Chapter Twenty

“Get her out of that fucking cage, Andrei.” Zafira’s voice sounded foreign, filled with fury that threatened to bubble over from finding her beautiful daughter filthy and underfed, locked in a steel cage like a wild animal. The gun in her hand was steady as she aimed it at the three people. “I suggest none of you move. I wouldn’t think twice about pulling this trigger. Blyad’! She can’t even stand,” Zafira’s resolve threatened to collapse as she watched Andrei catch Vanya when her legs crumbled the moment she attempted to stand.

“You heard the Comare,” Bogdan growled as Marek Cermak’s hand crept toward his waist. “She might shoot, but I won’t think twice about ripping your fucking head from your body.”

“You better listen to the big guy,” Luciano smirked. “He’s been sniffing at the Guzuns asses his whole life and doesn’t make idle threats.”

“Something you seem to have forgotten, fuckface,” Arian sneered. “We all warned you what would happen if you ever came near Vanya again. It seems the year you spent in exile dulled your memory.”

“Baby, are you okay?” Zafira’s voice quivered. Her attention was now solely on her daughter, but she had full confidence in Bogdan and her sons to protect them from further harm.

“I’m fine, Mamochka. This dickless Sicilian mobster isn’t likely to ever get the better of me. I’ve been indulging him to keep my babies safe. Otherwise, I would’ve kicked his nut sack up his ass a long time ago.”

“That’s my girl,” Zafira sniffed away the tears that burned behind her eyelids at the sight of her bedraggled daughter. Her gaze shifted to the three people in front of them. “So, who’s got the guts to spill the beans?” She walked closer, aware of Bogdan hugging her side to keep watch over her. “You’re the First Vice President of the Czech Republic, Marek. We’ve been friends for as long as our daughters have been alive. Never in all those years have you shown any sign of resentment toward me or my family.”

“Your family. Now see... there’s the kicker, Zafira. YOUR family,” Marek sneered with hatred spitting venom from his eyes. “You have everything. Money, power. You grew up in the lap of luxury while I suffered in poverty, abuse, and hunger.”

“I am hardly to blame for how you grew up, Marek.”

“Oh, but you are to blame... my dear big sis!”

“What the fuck!?” Vadim and Arian growled simultaneously.

“You didn’t know? I’m not surprised she never told you. See, your mother is one of twins.”

“We know that, but her brother died a couple of hours after childbirth.”

“Died? Hardly, my dear boy... since here I am. Alive and well.”

“I don’t understand,” Zafira was as confused as her children. “This is... you’re lying. This is nothing other than a bullshit story. You’re nothing to me. My brother is dead.”

“Our dear mother, before she took her final breath, bless her black soul, admitted it all to me, so no, it’s not a bullshit story.”

“What do you mean before she took her final breath?” Zafira struggled to remain calm. Her mother had been brutally murdered twenty years ago, but the authorities had caught the murderer. A young drug addict who had broken into her house in search of money to feed his habit—or so she had been made to believe.

“Because I was there. I finally found out the truth when the woman I grew up believing to be my mother died. Since she was dying, she didn’t fear repercussions from Agata Solovyov and told me what had happened that day. Yes, she was the nurse who was saddled with the son your mother didn’t want. Our dear father was furious when you popped out ahead of me since, as you know, the firstborn was his successor. That he would have to hand his legacy over to a woman infuriated him. He forced everyone to claim otherwise. That I was the firstborn. Agata hated him for that. In her eyes, it was deception of the worst kind, and she refused to let it go. She gave me away... like a useless toy.

“She handed me to one of the nurses and forgot about me. All because she was a feminist who believed women had as much right as men in the world of the Bratva.” He snorted. “That decision cost her dearly. Did you know...” His eyes glimmered darkly. “She was my first kill and, to date, the most rewarding.”

“You killed your own mother?” Vanya’s voice sounded teary as the past couple of weeks finally caught up with her, and she started crying.

“She killed me first by giving me away, then forgetting I was ever born,” Marek sneered. “Denied me what was rightfully mine! For that, she had to pay, and now... it’s your turn, my dear sister.”

“Is that why you went to Moldova at the time of Azja’s birth? I suppose our meeting was well-planned.” Zafira shook her head sadly.

“No, it wasn’t, since I didn’t know at the time we were family, but you interfered with our plans for our future when you rushed Triska to the hospital, even though you were already in labor.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We never wanted children,” Triska interjected. Her lips were pressed into a grim line. “I wasn’t mother material, and just thinking of wasting time on a being that stuck to me like a parasite revolted me.”

“I felt the same,” Marek continued. “The intention was to give the brat away to a poor family in Chi?in?u, but because of you and Viktor’s status in Moldova, the tabloids had a field day with your bravery. We had no choice but to keep the child to save face. You fucked up our plans to build the Bratva family business we had just begun at that point. Because of all the exposure, I was thrown into the world of politics and a career I hated with a passion.”

“And that’s why you want me dead?”

“Isus Hristos, you’re a fucked up bastard,” Vadim interjected.

“Shut your mouth, you prick. I’m superior to you, and you will show me respect!” Marek shouted. His eyes glowed like fireballs that gave him the look of an evil monster about to explode.

Vadim snorted. “Demanding my respect? You truly are demented. My parents taught us that respect has to be earned, and no matter your position in life or that you’re my supposed uncle, you don’t deserve an ounce of reverence from any of us.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. This drivel is making me want to puke,” Luciano growled. He was visually furious that his plans had once again been foiled. “Let’s finish this, once and for all.”

“Are you proposing a medieval dual, fuckface?” Bogdan mocked him as he gestured around. “Since we outnumber and outgun you two to one.”

“Except you don’t,” the voice behind them had barely slammed against the wood-slatted walls when two gunshots shattered the silence.

“La dracu!” Vadim cursed as one of the bullets drilled a path through his side to slam into the wall behind him. Luckily for him, he had spun around when Svetlana Rebane’s voice penetrated his mind; otherwise, the bullet would’ve paralyzed him.

“You useless bitch!” Vanya screamed as she watched her brother drop to the dirt floor. Before Andrei could stop her, she catapulted herself toward the redhead, flattening her with a vicious dropkick to the jaw. “No one fucking hurts my brothers except for me. Do you hear me? No one!”

“Still as feisty as ever, isn’t she?” Marek said drily as he moved quicker than Bogdan could anticipate and caught Zafira in a chokehold. “I suggest you let go of my sister, Vanya, or your mother is going to taste lead, which is going to piss me off to no end since I have a much more painful death in mind for her.” A hedonistic laugh escaped from his chest as he caught Bogdan and Arian’s movements. “I wouldn’t if I was you.” He looked at his sister, who was struggling to her feet, still groggy from the brutal kick against her jaw. “Well? Do you need help, or can you get your fucking gun and take charge of your troops?”

“Fuck off, Marek,” she sneered, picking up the shiny silver pistol from the ground. “Anyone moves, shoot them,” she instructed the four men flanking her. With venom spitting from her eyes, she looked at Vanya. “Except for that bitch. She’s mine. I intend to make her bleed before she dies.”