Page 84 of Thorns of Lust
“Why not?” I shook my head. I hadn’t realized my woman was so nosy.
“He has an addiction problem,” I told her honestly. “The woman he loved died years ago and he has become unreliable.”
“Oh.” She stared at me, waiting for me to elaborate. When I didn’t, she continued, “Maybe your brother is the emotional type while you’re a block of ice.” If she only knew how little like a block of ice I was when it came to her. “It’s not easy getting over people you love.” I locked eyes with her. If she dared to go on about Adrian and her love for him, I’d dig for his ashes and kill him all over again. That selfish prick didn’t deserve her. He put her life in danger with his actions. “People don’t just forget about their loved ones,” she added quietly. I gritted my teeth. It was better than saying the words that were on the tip of my tongue. After a moment, she shrugged as if trying to shake off her thoughts. “Well, whatever. He’s your brother,” she muttered.
There wasn’t much else to say about it. Besides, Maxim was the last topic I wanted to discuss. So I opened the laptop, the password blinking at me.
“The password isMemento mori,” she announced. I raised my eyebrow and she put her both hands up in the air. “I didn’t come up with that password.”
“The literal translation is ‘Remember you must die’.That’s quite morbid for a password,” I noted. “Did you know what it means?”
She sighed, then nodded. “Latin is not my strong suit. I had to look it up.”
I typed in the password and the welcome screen appeared. I clicked on the first folder. One, two, three… I could see why she was worried. Adrian recorded some shit on Tatiana’s brothers. I started deleting the videos from the drive as well as the history so there’d be no traces of it.
The video of her mother almost killing Tatiana hit me right in the chest. To think her life almost ended so soon after it began. Sasha didn’t know it, but I’d forever owe him for saving his baby sister.
“Is this it? The chip?” she asked, pulling me out of my task. Her fingers played with her necklace, twisting it nervously. I’d deleted dozens of videos, but there were many more. Nothing on the members of the Thorns of Omertà.
“No.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “Ugh, I hoped it was so it can be put behind me.” Silence followed for a heartbeat. “What does the Yakuza want with this chip?”
“Probably to protect themselves,” I answered vaguely. “A lot of powerful families want that chip. Adrian recorded shit onto that chip that could put a lot of people in jeopardy.”
Including my sister, but I kept those words to myself.
“But none of them attacked me,” Tatiana argued. “Except for the Yakuza. So it means they’re desperate for the information on it.”
I had my suspicions why the Yakuza wanted to get their hands on it first. Then they’d own every other member of the Omertà. But it wasn’t easy to throw this on them without concrete evidence. It could be easily said that they grew restless and worried about their exposure on that chip.
While I was there, Tatiana disappeared a few times and came back with cookies and drinks.No alcohol, I noted pleasantly.
I didn’t comment but she must have noticed my look, because she added, “Umm, I’m not keeping any alcohol here.”
I didn’t want her drinking because I fully intended to have her knocked up. Then I’d marry her before she could say ‘baby’ and we’d have our whole life ahead of us. I’d burn this whole fucking world if it’d make her happy.
Her eyes were clearer. Her smiles, no matter how small, were more frequent. She wasn’t back to her normal self, but she was well on her way there, and it made me the happiest man alive to see her like this. Fuck everything else, she was the only thing that mattered. I considered her my family.
“Good,” I answered curtly.
It was a step in the right direction. I was proud of her. Adrian didn’t deserve her tears, her nightmares, never mind her liver. So I drank Coke while she sipped on water. It took three hours to go through it all. Adrian had gathered data on a lot of people, but what I needed wasn't there.
With the last drive completely erased, I shut down the laptop.
“All done.”
Her eyes met mine. “No traces of videos on my brothers, right?”
“I’ve gone through all the videos and they are all erased. Do you know why he had them?”
“No.” She shook her head, chewing on her bottom. “It makes no sense. He’s been around our family forever and having that stuff almost feels like–”
She didn’t finish her sentence but the meaning lingered. It bothered her. I could tell by the expression on her face. By the way her lower lip trembled. By the way her hands fidgeted.
Loyalty was part of Tatiana’s DNA. It wasn’t part of Adrian’s.
“Well, it’s gone now,” I commented. “But we’re still in need of that chip.”
