Page 25 of Sinful Promise

“Alex is my right-hand man. He goes where I go.”

She nods as if she understands.

I have a lot to do and get busy. I grab my burner phone and send the church parking lot pictures to Dmitry so he can run checks on the license plates. I arrange to have a jet waiting for us in Russia. I verify the yacht is stocked and ready to go. Dasha needs identification and a passport. I text a contact in my phone. I’ll have Dmitry create other documentation later. She’ll have a new life if I let her go. But for now, she’s my leverage over Ratmim. The only thing we’re missing is another woman on board. I want Dasha to feel safe.

“So, Dasha, Alex has a friend who will be joining us on this trip. Is that okay? I think you’ll like her.”

Her face lights up. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Irina.”

I meet Alex’s gaze in the mirror, and he nods at my unspoken message. Alex is loyal to the family. This is all going according to plan. We’ll go over the border tonight, and in the morning, we’ll meet my contact and go from there.

I wonder how long it will be before Dasha makes a move. Once she has a passport, she could go almost anywhere. Unless she’s a mermaid, it will be easier to hold on to her if she’s on a yacht in the middle of the ocean.

My goal is to keep this feud with Ratmim out of Russia and to keep him on defense, not offense.

I can use Dasha as a pawn until I tire of her. Then I’ll let her go.

Alex drives out of the hotel parking lot, and Dasha glances nervously behind us.

“We’re not being tailed. I have my eye on it,” Alex reassures her.

Her shoulders relax in relief, and she sinks more comfortably into the seat.

“I’m with you now, but I won’t be staying,” she says a little defiantly.

“And where will you go?” My tone is mocking. “You have no money, no phone. What are you going to do?”

“You don’t know,” she counters. “I could have a stash somewhere. Young kids today are savvy.”

She’s goading me, and I find it amusing.

“I doubt that, judging from your dress and old sneakers,” I say, calling her bluff. “Have you been to Russia?”

“A few times on short trips,” she says. “I think Papa had business meetings there.” She shrugs. “The change of scenery was nice. At home, all I do is stare at the walls and keep house.”

11

DASHA

It’s a long drive to the border but, the car is comfortable. I’ve done it a few times with Papa. The trip is monotonous, nothing but farmland and boring as hell.

I glance at Roman. The lines in his brow tell me that he’s stressed, and I don’t want to cross him. Not now, anyway. He’s been reluctant to give me his last name. I wonder what he does for a living and what they were doing in Minsk.

He senses my scrutiny and looks at me. I turn my head and stare out the window to avoid his gaze. We’re playing a game of questions to obtain an advantage over each other.

We have many Russians who freely come and go over our border, but these two pique my interest.

I breathe a sigh of relief when we make it out of Minsk. The more distance I put between myself and my family, the better. But what have I gotten myself into? Who are these men? Can they be trusted? What choice do I have?

If they are telling me the truth about planes and yachts, that means they are involved in some illegal activity. No one in this country, or in Russia, owns or has access to lavish things unless they are connected, like Andrian.

My father is just one of many mafia bosses, and he breathes because Andrian allows it. Something must’ve happened in order for Papa to marry me off to him. I know Papa travels to Russia occasionally and that my brothers go with him. When they were teenagers, they whined for a more significant share of the profits, and by the time they graduated secondary school, they were on the payroll. They never disclosed what they did when they left the house abruptly in the middle of the night and disappeared for days.

I didn’t ask, but voices carry in our apartment, and I’ve overheard phone calls and snippets of conversations during game night. I pretend not to pay attention, but I’ve heard them mention the Volkov family over the years. Andrian blames them for being kicked out of Russia, and Papa helps Andrian with his dirty work. They never have anything good to say about the Volkovs, and I think they hate them.

My thoughts return to my predicament. My biggest fear is that Roman makes his money off of human trafficking, like Andrian. If that’s the case, I’m in real danger. Sex trafficking has become a massive problem with all the turmoil in neighboring countries.

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