Chapter 21

Destiny

Taylan fights to get to me. The four guards don't bother to try to stop him, instead they all stand there laughing and mocking him in Russian. When my ankles are free of the cuffs, Koda moves behind me to remove the cuffs off my wrists. I see the feral beast inside Taylan that he keeps hidden, he told me once before that out of him and his two best friends he has the worst temper. After hearing his story, I understand why. I'm not the only one running from the demons of my past, he has just been out running a lot longer than I have.

I feel dirty and used but I refuse to allow Koda to touch me again. My dad won't get here in time, so that means I have to woman up and find the strength and courage within myself to save us both.

Don't let them break your mind, you will want to give up and allow them to win but you can never stop fighting or they win.

My mom's words play on a loop as Koda slips the key into my cuff, and the second my left wrist is freed, I strike. I jump forward and spin around using Koda's second of stupor to my advantage and grip his hair in one hand while using the clip of the cuff in my other hand to press against his neck. The four guards shout and draw their weapons but it's white noise as I shift so the chair is no longer in my way, Koda is still crouched on the floor gazing up at me with a sinful smile.

"Kill him," he barks. I snap my gaze to Taylan just as one of the guards turns his gun on him.

"Pull that trigger and I bury this in his throat," I warn. I feel conscious and at a disadvantage because I'm naked but I push every single one of those thoughts out of my head as I dig the open cuff harder into his throat, loving how he winces in pain.

"You kill him, we kill both of you," the guard on the right with a neck tattoo threatens as he presses the barrel of his gun against Taylan's temple.

"You kill me, you will be running for the rest of your life. I may be a Murdoch but I am also a Volkov and that means my name still holds power here in Russia. Everyone knows who my mother is, they fear her name alone. Do you think the people in this country would hide the man that killed the daughter of the woman who gave them their freedom?" I see my words have them all considering another outcome. I'm bluffing but they don't know that. It has been years since my mother has come back here, for all I know no one here will even remember her but judging by the looks in the guards eyes they believe me.

"Kill him now," Koda roars. I press the cuff in harder, relishing the sight of his blood running down his neck.

"You can kill him but make no mistake, I will hunt the four of you down. He is the underboss to the Re Della Strada. You kill him and you will have the Da Luca Crime Family, Re Della Strada, Memento Mori and the Murdochs coming after you… I give you my word on that." Before a decision can be reached a bomb goes off outside of the house, rocking the foundation and taking my feet out from under me. My ears ring from the loud explosion and parts of the ceiling give way and land on me, knocking the wind right out of my lungs. I push the broken plaster off my legs and take in the sight of the room. Taylan is still cuffed to his chair with pieces of plaster stuck in his hair. The guards have their guns raised. The one with the neck tattoo comes at me, and before I can defend myself, he smacks me in the face with the butt of his rifle.

I fall back against the cold concrete floor, black spots dancing in the corner of my eyes. I'm on the verge of passing out, I don't even register him dragging me along the floor by my hair. Pain filled whimpers spill from my lips but I'm too dazed to fight him off when he forces me back into my seat and cuffs my hands. My chin hits my chest and remains there as I feel blood trickling down my forehead. I try to center myself and keep from succumbing to unconsciousness. The ringing in my ears is painful and the fact I can't rub them to try and alleviate the pain is frustrating.

"Slayer!" I try to lift my head but it's futile, my right eye is swollen shut now from Koda's punch. "Destiny, focus on me, baby!" he pleads. I try to lift my head but a pain erupts in the back of my scalp and my head is ripped back by my hair. My neck is craned so far back it burns in pain. I lock eyes with the monster above me.

"When I kill your attempted rescue party, you are going to watch as I torture him slowly and then I'm going fuck you next to his dead body," he promises ,then spits right in my face before releasing his hold on my hair and rushing out of the room with his men following after him, as he barks orders in Russian for his men to spread out and take out whoever is trying to save us.

"Slayer?" I lull my head forward and stare at Taylan. He looks like a broken little boy. I see so much torment in the depths of his eyes, the demons inside him are strong. It's probably a bad time to come to this realization but I know he will never allow himself to fall in love with someone because he's scared to death that he will wind up like his mother and put someone else before his own sanity and safety.

"I'm fine," I rasp out.

"If you get another chance to escape, you run. Don't you dare try and save me, you get the fuck out of here, do you hear me?" I scrunch my face only to cringe in pain, blood slowly trails down my cheek.

"I won't leave you behind," I vow. His features harden but the sound of the gunfire growing closer has us both pausing with bated breath,

"Destiny." Whenever he uses my name I know he's serious, I'm starting to hate the sound of it coming out of his mouth, I prefer him calling my Slayer or baby.

