Page 97 of Corruption

No doubt there’s another story there that Addy isn’t going to tell.

“That said, I do understand what it’s like to be hurt by the person you love the most. Those three or four kill attempts between us weren’t just for shits and giggles. But loving someone isn’t just choosing the person who treats you the best. Loving someone is also deciding how much betrayal you can take because that’s part of any relationship. Whether that’s your spouse or partner not wanting to eat the home-cooked meals you prepared and ordering out every night instead or him becoming the enforcer of the man that ordered him to kill you as his condition for joining him.”

“Are you afraid he’d do it again?”

“No. I have that man wrapped around my finger and constantly drowning in my pussy.” I sigh because that doesn’t help. But then Addy adds, “And if I’m too blinded by love to see it coming, I’ve also got a couple of contingency plans to kill him. He approves of them.”

“You’re both insane. You know that, right?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

“Maybe. But we work.” Addy gives one last piece of advice before getting out the car. “You’re stronger and have more power than you give yourself credit for, Kiya. They want you back? Set your terms and don’t back down from them.”

36

Nadia

If there’s one thing I know about Isaak Vorobev Sr., it’s that the man loved theBratvamore than anything. He gave his life to it and was one paranoid motherfucker about it. So there’s no way he didn’t have a backup. There’s no way he planned to give Alik back his inheritance and make himpakhan, told Vaughn, and didn’t have it written down somewhere in a will or something. So knowing and believing that, me and people I trust implicitly search the house from top to bottom looking for it.

We search every corner and crevice of the house, and after a few hours, I begin to think that maybe I didn’t know my father-in-law as well as I think I did. But then Alik checks the old grand piano that he used to sit at with his father while he taught him how to play. The one thing his father gave him that didn’t become burdened with the weight of heavy expectations. The grand piano that he had moved to our home when his father died and Vaughn wanted to get rid of it.

It's been right under our noses the whole time. As though Alik’s father had a hunch Alik would take the piano and find the instructions in the event of his untimely death by his treacherous son’s hands.

“Well. Would you look at that. Right here in his own handwriting,” Alik says to me when we finally find it the morning after his brother’s death. “He was going to give it all back to me, and we killed him.”

“The fault of which still lies with Vaughn and will prove it to all interested parties,” I say as I pluck the paper out his hands.

The story we’re going to tell practically writes itself. Isaak Sr. decides to give Alik back his inheritance. Vaughn finds out, murders him by putting a rose concentrate in his wine, and then blames it on a convenient scapegoat.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t feel bad about killing my father. He was a greatpakhanbut a shitty fucking father who liked to play his power games with his children. But not killing him would have prevented all this trouble.”

“It would have. But then we wouldn’t have gotten Kiya out of all this. Hopefully, she’ll still have us.”

Alik scoffs. “Where the hell else would she be while carrying my child?”

“Ourchild,” I remind, kissing Alik on the cheek before leaving.

There’s still a lot that needs to be done.

Isaak is still in the hospital. Nursing a broken rib and a punctured lung. Restless and bored in his bed (I’ll have to see if Addy will take her children to see him). But otherwise, he’s fine and not particularly moved by his father’s death. If anything, he’s excited. He spent a significant amount of time last night when I was with him talking about hobbies I didn’t know he’d taken up. Gaming in particular. Serious gaming.

He has a secret setup that he had to hide from his father in his closet, apparently. Now with his father dead and unable to stop him, he plans to take it out so he’ll have more room and make it better. Maybe even build his own special modified computer. He’d hastily added if Alik and I would allow it in between all his studies, and I nearly cursed in anger at his apprehension. At his fear that I would tell him no. But I decided to save the anger for the supporters of Vaughn that I was going to have to hep Alik root out and kill. In the meantime, I simply told Isaak that of course he could do that, and that I’d look over the curriculum Vaughn had him on and see about lightening his load. He deserves to be allowed to be a child.

There’s also funeral arrangements for Vaughn. Even if it’s going to be a private affair. Choosing the men who are going to become Alik’s spies, captain, and bookkeeper. Contacting their spouses if they have one. Talking to Addy and Adrian about how they’ve decided this is all going to go.

It keeps Alik and I occupied until well into the afternoon. I don’t even leave my office to eat. I don’t even stopto eat. I plan to work and keep working well into the night until Alik walks into my office and says, “Kiya’s here.”

I immediately stop and follow him downstairs even though I’m not sure what to expect.

We had a long meeting with Addy and Adrian hours ago without Kiya present, and Addy proposed a plan. A plan that benefits us both. They’ll forge a marriage license and certificate and file it with the courts with the help of a judge and clerk who works for them, making Kiya Vaughn’s widow. We pledge to be their allies if another war breaks out and they pledge to be ours… all within reason, of course. In the meantime, we clear Addy’s name and give them a good deal for weapons. They allow us to use Addy’s logistics and routes to expand our weapons business. Everyone is happy.

When we asked about Kiya, Adrian simply shrugged his shoulders and said that was something for Alik and I to work out with her.

Given how reluctant she had seemed to leave the day before, I was sure she’d eventually come around. And if she didn’t… Well. Alik and I would have eventually made her. We weren’t going to let her prance around with our future heir and keep us shut out. Not when there’s nothing standing in the way of us having her anymore. We overcame Vaughn. We overcame stupid brotherhood and Italian mafia politics. We would have eventually overcome her stubbornness.

She’s standing in the area between the living room and the kitchen, munching on a cookie. One of the snickerdoodles she baked just days ago.

“Kitten,” Alik starts.

“Pretty Girl,” I say at the same time.

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