Page 34 of Scarred (Russian Sinners 2)

He nodded, eager to please. He was scared for his life. The whole of Moscow knew my brothers and my reputation; the Russian Sinners that tortured and killed any threat.

“Go get it all together,” I told him, my eyes resting on the body of my sister. “I want it before I leave here.”

He scurried out of there like a wind, eager to get away from me.

“Fuck, Nadia,” I muttered under my breath. “Why didn’t you call me?”

The guilt swelled in my heart; the bitter anger at myself for not paying attention. Whoever did this, I would make them pay. If it was the last thing I did in this lifetime, I would make them suffer unlike anyone or anything before them.

Yes, I knew very well what that man was capable of. I saw the horrors on Nadia’s body and the coroner's report. It was his time to suffer. I just had to be patient and play my cards right.

I could not afford to lose control. Too much was at stake. Upholding my promise was at stake, both to Nadia and now Olivia.

Chapter Twelve

Olivia

When I woke up the next morning, I felt refreshed and rested despite the disturbing dreams. But they weren’t as intense as they usually felt; they weren’t nightmares. Even during our summer girls’ trip, I’d battled bad dreams and fear of the future that was approaching with Malcome.

This was all thanks to Nikolai sweeping me away. I couldn’t believe Anastasia thought about my troubles when she was just rescued from being kidnapped. Actually, scratch that… I could. That was just who she was, always considering others first.

Tasha and I were picking out her outfit for the day from her extensive closet. It reminded me of Barbie's dreamhouse closet. It had everything and anything. Her uncle ensured she had anything she could possibly want or need. She settled on a pink dress with white flowers on them and a pair of pink flats.

Then she offered to pick out something for me to wear. I had to chuckle because each outfit she picked out for me was a girly dress that would coordinate with hers. At the end I caved, and we agreed on a pink blouse, pair of jeans, and pink Converse shoes for me.

A whole hour of getting ready, longest ever for me, we were walking down the grand marble stairs towards the dining room. The entire house was bright with sunlight coming through large windows and after good night’s sleep, my spirits were uplifted.

We sat ourselves at the table and dug into our breakfast. We both settled for toast, eggs, and a bowl of fruit.

“I’m so happy your breakfast here resembles ours,” I beamed. “When I was in Russia with my girlfriends, they served us vareniki, draniki, and tvorog for breakfast at the hotel. I didn’t particularly enjoy them.”

Draniki was sort of a potato pancake and my taste buds didn’t like it at all. Each time I saw it, I cringed. Tvorog and smetana I could tolerate although not my favorite. They were dairy based products. My absolute hated breakfast dish was vareniki, sort of a dumpling kind of dough food. I disliked it with passion. I truly couldn’t understand anyone sane eating that.

Tasha was a serious breakfast eater. She ate like she was starving and I loved her healthy appetite.

“So what would you like to do today?” I asked her.

She raised her eyes from breakfast, a smile spreading on her face. “Pool?”

She loved swimming in the pool.

“How about we do that in the afternoon when it is slightly warmer?” I suggested. “We could go to a park.”

“Why? I have a playground here,” she retorted, wonder in her eyes. She was quite intelligent for a six-year-old. I wanted her to socialize a bit with children her age. Katja mentioned that Tasha never went around kids her age and that was not good for her. Even I knew that. She was eager for friends but how could she find them if she always hung out with adults. She needed friends her age.

“I saw it yesterday, it is quite something,” I told her. “But it would be nice to see what’s around here. We could make it a scavenger hunt for a playground.”

“What’s a scavenger hunt?” she asked but I could see she already liked the idea of exploring. Her expressive eyes lit up.

“Well, a scavenger hunt is usually an outdoor game where you search for certain items and collect them,” I explained. “In this instance, we’ll just look for the playground.”

“Okay,” she agreed quickly, the intrigue worked.

After our breakfast, I checked with Andrey to ensure it was fine Tasha and I went for a walk outside the property in search of a public playground. He quickly coordinated two men and himself for protection. Two went ahead of us and Andrey hung behind us.

The day was beautiful. I quickly typed in a Google search for a few playgrounds around us and they all popped up. I decided against the closest one and went for the one roughly two blocks out. I turned to Andrey and showed him the one I selected.

“Is this safe?” I asked him. Every city had good areas and bad areas; I didn’t want to risk taking Tasha somewhere where it wasn't safe.

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