Anatoly read his cue with ease and quickly replied. “We got Upheil,
but
we only got the information that I told you over the phone,” Anatoly said, placing the cup of coffee in front of his father. He too worried about his father’s health and chose to ignore the fact that the old man didn’t like being told what to do. “Drink that,” he said, pushing the hot beverage toward him. The aroma wafted up to Dmitry’s nose and revitalized him instantly.
With that Anatoly sat down and slouched in the chair beside Gabriel. Dark circles lined the bottom of his beautiful eyes, making him look older and more worn.
Dmitry grumbled but complied with his son’s request. He pulled the cup to him with one long finger and flashed a
fine then
glare at the boys before he picked it up and tasted it. The hot coffee felt great going down his parched throat. Setting the cup down, he nodded a thank you and sucked his bottom lip.
Anatoly and Gabriel both smiled in small but adequate satisfaction.
Every little bit helped.
Dmitry looked at both of them and tried to figure out where to begin with everything. They both looked exhausted, like one more thing would send them both tumbling over the edge.
The difference in the stature of the two men was startling. Dmitry couldn’t help but recognize how small his son was against his nephew in size, but he also saw how Anatoly’s demeanor completely overshadowed Gabriel’s. It was obviously due to Anatoly’s long reign as a leader, while Gabriel had so far only been taught to follow. Boxing a man into such a confining station had such consequences. But Dmitry had plans of growing him out of his current life into something more fitting.
Dmitry stopped his thoughts. “Well, you got Upheil. That’s all that matters. What about the other one?”
“
Before we get to that,” Anatoly said, scratching his brow. “We…uh,” he looked over at Gabriel. “We had to bring some people home with us.”
Dmitry picked up the coffee and tasted it. “I’m listening.” His eyes burned through them both for deviating from the original plan.
“
Upheil had about twenty girls down in his basement. After we burned the place down, we couldn’t just drop them off at the local police station, so we brought them with us.”
“
How did you get twenty girls on the plane with the entire team?” Dmitry asked, rubbing his temples.
“
We made two trips,” Gabriel answered.
Dmitry was quiet for a minute. He wasn’t normally into charity work, but he was also aware of what Upheil’s business entailed. The boys had saved those poor defenseless girls and were probably due medals instead of a tongue lashing. He opted to give them neither. “After we talk, take the girls to Royal until I figure out what to do with them. Now, back to the second name I gave you on that list. Did you kill him?” He grew impatient.
Anatoly frowned and then replied, “No.”
“
Why not?” Dmitry asked, clenching his large fists together. His temper was barely under control at the moment.
Gabriel shifted quietly in his seat.
“
After we left Upheil, we went straight to the guy’s penthouse and found that someone had already done the job for us,” Anatoly answered a lot calmer than his cousin. He had seen his father angry before and while it was not pretty, he also knew that Dmitry was more than reasonable.
Dmitry eased back down in his chair and shook his head. “It’s a bit ironic that he would show up dead
now
. Someone knew that we were coming for him or they killed him just in case we did.” He sipped more coffee and thought again. “Fine. There is nothing we can do about that. On to what you don’t know.”
“
Got it all on record,” Gabriel said, pulling out his recorder. “And we took Upheil’s computer. Maybe one of your guys can hack into it and find what we couldn’t.”
Dmitry was pleased. “Good. Drop it off with them once you leave. Now, I got a visit this morning before you arrived from an acquaintance in the CIA who delivered some very sensitive information.”
“
The CIA?” Gabriel gawked. It continued to amaze him how deeply his uncle’s ties actually went.
Dmitry put up a finger to silence them. “It seems that Vladimir Sidorov is still alive.”
Gabriel was lost.
Why was this important? Who was Vladimir Sidorov?
Anatoly squinted. “Wasn’t that Khalid’s son?” Vladimir had been killed prior to him joining the family, but he had heard the stories about the man’s misdeeds against the council and more specifically against Dmitry, which had led to his assassination.
Dmitry turned up his mouth. “It’s more than likely that Vladimir, this
Balthazar
character and a woman named Manon are in on this together.”
“
We couldn’t locate any information on Balthazar yet,” Gabriel huffed at his incompetence regarding the matter. “But I’m working on it. Most of my contacts at the DEA won’t come within a mile of me, but a few are a bit more understanding. I should have something soon. In fact, I’ll call again after I leave here.”
“
Well, the CIA is a little faster. They dropped a file by with everything that we need on Balthazar
except
his current location.”
“
How do we get that?” Gabriel asked.
“
Use the file,” Anatoly said, knowing exactly what his father wanted him to do. “Now who is this Manon bitch?”
“
That’s where this gets a little more complicated.” Dmitry stood up from behind the desk and walked over to the door. Locking it behind him, he wiped his hand over his face and growled. “I think that this woman is my sister.”
Both Gabriel and Anatoly bucked their eyes.
“
This family has more fucking secrets,” Anatoly scoffed. “Is this your mother’s daughter?”
“
No, I’m not even sure, but I think that she’s my father’s daughter.” Dmitry looked at his son. “I never told you about your grandfather, because the story is as fucked up as it possibly can get. But now, it’s time to tell you because in order for you to get why this is personal, you need to know who you’re up against.”
“
Can we get some breakfast while you break down the family tree?” Anatoly asked, standing up and yawning.
It had been a long night and in truth, Anatoly wasn’t sure if he could even take anymore. He just needed a moment. He needed to put his hands around everything that was going on. His girl was pregnant and
pissed
. His sister had been kidnapped by his
possible
aunt and his cousin – a man who was once a federal agent – was gearing up to be a Vor. Everything was upside down right now and in order for him not to lose his mind in the process, he simply had to get some rest himself, something to eat and some peace and quiet.
