AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“To answer one of your questions. Your father was the Bratva's doctor.”
“Bratva?” I ask, confusion laced in my voice.
“The Russian mafia.”
What did he just say? Mafia? The fucking mafia? As in drugs, guns, and killing? My jaw hangs open. I try to control my breathing. My dad wasn’t a part of the mafia—my sweet, gentle father who would not kill a bug. How can that person be part of the mafia?
Suddenly, a memory of my dad flashes in my head.
The sound of my dad's keys jingles as he opens the door. I get up from the couch and run to the door. It’s our routine. He would get home, I would run to him, and he would pick me up and spin me around.
“Not today, pumpkin.”
I look up and immediately know something is wrong with him. That is one thing I got from him. Our emotions are always written on our faces.
“What's wrong, Dad?”
“A long day at work.”
Later on, at night, I overhear him talking to Mom about how he lost a couple of children my age because of guns. The kids took their father's guns, thinking they were fake, and pretended to play cowboys and shot each other. He goes on and on about how gun control laws should be put in place. How irresponsible those parents are. How he’s against guns and how dangerous they are.
This piece of information doesn’t make sense at all. How can such a man be involved in the mafia, who voted against guns?
A chair scraping along the floor breaks my stupor as Andrei grabs a chair to sit in front of me. “Sophia, are you okay?”
He did not fucking ask me if I was okay. I jump up and start pacing around the room.
I’m not going to feed into this madness. My dad wasn't part of the mafia. He was a good man. My dad spent his life saving people.Wait. How would they even know that about my dad?
“Are you two part of the mafia, too?'' I stare back and forth between them, but they don’t say shit. “I’ll take your silence as confirmation.”
They're serious. A sharpness stabs my heart. I feel like the air has been punched from my lungs. I’m unable to breathe. This is going to be a bad one. Calm down, don’t let it get bad. My vision blurs, and my head starts to spin. Where's the chair? I need to sit down.
Rough hands grab me and lead me to the chair. I rest my head on my desk as hands caress my back in soothing, circular motions. I hear someone saying something, but it's hard to understand. It feels like I’m underwater. Is my dad a killer? It keeps repeating in my head.
“Sophia, listen to me. You can overcome this. I need you to take some slow, deep breaths for me.” This time, I can make out what the person is saying.
“Breathe, Sophia, breathe, please.”
I take in some much-needed shallow breaths. “That's good, Krasavitsa. Keep breathing in and out.”
After a few inhales and exhales, the tightness in my chest lifts, and I start to feel like myself again. Lifting my head, I see Maxim hovering over me. Was he the one who helped me through my panic attack?
“How are you feeling, Krasavitsa?” Maxim says in a soft, worried tone.
“Numb. Like the world I thought I knew just crumbled to pieces right in front of me.” I meet his worried gaze. “Please tell me what you said is a lie. Tell me my dad wasn’t a part of the mafia.” That he wasn’t a killer is what I wanted to say after, but I can’t face that. Not yet.
He squats down to face me. “I won’t lie to you, milaya.”
Tears run down my cheeks at his confirmation. How could my dad be part of the mafia? I don't understand. How did he keep this life a secret? Does Mom know? I need to face this head-on. Even if I don't want to. I look at Andrei, who’s staring confused at his brother. “Tell me everything.”
Maxim tenses beside me, and I look at him. My stomach dips. He looks at me with a pleading in his eyes. How bad is it going to get? It doesn't matter. “I'm all right. I need to hear this.”
The urge to console him is a strange new feeling for me. When have I ever cared enough to explain myself? He gets up and goes to Andrei's side. He whispers something, making Andrei tense up, and then he comes back to my side. Maxim rests his palm on my shoulder as if he's trying to protect me. I can’t focus on that now—one thing at a time.
“You sure you want to know?” Andrei asks me.
I breathe in and out, preparing myself. “Yes.”
