Page 31 of Golden Atonement

But I wasn’t there for him. I wanted the fucker Baranov. The cause, the reason, the truth behind all of my woman’s problems. I had been waiting for years to get my hands on that fat fucker, and I wasn’t going to be denied my justice.

It had been a long, bloody war and I was determined to get my revenge.

No longer would my wife fear the unknown. If it was the last thing I did, I would give her the peace and comfort of knowing her tormentor was finally dead.

It was the least I could do.

“Enough of this. I’m bored,” I heard Bullseye say before a loud whistle echoed around the warehouse. Slowly getting to my feet, I snubbed out the cigarette I was smoking, took a deep breath and grinned.

The door creaked when I opened it and made my way toward the man now sitting in a chair in the middle of the warehouse. My eyes focused on the evil that plagued my wife’s dreams. Taking my time, I allowed my blades to drag against the hard cement floor, the sound ominous, distinctive, while the man I glared at flinched.

“Did you honestly think I would forget about you?”

Several heads turned my way, shocked at what they were seeing. If they knew what was good for them, they should have been afraid. I was in a killing mood and I would not leave until I got my fill. My demon was starved, hungry for the feast sitting handcuffed before us.

It would not be denied.

This son of a bitch was mine.

“You’re dead.” The fucker gulped as sweat beaded on his brow.

Montana took a quick glance at Maxim before he took a few steps back. Yeah, I’d run away like a pussy bitch too if I’d gone back on a blood oath. Time was on my side. Eventually, I would come for Montana and demand reparations. Even if I had to take it all the way to the table. I would get my revenge.

Until that day, the fucker better stay the hell out of my way and pray I can fix what he broke. Because if I couldn’t, there would be no place on this fucking earth he could hide.

The Reaper always collected his soul, and right now, I only wanted one soul.

Konstantin Baranov.

“I was fifteen years old, you sick fuck. A kid who only wanted to play video games with his best friend when you had your fucking goons yank me off the street. All so you could get leverage on my club and theSociety. But it didn’t work, did it? You tried for days to break me, but you couldn’t do it. I was the one fucking wild card you couldn’t control.”

The fat fucker never took his eyes off me as I took my time walking over to him. I enjoyed watching him squirm, seeing the fear in his eyes, knowing that I was about to take his life and send it straight to hell.

“I should have killed you then,” the fucker sneered angrily, trying to break the bonds that bound him.

“That was your first mistake. Letting me live.”

“When I get out of here, I’m going to tear your fucking wife and kids apart. That’s right. I know exactly where they are. I’m going to show that little bitch what a real man is like right before I snap her fucking neck.”

Vladmir moved fast to haul off and punch the fucker in the face, breaking his nose. Old man moved fast. I had to give him that.

“Would you like to know your second mistake, asshole?” I asked as the fat fucker spat blood on the floor while I continued, “Having one of my men kidnap my woman and deliver her into the hands of the very fuck who tortured her for years? But that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You wanted to sample her too. That way, you could force her father’s hand and have him kill Maxim. But that didn’t work either, did it? You never considered Vladmir’s loyalty to the one man who stood beside him his whole life.”

“What’s he talking about?” Maxim asked, looking at Vladmir, who shook his head and silently cursed.

When he glared at me, I simply shrugged.

Yeah, there wasn’t much I didn’t know. These stupid fuckers didn’t know shit. Oh, they played a good game for a while, but the truth always eluded them. Well, the time for secrets was over. The game was over and I was tired of it all.

Looking at Vladmir, I waited while he took a deep breath and explained, “I made my choice twenty-four years ago on the side of a road the night she was born, when I decided to give her up. Boss, you know I looked everywhere for her after she disappeared from the hospital. When I couldn’t find her, I thought that was it. I felt a sense of hopelessness when I realized that she had slipped away from me forever and there was nothing I could do about it. Then, a few years ago, I started getting text messages. Pictures of a young woman in California. I didn’t know who she was, though I had my suspicions, but I didn’t know for sure until I flew to California and saw her for myself. God, Maxim, she looked so much like Nina. That’s when I knew my daughter survived. She was alive, happy and in love with Reaper. Knowing she was safe, I returned to New York and tried to ignore the need to protect her. Until thePakhanstarted threatening her. He wanted me to kill you and take over the East Coast. I knew no matter what I did, he would always use my daughter to get me to do what he wanted, so I refused. The next thing I knew, I received an email with a video attachment of my daughter being raped by Reynolds, Petrovitch, and thePakhan. I recognized the room and rushed to the Gentlemen’s Club, but by the time I got there, they were gone. I looked everywhere for her, then I learned Reaper found her in Louisiana.”

“Why didn’t you come to me with this?”

Vladmir shrugged. “You were having your own troubles with Illyria and like I said, I made my choice the night she was born. I had no claim to her. She doesn’t know me. I’m just the genetic material that links her to me. She doesn’t want some old manwho abandoned her hours after she was born. She had a life with Reaper, and I wasn’t going to ruin that.”

The fat fucker laughed maniacally. “You are all stupid fucks. God, you make me sick. The real Bratva doesn’t have families. Family will be the destruction of the Bratva!”

Lifting my blade off the floor, I placed the tip of the blade at Konstantin’s neck and clearly said, “My woman survived hell and lived to tell the tale. You want to know what she told me, asshole?”

---