Chapter Seventeen

Aksana

“You know something, Dad. When I said if you ever got the opportunity for a second chance to grab it with both hands, I never thought you would take me seriously.”

Dad ?

Holy shit. That was Remi. The wife of Reaper. More importantly, she was Vladmir’s daughter. The woman at the heart of everything. She was a beautiful woman. More beautiful than I thought she would be. Her father was handsome, and from the pictures I saw of her mother, Remi was the perfect mix of them both. With her curly blonde hair and striking blue eyes, Remi was a stunning woman.

“Neither did I,” Vladmir groaned when she walked over to us, smiling happily.

“So, are you going to just stand there?”

Sighing, he stated, “Aksana, my daughter Remi. Remi, this is Aksana.”

Remi smiled warmly at me and politely said, “It’s very nice to meet you, Aksana, and this cutie must be Katiya, right?”

I nodded. “Yes. My daughter.”

“Remi, what are you doing here?” Vladmir asked, apparently not happy that his daughter was here.

I didn’t know why he was mad. From what I knew of the woman, she was capable of protecting herself, and when she couldn’t, her husband was always close to finish the job. There was no one in the criminal underworld that hadn’t heard of Reaper and Remi.

They were like freaking royalty, in a way.

“I’m here to get to know my new stepmom and sister, while you go figure out a way to protect them. Now, give me my sister and go find Maxim. I will keep Aksana company.”

When Vladmir refused to move, I groaned and took Katiya from him. “Just go do whatever you have to do. Katiya and I will be fine. I know my way around this place.”

“I don’t want you wandering around, Aksana.”

“I wanted you to wear a condom,” I clipped, not caring who was listening. “But we all don’t get everything we want.”

Gunner busted out laughing while Remi unsuccessfully hid a smile.

Vladmir growled, then stormed out of the cabin, shoving Gunner ahead of him.

“Would you like to sit down?”

Remi smiled, following me over to the small living room. The cabin was small, but it was better than nothing. In fact, King put me in the same cabin as the last time I was here. For a short while, this little piece of heaven was my home, until it wasn’t.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Remi asked, sitting on the floor with my daughter.

“There isn’t much I’m sure you don’t already know. Why don’t you ask me what you want to know, and we go from there?”

Remi grinned. “I like you. You don’t beat around the bush.”

“I prefer things to be straightforward. Makes everything easier.”

“That’s gonna be hard being married to Vladmir and him in the Bratva.”

“We’re not married. It’s fake.”

“You sure about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I may not know Vladmir as well as I should, but he doesn’t strike me as a man to do anything on a whim. All I’m saying is, if he married you, then it’s legal.”

“He married me to protect me and Katiya.”

“Is that what he told you?” Remi questioned. “Because I find it odd, considering that Baranov, Stone, and Steele are dead. The threat to you is gone.”

“Steele isn’t dead. He sent two bikers after me already. And then there is the mysterious man who broke into the house looking for Katiya. According to Vladmir, I’m still in danger.”

“Yes, I heard about that.” She nodded, then added, “The mysterious man no one knows about, but who looks exactly like Malice. Seems to me a lot more secrets are about to come out of the Trick Pony, and no one is going to like what they reveal.”

I couldn’t agree more.

The Trick Pony wasn’t just some high class BDSM club. It was where all the multi-million-dollar degenerates, politicians, big business and criminal underground went to make deals, solidify alliances and sate their perverse appetites. Even the Society , the same entity that Reaper and the Golden Skulls fought to bring down, were members of the Trick Pony. There was nothing that Devlin Scott didn’t have his hands in. The man was as sick and sadistic as they came. Maybe even worse.

The fact was, the Trick Pony was hell on earth.

“Do they know yet?” Remi asked, slowly turning her head to look at me.

Not moving, I muttered, “Know what?”

“Who you really are?”

“And you do?”

Remi smirked. “Like you, there is a lot I know. Shit that I haven’t even told Reaper. Not that I’m keeping anything from him, it’s just that he doesn’t need to hear every sordid detail of my life. It’s bad enough I lived it. I don’t want him going off the rails again. Not after what went down with the Society . What I will say is that I was in the hands of Baranov for a short time, and you were right to run from him. The man was as evil as they came, but he was nothing like your father. Count your blessings Aksana, that you never met the man, because if he knew about you, your life would have been much darker.”

I said nothing while I stared at the woman with Vladmir’s eyes. Eyes cunning and wickedly smart. Eyes that had seen and endured so much over the years. Eyes that knew my deepest, darkest secret.

Remi sighed. “Maybe it’s for the best that they don’t know yet. But I feel as if I should warn you, Aksana. Keeping a secret this big is a burden. Eventually, the truth will come out. When it does, I pray you are strong enough to weather the storm because, honey... the storm is coming. So brace yourself. Shit is about to get real, fast.”

“I don’t want to be a part of any of this. I just want to live my life and protect my daughter.”

“I want the same thing.” Remi nodded when she got to her feet and sat beside me. “But, honey, if you haven’t figured it out yet, then let me explain it to you. We are nothing more than pawns for those in power. We have been and will continue to be used to garner allegiance, power, and control. Like your beautiful little girl, there is nothing she can do about that. However, what we can do is trust, support, and be truthful with the men who love us and only want to protect us. Neither of us asked to be born into this life, Aksana. All we can do is try to survive it and maybe, just maybe, find a little happiness along the way.”

Shaking my head, I frowned. “But it isn’t right, Remi. This stupid war has nothing to do with us. Why are we the ones being punished? I can’t help but feel like someone is out there pulling all the strings. Almost like you, me, and everyone involved are just marionette puppets to play with.”

“You’re right.” Remi nodded, reaching for my hands. “And until our men figure out who is behind the screen pulling all the strings, he or she will continue toying with us.”