Page 38 of The Payment

“I refused to become like him,” Maxim said in a quiet voice.“I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in succeeding him.From a young age, he forced me to learn the tricks of the trade, as he called it.To make me like him.I resisted.Every single day of my life.When you were born, I swore I’d take you and your mother away.Gregor wouldn’t allow us to leave.I had to bide my time.To plan, to build a strategy so that we could escape safely and never be bothered by him.”

“It worked.Once you left me, he didn’t care.”

“Because he believed we were dead since your uncle lied to protect us.He was overcome with anger at what your grandfather had done that night.”

Maxim’s voice turned gruff.“The final break came when I witnessed just how cruel my father truly was.Yes, I wasn’t naive.I knew he had people killed, that he had no sympathy or regrets about anything in his life, and I had to learn to live with that.I drew the line at women and children.Your uncle wanted out because his wife was pregnant.He made it clear that unless the Polovskaya Bratva turned into only white-collar crime, he was walking away.Gregor was livid since, until then, Nikolai was the only one of our family who never questioned his decisions.He told Nikolai he would never let him go.That night, he took me with him.He blamed Nikolai’s change of loyalty on his pregnant wife.I tried to stop him, but he was like a madman.He killed Cynthia with a knife, stabbing her in the stomach over and over.His bodyguards held me down, forcing me to watch her bleed out, growling at me to remember what happened to Bratva members, family included, who believed they have a choice.When we came home, I told your mother to pack.”

“Gregor caught us as we went to fetch you.He laughed when your father told him we were leaving.That he wanted nothing to do with the Bratva life.When he realized we were serious, he stormed into your room and held the gun to your head.I’ll never forget his words.”Mila’s voice hardened as she repeated them.“She’s mine.Through you, my blood runs in her veins.If you’re too much of a chicken shit to do your duty, I’ll make sure she takes your place.”She kept wringing her hands.“I had never been so scared in my life as I watched him hold the gun against your head.”

“He continued to say that if we leave, we better run because he would set his entire army after us,” Maxim interjected.“‘No one ever leaves the Bratva, Maxim.You know that as well as I do.Just because you’re my son doesn’t mean you get special privileges.Run...and you die, along with your bitch of a wife.’”Maxim shook his head.“I still hear his voice echo in my mind.It never stops.”His eyes filled with tears as he looked at her.“Maybe now that we found you, it will end our torture.”

The explanation of Gregor’s brutality unfolded like a nightmare.Each revelation carved deeper wounds into Tatiana’s heart.Her grandfather’s nature emerged in stark relief.He truly was a monster who would murder his own family to maintain control.

Jarek remained silent beside her, but his presence radiated strength, helping her stay upright as her world crumbled and reformed.When Mila opened her arms, thirty years of loss and longing crashed through Tatiana’s carefully constructed walls.

“And our regret and longing.”Mila stopped in front of Tatiana and opened her arms.“I missed you so much, my darling girl.”

Tatiana stared at her mother’s outstretched arms, frozen between decades of abandonment and primal yearning.Her throat closed around a sob as the scent of jasmine—the same perfume from her scattered childhood memories—drifted toward her.

“I can’t...”she whispered, even as her body swayed forward.Jarek’s hand pressed gently against her lower back to steady her and offer her courage.“I don’t know how...”

Mila stepped closer with tears streaming down her face.“Just let me hold you, my precious girl.Please.”

The plea shattered Tatiana’s final resistance.She stumbled into her mother’s embrace.Her composure crumbled when Mila’s arms wrapped around her.The familiar curve of her mother’s shoulder and the softness of her hair unleashed a tide of suppressed memories.She remembered the bedtime stories and butterfly kisses, warm hugs, and whispered, “I love yous.”

A keening sound tore from Tatiana’s throat as she clutched her mother.Her knees buckled, but Mila held her up, murmuring soft Russian endearments into her hair.

“I thought you didn’t want me,” Tatiana sobbed against her mother’s shoulder.“I thought I wasn’t enough to make you stay.”

“Never, my darling.Never.”Mila's voice broke.“Leaving you was like cutting out my own heart.Every day without you was torture.”

Maxim’s arms encircled them both.His tears dripped onto Tatiana’s hair.The family circle closed as three decades of separation dissolved in a flood of grief and love.

Through her tears, Tatiana saw Jarek move quietly toward the door to allow them privacy.Before he could leave, she reached out and caught his hand.

“Stay.”He had brought her parents back to her.Despite everything else between them, at this moment, she needed him to be here.

His fingers interlaced with hers as the Polov family clung together, beginning the long process of healing wounds that had festered for thirty years.

Jarek

Jarek watched the reunionunfold with a complex storm of regret and satisfaction warring in his chest.The sight of Tatiana breaking down in her mother’s arms struck deeper than he had expected.Her usual iron control had shattered, leaving her raw and vulnerable in a way he had never witnessed outside of a BDSM scene.The sound of her sobs carved into his soul, reminding him of Emma’s tears when she had lost her first tooth.

His jaw clenched against the unexpected grief flooding him.He had orchestrated this reunion as part of his plan, telling himself it was another strategic move against Gregor.But watching Tatiana collapse into her parents’ embrace and witnessing thirty years of pain pour out of her, he realized he had given her back something precious—something he could never recover for himself.

When her hand reached for his, the gesture knocked the breath from his lungs.

“Stay.”In a moment of her greatest vulnerability, she sought his strength.Despite knowing what he was, what he had done, she wanted him there.The trust in that simple gesture humbled him.

He threaded his fingers through hers, noting how perfectly they fit together.Her grip was desperate, as if he were her anchor in the storm of emotions threatening to drown her.The irony wasn’t lost on him.He had married her to destroy her grandfather, yet here he stood, offering comfort as her world transformed.

Watching Maxim and Mila embrace their daughter, Jarek remembered with bitterness what real love looked like—not the twisted version Gregor Polov had perverted upon Tatiana for his own ends.The pure joy and devastating grief on their faces spoke of decades of longing.They had sacrificed everything to protect their child, while Gregor had sacrificed his own family for power.

Regret of the path he was on surprised him.His life would have been very different if he had cherished his family’s memory rather than turning into the Dark One for vengeance.He shook it off before the thought fully formed.He was long past living in regret.What was done was done.

A fierce protectiveness surged through him as Tatiana’s tears kept flowing.He might have started this as revenge, but standing here, witnessing this moment, a fundamental shift happened inside him.For the first time since losing his own family, the ice around his heart started to crack.

Her hand tightened in his as he stepped closer, offering silent support.Whatever came next, he had given her back her family and he would ensure no one—especially not Gregor Polov—would ever tear this family apart again.

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