“And them?” she asked, flicking her eyes to Ivan and Priest in succession.
A low growl rumbled from Duke, highlighting his frustration with the turn the night had taken. “Petrov insists hisVor, his second, remain with him as a security measure. And because Ivan’s already privy to the information he will disclose. Priest…well, that’s up to you too, darlin’. He’s the VP of Los Cuervos and knows about our…mission to help those who need us. Whether or not you want this information disclosed to him is up to you.”
Indigo looked at her feet as she considered Duke’s words and her current situation. I placed my arm around her shoulders, amazed at how small she seemed tucked into my side. Indigo had such a large presence; it was easy to forget how physically small she actually was. Worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, she studied the face of every man in the room. I wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for, but she must have found it. If anyone knew the potential consequences of what she was about to hear and confess, it was her. In this, I’d defer to her and let her lead, but I hoped that she was comfortable enough to trust us with whatever information Riordan was about to share.
“Lisichka,”Riordan spoke, breaking the silence, “I will make any vow you deem necessary that I am not here to hurt you. Your reaction was enough to confirm my suspicions, and I swear on my mother’s life that I am not now, nor have I ever been, working with Roark Callahan.”
“Don’t.” Indigo’s voice was like a whip. “Don’t say his name anymore. I…just need a few minutes without hearing it.” Indi took a deep breath, gathering herself before our very eyes, and I was struck by a strange sense of pride. Our girl was obviously deeply damaged by her past and the time she spent with the Callahans, but she was still here. Still alive and still willing to fight. That kind of perseverance took fuckin’ strength, and it was deeply admirable. I could only hope that if I were faced with similar circumstances, I could be as tenacious.
Indigo heaved a deep sigh. “It’s okay, President Duke. They can stay.” Turning her eyes to Riordan and Ivan, she said, “Tell me what you know, and I’ll tell you what I can. That’s the best I can offer.” She looked down at her feet, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth again. Tentatively, her eyes darted to Priest, who was standing as a silent sentinel at the door. “Try…try not to hate me more than you already do, okay?” The pleading note in her voice tugged at the heartstrings of each surly biker and hardened gangster in the room. Priest nodded once; eyes boring into Indi like he could pin her there with the weight of his gaze alone. He was about to get what he wanted: her story. I loved the man like a brother, but I kind of hoped he choked on it.
Indigo
“About twenty-six years ago, my father inherited his bratva from his father and was confirmed as the head of the American branch of the Russian syndicate.” Riordan sighed and shook his head as if this story was tiring to tell. “Things were volatile in Chicago at the time, and Mikhail, that’s my father, needed to forge new alliances while he established himself aspakhan. He was having difficulties with some of the smaller gangs stirring up trouble and was spending too much time and money putting out small fires. My father needed an alliance with the Callahan family. Their connections to the five families in New York and control of the Eastern Seaboard from Nova Scotia to Connecticut were very desirable, especially since a sizable portion of my father’s business required access to ports and corrupted customs officials.”
Priest scoffed. “You mean he needed ports for his cargo containers full of trafficking victims. Don’t try to make it palatable.”
“Yes, he wanted access to the Callahan-controlled ports for trafficking; people, guns, drugs, all of it. Callahan wanted to expand his market as well and benefited from the Petrov Midwest contacts, and together, they planned to push even farther westward. They sealed this alliance with marriage. My father married Seamus Callahan’s sister, Cara. Seamus was already married at the time, so his brother Roark married one of my aunts. Tatiana.” Riordan paused in his story, and I could feel his eyes boring into me. Bones looked back and forth between Riordan and me, and something must have clicked for him because he muttered, “Dios mio. The eyes. I should have seen it before.”
Riordan nodded at Bones, then turned his attention back to me. “Tatiana married Roark, my father married Cara, and the alliance was secured. Business flourished and things settled down in Chicago. Things seemed good”—Riordan shrugged his shoulders—“or as good as they can be in a mafia lifestyle. Until Tatiana went missing, that is.”
“As interesting as this backstory is”—I interrupted—“it doesn’t explain what you want with me. I never met any Tatiana in the basement.”
“I’m getting there,lisichka.” Riordan and Ivan shared an indecipherable look. “Roark Callahan has long had a reputation for brutality and ruthlessness, but Seamus was generally able to keep a muzzle on him. When his sister went missing, my father began looking into her disappearance inconspicuously. He didn’t want to jeopardize the alliance and his newfound peace, but family iseverythingin the bratva, and he couldn’t stomach the idea of his sister vanishing without a trace. What I’m about to tell you now has not been confirmed; it’s based on rumor, intel from his spies within the Callahan organization, and stories pieced together years after the fact.”
I swallowed a sip of water from the bottle Bones gave me and worried my chapped bottom lip with my teeth. I didn’t have a good feeling about what Riordan was about to tell me.
