“We’re almost there,” Lev says, turning a little.
I nod, biting my lip. A few minutes later, the SUV comes to a stop, and both Lev and the driver climb out. The driver opens my door, and I slip out. Lev grabs Josh up in his arms and keeps hold of him. We walk toward the two men standing beside the door.
“Bag,” the one says to me.
I’m confused, and I look back at Lev who nods. I open my bag for him to look inside. Lev took the gun and placed it in the hotel safe before we left.
After looking through my bag, the man tells me to stretch my arms out.
“I’m going to get Josh a pretzel. We’ll be right back,” Lev says, signaling for me to do as they say while distracting Josh.
I watch how he keeps Josh’s head turned away as the men search me. Once they’re satisfied, I watch Lev and Josh return, Josh chomping on a huge soft pretzel.
“Why don’t you and Josh wait inside? I’ll be right there,” he tells me, handing Josh to me. I know Lev is armed, and I guess they’ll take his gun and cell phone from him like he said they’d done earlier.
I wait just inside the door the man opens, and a moment later, Lev joins us. He takes Josh from me, and his hand rests on my back as I follow the man through the busy club to a staircase at the back. I glance at Lev again before descending, and he gives me his nod.
Downstairs is quiet. There’s a bar here too, but far fewer people are in this one, and all are men.
I know instantly which one is Gleb. I’d know this was the man in charge even if I weren’t here knowing what I know because he radiates power.
He’s older than I expect because he’d have to have been at least twenty years older than my mom. He’s tall, too, as tall as Lev. I see it when he stands and buttons his suit jacket, dark eyes zeroed in on me.
“Lev?” I hesitate, turn.
“Go on, Kat.” He takes my hand, and when we get closer, Gleb pulls out a chair and looks at Josh. Although I can’t read the man, I swear surprise crosses his features.
“Katerina,” Gleb says when I get as far as I can, the only thing between us the chair. He searches my face, takes in my dye job, which I admit is a little messy, but I didn’t have the luxury of time. His eyes are intense, and he almost smiles as though he’s just thought of something. “Turn around.”
“What?”
“I need to see something.”
I turn my head, not sure what he wants, but then I feel his hand at my hair, brushing it away from the back of my neck before pushing my sweater down a little. That’s when I realize what he’s looking for.
He makes a sound, and I turn back to face him.
“Every member of my family has that same mark. Looks better on a woman,” he says with an attempt at a joke, but I get the feeling this meeting is heavier on him than he expected.
The mark he’s talking about is the heart-shaped birthmark on my back, just below my neck. Josh has it too in exactly the same place.
“Mommy.” Josh’s voice is small. He’s nervous.
I turn to find him extending his arms to me, so I take him from Lev.
Gleb looks at Josh, and Josh looks back at him. Josh’s hair is a shade darker than Lev’s, and I wonder if that’s from Gleb’s side.
“He has it too,” I say, and Gleb looks back to me, eyebrows raised. “The birthmark.”
Gleb smiles, then looks at Josh’s pretzel. “What is that? Are you hungry, boy?”
“Josh. His name is Josh.”
“Are you hungry, Josh?”
Josh buries his face in my neck.
“Sit down,” Gleb says and calls someone over.
I sit with Josh on my lap, and Gleb’s eyes go from me to Josh and back like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
“What do you want to eat?” he asks Josh. “They’ll make you anything you want.”
Josh looks at me.
“No marshmallow pancakes,” I tell him with a wink.
He smiles and turns to Gleb. “Chicken nuggets.”
“Chicken nuggets.” Gleb shakes his head. “Get the boy some chicken nuggets and put something green next to them.”
“He won’t eat green,” I interrupt. “Carrots maybe?”
“Carrots. Put some carrots next to them. What about a drink, Josh?” It’s like he’s trying out the name.
“Coke,” Josh says.
“You’re pushing it,” I say.
He looks from me to Gleb and adds a, “Please.”
Gleb grins and nods. “Polite. Very good. A Coke for the boy. And bring my vodka. Are you hungry, Katerina?”
“Um, no thanks.”
He nods to dismiss the man who disappears then reappears a moment later with a bottle of vodka. I have never heard of this brand, but I gather from the decorative bottle it’s a fairly exclusive one. Gleb pours for Lev and me without asking if we want it, but honestly, I could use it.
We sit in awkward silence while Gleb watches me, drinking three times the vodka I manage to.
When the chicken nuggets come, Lev takes Josh to sit on his lap, and Josh starts to eat.
Gleb watches him for a long minute. “He’s yours?” he asks Lev.
“Yes.”
Gleb nods, then turns to me.
“She named you after my sister,” he finally says. “They were good friends.”
“They were?” I suddenly feel so sad. I know nothing about my mother. Not one thing
“She died young too. Cancer. One year before your mother…was forced to leave.” His voice hardens at the end, and he pours himself another vodka, his grip hard on the bottle.
“I don’t know anything about her. I don’t remember anything.”
“I’ll tell you. Don’t worry. But we need to discuss other things first. You’ll stay at my home with the boy—”
“No. They stay with me, and we stay where we are,” Lev says, his voice authoritative and uncompromising. He reaches under the table to take my hand.
Gleb looks irritated by this, and I get the feeling not many people tell him no. He turns to me.
“I don’t know you,” I start before he can say anything. “Josh has had enough upheaval in his life this past week. I can’t change one more thing.”
He considers my words and then nods. “For the time being.” He touches my hair. “You changed your hair. It’s the same color as Ciara’s?”
I nod.
“For that bastard Vasily, you did it?”
I snap my gaze to Josh.
“Sorry, sorry,” Gleb says, waving off his words and drinking more of his vodka. “You need protection. The hotel—”
“Lev protects us. We’re fine.”
Gleb looks at Lev with a raised eyebrow. Josh finishes his last chicken nugget and picks up his Coke. It looks out of place here, the plastic sippy cup with its brightly colored cartoon characters on it and the bright yellow straw. He slurps the last of his soda and puts down his cup.
“You like to play games, Josh?” Gleb asks.
Josh nods, feeling more relaxed after being fed exactly what he wanted, I guess.
“Dima,” Gleb calls. A man comes over. “Take Josh to play one of those games.”
I look at where he’s pointing at some machines that seem to be a throwback from the 90s.