“There is speculation the O’Shaughnessy family was working with our brother,” Uncle Boris said. “If that’s the case given Emily was O’Leary blood, she would have been considered another prize possession.”
He was stating facts as if doing so made what they’d done acceptable.
I took a deep breath, the anger seeping in. “Lachlan O’Shaughnessy was working for someone and from what I’ve learned it would appear that person was Yuri Dmitriyev. Jesus Christ. You allowed two little girls to be placed in harm’s way because of your secrets and lies. You allowed my daughter and Lainey to be taken when you could have stopped it. If you’d just told the truth. The truth. Do you even know what that means any longer? Do you?”
The gasket had blown and I could no longer hold back my anger. I turned slightly, fisting my mouth and counting to ten.
“We’ll get them back, Sasha,” Mikhail stated.
“You betIwill. Me. I don’t need your fucking help. I finally managed to break free of the chains of sorrow and fucking guilt. You knew all along she was the target. Not me. But I’ve been made a target because of my daughter. You’ll forgive me, but right now, I can’t stand any of you.”
I didn’t bother giving them time to object or try to coerce me into staying. I just didn’t care.
So I walked out the door, finally able to take a deep breath.
“What now, boss?” Bernie asked.
“Now we get ready. We’re leaving tonight.”
Flying into Russia was tricky,but I’d found a private airstrip where we could land. As long as my contact hadn’t lied to me. I’d paid the man enough damn money he better not betray me. Or fucking else.
I hadn’t calmed down entirely, but enough to keep my head on straight. Through another contact, I’d found the address of the compound where Yuri and his sons, my cousins lived. The near fortress-like series of buildings had topnotch security, but there were a couple of weaknesses. With only Bernie, Danny, and four other trusted men, that could mean we’d signed our death warrants, but they were willing to do so.
That was loyalty.
Should I feel guilty for dragging them into a battle some of them had no business in? Maybe, but that’s what members of the Bratva did. Only our family had been so embroiled in finding success that we’d all but ignored the signs over the last few years. We’d had several attempts to destroy our wealth and to break our family apart. We’d had people toss out innuendoes and bold lies that we were drug runners and worse.
We’d had our new Pakhan almost killed after fucking with his mind over something that had occurred twenty years before. I could go on and on, but the main point that had lingered in the back of my mind was that we’d all but failed our duties as a family. As a business.
And as a Bratva.
Now we were paying the price for past sins.
As my mother had told me early in my life, they would never be forgotten.
In other words. Make good choices.
Well, I was making one right now. I was choosing the woman I loved and my daughter over everything else.
The plane was fueled and ready, bags of weapons already stored inside. We had enough tactical gear to destroy a small city and in my mind, that still wasn’t enough. But it had to be.
As we headed across the tarmac to the waiting plane, I felt a crushing weight on my shoulders. Images of Lainey and our time spent together, of my little girl frolicking on the beach and making sandcastles with Lainey. Ice cream and movies. Laughter and silliness. They all came crashing down. Yet I was cold inside. As cold and dead as I’d been when I’d turned my back on my family.
“Boss,” Bernie said quietly. “We’ve got company.”
Immediately, I reached for my weapon, spinning around and almost eager to exact rage on whoever the fuck dared to try to stop me.
Except instead of firing, I cocked my head, curious as to why I had this company. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Alessandro stepped forward first. DiAngelo, Stefano, and Giovanni followed. Dressed in dark clothing and carrying weapons and duffle bags, they appeared ready for combat. Behind them were at least a half dozen soldiers, all dressed the same.
“We thought you might need a little help.” Alessandro grinned as he walked closer. “And no. We are not taking no for an answer.”
He threw out his hand and I accepted the gesture. “Why would you help me? This is my family’s battle. Or at least mine.”
“We might not be family, Sasha, but we are your brothers. We will stand by you and we will bring back Lainey and Nina. Nothing is going to stop us.”
Chuckling, I nodded to each one as a thank you and also as a sign of respect. “I appreciate all the help I can get. We have coordinates of the location where I think they’re being held. We might have one shot at this and even so, the mission will be highly dangerous.”
