Chapter 26
Taylan
All the heads of the families sit around the circular table. There are the Murdochs, Re Della Strada, Memento Mori , Godfathers Of The Night, Da Luca Crime Family, The Crows and the Falcons—the English led by Ian but his daughter has just been announced as his heir at the meeting. Andreas and his crew stand behind their chairs with Anya standing in the middle of the four of them.
"The Crows move to announce that I am stepping down as Pakhan," Andreas announces, everyone already knows this but it's just formality for Ian who is the only one who didn't know. "A new Pakhan has been selected, Anya Murdoch will now head the Bratva under its former name, the Volkov Bratva. All in agreement?"
A chorus of yeses sound out around the room. Ian looks irritated at this but he is smart enough to know that the Murdochs don't make a play until they have a power move in place and right now, they hold half the power. With Knox and Wave being related there is no worry about those two going against each other but the one to watch now is Ian, he is the only solo member at this table and his face shows he is thinking the same thing.
"Is that all?" Bishop asks as he prepares to stand, but I speak for the first time garnering everyone's attention but my focus is solely on the new Pakhan of the Bratva as I speak.
"I want Koda Novikov handed over to the Da Luca Crime Family where he will receive the same punishment as Karl for what he did to…" I clamp my mouth closed and choose a different way to word it. Anya's eyes study me and I can feel Gage's glare boring into the side of my head but ignore him. "I want him to suffer for years, torture isn't enough. I want him begging for death and suffering for years to come for what he did." The hatred in my tone is clear.
Anya looks to her husband who stands from his chair and moves to join his wife. Andreas shifts so he can fit beside his wife. Not wanting to be seen as weak, I push back from the table and stand, placing both my hands flat against the wooden surface. I took a leaf out of their book and made a power move, the tension in the room growing thicker by the second as everyone waits with bated breath to see what will happen between me, Gage and Anya.
"You act like you know something we don't know about… that situation." He can word it however he likes but everyone in this fucking room knows we are talking about Destiny.
"I do know." I make sure to announce each word slowly so there is no chance of him misunderstanding my meaning. "Believe me, when I tell you this is the best option for that situation ," I tack on just to be an asshole.
His upper lip twitches but he keeps his composure. "You don't have a say in what happens with Koda, that problem has been resolved by the Russians as is their right since what happened transpired on their turf." He sounds like a cocky fucker and my anger seizes control of me.
I slam my fist into the table. "Fuck the rules!" I roar and tear my gaze from him to look at Anya. Knox rises and places a hand on my shoulder trying to get me under control but I shrug him off. "She is dying inside, you asked for my help and this is me giving it to you, Anya." Understanding flares in her eyes.
"What the fuck is he talking about?" Gage asks his wife but she ignores him and keeps focusing on me.
"He hurt her, didn't he?" She may have spoken softly but the weight of those words slammed into me as if she shouted them. I take a shuddering breath and drop my gaze to the table. "Answer me!" she screams.
I slowly lift my head and look between both of them, Gage looks like he's on the verge of having a panic attack, Anya looks like a pale ghost. "Give him to me, let me take him to Ireland where Wave will make sure he suffers for… what he did." Anya gasps and stumbles back a step, Gage begins shaking his head.
"No, no, no fucking way, not my little girl," he yells, hoping that if he denies it out loud it will make it true. I may not have told them directly but they can read between the lines. I cut a glance to the rest of her family to see them all sitting with mixed looks of shock, anger, guilt and wrath etched into each of their features.
"You have my word that he will suffer daily, he will have a guest every hour to make sure he is serviced. He will get medical treatment so he doesn't die, we'll keep him alive for as long as you want but make no mistake, he will be treated like all the other traffickers we capture." Wave says as she stands, Xan and Trey following her lead and flanking her on either side.
"Why?" Anya asks her.
"He hurt one of mine and for that he will meet the worst of punishments." Anya nods and looks around the table until her gaze finally lands on me.
"He is to suffer, and I want access to him whenever I want." I nod my agreement knowing Wave will agree to the terms as long as she can take him home so Kimber can get her pound of flesh. "He's being kept at the Murdoch compound?—"
"You and I are transporting that low-life piece of shit," Gage snarls at me before storming out of the room. I nod my agreement.
"You can transport him immediately," Anya says in a flat tone.
"I'll fly back to the States with you all, then take him to Ireland." Once she nods her agreement, everyone starts to file out of the room. I turn to Knox to find his hard unyielding gaze focused on me already.
