Page 12 of Bound in the Dark

“Why should I do that?” She didn’t often speak Russian anymore. Over the last few years she had worked hard to remove any trace of the language from her speech, wanting nothing to tie her back to the people who had raised her.

He coughed and spat.“Your sister has gone mad and turned on the family. Kill her and I will see you raised up in her place.”

Diana looked over at her sister who was rolling her eyes. “What did they do?”

Alena might not have loved her family in the traditional sense, but she was loyal. She had to be since they held her daughter’s happiness and safety over her head. Something must have happened for her to finally decide to break away in such a spectacular fashion.

“Papa decided that marrying off Nadya to the Pakhan of the Vasiliev family is more valuable than the loyalty of an aging assassin.”

Diana winced. Yes, that would do it. Her niece had been pampered and raised in the equivalent of a gilded cage. They had tried to make sure she could defend herself but the girl had never had to survive the harsher sides of life. Their father might be a powerful man, but he was sometimes an idiot. Her chaotic sister was often a mystery, but only a fool would underestimate the lengths she would go to protect her child.

“Isn’t he over sixty?”

“Sixty-eight. His last two wives died conveniently under mysterious circumstances when he developed an interest in someone younger."

Her uncle started cursing them and all women, in general, in Russian. Diana sighed. This was going to be bloody.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Our dear uncle knows where Nadya is being held until the wedding. Help me find her and take her back."

"And what about her future groom?" Her sister and Nadya were the most important part of her life. She would do what was needed to help, but two women alone taking down two Bratva families was a tall order.

"I spoke with Vasiliev, he wants control of Stepanov resources. He doesn't care how. Through marriage or Papa's death."

That made things much easier. Diana crouched down so she was eye to eye with her Uncle and let ice fill her voice.

"I guess we're going to find out who has the better training, Uncle. You at resisting torture or me at extracting information."

* * *

“Did you have to kill them all?” Nadya’s voice came clearly through the earpiece. Her niece seemed surprised but not horrified, which was a good thing.

Diana disassembled her Barrett M95 sniper rifle, stowing it away for later disposal. Getting the location in New York where the girl had been held had taken less than an hour. Creating the plan to break her out took several days. But the assault on the remote cottage in the woods had lasted less than five minutes.

“Yourtetyakilled more of them than me. Which she will no doubt gloat over,” Alena said with exasperation in her voice.

“I am not the showboat you are,Akula,” Diana shouted over to where the two women were exiting the building. Her sister’s moniker was well known throughout the underworld. She had been the stick their father used to beat his enemies into submission. Well known and feared, her name meant Shark.

The people who hired Diana referred to her asTishina, or the English version of the word Silence. When she had been under the family's direction she hadn’t been allowed to speak. Since then she continued the practice with her customers and rarely met them in person. Only the really powerful knew who she was and respected her wish to remain unknown. The rumor that to hear her speak was to know you were going to die amused Diana to no end.

“Aunt Diana?” Her niece turned and ran to her with a smile on her face.

The scene around them wasn’t ideal for a family reunion. Five men lay sprawled dead on the lawn little left but a bloody mess where their heads used to be. Inside, lay three more dead, one from a shot through the window and the other two Alena had taken out. A normal nineteen year old would be freaking out. Unfortunately, although Nadya had been pampered growing up in a penthouse in Manhattan, she hadn’t been sheltered from the horrors of what life in the Bratva meant.

Diana stood and opened her arms, welcoming the girl with an enthusiastic hug. Her niece had a black eye that was fading, but other than that seemed unharmed.

“Who hit you?” If the man who had done this wasn’t already dead they might have to make a special trip to fix that.

Nadya looked down and shrugged. “Dedushkadidn’t like me saying I wouldn’t get married.”

The look of icy rage on Alena’s face was enough to send fear shooting down her own spine. If there had been any chance that her sister would hesitate before killing their father it was now gone. Not that there had been much of a chance of that. Diana had learned that her sister had been a very busy woman the last few weeks. She had killed most of their father’s brigadiers and the family was in chaos trying to hold things together. Those still left were either at his side or just waiting for the signal to switch their loyalties.

“You don’t worry about that anymore, little rabbit.” The gentle emotion on Alena’s face as she ran her hand down her daughter's dark hair made Diana smile. “Your mama will fix this all.”

The two women looked so alike, no one would mistake their relationship. Nadya had her father’s blue eyes and cheekbones but everything else was from her mother. Stepanov genetics were dominant in most things.

“You’re going to kill him aren’t you?” The sadness in the girl’s voice surprised her.

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