Page 14 of Frequency of Attraction

After his workout on Sunday morning, he knew he couldn’t put off any longer the task he’d been dreading since landing in the States. Calling his mother.

“Vadim, is that you?”

Her shaky voice put him instantly on edge. He hated how fearful she always sounded.

“What does the caller ID say? Of course it’s me.”

She didn’t reply. Six months had passed since they’d last spoken and she had nothing to say.

He sighed. “I just wanted to check in. And to let you know that I’ve moved again. I’m in—”

“Don’t tell me!” she shrieked.

Adrenaline poured into his system at her outburst. “Why? Is he coming around again?”

She didn’t answer, which he took as an affirmative.

“I’m not scared of him.”

“I am.” Her tiny voice was a blow to his chest. “He’s everywhere. His people are everywhere. You shouldn’t even call here.”

Anger spiked through him. “Nothing is going to stop me from checking on you and Dasha. You begged me to stay away and I’ll do that for you, but you can’t stop me from calling. He can’t find me, though I wish he fucking could.”

His last visit home, four years ago, had been more of the same argument. His mother had cried and cowered in fear the whole time, checking the peephole constantly and jumping at every noise. His sister was stronger, but deferred to their mother on everything. Vadim had gone out drinking, desperate to escape the misery that now defined his family’s lives. Failing at Star City meant he had failed them, too. It wasn’t like he could bring them back to his flat in Spain. His mother would never leave Russia. In a desperate and dick move, he’d ended up having drunken sex with a woman from secondary school out behind the bar. Not his finest twenty minutes.

Despite his mother’s fears during that trip, his piece of shit brother had never showed his face.

“Your language is terrible,” she whispered.

His language versus her other son’s behavior. Really?

“I’m further away now, but I’m still going to take care of you. What do you need?”

She wouldn’t tell him. He’d have to get the information from his sister.

“Nothing, nothing. And don’t say anything else. Not to Dasha, either. He can get information out of us. You know he can.”

Vadim knew he’d rip his brother to pieces if he tried. He had to take a few silent breaths before he could speak again. “Can I talk to Dasha, please?”

She passed the phone off to his sister without a goodbye or good luck. It broke his heart that she couldn’t conceive of a life with good in it anymore.

“Hi, Vady.”

“Dasha. How are you?”

There was a long pause in which Vadim knew she was exiting the room. If she still held the same habits, she would climb the stairwell of their building and work her way through the emergency hatch to their stargazing spot.

Finally, her voice came on the line. “It’s not as bad as she makes it sound. Adrik is coming around, yes, and he does ask about you with that crazy look in his eyes. But he brings us food and fixes the stupid toilet every time it breaks. He’s not a monster.”

Vadim disagreed. Dasha didn’t know what he knew about their brother. And she had always been the most forgiving of them.

“What do you need?”

Being unable to provide his family with anything but money lacerated his soul. They deserved better than the shitty apartment with barred windows. They deserved better than sporadic phone calls. Better than living in fear.

She sighed. “Nothing you can give us, Vadim.”

“What does that mean?”

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