Deadly (Born Bratva Book 5) (22 page)

Roksana

My spine stiffens when I hear my father’s voice over the intercom. “Roksana, come to my office. Now. Alone.”

Time stops and silence reigns when everyone turns around and looks at me.

I leave the room looking a lot more confident than I feel. Walking down the hall is like walking to an execution.
Dead woman walking
, is all that comes to mind. Although I don’t think I’m headed to my own death sentence, being called to my father’s office and told to come alone? Well, it makes me nervous.

I breathe deeply and raise my hand to knock on the door. As usual my hand is poised to knock when I hear the distinctive baritone that I love so much.

“Come in.”

I open the door and the first thing I notice is that Novak isn’t here. His office chair is empty.
This is so not good.

I stand in front of Father’s desk looking as innocent as I possibly can. “Yes,
Papa
.”

He looks up at me—just stares for what seems like an eternity. Then he interlocks his fingers behind his neck and leans back in his chair, still considering me pensively.

“You kids always do that, you know. It’s one of your
tells
.”

I look at him questioningly, still the picture of innocence. I highly doubt he’s buying my bullshit, but hey, a girl has to try. “Excuse me?” I say in the softest of voices.

“Oh, no, no, no,” he chuckles. “I’m not going to tell you. A good poker player never reveals his hand.”

He’s still looking at me like he’s waiting for me to say something. I don’t want to say something because I don’t know how much he knows. I will never lie to my father, but I’m not going to go out of my way to invite trouble, either. Somehow I resist the urge to shuffle my feet nervously.

“I think we both know why you’re here, Roksana.”

Okay, game over. Come clean. He knows.

He leans in, rests his elbows on the desktop and steeples his fingertips against his lips.
Oh, shit. This just keeps getting worse.
I am determined to woman-up and take my punishment.

His voice is barely above a low grumble—the sound a predator would make just before it attacks you and tears you from limb to limb.

“If I’ve taught you anything, it’s that you have to think about the organization and not just about yourself. You put one of my best men in the position of potentially having to choose between his love for you and his loyalty to me. Your man is a good man. He is devoted to you. Not only did he not rat you out, he raved about what a good job you did bugging that gang’s vehicles. He did not lie to me, which I would consider breaking a sacred trust. But, nonetheless,
you
,” he says firmly, pointing at me for emphasis, “created the situation in the first place. Now, I have no doubt that if I had asked a direct question, I would have gotten an honest, direct answer from him. But I didn’t find out from him. ”

A real tear rolls down my cheek. Only my father can cut to the truth so deeply. I hang my head to keep him from seeing it.

“You should be ashamed of yourself. It was selfish. Now I understand you inherited my temper and my jealous streak, but you could have gotten even in a different way. Instead, that hot head of yours made you impulsive. Have I not taught you that impatience will get you killed, girl?” He’s quiet for a long moment before adding, “Do you not know what it would do to your mother if something happened to you?”

“Can I say something?” I sniffle, determined to not lose my composure, even if he does bring Mom into this discussion.

“By all means,” he replies, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He waits, one brow raised imperiously.

“I made sure—”

He holds his hand up forcefully in an ‘I don’t want to hear it’ gesture. “Don’t you mean
we
?”

“Well, I’m not going to throw Anastasia under the bus.”

“While I respect your loyalty, I don’t appreciate my intelligence being insulted. Now please start over. I’m all ears, little one.”

“We…made sure no one saw us. We also made sure no one could have connected us to Oleg or Dmitriy so they wouldn’t get cornered on an enemy’s turf. It’s just…I just got so mad when I saw that woman rubbing all over my boyfriend.”

“
Your
boyfriend?
You never cease to amaze me, Roksana. Your
boyfriend
is wearing a wedding band.”

He stands, reaching over his desk to grasp my left hand. He looks down at it and then holds it up to me to prove his point. “I don’t see a wedding ring on your finger…in fact, I don’t even see a fucking engagement ring.” He returns to his chair, again waiting expectantly for my reply.

This is not getting any better. My foot’s so far down my throat, I’m gagging.

“You’re right,” I say, humbled to have my shortcomings laid out so clearly before me.

“This isn’t about me being right, child. This game, this business we’re in, it isn’t about ego. What it
is
about is having the brains and the discipline to stay alive.”

