Chapter 25 - Oleg

“Are you sure?” I ask him again, feeling my blood begin to boil.

“Yes, sir. Rodion was definitely up to something. The way he was looking at Anya was just—it was intense. It was obvious he had some kind of plan. Something was going on.”

I sigh heavily. “Thanks. You can go. I will deal with this.” I dismiss the security guard that went with the girls to the mall yesterday. He came to me this morning to let me know his concerns—and everything that happened when the girls went shopping.

Raisa didn’t even mention this to me. She didn’t even tell me that she had bumped into her brothers there. Why would she keep it from me?

I guess it’s because she knew I would be pissed off. I was so clear with her and my sister that they needed to stay near the security guards. Both of them know how pissed off I’d be to hear that they managed to ditch the guards and put themselves at risk like that. I guess that’s why Anya didn’t mention it either.

I clench and unclench my fists.

“Raisa!” I shout loudly, waiting to hear her response from somewhere in the house. Anger is building by the second.

“I’m here,” her voice drifts downstairs from the sun room. She’s studying. I shouldn’t interrupt her, but I’m too upset about this to let it go. I need to confront her right now. I need to know what the hell she was thinking.

I storm upstairs.

She is sitting at her desk, turning the chair towards me as I walk into the sunroom.

“You saw your brothers?” I snarl, standing over her.

Her entire body goes rigid.

Yes, she knew I would be angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demand.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to upset you over nothing. We just bumped into them. That’s all.” She says, sounding casual but looking nervous.

“Raisa. The security guards told me that you slipped away from them. They told me that Rodion was very intense towards Anya.”

She laughs nervously. “He definitely had his eye on Anya.” She waves her hand in the air, trying to make it seem trivial.

“Raisa, this is not a joke. Was he planning to take Anya? The guards told me that you were acting as though you thought that was a possibility. That you looked nervous.”

She sighs. “No, Oleg, I think I just got nervous because I haven’t seen them for so long. I didn’t know how to act. I am sure he wasn’t going to do anything.”

Her hands are in her lap and she is fidgeting a lot.

“Raisa—“ I say with a deep warning in my voice. “You have to be honest with me.”

“I am being honest with you. I was nervous—but I really think that I was just overreacting. I just assumed things. My brother isn’t like that.” She sighs.

“If it was so innocent then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to react like this over nothing.” She gestures her hand towards me.

I sigh. I guess I have been keeping certain things from her that would help her understand why I am so worried about this.

Pulling up a chair I place it on the floor opposite from hers and sit down—taking her hands in mine.

“Your brother, Rodion, has been following Anya around for a while now. Anya doesn’t know. I put extra security on her to keep her safe, but that’s why I am worried about this. Your brother has already made it clear that he has some kind of interest in Anya. Yesterday, when he saw you two without the guards, he obviously thought he had an opportunity and was about to break the deal.”

Raisa looks worried. She shifts in her seat and bites at her lower lip.

“What are you going to do?” she asks, her voice thick with concern. This tells me that she knows her brother is actually capable of something like that.

“I need to pull us all together again somehow. I have to remind him of why he agreed to work with me instead of against me. I can’t have him breaking our deal. For everyone’s sake. Your family and mine. It will be a hell storm if he does. My brothers will not be controlled if he is going to mess with Anya.”

Raisa nods. “I’ll do whatever I can to help,” she promises.

“Thank you.” I stand up, kissing her forehead. Then I hurry out of the room. I have to figure out how to fix this. I have to plan something.

The best solution I could come up with to bring the two families together again was an event, hosted at my brother’s home. I thought it would give me a chance to speak to Rodion—in a secure environment with both families around.

Yefim agreed to host it because it was better than having her brothers scouting around my home, where Raisa lives. I want to keep them away from her as much as possible and inviting them into that space is a risk.

The party started a few hours ago and the music is playing and we are all hanging out in the back garden, having a drink. It should be a relaxed evening—but it’s not.

It is incredibly tense. Despite my best efforts to be polite and civil—I am so angry with Rodion for causing tension that I am struggling to hold a conversation with him. And to make matters worse—he hasn’t taken his eyes off Anya this whole afternoon.

He keeps watching her, looking at her as though she is prey and he is the hunter. I want to smash my fist into his face.

Whenever I try to hold a conversation with him or ask him any questions to try ease the situation his replies are short and rude and things are getting very quickly out of hand because I am losing my patience with him.

When Raisa leaves to go get another drink I take the opportunity to confront him with what is really on my mind.

“Look, Rodion, I know you want to break our agreement. I want to know why. We need to resolve our issues and you need to back off.”

“Bullshit. You don’t know a fucking thing about me.” He glares at me. Finally, dragging his eyes off Anya.

“I know you have some weird fucking interest in my sister,” I snap angrily.

His eyes darken. “Oh—are our sisters off-limit? Interesting you should say that—“

“Oh, for fucks sake. Raisa is happily married to me,” I sigh.

“The fuck she is,” he growls. “I can see straight through this game you are playing. I don’t know what you have over Raisa—but she would never marry a man like you.”

