Page 6 of The Debt

“You are annoying me,” Gregor snarled, jerking her out of the bitter reverie. “Your rebellious behavior serves no purpose other than to antagonize me further, young lady. Knock it off and show some respect.”

The rebuke only succeeded in pinching the corners of her eyes to express a hidden smile. Let him rage. She was done being the good little princess in his criminal kingdom. She had built something of her own here—legitimate, powerful, and completely beyond his control. The view might not be from a cockpit, but at least it was hers.

A familiar surge of pride swelled Tatiana’s chest as she gazed at the sprawling complex that was TAP United Logistics. Every brick, every inch of concrete, and every printed logo represented countless hours of sweat and dedication. She had built this empire with her own hands, her own mind, and her own determination—not with blood money or strongarm tactics like her grandfather’s lawless empire.

The irony wasn’t lost on her that she had proven herself a better strategist than any of her male relatives. At twenty-three, while they were still playing at being tough guys in Atlanta’s back alleys, she had already earned her MBA, graduating summa cum laude. She had seen the potential in this patch of land bordering Hartsfield-Jackson—the world’s busiest airport—when everyone else saw just another industrial lot.

Starting with nothing but two secondhand trucks and an office barely bigger than a closet, she had worked eighteen-hour days and slept on a fold-out sofa between client meetings. Word spread quickly in Atlanta’s business community about the young logistics prodigy who could make the impossible happen. Need urgent medical supplies transported across state lines in the middle of a snowstorm? TAP could handle it. Last-minute change in shipping manifests for a Fortune 500 company? No problem for TAP’s state-of-the-art tracking system.

Within five years, that tiny office had grown into a thirty-story testament to a legitimate business concern. The warehouse complex sprawled across ten acres, its loading bays constantly busy with the fleet of TAP trucks coming and going. The crown jewels of her achievement were two recently acquired Boeing cargo planes with the TAP logo emblazoned on their tails. The day would come when she would carve out the time to pilot one of them since she obtained a pilot’s license five years ago.

Yet her grandfather had dismissed all her achievements with a wave of his hand, as if building a multi-million-dollar business was no more impressive than learning to tie her shoes. Her grandmother’s only comment had been to ask when she planned to start a family, as if running one of the Southeast’s largest logistics companies was just a childish hobby to keep her occupied until marriage.

And now... now they wanted to take it all away. Force her to marry one of their associates, who no doubt intended to utilize her life’s work as a front for their criminal empire.

“This is not a request,vnuchka,” Gregor said, cutting through her thoughts. “It’s time to forge ahead. The organization needs—”

“The organization?” Tatiana’s laugh mocked the hollow sincerity of her grandfather’s words. “You meanyourorganization,Dedushka. There was never going to be a place for me except as an exquisite lure to pucker and wiggle on the end of a hook to entice those sharkskin-suited half-wits you callassociates. And now you expect me to just drop everything I’ve struggled to build into a successful business to come dancing along to your tune because it’s convenient for you? Do you have any idea at all how absurd and offensive that is to me? Apparently not.”

She rose sharply from her desk and walked to the window. Below, a TAP truck was pulling out of the yard with its distinctive blue and silver livery gleaming in the morning sun. Each vehicle in her fleet represented a contract won through skill and determination, not with threats and bribery.

“I built this,” she said in a steel-edged voice. “Every client, every contract, every success—I earned it, and now you want to turn it into just another money laundering operation? Another front for your precious Bratva to appease one of your cronies?” She turned to face him, her own ice-blue eyes matching his glare. “No. Not this time. Not ever,Dedushka. TAP is mine. I own it and built it. My name is on it in big, bold letters, right there—Tatiana Anastasia Polov—and you think you can take it from me? Over my dead body. It’s not happening. It stays clean!” Her voice turned bitter.

“And here’s some more news for you,Dedushka. I would rather die from a thousand cuts than marry that ancient piece of shit you dug up from under a rock. That is never, ever going to happen—not if I live to be a hundred.”

“Tatiana! You will not speak of Barto with such disrespect.”

“What did you expect,Dedushka? Ordering me to marry a man old enough to be my father? This isn’t 19th-century Russia, for fuck’s sake. What world do you think we’re all living in?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to, young lady?” he bellowed angrily. “You will offer me the respect I deserve.”

“Respect is a two-way street, grandfather. You have shown none toward me or my accomplishments. I’ll gladly show you respect just as soon as I get some from you. The hard truth is that I absolutely loathe what you’re trying to force on me.” She held up her hand as he dragged in a deep breath. “I am my own self-respecting woman. I have worked myself to the bone building TAP, and if you think marrying me off to that sixty-five-year-old piece of shit will give you access to my company, then you are seriously deluded!”

“And you’re thirty-five and still unmarried. You need to produce an heir to the family. What does it matter how old he is? As long as he can fill your belly with his seed, that is what’s important.”

“Do you have any idea how utterly despicable your words are to me? I’m your goddamn granddaughter! Not some fucking whore! You disgust me!” Jumping up, she stomped toward the window. “No wonder my parents walked away all those years ago,” she scoffed angrily.

“How dare you speak to me in that tone! You know nothing about what happened!” he thundered.

She spun around angrily. “Then tell me I’m wrong! Or is there something you and Grandmother have kept silent about for all these years? You never told me anything. So, where are my parents? Are they even still alive? Did they really believe it was best to leave their only child behind? Or did they end up at the bottom of the ocean for daring to oppose yourexecutive orders?”

For a split second, something telling flashed in Gregor’s eyes…a flicker of guilt, perhaps… then vanished so quickly, Tatiana thought she had imagined it. Just as quickly, the moment was consumed by a fury she had never seen before. The open hand moved in a blur to land in a loud crack across her left cheek with such force, it knocked her off balance. Her hip caught the edge of her desk as she went down. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she stared up at him with one hand pressed against her burning cheek. In thirty-six years, he had never raised a hand to her.

“Yes, you better be scared, terrified even. How dare—”

“As always, you’re wrong, and mark my words, you will regret this, Grandfather.” Her voice was steady despite the tremor in her hands. “I’m not afraid of you, and you just answered my question. Thank you for showing me who you really are.”

“Vnuchka…” The blood drained from his face, leaving him ashen. His hands shook as he took a step back.

The pieces clicked into place with devastating clarity. All these years, she had believed the story they had fed her—that her father had been too weak to handle the pressure of the Bratva, that her mother had chosen him over her own daughter, and that they had abandoned her to start a new life away from the family’s influence. But that momentary flash of guilt in Gregor’s eyes, followed by this unprecedented violence born from a simple question...

She pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the throbbing in her cheek and hip. The truth felt like ice in her veins. It had all been lies. Her parents hadn’t abandoned her. They hadn’t chosen to leave her behind. Whatever had happened to them, whatever fate they had met, it had been at her grandfather’s behest.

Walking to the door on legs that threatened to buckle, she pulled it open. “This meeting is over,Dedushka. I want you to leave.”

“Tatiana—”

“Now.” The sharp retort cut the air like a knife. “Get out of my office. Get out of my building. I will not stand for secrets between us, and I will not be manipulated.”

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