Page 39 of Cruel Russian Pakhan
“Sure.”
As Lev crossed the room and flipped the switch, I sat up slowly, squinting against the brightness.
He returned to the bed and studied me. “Headache?”
“I’ll be fine, Lev. What did you come to say?”
Ignoring my question, he pulled out his phone. “Rocco, go to the nearest pharmacy and get a bottle of painkillers for Katya.”
My eyes widened. He didn't call me Vera.
He. Called. Me. By. My. Name.
Lev pocketed his phone and took my hand, his thumb brushing over my skin. I had to bite my tongue to keep from moaning. I was angry with him, but his touch still soothed me, still pooled wetness between my thighs. And God knows how many times I tried to hate him in the past five days, but it was useless.
“Katya…” His voice was low, and filled with sincerity. “I made a grave mistake. I was wrong. I’m sorry for accusing you of working with Artyom, for kidnapping you, for taking you away from your life. Can you ever forgive me?”
I closed my eyes. How could I not forgive him when he sounded like he truly meant it? And how could I not forgive the man I was falling for?
I opened my eyes and met his gaze. “Lev, I’m not one to hold grudges. So yes, I forgive you.” I tilted my head, confused. “But if you know who I really am, and it was a mistake…why won’t you let me go?”
“Because I found something else.”
My heart skipped a beat, and my breaths came in quick, sharp uneven bursts.
“Something like what?” I croaked, tightening my grip on his hand.
He shifted closer. “The reason you look just like Vera…is because you’re her half-sister. You share the same father. You’re a Rykov.”
Time seemed to stop. I felt like the air had been punched from my lungs.
Vera…was…my sister?
Which meant Artyom and the others…they were my siblings, too?
No. That couldn’t be right. I’d spent my entire life believing I had no one. That I was abandoned by my parents. That I had no other blood ties. No other family. I’d clung to the idea that I came from nothing, because it hurt less than thinking I had family out there who just didn’t want me.
“I have a family?” I whispered, more to myself than to him.
Just saying the words felt like a hammer cracking open my chest. Before I could stop them, tears spilled down my cheeks. Lev wrapped me in his arms as I sobbed.
Thinking back to Artyom and the others, and their ages, it became painfully clear that my mother must have gotten pregnant by a man who already had a family.
Was that why she left me at the orphanage? Out of shame?
But there was something I needed to know, even if it shattered me.
“D-did my father know about me?” I asked, pulling back to look at him.
Lev shook his head. “He didn’t. He had an affair with your mother and kept it secret from everyone except his brother. Artyom confronted his uncle, who confirmed it, but he didn’t know her name.”
He hesitated. “I had one of your hairbrushes tested for DNA. I didn’t want to tell you anything until it was confirmed.”
His gaze softened. “If your father had known about you, you would’ve been in his life. Bratva leaders are very protective of their children, especially their daughters.”
“So my father was a leader like you?”
Lev nodded.
