Page 81 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

Sergei

“And you don’t need perfect parents, money, nor a family given last name to find a wife, Sergei. You just need a heart.”

Scarlett’s words lingered in the air as she left my office. Those words alone were a reflection of her nature. To Irina, heart never mattered; it was everything else. But not to Scarlett. It was probably the reason I fell in love with her so effortlessly. I gave her my heart, and I wanted hers in return.

I wanted to run after her, shout that she has my heart. Instead, I remained glued to my seat, staring at the door after she left.

I wasn’t sure how long I remained watching the door, as if Scarlett would come back. My phone rang and I frowned, noting it was Dimitry. I expected him to still be pissed off at me, not speaking with me for at least another year. Although I’d miss him.

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Anastasia was shot,” Dimitry’s voice was strangled, his words barely audible.

“What? How?” My heart thundered with fear.

“What?” I heard Nikolai ask the same question. He must have conferenced us both in.

“Vlad betrayed us,” he choked up. “I don’t know if she-”

Dimitry couldn’t finish. Nikolai and I listened, silence deafening as the fear for my brother and his woman grew. If something happened to her, it would destroy my brother.

I heard some shuffling. “I’ll tell them,” I heard Misha’s voice. “Doctor wants to speak to you.” Some more shuffling. “It’s Misha.”

“What happened?” I questioned him.

“Anja was a svidetel at my wedding. At the reception, Vlad said something to Anja and she left the wedding,” he muttered. “We don’t know what he told her but she just took the car keys and left. There was an ambush and Boris’ men rammed into her car. Vlad had it all set up, he’s the mole. We tracked her to a warehouse thanks to the tracking device in her necklace. There was a shootout between Boris, his men, and us. Anastasia threw herself in front of Dimitry. Took a bullet for him.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. She loved him too. Their life together wasn’t supposed to be short.

“That fucking Vlad-” Nikolai cursed, fury in his voice reflecting rage boiling within me.

“The second bullet was sure to kill her,” Misha continued. “But Boris took that bullet. He died.”

“What?” Nikolai and I both asked at the same time. I must have heard it wrong. There was no way Boris would take a bullet for anyone.

“She is his fucking daughter,” Misha revealed, and if I wasn’t sitting, I was sure I’d be on the floor, right along with my jaw. “She didn’t know, neither did Boris. Manciatti revealed it to him right before the shootout started. Can you fucking believe it? Boris’ daughter!”

No, I couldn’t believe it. Anastasia was my sister. My blood sister!

“Will she pull through?” I asked, anguish eating me on the inside.

“She is in surgery. It’s not looking good but the doctors are doing everything they can.”

God couldn’t let her die. Life couldn’t be so damn cruel. My brother deserved happiness. He had given his life protecting Nikolai and me. God wouldn’t take it all away from him now.

“What can we do?” I asked. My sister! She was strong; I knew she was. She would pull through. She had to. For my brother! For me!

“Vlad orchestrated Anastasia’s abduction,” Misha muttered over the phone. “Both of them.”

“Fucking snake in the grass,” I spat. I knew I should have wrung his neck back at the Russian Orchid. I should have followed my gut feeling. “Nikolai, you focus on Malcome. I’ll start on Vlad.”

With somewhat of a plan, we hung up. Misha would keep us updated. Dimitry wouldn’t be in a good frame of mind till Anja pulls through. She would; I strongly believed that.

I went in search of Michail and gave him a quick rundown of what happened. The only thing he didn’t know was that Anja was my sister. Nobody knew about my connection to Boris. Not even Boris himself knew he was my father. Apparently, he didn’t know he was Anja’s father either.

The question remained: how did the blackmailer on the phone know?

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