The door opens and Teddy appears, AR in one hand and a smile on his face. I feel Tati relax in my arms, and to be honest, I relax a little as well.
“Damn, you hardly left anything for us,” he says as he walks down the stairs. “You two all right… Oh, shit.”
He’s halfway down when he sees Nikolai’s body, knife in his forehead, eyes staring off into nothing.
“I take it you had no problem getting through the guards?” I say to him. He nods.
“The guys along that road were tough, but they’ve been taken care of. I’ve got scouts posted in their place when the reinforcements show up.”
“Which should be any minute,” I say. “Word about stuff like this travels fast.”
“No shit,” he says with a chuckle. “But the place is secure for the moment. If you two want to break out, the way’s clear.”
I look down at Tati. We talked about what was next when all this was over, but after all this, I don’t know if she’ll still want to be a part of the Bratva life.
“That’s still an option,” I say to her. “Running, I mean. Get in the car and never look back. With your father dead, it’s going totake them a little while to get back up to speed enough to come looking for us. We’ll have a hell of a head start.”
She looks over her shoulder at her father’s body, then back up at me. “No,” she says. “You’ve earned the right to run this Bratva and we’ve earned the right to actually be free. Nicki would want that for us.”
I brush her hair out of her face and rest my hand on her damp cheeks. “I think you’re right.”
Teddy clears his throat. “Listen, I hate to break up this touching scene, but… reinforcements. What are we doing when they get here?”
I look back down at Tati. She shouldn’t be here for this part. “Why don’t you go on upstairs?” I tell her. “Take a shower, change your clothes, and wait for me. Teddy and I will take care of everything down here.”
She looks at me, big-eyed and worried. “What’s that mean, exactly? Listen, if there’s going to be more fighting?—”
“The fighting is done,” I tell her. “I promise. Go on. I’ll be up when it’s all over.”
She looks at Teddy, then at me again, then she says in Russian, “I love you, Viktor.”
I respond in kind. “I love you, too,Tanechka. Now go.”
She steps away tentatively, then up the stairs, past Teddy, and out the door. Once she’s gone, Teddy says, “So, you really don’t want to start blasting when Nikolai’s people roll up?”
“First of all,” I tell him, “they’re not his men anymore. They’re mine. All we need is to do is let them know that.”
“Okay. So, what do you need?”
I look back at Nikolai’s dead body. “A hatchet.”
I’m sittingon the porch with Teddy as the sun starts to make its descent. The Red Devils have their positions around the property and we’ve just been waiting for the rest of the Kirov forces to arrive.
I wish Nikolai had brought some of that beer from Nicki’s remembrance party. Right now, all we have is the vodka from Nikolai’s liquor cabinet. It’s muggy from the rain this morning and honestly, I’d prefer beer in this kind of heat. I suppose this will do for now.
Teddy takes a sip from his glass and glances down at the basket between us. We haven’t changed or showered or even bothered to attempt to settle just yet. We can’t take the chance. Not now that we’re at the finish line.
“What are you two going to do after this?” Teddy asks me.
I glance over at him to see he’s still watching the road past the circle drive. I sigh and take my time answering. I actually don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.
“Probably fuck,” I say as I take a drink.
He smirks. “I mean, after that.”
“Honestly, comrade, I don’t know. I mean, there’s going to be a lot to do in terms of the Bratva. After word gets around that there’s a new sheriff in town, I can expect at least one rival to try and test me. I’ll have to get ready for that.”
“And Tati? You know, she’s going to want something different from the kind of life her father laid out. Especially with the baby and all.”
