Page 47 of Escaping the Bratva

V

I grip the laptop that Oscar set in front of me so tight, I’m afraid it might snap in half. I’m staring at a picture of my kitten and that son of a bitch Brighton at an art gallery. He’s parading her around for me to see. She looks lost and hollow, and I can’t imagine what she’s gone through in the short amount of time since she’s been taken. Up until this point, I’ve successfully been able to stop myself from imagining the possibilities, but now with it right in my face, I don’t have any other option. That’s what he wants. He wants me to see how scared she is because knowing Sasha, there’s no way in hell she’d go through with something like this without a fight…unless she was scared out of her mind.

“V?” Marcello asks cautiously from beside me at the conference table. We’ve been in here for hours. Oscar finally has an idea of where they might be hiding out, but he’s only been able to narrow it down to three blocks. In a big city like Seattle, there are a ton of places in those three blocks where he could be keeping her.

I get up from my chair and push the laptop away from me in the process. I run a hand through my hair and pace back and forth. I’m out of ideas. If I had Brighton’s money, I’d give it to him, but I don’t. Maverick and I splitted it, and I spent most of it on the house, which I’d bought in cash, and the rest went into this business.

“I’m still trying to get an exact location. Maybe if he calls again…” Oscar says, but I already know it’s no use. Brighton parading her around the art gallery last night was all he had to say to me.

“Listen, V—” Marcello starts.

“Give me your phone,” I hiss.

His eyes widen a fraction, but he must hear the desperation in my voice because he reaches in his pocket and hands me his phone. I leave the conference room and take the stairs outside. There’s a small stoop out front and I sit on the bottom step. I take a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air as if it will somehow get my mind under control. It doesn’t feel fair that I should even be breathing while Sasha is enduring who knows what. I’m out of all other options, but I know making this phone call will end everything we’ve ever had together. It will mean that the five years I spent in prison, my move to Seattle, and the weeks I’ve spent trying to get her to trust me again will all be for nothing. But I’d rather have her hate me than to never see her again.

I dial a number I’ve never been able to forget and pray that it hasn’t changed. A click from the other side confirms that someone has answered, but they don’t say anything.

“Alek?” I ask.

“Who’s this?”

I grip the phone hard. “Vladimir.”

He chuckles. “Is this a joke?”

I let out a sigh. “I wish it was.”

There’s rustling on the other end of the line before I hear a door close. “I haven’t heard from you in years. What the fuck is going on? You got busted. I heard about that. Everyone heard about that. So, I’m guessing you’re out?”

I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m out.”

He’s silent for a moment. “What kind of trouble are you in?” The concern in his voice reminds me that I can always count on Alek no matter what, even if I haven’t had communication with him since before I got locked up. We used to talk regularly, but he couldn’t risk taking my calls while I was in prison, and I’d been so focused on Sasha and getting my life together that I hadn’t reached out, but Alek was still there. He’d moved his way up the chain of command in the Bratva, so he was now only one step away from becoming Pakhan. Once that happened, he’d be in charge of all the Bratva men in the Boston brotherhood. He was the only person who could help me right now.

“I fucked up,” I say.

“I don’t like the sound of that. Explain.”

I sit against the brick of the stoop and tell Alek everything that’s happened since I stepped my foot out of prison. The story comes out of me like a rusty blade, each part becoming more painful as I get to where I am now.

“Fuck, Vladimir. Why didn’t you call me sooner?” he asks.

“You know why.”

He sighs. “Then you know there’s only one way I can help you.”

And this is the part I’d feared the most. The Bratva didn’t do favors. They always wanted something in return for their services. I’d been one of the most successful underground arms dealers the world had ever seen. They could use my skills, and if I wanted to save Sasha, I’d have to join the brotherhood. It’s exactly what I’d been trying to avoid my entire life. Once you were in the Bratva, there was no way out. If your Pakhan calls on you in the middle of the night to take care of something, you do it. You’re expected to make money for the brotherhood and follow their rules. It’s a life that Sasha would never accept, which is why this was the ultimate sacrifice. I was trading her love for her safety. And I’d do it again.

“I know,” I say to Alek.

“How much time do you have?” he asks.

“I don’t know. I want her away from that son of a bitch as soon as possible.”

“Book a flight out to Boston tonight. I’ll talk to the other guys and Pakhan to see if we can work something out. But Vladimir…if you are initiated tonight, you’re going to have to take on a role.”

That meant I’d have to fill some kind of job, whether that meant being one of the Bratva’s personal hitmen or running drugs. It took months for men to get initiated into the brotherhood, but because of my relationship with Alek and my reputation, I’ll be able to move ahead quickly.

“I know.”

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