Redemption (The Volkov Mafia Series Book 4) (8 page)

“So you think it’s ok not to call us for months, just to even let us know you were ok? Was the thought of calling us, after everything you had been through, embarrassing to you? I can’t look at you right now. It makes me sick to think that my little girl has been so violated at the hands of God knows how many men.” My dad’s tone is shocking. I have never seen him look so deflated and broken. Why is he saying all of this to me, trying to make out that it’s my fault? I didn’t fucking ask to be taken, did I? No, I was just on the holiday that they wanted. If they had chosen anywhere else in the world, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

“Look, I wasn’t thinking about you and mum. Yes, that may have been selfish and for that I’m sorry, but you don’t get to blame me for this,” I tell him. I see the tears stream down my father’s face at my words.

“No, I can only blame myself. I need you to leave now, Emma.” He turns away from me, trying to compose himself.

“Give us a call at the end of the week. We need some time to process everything you’ve told us.” My mother’s soft voice rings in my ears as her words register.

I stare at them. Is this really it? All they want is for me to leave? I nod in defeat. Maybe I should have stayed hidden in the shadows. Maybe I should have left them in limbo. Because right at this moment, that’s how I feel.

“Take me home?” I say to Alek. He stands up and pulls me by the hand, leading me outside to his parked car. He helps me into the seat. I’m numb. What the fuck just happened?

He sets off towards London, weaving in and out of the busy traffic. The bright red buses signify we are in the capital. The palace, as we pass it, is majestic. Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, they all stand tall in this busy city, with people coming from miles around to take in the sights. Have you ever thought to yourself that we take all this for granted? We see them nearly every day but we don’t appreciate them. Do we ever think about their history and what they represent? I’m too busy being lost in the city that it takes me a moment to realise we are going the wrong way home.

“Where are we going, Alek?” I ask him.

“I’m taking you to the penthouse that Damien has here in London for when he’s here on business. I have some to attend to in the morning so I thought we could just stay there, but if you want me to drive you home I will.”

It makes sense, seeing as he has to drive into the city tomorrow. What the hell, it will be nice.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. It will be nice to spend a night in the city. I miss it.” I nestle further into the seat as we make our way towards the penthouse. Alek and me alone — I think that’s exactly what I need right now.

Chapter Eight

Damien

“What do I have to do to get through to him, Faith?” I ask her, exasperated. Since the incident with Ivan, I have closed off from my brother.

We talked about his gambling problem and the risk of what he was doing. The risk he was putting on the family. My family. I told him if he ever did it again that he would be out. That I would disown him, even kill him. I will do it; I will put him down. I killed my father, so I won’t hesitate to put him six feet under.

“I don’t know, Damien. He’s sick … it’s not something that he can control. It’s a compulsion.” Her words are always kind no matter who it is she’s talking about.

“I’m not cut out for this shit. I shouldn’t have to babysit that fucking excuse of a man. Why can’t he just stop and realise the damage he’s caused? Is it really that hard for him?”

Just having someone to talk to about all of this means everything to me. She’s my rock and my world. She faces everything head-on with me and doesn’t back down from a fight. That’s one of the main things I love about her. She’s one of the strongest people I know.

“All you can do is keep trying. Unless he admits that he has a problem and needs help, there is nothing you can do.”

Deep down I know she’s right, but it doesn’t make it sting any less. He nearly destroyed my family. His mother died because of his actions. He needs to realise that there is more than him at risk. I know the types of characters that lend money to people, who ruthlessly do anything they can to get their money back one way or another. They don’t hesitate to track your family down and make them pay for your sins. I know this because I’m in the same line of work. The only difference is I don’t kill family. Faith was the only exception to that rule; yes, I took her, but I set her free, unharmed. I vowed to keep her safe. I fell in love with my captive. She stole my heart the minute I saw her in that room.

“It’s no use, Faith. I can’t make him see anything he doesn’t want to see. I’m done with him if it happens again,” I tell her, rubbing my head with my hands in frustration. Who said sibling love was easy? I stand up, pacing up and down the room. Faith sits in the chair, looking at me, her eyes full of compassion and understanding.

