
I got up from the bed and walked over to the window, the moonlight filtering through the blinds and casting a soft glow on the floor.
Outside, Dimitri and Andrei were laughing on the porch, puffing on cigarettes. Seeing them made me crave one, so I grabbed a pack from a drawer, lit up, and cracked open the window to let the smoke drift outside.
I barely noticed Sofiya nearby, too lost in my own thoughts to find the right words to avoid shattering her heart forever. Her taste was still on my tongue, and her scent was all over me. Seeing her in jeans and a shirt was fine, but seeing her naked in my bed was on a whole different level. Her perfect breasts, the taste of her pussy—everything about her was divine.
Damn it.
I fucking needed more—my dick in her pussy, her mouth on me, to feel her orgasm again. I craved seeing that spark in her eyes as she gave in and surrendered to me. I was so caught up in these fantasies that I didn't notice her approach until she gently tugged at my shoulder, snapping me back to reality.
I turned to face her, my heart sinking when I saw her red, tear-filled eyes.
I nodded slowly. "I'll tell you everything. I promise."
?
"I'll tell you what I know," she mumbled, bringing her hands to her face. "But you have to promise me something first."
I raised an eyebrow, curious. I fucking hated ultimatums. But I'd never taken her for the type to give one, so I listened. "Go ahead."
"You have to promise me you won't hurt her," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I may have made some bad choices, but I can't have her blood on my hands."
"Who are you talking about?"
Just as tension reached its peak, my phone buzzed in my jacket. I pulled it out to see a text from Dve, probably bored and wondering what was happening. Damn it, his timing couldn't have been worse .
I arched an eyebrow, signaling her to speak.
"Helena," she choked out, her voice barely audible. "Please… don't kill her."
What?
My whole body froze. "Helena Melov?"
Sofiya's mother.
"Da."
Without missing a beat, I replied to Dve's message, letting him know that everything was under control for now.
I then shifted my full attention back to Tanya, her eyes filled with worry.
She was hiding something, but fear held her back from telling me. I could fucking see it.
"Tell me everything you know about Helena."
Tanya hesitated, her gaze dropping to the floor before reluctantly meeting mine again. She seemed torn between protecting Helena and telling the truth.
I had done my research on Helena months ago when Igor first asked me to keep an eye on her and her daughter.
I knew every fucking thing about her so I was still curious about what Tanya might know that I didn't.
Gossip was a guilty pleasure for some, and Tanya was the queen of it.
Finally, with a shaky breath, Tanya spoke, her words cautious and heavy with guilt.
"Helena was Vlad's favorite girl, you know? They crossed paths when she was only seventeen, performing in some theater production of Le Lac des Cygnes in Moscow," Tanya revealed, her eyes wandering about the room as if lost in a flurry of memories. "She was an amazing dancer, destined to tour the world if it hadn't been for Vlad's damn recklessness."
Her gaze shifted towards the window as a soft breeze caressed her hair, and tears welled up in her eyes .
"He would attend every show, showering her with flowers and lavish jewelry," she scoffed. "She was just a young girl, who never truly understood the depths of lust. So, when the moment presented itself, she sought refuge in his arms on her eighteenth birthday," her eyes locked with mine. "He was thirty-two. Fucking bastard."
As her insult hung in the air, my phone buzzed.
I glanced down to see a text from Dve, saying he was hungry.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"He brought her to my house once, asking me to teach her things, to show her how to please him," she continued, her voice filled with bitterness. "I was foolishly in love, thinking that if I complied, he would be proud of me and ask me to be his wife. How fucking pathetic."
A melancholic laugh escaped her lips.
I listened silently, absorbing her story.
"So, I did," Tanya continued. "I taught her everything. She was so damn eager to please him, to make him happy that she'd come running back to me, blabbering about everything they did together."
"He even got her a house with a garden full of red roses, her favorite flowers, and those big white windows she always dreamed of," Tanya lamented. "Ten times better than mine, that's for sure."
I let out a scoff.
"He asked her to stop dancing and promised her a life full of glory away from the city. But as months went by, she got bored and asked him to let her work." Tanya said, rummaging through her drawers for a pack of cigarettes.
She gestured for me to take one, but I declined.
I didn't want to touch her dusty cigarettes.
"You see, Vlad was still working for Igor back then, so he introduced her to Victoria. "
Victoria, Igor's wife.
