Page 98 of Final Installment
“It sounds lovely.”
“It is.”I kept washing my body, moving down my legs.“That whole ordeal was basically the end of Brett and my mother’s marriage.Things were bad before that, but after the way she reacted, he couldn’t respect her.She wanted to send me away, to make it like I had never existed.She didn’t want to press charges.She wanted it all to go away, but Brett refused.She waited until he was on a business trip and had me locked away in a mental hospital in Houston.That was it for him.He went scorched earth to get me out of there.”
“Christ, Elona, your mother really is a monster.”He seemed shocked by her propensity for inflicting pain and distress.“What happened to the man who hurt you?Is he still alive?”
I finally worked up the courage to look at him.His eyes burned with fury.He wanted to hurt someone.He wanted to spill blood for me.“He’s alive, but from what I understand, he’s in prison in Florida now.”
“He hurt another girl?”
“No, he lost his teaching license and became a pariah.His wife divorced him, and he ran off to Florida where he got hooked on meth, held up a convenience store and shot someone.He’s in for life, I think.”
“I’m surprised he made it out of Houston alive,” Luka remarked.“I’m shocked Brett let him live.”
“It wasn’t Brett’s decision.”I hesitated before explaining, “Coach Nevolin had ties to Nikolai Kalasnikov’s organization.A brother or an uncle or something like that.Nikolai wouldn’t let Brett kill him.”
Luka narrowed his eyes.“It sounds like I need to have a discussion with Nikolai.”
“You’re not a boss anymore.”
“This isn’t a boss issue.It’s about men doing what’s right.”
“I don’t blame Nikolai for the decision he made.I mean, at the time, I hated him, but now I understand why he did what he did.He was bound by rules.”
“It doesn’t matter.He owes you,” Luka insisted.
“Owes me what?”I handed him the soap so he could get clean.
“Reparations!”
I rolled my eyes.“I don’t need anything from the Russian mafia.”I poked his chest with a soapy finger.“You don’t need to be making demands of them either.We’re out of that life, remember?”
“It’s not right, Elona.”
“It’s done,” I emphasized.“It’s over, Luka.It was a long time ago.I’ve moved on with my life.I’ve healed physically and emotionally and mentally.I don’t want to go back there.I don’t need to go back there.”
He cupped my face and peered into my eyes.His intense stare left me feeling exposed but also seen.Finally, he said simply, “Okay.”
“Okay,” I echoed, putting an end to the discussion.
We finished our shower and dried off.He brought his small carry-on into my bedroom, and I gave him one of my dresser drawers and part of the closet.He’d packed efficiently and didn’t have much to put away.I enjoyed watching him unpack, relishing the simple domesticity of it.
As I was slipping into my matching pajama set, Luka said, “You know you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
I scoffed, suddenly uncomfortable with his praise.“Hardly.”
“You are.”He pulled on his pajama bottoms and reached for a tee with the KF Tirana logo on it.“Not just surviving everything you did as a teenager but the way you built a life for yourself on your own terms.The way you supported and loved your family even when it was probably very painful for you.”He caught my hand and tugged me close.“The way you fought to protect me and your brother on that boat.”
“You would have done the same thing if you’d been untied.”I hadn’t done anything special.I had simply been the one person in that room who could fight back.
He swept his thumb along my cheek.“I owe you my life.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”I placed my hands on his chest.“There are no debts between us.”
“Your brother settled his account with the family.Did you know that?”
I shook my head.“I didn’t, but I’m glad he did the right thing.He stole that money from his jailers, and I understand why he did it.But your family’s contribution needed to be returned.”
“Well, it was, and before I left, that was my final action as boss.I put an end to the feud between our families.”
