29
Elena Tarkhanov
I leaned against Kon’s chest, basking in his warmth and the sound of my family’s laughter.
We had all relocated to the dining room as the temperature had dropped, but the backdoors were wide open, allowing the children to run around the garden. Dinner lay destroyed on the table–a Dmitri-made feast–and bottles of wine were constantly being poured. Dessert was brought out by Roksana, a white, tiered cake that she and Artyom had baked together.
“–and then this motherfucker turns to me and says that’s not a bump, that’s the road!”
The table roared with laughter as Roman finished his story. Wine spilled over glasses as arms were tossed and necks tipped back.
“The trouble you manage to get yourself into,” Roksana laughed from Artyom’s lap.
Roman grinned. “Trouble finds me, Roksy. I don’t get a choice.”
We all laughed again.
As the conversation continued, Kon nuzzled his nose against my arm. He had been enamored with the word I had written there, kissing and biting softly.
“Niko’s going to sleep well tonight.” I glanced outside to where he and Evva were playing hide and seek. Both toddlers were looking for Anton, who had proven to be exceptional at hiding.
“Lucky,” Kon murmured. “I want some alone time with my wife.”
“You shouldn’t have married a person with a child if you wanted alone time.”
His chest rumbled with laughter. “I’ll get it right next time.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Next time?”
The smile he sent me was nothing short of devilish.
My mind was in the gutter before I could stop it. Anticipation of what was to come, literally, warmed my blood.
“That look you’re giving me is dangerous,” he mused, eyes darkening with lust.
“What look?” I pressed my lips to his, grinning against his mouth as his hands on my hips tightened. I felt him harden beneath my thigh. “If we have sex so soon after dinner, you’ll get a stitch.”
“Is that so?”
“Mmm.”
The kiss deepened, our tongues entangling and teeth clashing. Flames ignited beneath the skin where his hands were resting.
“Oi, you two!” Roman yelled, breaking up the kiss. The look Kon sent him was terrifying. “We’ve just eaten,” explained the byki beneath his Pakhan’s glare.
“Leave them alone,” Danika fussed. “They just got married.”
I leaned my head against Kon’s, rubbing my cheek against his. “If you thought we were bad before, brother, you’re about to be horrified.”
My family laughed while Roman bitched under his breath about PDA. He’d ignored Danika and she caved in on herself, forcing a smile for Natalia who inquired if she was okay.
“Mama!” Niko came darting into the room, holding something in his hand.
“What have you got there, wild boy?” I asked.
He came right over to me and his dad, presenting the bag clutched between his palms. It was held together by a black ribbon.
“This is for you, Mama.”
I took it from his hands. “What…”
“The nice lady said it’s yours,” Niko told me.
Kon snapped his head to his son. “What lady, Nikolai?”
He pointed outside. “The one out there.”
Artyom was up in a flash, followed by Dmitri. I climbed off Kon’s lap, eyes trained on the bag. One pull to the ribbon revealed to us what I had already suspected: a pile of teeth, yellow and white, sat in the middle.
Nausea rose in me, hard and fast.
Niko pulled himself up on the table. “Ewww.”
“Take him upstairs,” Kon snapped. “Now.” He was no longer my handsome husband who kissed me like he was addicted to my lips, but instead the Pakhan of the Tarkhanov Bratva, terrifying and violent.
I pulled Niko onto my hip, ignoring his cries of denial. Evva and Anton were dragged into the house by Artyom, who gave them to Roksana and commanded her to go upstairs. She hesitated before turning and leaving. I passed Niko to her as she went, a conversation transferring between our eyes.
I’ll take care of him, her expression promised.
Parting from him was like cutting open my skin but I needed to see where that bitch had been, where she had dared to approach my baby.
The world was moving too quickly. The men and Natalia had gone outside, calling for Vory and the dogs. Only Danika stayed inside with me, uncharacteristically quiet and morose.
The teeth seemed to stare at me from the table. Even Babushka didn’t go near them.
“How did she get onto the estate.” It wasn’t a question.
Danika had no answer for me. She seemed as shaken as I was.
Shouts grew louder outside, and I gathered the courage to venture into the dark garden. The cold nipped at my skin, seeping into my bones.
Konstantin stood near the mouth of the woods, expression indescribable. He had never worn his fury so clearly in front of his men, and from the paleness to their features, they were aware of this fact.
“I want every inch of this land searched.” His voice was quiet but nothing about it was soft. “Wake everyone up and fetch the other dogs. No one sleeps until she is found.”
I scanned the garden. It was hard to see anything in the dark of the night, even the glow of the house didn’t illuminate the thorny bushes and overgrown flora. I knew this estate like the back of my hand, I had trekked over every stretch of dirt and grass, and I had climbed everything I could.
How did she come in?
The men circled the perimeter while the dogs lurked over the woods and gardens. It was impossible to miss them. If you managed to get past the men, a dog would find you; if you managed to sneak past the dogs, a Vory would spot you.
I wrapped my arms around myself as icy wind blew over me.
“Go inside, Elena,” Konstantin said. “You’re going to freeze.”
“I’m fine.”
My eyes ran over the garden once again, catching onto the shadowed well. The bucket swung in the breeze.
The well.
My eyes dropped down to the ground. Sprinklers jutted at random out of the ground, but they hadn’t been used in years.
The banya entered my mind suddenly, the catacombs beneath the baths filling my brain.
Thoughts began to twist through my mind like wisteria climbing over a house. Tatiana had stayed hidden for three years; every mafia boss in the US had been hunting for her, on the ground, at sea and in the sky.
But they hadn’t checked underground.
“She’s in the sewers.”
Kon snapped his head to me. A few of his men stopped. “What?”
“New York has hundreds of abandoned tunnels underground,” I said. “Old subway stations, old sewers and Cold War bunkers. She’s using them.”
He didn’t waste a second. “Take the dogs now. There is a manhole by the main gate. If she was in our sewers, that’s the closest one.”
The dogs found her scent immediately.
Tatiana had used the sewers beneath the estate to travel past the Vory and dogs. They were all interconnected. One manhole in the suburbs could lead to the one next to our house. She had known that, exploiting them like the rat she was.