I had heard plenty about her, seen her portraits hanging in his study, her artwork decorating the walls.
Her name was practically tattooed on Igor's skin.
She died a year before Igor took me under his wings.
"Victoria and Helena were both twenty-one when they first met. They quickly became best friends," Tanya revealed, her voice trailing off as she continued to smoke her cigarette.
"Get to the point."
It felt like Tanya was intentionally dragging out the story, wasting my precious time.
She blew out another puff of smoke, her finger flicking the ash from the cigarette as it dropped onto the windowsill.
The room filled with a haze as she continued talking.
"Victoria became all possessive over Helena, wanting her to herself. Whenever their husbands were busy, she begged Helena to stay with her," Tanya said, her eyes darting towards the gun on her bed, a tinge of sadness crossing her face.
"Then one night, Dasha showed up at their doorstep, begging for a job. Helena grew fond of her and the three women became inseparable."
She let out a dark laugh and tossed her cigarette out the window and slammed the blinds shut.
"You know, Igor, that stupid man, has always been obsessed with his wife. He promised her the world, granting her every wish," she said with a hint of bitterness.
I clenched my fists. "If you don't hurry the fuck up, I swear to god I'll shoot you."
She stayed silent for a while.
"Victoria wanted a child, and she wanted to be pregnant at the same time as Helena. So naturally, they did a pregnancy pack," she whispered. "But not any pregnancy pack, they wanted the child to have the same father. "
She walked over to the bed and took a seat, placing the gun on her lap.
Her eyes locked with mine, her shoulders visibly tense beneath her dress.
At that moment, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
It didn't take a genius to understand where she was going with this, the unimaginable truth that she was about to reveal.
Yet, I chose to remain silent, allowing her to share the burden of her words.
"Helena wasn't really into it at first, but she considered Victoria her ride or die. So, they convinced Vlad to go along with their crazy plan. They'd meet up at my place every Tuesday and Thursday nights, keeping it low-key. I mean, who would suspect anything going on behind these closed doors? Going to Helena's house would have been way too obvious."
The whole situation seemed like something out of a cheap soap opera.
"I was too scared to defy Vlad, so I just let it happen. One day, I walked in on Victoria riding Vlad like there was no tomorrow, while Helena was sitting on his face, both of them grabbing each other's tits and laughing like a couple of madwomen."
"I mean, can you believe that shit?" She snorted loudly before crossing her arms. "I was so disturbed and frankly jealous, I just closed the door and tried to forget what I had seen. It was like stepping into a fucking porno flick, but with people I knew and the man I loved."
I couldn't help but feel disgusted at the bizarre dynamics of their relationships.
"Victoria ended up getting pregnant, and of course, Igor was over the moon. But Helena, well, she never got pregnant. She confided in me how useless and disappointed she felt, but Victoria assured her that she would still be involved in raising the baby. Vlad, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. He was terrified of Igor finding out about their affair, so he demanded that Helena stop visiting Victoria's house."
I arched a brow, surprised.
"But let me tell you something about Victoria – she had a way with words," Tanya smiled. "She managed to convince Vlad to continue sleeping with her, even while she was pregnant. And one time, Dasha walked in on them in the guest room while Igor was away. But Dasha, being loyal to Victoria, never said a fucking word about it."
Tanya's hand reached for the gun on her lap.
She checked if it was loaded and, in an instant, pointed it directly at me.
The air turned thick with tension.
Her gaze remained fixed on me, her expression a mix of anger, despair, and something else I couldn't quite decipher.
Her grip tightened around the gun, her knuckles turning white.
"Helena eventually found out about Victoria's sneaky business and … she lost it. It was a dark and stormy night in October, rain pouring down like crazy. She stormed into Victoria's house, yelling at her and threatening to kill her if she ever went near Vlad again."
The atmosphere grew more intense as Tanya closed in on me, her gun pointed straight at my heart.
She brushed away her tears with the back of her hand.
For a brief moment, I saw a flicker of admiration in her eyes before it quickly vanished.
"Really? Is this how we're gonna end things?"
"You don't seem scared," she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"Scared?" I sneered, taking another step closer to her. I reached out and grabbed the barrel of the gun, calmly lifting it to my own head. "Why would I be? "
She hesitated, biting her lip, as her eyes roamed over my face.
"Because, I'm going to kill you, Volk."
I tilted my head to the side, studying her. "Finish your story first."
She hesitated for a moment, her eyes locked with mine as she lowered her gun.
