AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hello?”
Kristof, what the fuck? he barks down the line. You’re on your way to Russia.
“Aleksander, we discussed this.” Balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear, I crack open a fresh bottle of Vodka and pour two glasses filled with spheres of ice.
We discussed it before the fucking Irish wrecked the Saint, Aleksander snaps. We need you here. I need you here, fighting for our territory and looking for my daughter!
Mara’s voice buzzes indistinctly in the background, and I grit my teeth.
“I am fighting for our territory, Aleksander. Firstly, I’m still looking for Alena. Every waking hour since she was taken, I’ve been searching for her, and I still have men scouring while I’m out of the country.” I pour the Vodka as I talk.
“Second, we lost the Saint. Trust me, I’m as pissed as you. Did you forget that the Saint was my baby? I built that shit from the ground up. No one could have seen that attack coming, but such a blow has the Nikolaevs antsy. Aleksander, they want to pull out, and we both know how much of a blow that would be. We need their money, we need their men if we stand any chance, so yes, I’m flying out to appease them in any way I can.”
Ahh, the Saint. It was my first club and the leading figurehead in the Russian drug scene. Giving that to Seamus had been painful, but keeping Alena undiscovered with me was worth it.
“Without them,” I continue, adding cranberry juice, “We won’t survive the pressure from the Irish.”
Aleksander sighs audibly. Alena should be your number one priority, he says tightly. With her back, all our other problems wrap themselves up, and the Irish wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Are you sure about that?” I remark, adding two cherries to each drink. “The Kuznetsovs were threatening to branch out, the last I heard. You think they’ll still commit to a marriage?”
And then some, Aleksander grumbles. You should be here, protecting the Family.
“With all due respect, there won’t be a Family to return to if I don’t soothe the Nikolaevs and their investment. I’m doing this for you, Aleksander. And I’m in close contact with everyone looking for Alena. There’s not a stone in that city that will be left unturned.”
Mara’s voice drones again in the background, and I roll my eyes.
Fine, Aleksander remarks. Keep me updated.
He hangs up before I can reply, and I let out a breath that had caught in my chest. With Alena safe in Russia, everything else should fall into place.
Just as I set my phone down, ready to take the drinks to Alena, my screen lights up, and my chest tightens around my heart at the message on the screen.
Seamus: We need to talk. I have bad news.
Fuck.
31
ALENA
Russia is piercingly cold but utterly beautiful.
The drive from the airport takes us past forests of thick pine trees all dusted in snow, and there’s barely a glimpse of civilization. What I know of the country is limited, and where I expected to see the heart of a city, it seems we’ve arrived somewhere in the country. I barely take my eyes off the passing scenery, not wanting to miss a thing about the new place I’ll be staying.
While the flight was long, Kristof barely left me alone, and the number of orgasms he pulled from me was too high to count. He’s definitely committed to his apology, that’s for sure, and I have zero complaints.
The heater in the car works overtime, and every so often, I glimpse the car carrying Nastja and Ivan. They’re driving separately, at Kristof’s request, leaving us in a comfortable silence until our car pulls free of the never-ending tree line and a stunning, old-stone mansion rises up to greet us atop a small hill.
“Wow,” I breathe out, pressing up against the window until my breath fogs the glass. “This is where we will live?”
“Yes,” Kristof replies. “This is where I grew up.”
The mansion looks like it leaped right off the pages of a storybook. With grey cobbled walls and a red roof peeking out from layers of snow, smooth stone columns lining the front porch and framing the front door, and a few high hedges on either side hiding the back from view, it strikes me how Kristof is a harsh man who doesn’t seem like he grew up in luxury.
“Here?” I ask, glancing at him. “You grew up… here?”
“Is that such a surprise?”