"All of this for a girl you claim not to be able to care for."
I glare at my best friend. "Stay out of it," I grit out.
Knox snaps his arm out, grips the back of my neck and pulls me forward so our foreheads touch. "Listen to me, you little shit. The past doesn't define who we can become. If it did, I wouldn't be with my wife and wouldn't have two amazing fucking sons. Let. Go. Taylan." My breathing grows loud. "Let it all go, brother. Jump head first into whatever it is you have with her and try because if you don't, you won't just be hurting yourself."
"I can't."
He presses his head harder against mine. "You can! Stop being a pussy. You aren't that bitch and never will be, Xan and I won't let you become her."
"Promise me you will save me if I do?" I beg, his eyes soften.
"On my life, Taylan, I will never let you lose yourself." I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
"I'm scared," I admit.
He smiles and nods. "This will be the scariest thing you will ever do in your life but if you don't try you will regret it."
"Okay." He smiles victoriously and pulls me in for a hug before slapping me on the back twice and shoving me toward the exit so I can catch up with the Murdochs. I wave to Xan, Trey and Wave as I run after the others.
Picture the most awkward situation you have ever been in and then times that by ten, that's me right now. I am sitting between Rook and Knight with Bishop, King and Gage in front of me with Vincent standing in the aisle with his arms crossed over his chest. I thought Royal and the others would be on this flight, but turns out he and the others have their own plane and so does London and Artemis, which left me alone with the Murdochs.
Yippee.
I try to discreetly look around for Anya but Gage's growl draws my attention back to them. I shoot the three in front of me a grin which they don't return.
"There is a lot of testosterone in here," I say, trying to break the tension filled silence but fail.
"You want me to break your fucking jaw, don't you?" Gage snarls.
I scrunch my face. "Why would you do that?"
"Because we all saw what the fuck you did to his daughter, our niece." I cringe at Bishop's admission. I try to move and rub the back of my neck but Knight glares at me from the side so I drop my arm back to my lap and sigh.
"So, what happens now?" I ask, losing all traces of humor to my voice.
"You take that cunt to Ireland after we say our goodbyes and then you never come back," King says.
Fuck this!
I shift forward and rest my arms on the tops of my thighs and lock eyes with Gage, ignoring the others, this is between me and him not the rest.
"I'm not leaving her."
"Yes, you are," he grits out as he mimics my position trying to taunt me into losing my cool.
"No, I'm not. You want me to tuck tail and run like a scared little bitch, then you are going to have a do a lot fucking better than this." I motion with my hands toward his brothers and brother-in-law.
"You think a little shit stain like you is good enough for my daughter?" It's a rhetorical question but I answer it anyway.
"No, I'm not." He tries to mask his surprise but fails. "You all know what I do for a living, you know firsthand what Knox, Xander and I have done to get to where we are. We fought for everything we have, clawed our fucking way out of the gutter and fought any fucker who got in our way. I have a temper unmatched by my best friends and will lose it sometimes, but never at her . I am a street rat and I'm fucking proud of that. I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth. I'm a piece of shit and I can admit that but there will never be another person in this fucking world who will care about her as much as I do."
" Care, not love?" Gage taunts.
I scoff. "No offense but none of you ugly fuckers will be the first to hear me utter those words for the first time in my life, she will be." I see Bishop fighting to keep from smiling out of the corner of my eye. Unlike his older brother, King fails to hide it as he turns to look out the window.
"Not only did the universe bless me with a granddaughter to fuck with my son, she also blessed me with someone who can fuck with you," Bishop says as he claps Gage on the back, the latter just continuing to glare at me like I am the bane of his existence.
"I'll make you a deal, honor it and you just may get what you want." His tone sets my nerves on edge and the sparkle in Gage's eyes tells me that's exactly what he wants.
"Name your terms," I counter. When he finishes laying out his terms, a part of me does want to tuck tail and run but my Slayer is worth every ounce of pain this is going to cause me. I can feel his brothers and Vincent staring at me, waiting for me to deny his offer but I won't. "I agree to your terms but you will agree to mine as well." His nostrils flare but I push on. "When her mother gets in the ring with her, I need to be there."
He opens his mouth to deny me, I can see it in his eyes but he doesn't get a chance. Anya appears beside Vincent and speaks. "Agreed. She returns back to the States tomorrow with Luka, we fight then."