“Then we just give him time, Damien. That’s all we can do.”

I walk over to her and gently kiss the top of her head. “This is why I love you,” I whisper.

I leave the kitchen and stride to the office. Something needs to be done once and for all, I’m just not sure what.

I’m sat in the chair, the whiskey swirling in the tumbler in my hand, the ice clinking against the glass. I think back to Russia and what happened in the aftermath.

“You dumb fuck! How could you do this? Putting Faith and Anya in danger like that. They threatened to take my family out.”

He sat in the chair, the tears streaming down his face. The only reaction he seemed to show was when Emma was brought in. His head lifted up and he stopped to take note of the girl.

Still nothing … I became more pissed as time passed by.

“Answer me, God damn it!” I screamed at him. I knew he was hurting. He’d just found out his mother was killed by the same men we had destroyed, but that wasn’t the point. I wasn’t there to clean up his mess.

He looked up at me. I caught the hollow shell that was once my brother. He wasn’t listening, he was just going through the motions.

His guilt was written all over his face, but that wasn’t good enough. I wanted him to tell me why. I wanted him to explain to me how he could let this happen.

“I’m sorry, Damien.” His voice was just a whisper, uttered between sobs that wracked his whole body.

“I can’t help you if you don’t explain. I thought you had it under control, that you were going to meetings for help. What happened?” I tried my hardest not to growl at him, but it was not that easy, my temper was at an all-time high.

“What do you want me to say, Damien? That I completely fucked up? I couldn’t help myself, ok. The temptation was just too much; the ease of winning, the high that you get when all the beautiful women are hanging on your every word, that they want you to take them home and fuck ’em silly because you’re winning. Then you come down with a crash when you start losing and the debt gets bigger, so you borrow more thinking you can have the same success again, that you’ll win and everything will be fine. But it’s not like that, I know. I live with it every damn day. I feel it every time I look at that little girl in there. She’s the only one who looks at me like I matter. There is never any judgement in her eyes. She smiles when I walk into the room. Do you know how that tears me up inside, knowing that I’m the cause of all this, that she could have got hurt because of me?”

In all the time that Alekzander had been there, I think that was the first time we’d sat down and spoke. I know it wasn’t the best of situations, but to hear his pain, hurt me. He needed help with his problem, free from judgement. All he had to do was ask me and I would do everything I could to get him the help he needed.

“All I know is that you nearly broke this family, the one that took you in when you had nowhere to go, the one that gave you a job when you needed one. But most of all the one who gave you a family, unconditional love, and trust. And you broke it, Alek. I can’t lose my family. They are everything to me. I only breathe for them.”

I had to stop; my throat was getting tighter the more I spoke. Looking down at my brother, the injury had taken its toll on his body. He needed time to recover, to heal. That’s what I’d give him, time. But mark my words he was either going to get help or he’d be finished.

“Damien, I need help. I can’t ever feel like this again. I know it’s all my own fault, but I never want to be this weak ever again.”

I smiled at him, knowing that was the first step. Acceptance.

I needed to do everything I could to make sure he got the best help possible. He just needed to accept it, to change for the better, not the worst.

“Then go get some rest and let me make some calls, Alek,” I told him.

He made an effort to stand up, holding onto his side. His injury was still quite fresh and sore from the look of it. His mobility was improving daily. His strength would come back in time.

I loaded up the computer and looked at what help was available. I only wanted the best for him.

After what felt like hours of searching, my eyes began to hurt from looking at the screen, and I had made numerous calls to centres for help. I think I’d finally got a plan that would work.

I down the whiskey, thinking I can’t go through all of this again. It’s been months. There is something in the way he is acting right now that doesn’t sit well with me. I never thought it would come to this, but what choice do I have?

Picking up the phone, I wait for the line to connect to the one person I know will get to the bottom of all this.

“Damien, what’s up? It’s eleven o’clock. Everything ok with Faith and Anya?” Malc’s voice is full of sleep and I feel guilty at the thought of waking him, but I need this done and I can’t think of no one better.

“I need you to go to the penthouse in London. I need to know what Alek is up to. He’s hiding something from me, and I want to know what,” I tell him. I don’t need to sweeten it up for him. This is the brother that I know will do anything for me. We have been through a lot this last year, but we have come out stronger.