"Yeah?"

He shoots me a small sad smile. "If there was ever a woman I would want to try with, it would have been you, baby." If my eyes could widen in shock they would have but all I can do is stare at him in stunned silence. "You don't need to fight to prove anything, the only person you have to prove anything to is yourself. Remember that." His words have a lump forming in my throat.

I swallow past it. "When he comes back?—"

"That's your family out there, he isn't coming back if they have anything to do with it."

I shake my head. "I can hear them yelling and understand what they're saying," I say as the shouts reach us through the thin walls of the garage.

"What are they saying?"

"Crows," I answer.

Disappointment shines in his eyes. "It's Andreas," he mutters.

"My family isn't here," I say dejectedly. "Don't watch when he comes back, I don't want you to see it." I try to keep the bitterness from coating my tone but fail.

His eyes darken as he leans forward as much as the cuffs will allow. "You fight that cunt every step of the way, you don't give in no matter what they do to me. You get the fuck out of here and get back to your family, don't look back."

Tears prick the backs of my eyes when I hear more shouts, Koda's winning against Andreas and we are running out of time. "I'm sorry you're in this mess because of me," I choke out, feeling disgusted with myself for putting him in this position. If he had stayed away from me and never came to the club that first night, he would have been free and I would have been some blonde he met once at a random party.

"I'm not," he bites back.

"If it's any consolation, I would cry for real at your funeral." Shocked laughter rips out of him and quickly dies when the pain in his ribs rears to life.

"Don't cry over me, I'm not worth your tears."

I shake my head, denying his claims. "You're worth more than you think. Don't let your past define you. Fight your demons and I'll fight mine." He darts his gaze away from me, I sigh knowing that I can't help him get free of the clutches of his past. He has to save himself.

A strangled scream tears out of me when the internal door is kicked open, both Taylan and I snap our gazes that way. A sob forces its way past my lips at the sight before me.

"Mom," I choke out. She looks like a badass in leather but the shattered look in her eyes almost has me crying out. She rushes toward me, dropping her guns to the ground in front of me as she reaches out and gently cups my face.

"I'm here, baby, I'm right here," she reassures me as she looks me over, only then noticing for the first time that I am naked. She slams her eyes closed and takes some deep breaths as she conjures up the worst possible ways her daughter was harmed.

I feel like I let her down, she warned me about ending up in a situation like this. I thought I knew better but I was so fucking wrong. I made her worst nightmare come true.

"Mom?" She snaps her eyes open and I hate seeing the unshed tears in her eyes.

"Let's get you out of here," she clips out as she moves behind me and unlocks the cuffs. I sigh instantly as she rushes toward Taylan and uncuffs his ankles first before moving to free his wrists. I try to stand and stagger forward, but Mom catches me before I can hit the ground. "Shit, he can barely walk and I can't carry both of you out of here."

"Take her," Taylan grits out as he attempts to stand.

"No, I'm not leaving you," I snarl, he looks at my mom and nods.

"Anya. Get her the fuck out of here now," he says as he pushes to his feet and reaches out to tentatively cup my cheek. I press my cheek into his touch. "Go, don't look back, Slayer."

"No!" I cry out as my mom throws my arm over her shoulder and wraps the other around my waist and begins to pull toward the exit. "I'm not leaving him!" I scream as she uses my own weakness against me.

"He's armed, I left him a gun. You are my priority, Destiny. I can't lose you!" I peer back at him, he stands there clutching his side looking right at me.

"Look away," he mouths as Mom pulls me through the door. The house is littered with bodies, and gunfire sounds out all around me as Mom leads me toward the back of the house. She snags a throw off the back of the sofa and does her best to wrap it around my body. We duck as low as we can as Mom leads us out the back door, I flinch when she fires two shots to the left and a man drops to the ground.

"I need you to move, your father and uncles have the front covered." She releases me and pushes me forward while she walks backward, covering my back. She really would die for me and I have been nothing but an ungrateful bitch to her. I press myself against the house as I limp along, trying to make my way to the front where my dad and uncles are. Mom fires another two shots and I quicken my pace, scared to death that she will be shot or injured because of me.

When I reach the edge of the house I stop, Mom pulls me back a step and slips in front of me. She pokes her head out fast before pulling back.

"How did you get here so fast?" I ask.

"We knew they would think we would wait until you landed to track you. But the moment you turned that tracker on, Vincent knew you were heading to an airstrip, so the guys split up and I met your father at our hanger. We followed you on the radar from a distance, we would have been here sooner but we couldn't get off the ground quick enough." She sounds angry.

"Thank you," I whisper. She whirls around and pins me with a stern look.

