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“Destul, Arian. Just stop the sermons. You’re giving me a headache that has nothing to do with the narcotics in my bloodstream.”
“Just get your ass home. The fumes you’re releasing every time you open your mouth are making me nauseous,” Vadim cut short another drawn out debate between his siblings. A razor-sharp glare at Vanya when her head swung his way was enough to warn her she was on thin ice, which said a lot since Vadim was the one who hardly ever lost his temper with her. “Just go. I already phoned Bogdan. He’s waiting in the parking garage for you.”
“What about my car?” Vanya lamely tried to put up a last fight.
“One of the men is going to drive it home, so you can relax. Your precious car is safe.”
As Vanya made her unsteady way toward the door, Arian’s cell phone rang, shattering the tense atmosphere that had enveloped them. She steadied herself, doing her best not to stumble. Her mind was consumed by thoughts of what had brought her to this point.
“Fuck me,” she scoffed as she caught her reflection in the glass door of the conference room. A crimson bloom of embarrassment spread across her cheeks. The sight was disheartening. It was only then, as she stared at herself, the true extent of her disheveled appearance became painfully apparent. The fact that she hadn’t even realized just how awful she looked before coming to the office was a stark testament to how deeply she had fallen into a state of despair.
“Yebena mat’! Why didn’t either of you tell me just how fucked up I look?” She pointed at the door. “Iisus Khristos, I look like shit!”
“Good. At least recognizing it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, now you’ll do what is expected from you,” Vadim said. They were both startled when Arian bellowed loudly into his cell phone.
“Blyad’! How the hell did that happen?... When?... And no one saw anything?... Fucking heads are going to roll… Just shut up! I don’t want to hear any excuses. You are all fucking fired!” He was already striding toward the door as he ended the call.
“Get your ass home, Vanya. I need you to dry out within a couple of days. Vadim, let’s go. Mother has been abducted from the hospital.”
“What?” The cry came in a chorus from Vadim and Vanya, then she exploded. “I’m not going home. I’m coming with you.”
Arian turned on her like a raging bull.
“Go. Fucking. Home. I need your mind clear and sharp. Do you hear me, Vanya? That is theonlyway you’re any good to me, to us, and to our mother. Now. Leave! Go fix yourself. I don’t want to see you until you’reyouagain.”
Vanya couldn’t recall Arian ever being this angry with her. She wracked her brain but drew a blank. His anger was on a whole new level. He was seething, and if it weren’t for his obvious concern about Zafira’s disappearance, she had a hunch he might have slapped her to drive his point home.
As it was, she didn’t need any physical reminders. Right there and then, she grasped the painful truth he was laying out. In the whirlwind of the past six weeks, and in the state of despair she was in, she potentially could endanger them all.
“I’m going. I’ll clean up, big brother. I promise.” She followed them to the elevator. “What about Bogdan? He should know about Mom.”
Arian and Vadim looked at each other. A silent agreement passed through them.
“No. Keep it quiet for now. Once we know what happened at the hospital, we’ll tell him. I don’t want him tearing through the hospital like the Spanish Inquisition on a rampage to find who took her.” Arian frowned. “Only her private guards, the allocated hospital staff, and we knew she was in a secure ward at that hospital. If anyone starts raging about her disappearing, it could potentially put her life in more danger.”
“She’s been abducted, Arian,” Vanya snapped. “I’d say her life is already in danger.”
“Cut it off, Vanya,” Vadim cautioned in his usual calm tone. “We need to keep this quiet until we know more. You know how protective Bogdan is over Mother. He would literally tear down the walls of that hospital to find her. That would most definitely deter us from finding whoever is behind this.”
“I’m so sick of the two of you constantly mansplaining the error of my ways to me, Vadim.” She tossed her hair defiantly over her shoulder—her action one of a completely sober woman. “Bogdan should know because he loves Mom, for no other reason. Yeah,” she scoffed at their surprised looks. “Even after I mentioned that fact numerous times over the past month, you still didn’t grasp just how deeply he cares for her and that it goes way beyond that of being her protector, did you?” She ran a trembling hand over her eyes before glowering at them. “We all know who is behind this! Who else but the bastard who shot her?” Her lips curled as she spat the name out in disgust.
“Andrei fucking Smirnoff!”
Chapter Three
Club Extaz, Chi?inau, Moldova…
“De dragul dracului, Vanya! Where are you?” Bogdan’s voice thrilled through her ear the moment she answered his call. The three Guzun siblings owned two BDSM clubs. The first, Club Expressions in Dubasari and this one, Club Extaz. She preferred coming here when she needed a sadist she could manipulate into easing her tension.
“There’s no need to get your boxers in a twist, Bogdan. Wait for me at my house. I’ll be there in an hour or two.”
“What? And leave you to dry out by getting shit-faced? Not happening on my watch. You better tell me where you are, young lady. If I have to come look for you, it won’t end well.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Just calm down. I’m not going to touch liquor. I just need to take off the edge. Otherwise, I’m gonna fail before I even begin.”
“Master Spider is ready for you.” Vanya nodded at the club’s receptionist, who had gone to check if he was available to accommodate her request for an erotic whipping. Her attempt to mute the phone was too late, as Bogdan’s explosive response confirmed.
“You’re at Club Extaz?Blyad’, Vanya! Are you insane? Do you have any idea what Arian will do to you if he finds out you ignored his instructions and went there instead? Why don’t you just slap him in the face?”