To know that the boy I grew up with is my flesh and blood, it seals the bond that we already had. It was easy for me to accept as I know everything about him, but Malc had it tougher than me; he had demons to face from both his mother and father, lies and betrayal for most of his life even though my mother was there for him in the only way she was allowed to be, but that’s because of my father, Viktor.

His tyrant ways kept her a prisoner to her own heart for years; keeping her as the perfect trophy to show off whenever he wanted to, keeping her away from the son she had to watch grow up with the man she loved but was never able to acknowledge him. That has to take its strain on anyone carrying all that around for almost thirty years.

“Why is he at the penthouse?” Malc asks me.

I know that tone better than anyone. He is wondering why the hell I let him go on his own. Well, telling him this little snippet should be fun then.

“He took Emma to her parents’ house so she could see them and let them know she’s doing ok, and since they live in the city he asked if they could stay there instead of driving all the way back out here. I didn’t see a problem with it at the time.”

I wait for the cogs to fall into place. I know what I’m about to hear so I pull the phone away from my ear and get ready for the onslaught that is about to come.

“He did what?” he roars at me. I know it’s not directed at me or I would call him out for his outburst. So I let it slide as he carries on. “Why would you let him take her there? She wasn’t ready to see them. I thought we said it would be best if they think the worst to avoid any unwanted questions, Damien.” He has a fucking point.

“I did say that, Malc, and at the time it was valid, but she is so much stronger now. She has her identity back and it wasn’t my choice to make her wait any longer, Malc,” I tell him, letting him know that this was completely down to her.

“That’s fair enough then, but why did Alek take her?”

I know the shit is going to hit the fan when I answer this one. “He took her because they are sleeping together and, no before you ask, I only found out from Faith. I don’t know how long it’s been going on and I don’t really wish to. As long as it doesn’t affect either of their work then I’m ok with it, Malc.” And I realise that’s true. As long as both of them don’t let it upset the balance in this house, then who I’m I to tell them no?

“He’s fucking what? Just you wait till I get my hands on the cunt, I will fucking kill him myself. Does he not realise what we saved her from? She was a fucking sex slave for Christ sake, passed around from pillar to post,” he yells. “I fucking blew a guy’s brains out while he was still buried inside her cunt.”

I know this is a sore subject for him because it brings to mind what happened with Camilla, but they aren’t the same people, and if she feels she’s ready, then she will do it regardless.

“I know you did, and I know you don’t want anything bad to happen to her, that’s why I need you to get down to the penthouse to make sure everything is ok.” I feel like a shit because I know he’s going to be pissed, and I know he’s going to fucking deck Alek the first chance he gets, but right now I can’t bring myself to care enough to stop him.

“Oh you bet your arse I’m going. I will be there within the hour, Damien. If he does anything to hurt her I will kill him.” And with that said, the line goes dead.

I put my mobile on the table. It’s enough for one day. I need to go to bed. I need to get lost inside my wife’s body. I need her to make me forget the only way she can.

I step into the bedroom and see her sleeping form, the cover draped over her body, seductively calling to my primal side. Just a hint of her exposed milky flesh is enough to make my cock ache for her body.

I still get hard looking at her. Hell, I still get hard just talking to her.

Right now though, as I strip myself out of my suit and get into bed beside her, I can think of nothing better than pulling her close and holding her. She’s the one that keeps the darkness at bay. She’s the light that guides me. She’s the other half that makes me whole.

I feel her body press up against mine as sleep tries to claim me. “Goodnight, Moya Lubuova,” I whisper into her hair as I finally give in to slumber.

“Night, my love,” she whispers back, and nestles her little backside closer to my cock. I push down the thoughts of ravishing her body for tonight; something is telling me to just hold her close.

I hope that everything I’m worrying about surrounding Alek is nothing, but something in my gut tells me this is a long way from over, that come hell or high water someone is bound to get hurt. I just hope it’s not Faith or Anya. Because if I lose the only things in my life that are worth living for, then so help me God I will hunt him down like a dog, and kill him like a lamb going to slaughter.