“You gonna treat her right?”
When Rock said that he sounded less like a pissed off man and more like a worried father, allowing Dimitri to let go of some of his anger. “I marry her if she would have me. I tried to keep her safe, did everything I could, but it not enough. They know her now. If I take her to Russia with me they will not bother you. I will send out word that you are under my protection.”
Rock laughed, “And I’ll send out word you’re under my protection.”
“I will send a bodyguard loyal to me for Rya. He will arrive before me and will help keep her safe. I need to get paperwork for Rya, but will be there tomorrow. I must go now.”
“We’ll keep her safe for you, but Dimitri, if you get her killed you better hope you die as well because if you don’t, I’ll be coming for you.”
That made him smile. “She is lucky to have good father. Get her ready. Pack suitcases, can ship rest of what she wants.”
“Hey, Dimitri, you wouldn’t happen to be called ‘the wolf’ would you?”
Confused, he nodded. “Yes, I am Rya’s wolf.”
“That’s what I thought. We’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
Dimitri hung up and took a deep breath, then turned to face Petrov who was sitting behind his desk, busy typing on his computer. “You know about Rya, don’t you?”
Without looking up, Petrov nodded. “And just like your foolish brother you did not bother to ask me for protection for the woman you love.”
“What?”
Petrov flicked an irritated glance his way. “When will you understand that you are not alone? That you have friends who will help you protect your woman?”
He gaped at Petrov. “But it puts your family in danger.”
“My family is always in danger, it is the world we live in. I know of your negotiations with the Boldin Bratva, and I know that four years ago you helped to rescue two of the daughters of the Boldin Bratva from your father.”
Stunned, Dimitri sat down before he fell down. “How?”
“Who do you think Alex took them to in order to hide them? Who do you think managed to get two fifteen-year-old Russian girls into the United States under assumed names without anyone being the wiser? Beautiful twin girls who’d just survived a kidnapping at that? I had help. While your father was torturing you to find out where they were, we were putting the girls on a plane for the US. My only regret is that we did not find you sooner.”
A weight lifted from his soul. “They are alive?”
“Yes, alive and well, living with relatives of mine, waiting for your father to die and the new power structures to come into place before they can return to their family. This feud between the Boldin and Novikov Bratvas is bad for everyone. Our women, our children have always been off limits, everyone knows this.” He gave Dimitri a steady look. “If you and Alex had not sought peace, I would have helped bring your Bratva down for the threat presented to my family. Alex was stupid to believe that hiding his woman would keep her safe, that they could disappear together and lead a normal life under assumed names in some insignificant Irish village. He should have come to me. I would have helped him, but I will help you, because keeping you and Alex in charge of the Novikov Bratva is very important. You are good men who do evil deeds and that is hard to find.”
His mind flashed back to four years ago. Their father had been acting especially irrational, but Dimitri and Alex had been so preoccupied with helping Alex to leave the world of the Bratva and vanish with Jessica that they hadn’t paid as much attention as they should have. While things were going badly back in Russia, Dimitri had been busy setting up new identities for his sister-in-law and brother, immersed in trying to provide them such deep cover that no one would ever find them and Alex had been consumed with completing his last hit for the Novikov Bratva.
While many people thought a man named Maks was the Novikov’s ultimate hitman, it was actually Alex who was the best assassin Dimitri had ever met. Both men had been too distracted to give much credence to the increasing rumors from home that their father was doing crazy shit until it was too late. At the time, they hadn’t realized their father’s medication was being tampered with, sending him into a psychotic episode.
They only found out how bad things had gotten when the head of the Boldin Bratva contacted them and begged for the return of his daughters. Alex and Dimitri had found them, thankfully unharmed, and managed to free them but they had to kill some of their father’s men in the process. While Alex fled with the girls, Dimitri’s father had Dimitri taken to a small house on the outskirts of Moscow where he was tortured before one of the men loyal to Dimitri managed to rescue him and hide him while he recovered. A month later, once again taking his meds, Dimitri’s father had been apologetic about the ‘misunderstanding’ but it was already too late. Jessica was dead and Dimitri would carry the scars from his torture for the rest of his life. Whatever small amount of loyalty to his father he had left vanished, and together with Alex, they began to plan their father’s downfall.