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I move with Leif into the middle of the room. My father stands from the chair he was seated in and looks at Leif. “I’ll assume that you are here to protect my daughter’s heart, and I owe you a thanks for whatever you’ve done to open her up. She wouldn’t let people hug her before. I know she was in the hospital, but I don’t know what happened.” He shakes Leif’s hand. When he turns to me, I want to be angry, but I can’t. He came. He’s here.
“You came.” I choke, and for the first time in a very long time, I feel tears in my eyes.
“I did, malyshka.” He calls me baby girl just like Babushka does. “I’ve never left. I always had an eye on you. Julian helped with that for many years.” He waves to Commander. “I would have never left, except I had to. He was going to arrest me.”
“I heard that. What about now?” I ask.
“We negotiated. He’ll let me stay as long as I don’t make it permanent.” He lifts my chin so I will look up at him, and I see the eyes I’ve looked at in the mirror every day. His eyes. My mother hated that I got his eyes. I was just glad I kind of looked like him. I always worried I wasn’t really his daughter. “I love you, malyshka. I’ve always loved you. You and your brothers have been my most important assets. I did everything for you three. You were never a bargaining chip for me. Your mother was wrong about that. But I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me.”
The sob breaks free, and he tightens his arms around me.
“I tried to fight them, but there were six of them. They shot me, stabbed me, and tried to rape me. I fought and fought until one of them cut my throat. They ran when someone yelled that they were calling the police. I wanted to die.” I feel Leif’s hand on my shoulder, and I try to compose myself. “It all started when Deere died. Roger Thant had my team ambushed. The intel we were given was bad, and Deere is dead because of him. For some reason he set his sights on me and wanted me. I don’t know why yet.”
“I know why, but continue.” Commander waves his hand for me to keep going.
“Roger was nice, and I guess I fell for his charm. But when I suggested we stop near the farm to double-check the footage on the town, I didn’t expect him and his men to kill the whole family. They raped the women. Pushed a young, expectant mother to the ground so hard she hemorrhaged right there and lost her baby. They still raped her. They killed all of the men after making them watch. I tried to stop them and fight them, but they handcuffed me to a chair. The mother got a key from one of Roger’s men and gave it to me. She made me swear to get her little girl out of there and run. She swore me to protect her.” I pause as I move from my father’s arms and start pacing before Leif takes me back in his. “I’d already watched them kill the other kids. I couldn’t have them killing her. Albana was her name, but when we got back to the States, I formally adopted her and changed her name to Franclynn. She picked it. It was a closed adoption, and I thought we were safe. But I couldn’t let Roger get away with what he’d done.” I pause and pull away from Leif. I look over to my brothers and my non-biological ones who were there with me growing up. “I couldn’t let him be free to hurt others. I still had my gear with my bodycam footage. I downloaded it and sent it to a military person who wasn’t connected to me or the Black Unit. I thought I was good.” I look over at Julian Black, Commander as we called him. “I did everything you taught me and stayed hidden. But one day in Chicago, they found me. They wanted me to take them to Franci, but I wouldn’t.”
“Fuck,” is said several times around the room.
I know Roger will rue the day he came after me because these men, all of them, will cut him to pieces and feed him to the sharks.
“Crank said he saw me on TV. I rescued a doctor from the hospital back in November. There were a lot of news cameras around.”
“But that’s not all that gave you away,” Commander says.
“Probably not,” I scoff. “I killed two of those fuckers.” I look over in time to see Dmitri and Mikhail high-five each other. I smile at them, and they nod back in pride.
“You really are a daughter of the Bratva, killing your enemies. Didn’t I teach you that revenge is for the weak,” Julian barks at me. I feel Leif’s body tighten up, but I turn toward my former leader.
“I wasn’t seeking revenge when I killed them. I did it so they couldn’t come after my kid or the man I love. So they couldn’t come after me again. They’re not being investigated as murders. One is a disappearance who will never be found. The other was an alcoholic who burned to death due to his smokes and whisky. You taught me to cover my tracks. I did that. You taught me to serve my country. Look how well that helped me.” I wave my hand down my body. “Do you want to see the scars? I can get in touch with the doctor who saved my life. He can tell you what serving my country did for me. I’m fucking done. I am vengeance. I am dead and no body.”
He moves until he’s standing directly in front of me. “I don’t give up on my family, and that’s what you are. I won’t let Roger hurt another hair on your head.”
“Then what’s the plan?” Alek asks, and we turn to him. “Because we are all here, and now’s the time.”
“No, I get Roger,” I say. “You all can take the other three.”
“I want Crank.” Gambit’s voice pierces the air, and I look around. I notice that Browser has his laptop open. There on the screen is Gambit sitting in his office with Striker and a few of his men. “Franci is resting. She told me Crank has been threatening her, so I’m taking care of him.”
“Let’s go get him, I’m ready,” Dmitri says, and I shake my head at him.
“You see, that is what he’s going to be expecting. You can’t do that. He’ll expect us to make the first move. If he knows you are already here, that will make it even better for him.” I look at Leif, and he slowly nods. He knows what I’m going to say.
“No.” Both my brothers move toward me.
“How can you be okay with this?” Gray growls at Leif as he pushes into his chest.
My father moves toward us and steps between my brothers and Leif.
“She is right.” He turns to me. “But I will kill him personally if he hurts you.”
“I know, Otets, and you and I both know this is the only way. Strategy dictates that the only way he’ll come out of hiding is if we make him think we don’t care. We need to make him see us going on with normal daily living.” I reach out and place my hands on Leif’s chest. “You have to go to work. We have to do what we usually do.”
“I know, love, but I’m not going to like it. He could come for you at any time.”
I nod and bite my bottom lip. “There is only one way you will be able to do this.” I turn to Commander. “I fought you on it so much, but I need it now.”
“Yeah.” Browser fist pumps the air, and I watch as he goes to his bag.
