Page 118 of Mafie Trials

“I was concerned about you being alone here at night with the area unguarded. Now that I see that’s not the case, I’ll be on my way.” He turns to leave, but not before Nessa gets in the last jab.

“The grown-ups do have business to discuss.”

She turns and heads towards the building as if we were about to actually go have a meeting. Rostya turns to her in fury. With his fists clenched, he steps to walk in her direction. I swiftly put myself in his path.

“You heard her,” I tell him. “I will not let you ruin a business deal of mine by acting like a fool in front of the person I need to grant us access to permits. Leave.”

His face turns mocking and as he leaves, he gives me the dumb two-finger salute I’m so used to seeing from his son. “As you wish,sir.”

I shake my head at his arrogance but choose to ignore it for now because I can smell the alcohol on his breath. I text one of our drivers to intercept him and take him home. If he’s willing to mock me, he’s not sober enough to be driving home.

I turn back to the building, figuring we will be up most of the night finalizing our plan so that she can call the rest of the team tomorrow.

Chapter 48

Five days. We only have five days before we leave for Russia again. Only seven days until we take down the man who ruined my life, who ruined so many people's lives. I take a shaky breath as I prepare myself to leave the bathroom, the place I’ve been hiding out in for the past fifteen minutes. Sometimes, when I don’t want to talk, this is the only place I can actually get some space.

Dr. K has encouraged me to take space when I need it. To face my feelings and work through them so they don’t control me. It’s actually been helping me a lot. It’s also a reminder of where I could have been mentally and how much stronger I could have been if I actually had real therapists helping me this entire time.

You can’t change the past, so don’t dwell on it. Facing something and letting something be the source of your anger are two different things. Focus on the present, look around at the things you can control, and remind yourself your past does not define you.

Dr. K’s words filter through my mind and this time when I take a breath, the shaking stops. I grab the door handle and walk out, my three men standing there waiting for me.

“You ready, Little Shadow?” Damien approaches me, holding out his hand. I take it in my own, threading our fingers together.

“We got this… Right?”

“Fuck yeah, we do. But listen, I’ve been thinking.” Damien glances around the room, his expression serious. “If we are going to do this, then we need to do it right.”

“I agree, which is why we need a solid plan finalized today,” Alexi says, walking ahead to open the door. Damien stops in his tracks, his brow furrowing.

“What? No, dude. We need code names. Like, really cool ones.”

A laugh bursts from my lips. A full-blown belly laugh that I cannot keep contained. With all we’re about to encounter, the look on Damien’s face actually says that codenames are in the top three priorities.

I’m honestly afraid they even go above his own safety with how he’s staring at me. I school my expression and do what I can to take him seriously. “What names did you have in mind, Sunshine?”

He eyes me for a moment then returns to his normal bubbly self. We are all standing by the door, ready to leave after Damien gets this off his chest. “Well, obviously Alexi is Daddy, and we all know Lev is Ghost. For myself, I was thinking Thor, you know because I’m basically a god.”

I have to hold back another laugh, but I manage it.

“Nessa should be Fox because of her hair. Laney is clearly a Barbie so that name fits her perfectly. Boris would be Big Bear, because you know, Russia. Havoc looks like a Wolverine and Arrow is definitely a Magneto. So, that just leaves you.”

The way he’s thought about these names so much but hasn’t picked a name for me, actually makes me a little bit sad. He gave himself the name of the god of thunder but couldn’t find anything for me.

“That’s easy, she’s Princess.” Alexi takes my hand. The way he looks at me makes me think he knows exactly what’s going through my mind.

“She’s not a princess though,” Lev says, crowding behind me. “She’s a queen. Our queen.” Goosebumps travel down my body, and I lean back into his hold when his hands pull me close. “Isn’t that right?”

I smile as I nod. Damien doesn’t seem sold on the nickname but he had his chance. Alexi crowds my front, kissing my forehead then backs up to the door. “Are you ready then, my queen?”

I will never, and I mean never, say out loud what that thought does to my insides. But the image of me sitting on a throne with the three of them servicing their queen has my breath hitching.

Damien looks my way and chuckles. I have no doubt the man is reading my mind right now. I brush past them, needing to change the subject before we are all late for this meeting.

“Let’s go, boys. We have a villain to take down.”

???

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