Page 80 of Rafi

Tayana’s laughter, soft and unguarded, as the city lights danced in her eyes. The way she leaned over the railing that night, her hair whipping in the wind, her voice filled with wonder as she talked about dreams she wasn’t sure she could chase.

I grip the railing tightly, my knuckles whitening. She didn’t belong in my world of violence and shadows, but selfishly, I’d wanted her here anyway. I’d thought I could keep her safe, keep hermine. But I was wrong.

My chest feels hollow as I stare out at the skyline, the memories swirling around me like ghosts. Tayana made her choice to leave, and that’s a decision I have to respect.

But why does it still feel like she’s here, haunting every corner of my mind?

I let out a sharp breath, my hands shaking as I scrub them over my face. I don’t know how to let her go. I don’t even know if I want to.

The sky darkens, the stars beginning to peek through the inky black. I stay there, watching the city below, as the weight of everything presses down on me. The lookout feels emptier without her.

And so do I.

45

TAYANA

The door to the bedroom at the back of the plane closes with a soft click, but it feels like the slam of a prison gate. I lean against it, closing my eyes as the low hum of the engines vibrates through me. My breath hitches, and I press my palms flat against the cold wood, trying to steady the swirling storm inside me.

I left them there. Anton and Igor, sitting side by side like old comrades, their voices low, conspiratorial. It doesn’t make sense. Itcan’tmake sense. They’ve spent years hating each other, glaring across family dinners, exchanging venomous barbs like it was a sport. Now, they’re huddled together, allies in some secret war they refuse to let me see.

My mind spins as I sink onto the bed, curling my knees to my chest. My fingers trace the seams of the comforter, but the motion does nothing to calm me. Every time I try to piece together their behavior, the fragments of memory clash and shatter.

Anton—my father. The word feels foreign, bitter, like poison on my tongue. He cast me out after my mother died, shoving me away when I needed him most. I’ve spent years convincingmyself that it was for my own good, that his grief made him cold. But now…

Now I don’t know what to think.

I’ve spent my entire life believing Igor was the enemy, the monster lurking in the shadows. My mother had told me to stay away from him, painted him as a wolf circling our family, waiting for a moment of weakness. But today, when Igor stepped between me and the chaos, when he defended me with a fierceness that seemed almost paternal, it didn’t add up. The way he so ruthlessly shot Daniel Russo as he waved his gun around; even that didn’t make sense.

My fists clench around the comforter. The cabin feels too small, too stifling. I push off the bed and start pacing, my steps short and restless as my frustration boils over. I yank open the wardrobe built into the wall, slamming it shut again when I find nothing but pristine hangers. The sound echoes around the small room, but it does nothing to soothe the roaring ache inside me.

I stop in front of the mirror, gripping the edge of the vanity as I glare at my reflection. My eyes are shadowed, my face pale, but the anger burning beneath the surface is all too familiar.

“What do they want from me?” I ask the girl in the mirror.

The memory of Rafi’s face rises unbidden, his steady gaze and quiet strength cutting through the fog. I imagine him in the mirror, standing behind me, looking over my shoulder. In anger.Rafi. His name is a whisper in my mind, a thread of hope I shouldn’t cling to. But I do. Even knowing that he is probably so angry at me for what I’ve done. I didn’t even say goodbye; didn’t even give us a chance before I got on the plane and left with the two men who will probably be my undoing.

I think of his family—their warmth, their acceptance. They gave me something I hadn’t realized I was missing; a place tobelong. With them, I wasn’t the Bratva princess, wasn’t a pawn in a game I didn’t want to play. I was just Tayana.

I wrap my arms around myself as the tears sting my eyes, though I refuse to let them fall. I traded that family for this—whateverthisis. Secrets. Lies. Shadows. A past shrouded in secrecy.

The plane hums around me, and I press my fists to my temples, trying to block out the noise. But it’s not the engines I want to escape—it’s the two men who have controlled my life for far too long now.

As soon asthe plane touches down, I give them an ultimatum, but they call my bluff. They refuse to answer my questions, and they will not clarify the allegations that have been thrown around so loosely since we all came to be standing in the same space. I can’t even remember the last time we all stood together like this. My mother’s funeral, perhaps?

I’m so stunned, so furious, I can barely see straight. The moment their silence settles in the air between us, I turn on them.

“I’m leaving,” I spit, my voice trembling with rage. “Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. Don’t even think about me. I’m catching the next flight back, and I swear to God, I will never speak to either of you again.”

Anton’s face crumples, guilt etched into every line of his expression. Igor, on the other hand, looks like he’s been carved from stone, his jaw tight, his eyes burning with some mix of anger and pride. Neither of them tries to stop me as I storm past them. Maybe they know they can’t. Maybe they think I needtime. Or maybe, deep down, they’re just as tired of fighting as I am.

The cold air bites at my skin as I step outside the terminal, my breath fogging in front of me. I clutch my bag tightly, my hands shaking—not from the chill, but from the storm raging inside me. For twenty-two years, I’ve lived in the wreckage of their choices. And for the first time, I’m starting to wonder if I have the strength to step out of it. To leave it all behind.

But as I stand there, frozen on the curb, a voice whispers in the back of my mind.What if leaving doesn’t set you free? What if it only makes you another casualty in their endless war?

I close my eyes, my heart pounding. I don’t know the answer. But I do know one thing: I need to decide where I belong. And I’m not running anymore.

Everything they’ve buriedfor years suddenly comes spilling out. The truth, the lies, the tangled mess of my family history.

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