But then she started speaking again, the words tumbling out of her mouth as if she couldn't hold them in any longer.
"That night, Victoria was so furious that she started having contractions and screamed for Dasha's help, while Helena stood there motionless. Dasha helped her onto the bed, and a couple of hours later, Victoria gave birth to her baby two months earlier than expected. Helena stood by her side and was the first one to hold her baby girl."
A baby girl?
"As you know, Victoria passed away that night from a severe infection caused by complications with her placenta," Tanya explained. "In her delirium, she pleaded with Helena to take the baby and never reveal the truth to Igor. She instructed Dasha to inform Igor that the baby had also died with her."
Ain't no fucking way.
The puzzle pieces were assembled in front of me.
"You expect me to believe that Helena stooped so low as to fake a baby's death just to mess with Igor's head?"
Her expression blanched. "I wish I was making this shit up, Volk, but it's the grim reality. Helena got caught in Victoria's sick game and she did some fucked up things to please her. Killing an innocent baby just to create some sick illusion was just one of them."
"Who's baby was it?"
Tanya let out a heavy sigh. "She paid off some pregnant whore who worked in the whorehouse. The whore didn't want the baby, so she took the cash and left the poor kid behind. And Helena, that sick bitch, snuffed out the baby's life when it was only three days old."
What?
Helena killed that baby?
"It was an unfortunate turn of events. Igor was crushed, devastated by what had happened. And to make matters worse, that backstabbing Vlad decided to make matters even more fucked up by betraying him. He vanished and never came back."
I listened intently. "So Helena kept her house, huh? And what about Dasha?"
Tanya nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. "Yeah, Helena couldn't bear to leave. That house held too many memories, even with Victoria gone. And Dasha, poor girl, followed Helena. She couldn't bear to live in a place where her friend's spirit still lingered in the corridors. It was a painful reminder of what happened."
"What about Vlad, did he still visit Helena? "
Tanya's face hardened. "Da, he would come around every now and then. He treated the kid like his own daughter, but he was always on edge. Always looking over his shoulder, fearing that Igor would come out of the damn trees and kill him."
I titled my head to the side, a question burning in my mind.
"But Igor must have seen the baby at some point. Did he ever ask Helena whose child was it?"
She shook her head.
"Helena had a story ready. She claimed that the baby was the child of a prostitute who had passed away after giving birth. She said she had taken the baby in to save her from a life of hardship and neglect," Tanya chuckled bitterly.
"It was a lie, of course, but it seemed to satisfy Igor enough that he didn't press any further. He was probably still full of grief over the love of his life dying so abruptly while he was away. He congratulated her and told her he was happy she made one of Victoria's dreams come true."
My eyes narrowed. "Why did Helena move to the U.S?"
This whole situation was as fucked up as a penguin trying to fly in a sauna.
It didn't make sense.
She could have lived her whole life free in Russia.
Why did she feel the need to leave?
She had money, a big house, and now a brand-new baby whom she claimed was hers.
Tanya's eyes shot towards me, fear filling her pupils as she brought the gun to her own head, tears streaming down her face.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
"I can't tell you," she whispered, putting her finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.
I quickly grabbed her hand, but as she clicked, a bullet erupted from the gun, piercing my right thigh.
I couldn't help but curse out loud, dropping her hand.
I clutched my leg, blood flowing down and staining my pants.
"Tell Vlad, I'll see him in hell."
I raised my head just enough to witness her pulling the trigger and shooting herself in the head.
Her body fell to the floor with a loud thump as Dve barged into the room, the door slamming against the wall.
Dve shook his head, his face contorted with disgust.
"What a fucking shitshow," he muttered.
?
"I can't believe it," Sofiya whispered, her breath shaky .
Her eyes were puffy, and a rosy hue colored her cheeks. Even in that state, she looked breathtaking.
I was trapped in a fucking tug-of-war inside my mind. One part of me wanted to run my fingers through her smooth dark hair, hold her face, and claim her lips to show her I'd protect her. But the other part wanted to teach her a lesson for intruding into my life and tearing down the walls I'd built long ago.
It felt like a brutal conflict between wanting to cherish her and wanting to push her away. And I didn't know which side would fucking win.
I just stood there, motionless, as she gave me one last, mournful glance and then exited the room. Her fragrance lingered like a phantom, leaving me alone in a storm of conflicting thoughts and sinful desires.