"I will never not come for you. I thought being a mother was something I would never get the chance to experience but here you are. You are my everything, Destiny. All I have ever wanted is for you to be happy and live a life full of love and happiness and I failed you."

I gape at her. "No, Mom. You gave me everything, I just thought I knew better and I was so selfish—Mom!" I scream as I grab her arm and shove her to the ground just as one of Koda's men round the corner with their gun raised. Time stands still as I stare at the barrel of his gun. I can hear my own breath over the chaos around us, and feel a sense of peace wash over me when I see his finger shift to the trigger.

"Destiny!" Mom screams in pure fear but I can't appease her, it was a choice between me and her and I chose her. I won't allow her to be hurt because of me.

"Move!" the guard clips out, surprising the fuck out of me. "Unless you want to fucking die, move, because Andreas and your father are being overpowered thanks to the M2's Koda has." Mom leaps to her feet and grabs my arm, yanking me into her side as she raises her gun and points it at him.

"Why the fuck are you helping us?" she grits out.

"Because I know exactly who you are, Anya Volkov. I may hate Andreas but I don't hate you. Head back the way you came and follow the trail at the back of the property, it will lead you into town. Go, now!" Mom hesitates for a second before nodding and pulling me after her. We find the trail easily enough but when I see the house I can't do it. I pull free of her hold and run back, ignoring the pain radiating throughout my body and her calls as she chases after me.

"I can't leave Taylan," I shout as I break through the back and immediately drop to the ground when shots are fired at me. I army crawl along the ground as more shots ring out around me.

"Destiny!" Mom screams when she makes it inside, firing off more shots before diving behind the sofa near me, dropping the clip from her gun and slamming another mag in. "You are in so much fucking shit when we get home!" I cringe. "Move!" She slips out as she raises her gun and fires blindly over the back of the sofa giving me a chance to crawl toward the garage. The moment I make it through the open door, I climb to my feet only to pause at the sight in front of me.

Taylan and Koda are on the floor, beating the shit out of each other. I look around for a weapon and spot a bench on the wall, I rush forward and push around the contents until I find a screwdriver. I grab it and turn back to them. Tay is on top raining down blow after blow but Koda manages to flip them so he is on top. He lands a hit to Taylan's face followed by a sucker punch to the ribs. Taylan shouts in pain and that's what snaps me out of it. I rush forward and bury the screwdriver to the hilt into Koda's back. He throws his head back and roars in pain. I yank it free and stab him again. He falls to the side and stares up at me in surprise before that look quickly morphs into an anger filled look.

"Suka!" (Bitch!) He tries to stand but stills when Mom pushes her gun into the back of his head.

"Nazovi yeye thuck eshche raz, yi ya snesu tvoyu grebanuyu golovu, suka." (Call her that again and I'll blow your fucking head off, bitch.) Koda glares up at my mom.

"Anya Volkov," he spits.

"In the flesh," she snarls, then tosses me the throw blanket I dropped in my haste. I wrap it around myself and knot it, then turn to Taylan. He sits there, clutching his side and winces in pain but I see blood soaking through his fingers. I smack his hand away and gasp at the sight of the knife wound.

"He stabbed you?" I shriek before using my own hands to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He howls in pain.

"Who the fuck are you?" Mom snaps. I keep my gaze on Taylan who looks pissed off at the sight of me.

"Kortov Novikov's son," Koda answers smugly. I look back at them to see shock plastered across my mother's face.

"You father was a piece of shit and so are you."

"Coming from the bitch who smuggles drugs for a living?" he counters.

"Is that what this is about? You want my formula?" She laughs but there is a manic edge to it. "I sold that formula to Andreas five years ago, he's the one who has been running the coke, not me, you stupid fucking fool."

"You lie!" Koda screams. "He told me it was you who runs it, you think you are better than the rest of us because you fuck some American scum?—"

"I am better than you!" Mom yells right in his face. "I never allowed my father or Vlad's bullshit to cloud my judgment. I fought for my life and won. I was the first woman to ever be Pakhan of the Bratva and if reclaiming that title means it keeps pieces of shit like you from coming after innocent girls, then so be it." I stare up at my mother with a wicked smile on my battered face.

She's my fucking hero!

"A bitch can never lead." I flinch at the icy tone of Koda's voice. The sight of him has my heart racing and my fear spiking. My adrenaline is starting to wear off. Now I am faced with the aftermath of what he has done to me. I can't break down here, not in front of my mom. I've always made sure that she has seen me as strong, resilient and able to handle anything life throws at me, I refuse to allow her to see that a man destroyed my self-worth.

"This bitch can and will. I'm taking Russia back and you won't be around to see it!" Mom vows.