Page 68 of Taken By Him

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dominik

It’s a fucking mess.

Marcin Garska was moving twenty-five girls in that train car. Even for a prick like him, that’s ambitious. We were able to get information from one of his men before he was tossed in a death pile. The car was headed east to New York. From there it would have been put on a boat headed for Russia.

Garska wasn’t even doing business with our own people. He was bringing the fucking Bratva into the mix.

Fucking prick.

The women have all been moved to a hotel nearby. We’ve rented the whole floor, and my men are keeping them safe.

It’s been a full day since the shit storm began, and Kasia is avoiding me. But that has to end. I can’t let her sink too far into her own darkness. We may never find each other again if we do that.

“She had some lunch,” Margaret informs me when I walk into the kitchen. I see the empty plate in her hands.

“Good.” I look out into the yard, toward her tree. The sun is beating down hard today, she won’t be in the rose garden.

Kasia sits in her chair, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knee. If she folds herself any further into herself, she’ll disappear altogether.

“Boss.” Tommy walks into the kitchen. “There’s a cop at the door.” He looks out at Kasia. “Her father’s been found.”

We were expecting it. It’s better for Kasia if he’s off the books.

I follow Tommy to the front door. A uniformed cop and a suited-up detective stand on my porch. I know the detective.

“Mr. Staszek. We’re hoping to talk with your wife, Kasia? This concerns her father.”

“My wife isn’t feeling well. You can tell me what you need to,” I say, folding my arms over my chest. Asking her to pretend as though she doesn’t already know her father’s dead is too much. She’s in pain already, I won’t add to it.

“We need to notify the next of kin.” The cop keeps his features schooled.

Detective Stevenson clears his throat. “It’ll all right. We can give the information to Mr. Staszek. If his wife has questions, she can reach out to me personally.” His eyes fix on me. He’ll want a boost in his next payment.

The uniformed cop frowns but gives me the news. Marcin Garska was found dead in his own train car, apparent suicide. I nod along as he speaks, not interrupting him while he tells me when and how we can get his body for burial. He can burn for all I care, but Kasia may want to give him a proper funeral.

---