Page 24 of Broken By the Bratva

Sighing, I reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. But Tasha beat me to it. She rose and held the straw to my lips. After taking a couple of sips, my throat felt smoother, and I could continue. I waited for her to put the glass down and sit beside me.

“Right,” I said. “My father became greedy.”

Tasha tilted her head, raising her brows but waited for me to continue. “You see, he stole millions from the Chernykhs.” Lowering my gaze to my feet, I felt a heaviness entering my heart. “He ran off, leaving our mother and us behind to deal with the fallout.”

Her hand flew to her mouth as Tasha gasped. “Nooooo,” she huffed. Looking at her, I could see she was angry.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I added quickly. “But you asked, so I’m telling you.”

Tasha didn’t reply. She only nodded her head, so I continued. “We weren’t going to let our mother take the fall or suffer for what he did. This is when we decided to take care of business ourselves. We didn’t have the money but offered our service. We did odd jobs at first. We agree to work off the debt.”

Her eyes narrowed and it looked like she was about to say something but didn’t.

“It’s okay, Tasha,” I said softly. “Let me finish before you say or ask anything. If I don’t, I might never tell you everything.”

She closed her mouth and nodded. With this, I shared the rest. “So, our family was too low in the Bratva hierarchy to stand up to them or even hide. We didn’t want harm to come to our mother and Nadia. Thus, we agreed to do whatever they asked. As time passed, the requests changed but we had agreed.”

“How long has it been? Have you not yet paid your dues?” Tasha inquired. Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Very long, but like I said our father stole millions, so we might end up working for our entire lives.”

She looked at me with sadness and remorse in her eyes. She appeared troubled as well. Tasha wasn’t good at hiding her emotions. Tears started to form in her eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was something I said.

Maybe it was because I was vulnerable. My heart sank as I watched her. But I felt closer to her at that moment. Reaching out I took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “Everything will be fine, Tasha,” I whispered.

She smiled weakly at me as she rose. “I know,” she replied swallowing hard. “Things have a habit of working themselves out.”

Tasha leaned over and kissed my forehead. Her tender lips were like a soothing balm, and I felt my body relax. I watched as she left the room. “Good night, tiger,” I called out after her.

I heard her mumbling something in the hallway as she moved away. Closing my eyes, I gave in to the well-deserved rest my body demanded.

Chapter 14 - Tasha

Stepping into my room, I closed the door leaning back against it. My heart was racing. My blood throbbed as it rushed through my veins. Grabbing the bottle of water sitting on the bedside table, I drank like a horse, trying to ease the sudden onset of dry mouth.

My face and neck felt flushed as heat radiated through me. Never before had I felt rage like this. It was about to drive me insane. Hearing the water in the bottle sloshing, I glanced at my shaking hands. I had to do something.

This wasn’t right. The way the Chernykh’s have been treating this family wasn’t fair. Moving quickly, I headed to Vadik’s office. I grabbed his laptop and went to the library for some silence. Sitting down I opened the laptop and started digging. I would dig as hard and deep as needed, even if it took me all night. The rage burning in me was a ticking time bomb.

There was no sleeping tonight, I would find all I could and destroy them. I learned more than I expected. I found details about each family member such as habits, friends, telephone numbers, etc. Looking at the list, I decided I would get close to infiltrating them.

Sitting back in my chair I grinned up at the ceiling. Maybe not by myself but I could share it all with my family. Yet, I think I would at least try. Feeling slightly better, I went off to bed. There was more to do in the morning, but my brain needed rest.

The sun woke me as it brightened the world inside my room. Getting up with replenished spirits, I washed and dressed at record speed. Heading down the hallway I couldn’t wait to get back to Vadik’s laptop I left in the study. My anger was slightlysubdued but far from gone. I wondered which one of them would be most likely to befriend me.

Glancing at the list again, I opened X and created a new account. I’ve made friends with the enemy before for my brothers, but this time it felt more personal. Sitting back, I admired the profile I had created. It was perfect. Selecting one of the girls, I sent a friend request.

While I waited for a response, I checked in on Vadik. He was still sleeping so I left him be. After breakfast, I went back to check into the library. Looking at the reply on the screen, I felt a spark of hope flickering, Lena had accepted.

Taking a play out of Abram’s book, I decided to set up a meeting. Lena accepted my lunch offer. It was a busy public coffee shop so there was no reason for her to be suspicious. Our lunch was actually very nice. After that, she kept in contact.

We got to know each other quite well over the next couple of days. I regularly checked in on Vadik to ensure he was comfortable and recuperating. I had set another meeting with Lena for Friday even though I was still unsure of what I intended to do to them.

She was so sweet and innocent. I knew the betrayal would most likely break her, but it had to be done. My feelings for Vadik had evolved. I wouldn’t call it love, but there were strong emotions.

I felt I had to strengthen the bond with Lena quickly and get personal details on her siblings. Entering Vadik’s room on Friday morning, I noticed he appeared angry at me.

“Good morning,” I said smiling. Walking to his bedside, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “How did you sleep? You look a little grumpy this morning, do you have pain?”

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