32. Dima

THIRTY-TWO

Dima

S he's so good and her tears mix with the ink on her skin as I stroke down her back. The only thing wrong about my hellion is sadness, it's not meant to be an emotion she knows never mind experiences. Once the sniffles stop, she pokes her head out from my chest, exposing the pink splotches on her skin. There's a new lightness in her eyes as she blinks up at me with wet lashes, those light flecks get brighter as I clean her face with the unused washcloth.

Ana tracks my movements as I move down her neck, her brows coming together as she slowly looks at mine and contemplates whatever thought has come to her. Delicately tracing the stones around her neck, she says, "You don't have one."

So fucking sweet. I've never worn jewelry since becoming an adult, there was a chain my mother gave me that I left in the house when Katya and I left, I never had her faith, so it was redundant to risk going back for it.

But if I had to place faith in one thing, it would be the woman sitting in front of me, it's the same thing as believing in a religion, there's no proof of what I know deep down within my bones that she was made for me. People believe in all kinds of shit with less evidence and logic. Ana is murderous and unbothered by anything, yet with me she's not, that can't happen unless something within each of us is held in the other person, calling out to home.

I kiss her cheek once there's nothing left on her body and she's solely in her mind. My offer is easy as I wrap the sheet around her shoulders and massage her nape.

"Pick whatever you want, and I'll wear it."

Her eyes spark with humor and she presses the tip of her finger to my nose. "A tiara?"

I nod while she thinks of something else and looks adorable as fuck with no violent thoughts. The snort laugh comes out before she can speak and I don't even need to hear the words, I'd agree to anything she wanted, the lengths I'd go to for her are terrifying.

"Pink panties?"

There's a pair laying on the floor showing her inspiration and my balls would be cut to fucking shreds, but I still nod.She sighs and loosely rests her arm on my shoulder, her fingers tapping in a familiar rhythm I can't pinpoint against my back. It's a light touch, there's no sound but I can feel the softest touch of her fingers against my skin. When her phone vibrates, she eagerly stretches over me, trying to reach it. I know the alert, the one that is specifically to do with anything Nina related. She usually mutes everyone, and Valentin has joined her blocklist, keeping Vlad company after she said she doesn't like seeing Vlad's name because it reminds her he exists then Valentin decided to send her on jobs that weren't violent. But this is limbo, she's working on the basis the girl's alive, somehow it's worse than knowing she's dead, there's finality in that. Right now, there are too many outcomes for her to focus on.

My hellion is enraptured with whatever information she's got, and her head pops up with the violent thoughts coming back.

Please don't fucking run .

She finally understands that I'm here and she turns to me, showing me her phone rather than dealing with shit on her own. Oh fuck, the one place she's managed to actually find sound information has to be a sex club. Seeing the host, I deflate knowing I'll probably throw the fuck up watching whatever TRR are hosting live. It's joint with a legal business, the same fucking club as last time.

Before I can agree, Valentin's message from his burner phone comes through. The cunt is doing it purposefully, keeping her away from me as though my life doesn't belong to her. Swiping it away because he can go fuck himself, I keep my sweet hellion in my arms and agree to whatever she needs.

Val Freak #2:

You're needed at the warehouse. It's family only so don't bring Dima

He's old and needs to stick to his bed time

I feel like I'm missing a limb and keep turning, expecting Ana's crazed smile to be on me. It's not and the prick in front of me is too dumb to realize his begging doesn't work. My preferred crazy isn't the one who walks into the warehouse. I don't know if it's the bloodthirsty expression but the similarities between Ana and her brother are eerie as fuck. They usually work in tandem going around the dirty fuckers and it gets lost, but I can spot her Vartanov traits in Vlad as he assesses my anger-management therapy chained to a beam.

His wife is going to go nuclear if he's late for Verena's birthday party or if he shows up covered in blood. Being a showman, he holds his arms up with a twisted smile and the violence in his voice has dickhead crying harder.

"It's your lucky day, chuski, you get to sit and think while I do the same."

The sadistic fuck is smiling ear to ear at the thought of the torture he's going to inflict, it's deserved but I've never been excited about blood. I prefer clean kills rather than burning my clothes and having to constantly wash the blood off my skin.

I pull the chains up so he's suspended with only his toes bearing his weight and finally get fucking peace once the gag is back in his mouth. Vlad keeps staring at me, I know there's going to be some bullshit out of his mouth and try to escape it, so I'm not held up away from my life longer than I need to be. Stepping out of the warehouse, my car is nowhere in sight. The controlling fuck is on my heels and lazily gets into the only method of transport.

He doesn't wait to start his interrogation and for the first time I regret the decision I made as a teenager.

"Does pipsqueak know that you've claimed her?"

She knew what the necklace was, I didn't need to explain shit. I wrote mine all over her body so if the diamonds didn't work that had to. He continues and it's freaky as fuck how much of the Vartanovs' traits are passed in their bloodline, or their psychosis is man made from spending time around their cunt of a father.

"She's a Vartanova, I'm not going to threaten you when Ana is more than capable of inflicting pain, just know that I'll be handing her the knife when you fuck up after my brothers have given their punishments."

Dramatic cunt.

Ana put her claim on me first when she trusted me enough not to hide, every little thing she's done and how she's slowly become herself just robbed more pieces of me.

