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Maya furrowed her brow. “Thanks.”
Some things never changed.
With a roll of her eyes, Elena took her arm. “Okay, don’t get all sensitive on me. You know I didn’t mean it that way. Besides, we’ve got bigger things to worry about than my big mouth. Roman, Viktor, and Kostya just finished clearing the building. Kostya had actually taken care of most of the danger, if you can believe it. That man is a machine.” Elena laughed. “I can’t believe that you’re into someone like him.”
“I…” Maya found herself blushing. She shook her head. “It’s complicated. He’s not like you’d expect.”
“I’m not here to judge.” Elena arched an eyebrow playfully. “I’m here to say goodbye to Father. Are you coming?”
“Yes.” Maya brought herself down from her embarrassment and glanced across the warehouse floor. It was empty. The men must have stolen away to another room. “Do you know where they are?”
“Nope.” Elena started to cross the floor. “But I’m going to find them. They can’t be too far.”
They’d made their way to the opposite end of the central room before a man who looked naggingly familiar stuck his head out from one of the doorways. He lifted an arm up and gestured for them to come over. “We’re here, ladies.”
“I knew you were somewhere close.” Elena adjusted her course, smiling. “Roman, I’d like you to officially meet my big sister, Maya. Maya, this is Roman.” Well, that did explain why he looked familiar, even if she’d most recently seen his face half buried in a pillow. “He’s off the market, just so you know,” Elena added.
Maya’s brow furrowed further. She’d forgotten what it was like talking to Elena. At least her sister wasn’t openly disparaging her anymore. Maya had always been the black sheep of the family, unwilling to commit to the lifestyle her father had wanted her to embrace, and while Maya didn’t know what her sister’s involvement with the Sokolovs was, it was nice to see that she wasn’t alone in having invested her loyalty with who had once been the enemy.
“Hello, Maya. It’s nice to meet you in person,” Roman said kindly. He looked like a nice man, and Maya had to wonder what he was doing with her sister. Opposites, she supposed, really did attract.
“Hi.” Maya offered him a kind smile, glad to meet the man who’d changed her sister’s heart. “Where are Kostya and Viktor? And where is Father?”
“Back here.” Roman led them through the doorway and down a short hall. At the very end was an open door, and through it, a small room in which Kostya and Viktor stood. Kostya had his arms crossed tightly over his chest as Viktor spoke to him in hushed tones, but he stopped talking altogether when they entered.
Zip-tied to a wooden chair, partially concealed beyond Kostya and Viktor, was Maya’s father.
“Hello,zolotse,” Kostya said softly when she came fully into the room.
An unwelcome tear tumbled down Maya’s cheek, and before she knew what she was doing, she’d crossed the room and flung herself at Kostya, who caught her and held her close. She cuddled against his chest, breathing him in. He shouldn’t be alive.
“Kostya,” Maya uttered. She tightened her arms, not wanting to part from him. “You totalidiot.Why would you do something like that? You almost died.”
“People almost die every day,” Kostya replied. He kept his voice low and his tone even, continuing, “Almost means nothing. I did what I had to do to keep you, and my family, safe. That’s all.”
“And you didn’t kill him.” Maya didn’t pull back. She didn’t care what Elena thought, or if Viktor or Roman would change their minds about the ferocious Mad Dog. Kostya was safe, and that was all that mattered. “When he called me, telling me that he’d captured you, I thought for sure that it was the end.”
“He’s alive. It was his own hubris that led to his downfall. He had his men guard the building from the outside, but he believed that I was harmless enough while unarmed that he wouldn’t need anyone beside himself to watch me. I proved him wrong.”
“All you’ve done is prolong the inevitable.” The sound of her father’s voice was jarring, and Maya jumped back from Kostya instinctively, startled. Stepping back, she looked at her father. It had been years since she’d seen him face-to-face, and she frowned. Her father glared at her.
“You look older than I remember.” She tilted her head, studying him. “You have more gray in your hair and your wrinkles,” she gestured to his face, “are more pronounced.”
She could hear her sister’s laugh behind her, which cut off abruptly with a yelp and a quiet male voice, which she assumed was Roman telling her to be quiet. She kept staring at her father. The man who had always been the all-powerful boogeyman in her nightmares looked old and haggard as he growled at her with hate-filled eyes. “Cunt! Make your sly comments now, but I assure you, you will change your tune.”
She felt Kostya tense, but she remained calm. Her father couldn’t hurt her anymore. Instead, Maya found that she pitied him. Tied up like he was, and without his men to back him, he looked…frail.
“The Popov family has not finished its ascent. If you think this means the end, you’re mistaken.”
“Um, really?” Elena stepped forward at that point, standing at Maya’s side. “I don’t know about Maya, but I’m pretty sure I’m done with being a Popov. After the lies you told us about Mother—”
“Lies? About Mother?” Maya’s heart froze, and she turned her head to look at her sister, her eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
“Oh my God, you don’t know.” Elena covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes softening with sorrow. The words she spoke next shook Maya’s belief in everything she’d thought she knew. “Maya…I tried to call you, but the number I had went to a generic voicemail and I couldn’t tell if it was your number, so I didn’t leave a message. Brace yourself. Our mother…is alive.”
CHAPTER22
Maya