Dmitry looked down at his son and realized that Anatoly was on the verge. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he nodded. “Go see Renee, get something to eat and we’ll meet back here in…” he looked down at his watch. “…two hours. How about that?” Dmitry felt as though he could go all night but he also knew that his men needed their rest.
“
Spasiba
, papa,” Anatoly said, relieved. He looked back at Gabriel and nodded. “You did well tonight.”
“
Thanks,” Gabriel said, genuinely happy he had pleased his cousin.
Anatoly saw the twinkle in Gabriel’s eyes. “Easy. Don’t let it go to your head. There is still a hell of a lot more to do,” he said with a smirk. With one final nod towards his father, he unlocked the door and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone.
Gabriel, however tired, was too curious to leave just yet. He had a million questions, and many he knew would not get answered for many years. Still, he had to catch up where he could. Getting up to fix a cup of coffee himself, he looked over at his uncle and raised a brow. “So, what do you think that this all comes down to?”
“
I had my father killed in this house twenty years ago. My naiveté lead me to believe that my brother and I were his only children. That evidently isn’t the case. This woman, Manon, asked for 500 million dollars to get Anya back. That’s exactly the sum that I ended up taking from my father in cash. It all made sense when Langston said that she and I looked alike.” Dmitry walked over and took the picture of Manon from the file and passed it to Gabriel.
The woman’s composite showed her to be a very attractive woman but the familial resemblance was not as pronounced as the Medlov men, who all looked remarkably similar. She was blonde, tall, strikingly beautiful and in her mid-forties.
She could have easily passed for a former supermodel but the daughter of a Russian underworld Czar was pushing it.
Gabriel passed the photo back. “So, this is about revenge?”
“
Yes, but
why now
is the question that plagues me,” Dmitry said, putting his hands into his pockets. He looked out the window and yawned. “The strategy has to change dramatically for us. We have to get Khalid here without tipping him off that we know about his son still being alive. We have to get Balthazar right where we want him, and I want Manon to myself to deal with personally. However, it is also crucial that we capture all three alive in order to make sure that Anya is brought home safely.”
“
I understand,” Gabriel said, tapping his knuckles on the desk. “We’ll do it. But first, get some rest.”
“
Alright,” Dmitry said softly under his breath. “See you back here in two hours. Don’t be late.”
Chapter 19
Anatoly had not been to Prague since before the situation in Memphis several months ago. Being back in his father’s house brought back all sorts of memories. As he walked the dark halls sluggishly, fighting the tiredness that wore him down from the inside out, he thought about his dogs. He wanted to go and see them, make sure that they were okay, but he knew that there was someone who needed to see him more.
Renee wanted his head on a stake by now. He had left her in his room in quite a state, and still after all the hours he had been gone, nothing made sense, even after he tried desperately to see it from many vantage points instead of just his own. Certain questions plagued him tremendously like why was he not as thrilled as the men he had seen before him who had started families? Why did this have to happen now? And why in the hell would Renee even want to have a child by a man like him?
Now, to say that he had never thought about Renee getting pregnant was a lie, but he just never imagined that it would be so suddenly. He smirked when he thought of what his father would say to that. He could hear Dmitry taunt him in his head. “How else does pregnancy come if not suddenly?”
The simple truth was that he and Renee had not even been together a year and were still getting to know each other. Now, they were bringing new life into the world and under the worst circumstances that he could imagine. And even if they didn’t work out as a couple, this child would still exist long after they did. No matter what, until the end of time, he would be or have been a father. There was no denying something that had already happened in time and this child had already been conceived. That was a fact. That was the hard truth. And he had to fucking deal with it.
The sunlight peaked in from the towering windows and the curtains that had been pulled back as the rain stopped pouring outside. It was like a sign from God saying, “Finally, you get it.”
Placing his foot on the bottom carpeted step, he stopped and looked up the long staircase. Exhaustion willed him to stay put downstairs and find a place down here to get some sleep, but he knew that Renee was up in his room on the second floor waiting for him.
“
Why don’t they have a fucking elevator in this place?” he said aloud. Turning around, he sat down on the stair and put his head in his hands. Hell, he could go to sleep right here if no one bothered him.
“
That’s the same thing I asked,” Renee said from across the foyer. She stood with her arms folded, watching the surprise in his eyes when he saw her. She tried to shrug her shoulders. “Are you hungry? Breakfast is ready.”
Her voice was soothing to his ears.
Anatoly looked over at her and instantly felt relief for some strange reason even though his thoughts had him mentally crippled. Her warm eyes engulfed him and at that moment all he wanted was to put his head in her bosom and rest in her arms.
Feeling his need, she walked over and stood in front of him. He looked down at her painted toes and smiled. “Country girl, where are your shoes?” he asked playfully in his thick Russian accent.
“
I thought you liked
us
barefoot and pregnant,” she poked fun at him.
“
No all of you. It appears just you.” He reached out and pulled her closer. The smell of her perfume tickled his nose. Putting his head on her stomach, he groaned. “How’s the baby?”
“
Fine,” Renee said, touching the top of his curly locks. His hair felt like cotton. She bent down to kiss the crown of his head and smelled his familiar aroma. “I was worried to death about you, Ana. You don’t do this anymore remember? That’s what you have Vasily for.”
“
You were worried about me even after I was a complete ass to you?” He looked up at her under tired eyes.