He shuts up, having satisfied his need to threaten me, and the ache lessens knowing I'm going to see her soon. It doesn't fully dissipate until we pull up to the Vartanovs' estate and I hear her laugh before I see it as it filters through the open window. My sweet hellion stands holding Verena's hands as she tries to push her little legs to run as fast as she can. I'm overshadowed by the birthday girl when she starts screaming for her dad. There's longing on Ana's face as she watches on, seeing the devil become human. Blinking it away, she straightens up and fixes her eyes on the air like a soldier.That's how she's similar to her brothers, the more time they spent with Len the more ingrained his conditioning is because he wasn't a father, he trained children that happened to hold the burden of having him in their lives.

I had parents, my father is a cunt, and my relationship and feelings with my mother are complicated, but she was good, she tried to the best of her ability to give us what she could. I can't hold it against the woman for being tasked with building a house and only given a spoon, but I've never longed for family, knowing the one I had were physically there. Ana doesn't even have that, her entire life she's had questions and hypotheses over what could be.

The two dumbasses stand guard at the door as though I'm doing something wrong as I go to her side. Fucking idiots, they haven't grown up mentally despite the muscle they've managed to pack on and height they've gained since teenagers. It's easy to act like Val and Tali don't exist with my life in front of me. Ana studies the ground below her feet and I tilt her chin up with my knuckles. Leaning into her, my lips haven't even brushed my lifeline when a gunshot rings out and something whistles past us.

My hellion hardens. She's cute as fuck trying to protect me as though I don't cover her entire body. Looking around me, she fixes onto the dumbasses and balls her fists, readying to go to war as Tali's voice breaks through, full of shit.

"I was showing Val and didn't notice the safety was off, my bad."

Chicken shit, he's scared of her, it's smart considering she's more lethal than all of her brothers combined.Keeping my woman tucked to my side, I look smug as fuck walking past them. My shoulder knocks into his chest and I let her go to give my warning.

"If you ever aim in her vicinity again, I'll make sure your knees match."

The reminder of his torture doesn't make him react violently as I expected, the weird cunt smiles widely and teases, "You care about her."

It's not a question and I don't answer.

I always thought it was a combination of Len and Anika that made them all fucking crazy. Their mother wasn't only theirs; she was the mother of all evil twisted bitches and Len has his own designated place in hell. But Ana is the same as them because Yulia and Anika were the same fucking person, the motherfucker had a type, and it was sadistic bitches who got off on hurting the innocent.

I stand back at the edge of the lounge to watch her have the family she might not have dreamed of but one that will always protect her as Verena waddles over and slaps against my legs, wanting to be picked up. Throwing her in the air, she giggles and slaps against my cheek with her order. "Mwah."

Kissing her cheek as per her instruction, she settles on my shoulder and twists to look out at her subjects. If there was ever a child made for royalty, it's this one and she proves it by pointing where she wants me to take her.

If Ana wasn't a Vartanov, this little girl would be my favorite for pointing in my hellion's direction as she mumbles, "Nuh, Ana."

There's something about seeing my woman interact with a kid, the softness in her features and how all the violence disappears. Verena keeps chanting her name and strokes Ana's hair, softly whispering. "Pretty."

Definitely the best kid I've met, fucking intelligent as anything and she makes my hellion blush.Ana makes a buzzing noise low in her throat as she brings her finger to her nose and begins to wriggle it. The buzzing intensifies as she wriggles her finger closer to Verena's face then presses it against the tip of her nose, forcing a giggle out of the grumpy infant.

I'm too engrossed in watching her that I don't notice my little-shit sister coming to my side. Katya digs her bony ass knuckle into my ribs and passes the birthday girl to our current shared obsession. I go on alert as she drags me off to the side with more urgency than she's ever had before. No fucker would have hurt her, she trained with Val and Tali, used to kick the shit out of them for using her stuff when they were kids, but it's my job to protect my family.

She digs around her bag, and it takes a second for me to understand what she's doing.

"I know you're going to bitch about it, but you have to have it after how you just looked at her."

She has a sad smile as she gently places our mother's ring in my palm. It's not the cursed ring that kept her imprisoned to our father, but the only heirloom she didn't sell to try and get away from the cunt or pay off his debts.

It's old as fuck, some however-many-greats grandmother managed to pass it down each generation to the first daughter. The only piece our mother kept of her wealth when she lowered herself to marry that bastard. As much as I want to give the sapphire to Ana, I can't. It's not my right and the only tradition we have should continue through Katya.

Attempting to pass it back to the stubborn brat, she wraps her arms around my middle and emotion chokes me.

"You were born my brother, but you became my mother and father. I just want you to be happy, Mama would have wanted Ana to have it."

It's been over ten years since my annoying little sister has discussed our parents, and the watery eyes are fucking with me. I might be a cunt but she's still six and clung to my back like a monkey in my head.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss the top of her head as I get ironclad confirmation.

"You won't bitch about in a few years when you've made me broke from all your fake college courses?"

She avoids my eyes like I didn't know she's been talking shit for years and enrolling in courses she doesn't even attend just so she can live in the city. She needs to get better at hiding if she thinks that Vlad or me wouldn't be able to check she's safe, I didn't even have to tell him since he'd already assigned Mischa to watch her.