“You are a Glazov,
rybka
,” he says imperiously. “As such, your emotions run deep. We know this. However, your survival depends on your ability to separate your emotions from the work that must be done. Think of our Bratva legacy.”

His voice softens on his next words, signaling a rare moment of true intimacy with my father, this powerful man whose decrees are readily accepted as Bratva law. “If that doesn’t work, then think of your mother’s heart.”

My face crumples and he leans across his desk, a handkerchief in his hand. He doesn’t release it right away when I go to take it. I tug at it, then look into his face and stop short.

He speaks so softly that later I’ll wonder if I imagined the whole thing. “And your father’s.”

And just as soon as he melts me with those three words, the wall slams back in place and, once again, I’m staring into his ice cold blues. He jerks his head roughly toward the door and goes back to his paperwork.

“Yes,
Papa,
” I whisper, my voice hoarse as my throat tightens. I close the door quietly behind me and take off running. I don’t stop until I get to the suite of rooms I share with Oleg. I fall onto the bed with a sob. Everything my father said is true. Hearing it from him, though, is almost too much to bear.

A little while and many tears later, the doorknob clicks as the bedroom door opens. The mattress dips next to me and hands begin softly rubbing my back, tracing slow circles, occasionally stopping to knead my shoulders. I’d know those huge, strong hands anywhere.

“Are you okay,
angel moy
?” his voice rumbles from deep in his chest.

“Yes,” I say as I roll over onto my back and meet his worried gaze. “My father wants us to go ring shopping.”

Oleg

“Okay…but that’s not what I asked you.”

She sniffles and wipes her red nose with a handkerchief. Her tearstained face pricks my black, fucked-up heart. I smooth her hair off of her face.

“Roksana, I didn’t tell him. I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell him.”

“I know. I’m sure he had a bodyguard follow us. I was so sure we weren’t being followed.”

“It wasn’t a bodyguard, it had to be Novak. You would have spotted anyone else.”

“Yeah, the man is a ghost.”

“No… your father’s a ghost. Novak’s determined; big difference. He knows you, he knows your temper, and he wanted to see you fuck somebody up.”

“So you don’t think my father had him follow me?”

“No, somehow I don’t. Novak had the sense to know I’d be in a strip joint and that it wouldn’t take much to set you off. That’s what I’m trying to tell you; you’re too easy to read when it comes to me. I’m trying to protect you from someone setting you up and using your temper to do it. You’ve got to be unreadable. I know you can do it. Draw on that Glazov blood that flows through your veins—the Pakhan is the most inscrutable person I know. You’re only as strong as your biggest weakness—yours is your temper.”

“What’s yours?”

“You,” I answer without hesitating. “So that means if you don’t get your shit straight, I go down with you.”

“I guess I never looked at it like that,” she murmured, and seemed to be fighting a fresh round of tears.

“That’s why you have me as a second set of eyes.” I cock my head, looking at her closely, trying to decide if she’s truly
getting it
.

“Well… you’re probably right about my father not having anything to do with Novak following me. Yeah”—she nods her head as if she’s affirming her statement—“it makes sense. That’s right up Novak’s alley for entertainment. I’m sure he’s getting a good laugh out of all of this.”

She’s got that look on her face she gets when she’s plotting—that’s my Roksana, always working an angle.

“That’s why Novak wasn’t in Father’s office. He knew he’d be laughing about it.”

“How’d the conversation go?”

“He said I let my temper put us all in danger—that I was impulsive about getting my revenge.”

“I would have to agree,
angel moy
.”

“I know I was wrong but, damn it, Oleg, she pissed me off!”

“While I’m flattered by your jealousy, had you been more patient I would have been the first to help you get even.”

Her eyes light up with a mischievous glint. “No offense, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun as it was with Anastasia.”

“Hmm, should I be jealous about you girls braiding each other’s hair and talking about boys?”

“No reason to be jealous about a need you can’t possibly fill. Every girl needs a crazy-ass friend to wreak havoc with.”

“Thanks for putting my mind at ease.”

“Well, you know me…your mind being at ease is of utmost importance to me.” The waggle of her eyebrows clearly lets me know which head she’s referring to.

“And you know
me
—anybody gets between you and me and they’ll get a bullet in the brain.” One look at my face and she knows I’m dead serious—pun intended.