Chapter 31

Maksim~

I stared at the empty room, hoping that it would work. I could always build a guest house to accommodate Mr. Antonov, but I knew that Katja would probably feel better if he was actually living with us inside the house. Though he was going to be guarded better than The Pope, it was about comfort and familiarity for Katja, and there was no denying how much her grandfather meant to her.

So, after speaking with Artur last night, I had arranged to have one of the guest rooms emptied, trusting that Katja could decorate it to suit her grandfather's preferences. The room was large enough for whatever he might need, and there was a restroom just one door over. Of course, if it would make things easier, I could always convert his room to add a small restroom, but Artur had assured me that the man wasn't invalid. He had simply needed assistance at times.

At any rate, with Katja at work, Artur aware of the changes, and Avgust giving me the green light to move forward with sweeping the apartments on Morongo, all I needed to do was speak with Mr. Antonov to discuss my intentions towards his granddaughter. Now, while I couldn't see him too pleased with the fact that his granddaughter was going to marry into the Russian Bratva, I also trusted that the man was smart enough to recognize that there wasn't anything that he could do about it.

As I looked over the room, my phone rang, and when I pulled it out of my pocket to see that it was Katja calling me, my back immediately straightened. Since she was supposed to be at work, she'd only be calling me if it was an emergency.

"Katja?"

"No, Barychev," came a male voice over the line. "It's not Katja."

My blood turned cold in my veins, already knowing who it was on the other end. "Nikel."

"Ah, so my secret is out," he taunted. "I am curious to know why you would automatically connect me with the lovely Katja."

"No one else in this city would dare go near her if they knew that I was entertaining her," I replied smoothly, doing my best not to give us both away. If he found out that she double-crossed him, he'd kill her before I could find her. "They also would not be stupid enough to call me about it."

"That is a fair point," he conceded. "But that still doesn't tell me how you know my real name."

"We are Russian Bratva, so we already knew who you were," I pointed out coolly. "Plus, did you honestly believe that we would not do everything necessary to find out who was behind Samara Kotov's kidnapping? Did you already forget the lovely little chat that you had with Avgust that night?

"Yes, the lovely Samara," he drawled out humorously, ignoring the reminder about Avgust. "You know, I wanted to go after her again, but Kotov sure does have her guarded nicely. Then I thought about going after her sister, but she is also well guarded."

"What are you doing with Katja?" I asked, hoping that my question sounded casual enough.

"Well, at first, I was going to trade her life for yours," he replied easily. "I know enough that you would never give up Akim, so the plan was to go after him once I was done with you. However, Katja has informed me that you would never trade your life for a random whore, so I have decided to have some fun with her until she is no longer of any use to me. After all, whether you hold any affection for her or not, I am curious to taste what made you keep her around for so long."

My hand gripped my phone so hard that it was a miracle that it wasn't shattering in my ear. If I offered to trade my life for Katja, then he'd know how important she was to me, and that would just give him more leverage. However, if I did nothing, then he was going to keep her and rape her until he was done with her, and I couldn't allow that, either.

"Then why call me?" I challenged. "If you've changed your plan to get to me, then why call?"

"For the same reason that Louie took Samara," he replied. "To show you just how close I am, and to prove that I can get to you first."

"Then why haven't you come for me?" I bit out. "Why are you using women as your pawns? Why do you not come for me like a fucking man, Nikel? Is it because you are not? Is it because you know that you are outmatched against the bratva? Or is it because you are weak and know that you are nothing in comparison to me and Akim?"

As I insulted him, I quickly raced to my office to grab a burner cell. I needed to move fast if I had any chance of saving Katja. So, once I pulled out an extra phone from my desk, I fired off a text to Avgust, asking him to call Sartori and get Morocco to trace Katja's number. While I wasn't underestimating Nikel's intelligence, I was also willing to try anything to find Katja right now.

"If that is the case, then why have you not caught me by now, Barychev?" he asked, purposely rubbing salt in that particular wound. "It has been five years since I have come here."

"Because you were not a priority for us," I semi-lied. "At first, we thought you were just riffraff, nothing important. Just someone that was irritating the syndicates."

"But surely the kidnapping of Samara Kotov changed all that, no?" he retorted. "Yet, an entire year later, you still have not found me. Yet, I am supposed to believe that you are smarter than I am?"

"It is hard for me to credit any man that would use women for his vendetta," I informed him as the burner chimed in my other hand.

Unknown: Done. As long as her phone stays on, he should b able 2 find her

Ignoring that, he said, "You know, I really thought that Katja would be the one to help me with my plan. She is very beautiful, and I certainly do not have to tell you what an incredible body she has." Though very true, I knew that he was just trying to get a reaction out of me. "It is the eyes. I was certain that you would be powerless against them. I was certain that you would fall under her spell when she was on her knees before you, your cock in her mouth, those eyes of hers looking up at you for approval."

"Do you take me for a fool, Nikel?" I asked, pacing my office. "Even if I did agree to trade my life for Katja's, we both know that you would kill her the first chance that you got. Witnesses are never good in situations like these."

"True," he agreed. "However, Katja can be controlled by her love for her grandfather, and so all I would have to do is keep from killing him, and that would ensure that she remained my loyal whore."

With no sense in arguing the truth, I said, "You still have not told me what this is all about, Nikel. While I know who you are and why you are here, what are you waiting for? Why have you not just picked me off already. While Akim and I are rather vigilant and guarded well, you still could have killed us long ago. After all, you know what we look like while you have been in disguise this entire time."

"Because I am not in this as a suicide mission," he spat, his emotions finally getting the better of him. "While I want you and your brother to pay for our father's sins, my plan for revenge does not include martyring myself."

Just then, the burner phone chimed again, a different number this time.

Unknown: Give him a reason 2 expect a call from u b4 u hang up. It's easier if the phone stays on

My guess was that the text was from Sartori or Morocco, but it hardly mattered. Right now, I would take any help that I could.

"So, what is the plan?" I asked, my mind racing. "You have called me, we have chatted, and we are still no closer to taking care of this situation. So, what is it that you want from me, Nikel?"

"If you will not trade your life for Katja, then trade it for Akim," he replied. "If not Akim, then your sister-in-law or their children. After all, it would be nothing to pick them off."

That's when the truth finally dawned on me, and it was clear that Nikel was a bad shot. He kept making references to not wanting to martyr himself for his revenge, but he'd only by martyring himself if we caught him, and the only way that we'd catch him was if he was close enough to catch. If he was a bad shot, then he'd have to be close enough to get the job done correctly, and he knew that there'd be no escaping the bratva like that.

"Deal," I replied, letting him believe that he'd won. "But if I am going to give my life for the greater good, then you need to let Katja go."

There was a moment of silence on his end, and that's when I knew that I'd fucked up. "Well, I guess I was correct after all."

"Nikel-"

"Keep your phone on you, Barychev," he chuckled darkly. "I'd hate for you to miss an important call."

With that, he hung up, making me grab the first thing that I reached for, then throwing the decanter of whiskey across the room.

Nikel was going to kill her.

He was going to kill her, and it was all my fault.