I feel my fists clenching at my side. I want to punch this asshole's face in. I want to show him what is going to happen if he doesn’t work with me and continues to fight me every step of the way. Is he so fucking stupid that he can’t see I’m trying to do something good for both families?

Rodion looks me up and down, his brows knotted.

“What are you going to do, asshole?” he snarls, stepping closer to me, seeing my body language has become aggressive because I don’t give a fuck about hiding it anymore.

“I’m done trying to force you to use your logic. Clearl,y your neanderthal brain only understands violence,” I hiss.

He swings at me angrily and I duck just in time, feeling the brush of his fist as I narrowly escape the punch.

The commotion that breaks out around us grabs a lot of attention and suddenly, both of our families are rushing towards us.

Rodion runs at me, slamming his shoulder into my stomach. The air is knocked right out of me as I fall backwards. But Yefim catches me as two of Rodion’s brothers grab him and drag him back.

He’s yelling angrily as they push him away.

“Walk it off, man,” Rad says, gesturing for him to walk away and cool down.

I sigh, clenching my jaw and look around for Raisa.

When our eyes meet, she looks disappointed and it breaks my heart to see that look on her face.

I walk over to her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t want it to get that far. Your brother is not an easy man to deal with.”

“I know. But the last thing I want to see is you two fighting,” she says quietly, sounding miserable. I pull her into my arms, wanting to comfort her.

“Where’s Anya?” Leon shouts from somewhere behind me.

I turn around in a panic.

“Where is she?” Yefim yells as well.

Someone shouts, “find her!” And suddenly, everyone starts running in different directions.

I scan the crowd, searching for my sister and Rodion—who has also disappeared. My heart sinks. That fucking asshole took her.

He planned it the entire time. He couldn’t take his eyes off her for a second—and now he’s disappeared and she’s gone too.

It was him.

I storm in the direction he walked off in, hell-bent on making him give her back to us. But as I walk towards the house, he walks out of it and into the garden, still looking pissed off.

“Where is she?” he asks me with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shout. “You tell me. You are the one who took her. Don’t play your games, Rodion. We aren’t as stupid as you seem to think we are.”

Rodion shakes his head. He looks beyond annoyed. But he isn’t even half as angry as I feel. I will tear him apart to get my sister back.

“You are wasting time,” he hisses. “The longer we stand here fighting—the worse it is for Anya. We need to get out there and find her.”

I step forward and grab his collar, shaking him and pulling him close as I snarl. “Don’t fuck with me, Rodion, you conveniently disappeared right when she did.”

But Rodion’s entire body has relaxed. He isn’t fighting back.

He lifts his hands in the air in a defensive gesture.

“Oleg, I swear, I don’t have her. I didn’t take her,” he says calmly.

He isn’t defensive or angry or aggressive. I let go of his shirt and step back, confused.

“But you’ve been following her. I know you have.”

He doesn’t even try to deny it.

“Yes. I followed her—I followed your brothers too. I kept my eye on all of the Dubrovs to make sure you were honoring your agreement. That’s all.”

He shrugs, but he looks worried. “I don’t have Anya.”

Staring into his eyes, I finally accept that he might be telling the truth.

His whole demeanor has changed. He is calm and stressed. No longer fighting against me.

Leon and Alexei run back into the garden. “We’ve looked everywhere. She’s gone. Someone has taken her.”

My entire body is tense with anxiety.

I shake my head. “If it wasn’t you—it has to be the family who was trying to take you out. They saw that we were aligned with you and now we are their enemy, too.“

“But why take Anya?” Rodion says. “Why not one of us?”

“She is a much easier target.”

Rodion turns to his brothers. “Get your men together. Whatever we need to do—we have to help find Anya.”

He turns back to me. “It must have been my enemy. They have been causing shit for us for a while now. I didn’t think Anya was in danger, though. I guess they were waiting for the right moment and we created enough of a distraction for them to make their move.”

I sigh, running my hand through my hair. “Yeah. Fighting between ourselves really doesn’t help anything.”

Leon steps close to us. “What is going on?”

“Someone has been watching us. They saw the ongoing tension between the two families and used it as the distraction they needed to take Anya.”

“Fuck sakes.” Leon snarls. “Get the men together. We’ll all go after them. Does anyone know who they are? Where are they located?”

Rodion nods. “It’s the Sidorov family. Three brothers. They have been threatening us for months. They made a few weak attempts to take us out—but they are small—annoying and useless.”

“I know the family. I know where their base is.” Leon nods at me.

“Alright, lead the way,” I say.

Then I turn to Raisa.

“Raisa, stay here.“

“Not a chance. I am coming with you,” she snaps, heated and not backing down.

“Raisa, I need you safe.“

“Oleg, I don’t care what you need. I am coming with you.”

I sigh, annoyed, but I don’t have time to argue with her.

“You are staying in the car,” I insist as we all jog out to the driveway, everyone piling into the cars, ready to follow Leon.

I check my gun beneath my seat, making sure it is loaded and ready.

Raisa eyes it nervously.

“It’s not too late to stay here. I will come back and—“

“Drive. We don’t have time to waste,” she says, pulling her safety belt across her chest and clipping it in.

I tried. But she’s right. We don’t have time.