“The rumor is that Roark caught his wife, Tatiana, having an affair with someone within their own ranks. No one was ever able to definitively pinpoint which man he believed slept with his wife. One dayTatiana was fine, seen out shopping with friends, and the next she was gone. The Callahans performed a search and spread the word through the underworld that she was missing and that there was a hefty reward for any knowledge of her whereabouts. Roark, who had a reputation for being unhinged, was uncharacteristically quiet about his missing wife when my father flew to Boston to help in the search for his sister. They looked for months with not so much as a hint of her location. He had many suspicions, but no proof that the Callahans had anything to do with her disappearance. Eventually, the Callahans gave up on their search, but my father never did. Without proof, however, he was forced to maintain the alliance between the two families.”
“So, what are you saying, exactly?” Priest asked from his position, leaning against the office door.
“Oh my Bob, you don’t think I’m Tatiana, do you? Am I like that Anastasia chick in the movie, who lost her memories and forgot she was a princess?” I keep telling everyone I’m like a badass version of a Disney princess, and no one wants to believe me! This explainsso much, like why animals love me and why I’m so delightfully whimsical!
“No, Indigo. I think you’re her daughter.”
My jaw dropped. “What makes you think that? I mean, you don’t know anything about me at all other than what I look like when I kick ass in the ring and that I’m a phenomenal dancer.”
“Well, for one thing, you look remarkably like Tatiana. Eerily so. The first time I saw you in Allure dancing, I did a double take because I thought you were my aunt Natalya for a moment.”
Ivan saw my confusion and explained, “Natalya is Tatiana’s identical twin sister. Ri sent me down to fetch you that night so I could see you for myself, and it’s true. You look very much like a younger version of Natalya. You have the Petrov eyes.”
Nervously, I lick my lips. “I don’t know anything about my parents. Uncle Roark told me my mother was a prostitute who threw me away and left the moment I was born. He said she didn’t know who my father was.”
“That makes no sense,” Ivan interjected. “Why would the Beast of Boston raise some random whore’s baby? There has to be a reason he kept you, when he could have dropped you off at an orphanage orpawned you off on some other couple, or hell, even killed you. Why keep a baby?”
A very unhappy laugh escapes my lips before I can smush it back. “Oh, he had his reasons to keep me. And they weren’t out of the goodness of his sadistic black heart.” My eyes dart to assess the men in the room. Duke and Bones keep their faces carefully blank, knowing why Roark kept me. My eyes lingered on Priest for an extra moment, and I noticed that his face had taken on an ashen quality. He didn’t look good. Last, I turned my eyes to Riordan and Ivan.
They both looked grim but determined to find answers. “I’m sorry, but I never met or heard of anyone named Tatiana. I was kept on Uncle Roark’s compound my entire life unless I was given a job to do, and even then, I was escorted directly back to the basement. Uncle Roark had me trained to fight…to kill, but when I wasn’t training, I was Roark’s punching bag. Torturing me for sport was one of his favorite pastimes; you may think you know how evil he can be, but really you have no idea. It took me a lifetime, but I finally got away, and I’ve been running ever since. This is the longest I’ve ever stayed in one place and the first time I’ve felt like I may actually have a home.”
I turn to Priest, pleading with my eyes for him to believe me. “I’d never bring trouble to your door on purpose, I promise. I told President Duke that I should leave, that me being here wasn’t safe for your club.” Swallowing the bile that tried to creep its way up my throat at the thought of Uncle Roark unleashed upon Los Cuervos, I continued. “He said I could stay, that I’d be safe here. But if I need to, I can go. To keep everyone safe, I’d leave tonight.” I felt panic swirling just below the surface of my self-control. Slamming my mental doors closed, I mentally braced them against my demons. They chose the worst damn time to start acting up. I would rather never see an adorable otter again in my whole life than have a breakdown in front of all these men.
Riordan cleared his throat, gaining my attention as he crouched down in front of the loveseat, so we were at eye level. “Would you be comfortable taking a DNA test? We could definitively prove if you’re related to Tatiana in this way.”
“I’ve already done that.” Priest’s voice startled me. Bones and Duke didn’t look surprised at his admission, so I assumed this wasn’t news tothem. I looked at Priest in question. He cleared his throat. “The night you kicked the shit out of Pyro, some of your hair was left behind. I needed to know if you had a record and gather any information on your past, so I had a contact with the police run you through their database. There were no hits.”
Ivan scoffed. “If she’s a Petrov, it wouldn’t show up in the national database. We make sure to keep the family off any databases, keeping our information secure. We can test your DNA at one of our own facilities to protect your privacy.”
I shook my head. “What would be the point? Even if I am her daughter, I have no idea what happened to her and wouldn’t even know where to start looking for answers other than Uncle Roark himself. I’d rather light myself on fire than ever be in the same room as that man again. Do you understand? I would literally rather die.”
