Retribution (30 page)

“There’s more.”

“Oh God.”

He breathed deep. He felt
her pain. She had no one except him. She didn’t deserve this. No
one did.

She finally pulled back and
looked up at him. “Tell me the rest.”

“Sit down
again.”

She turned and sat back on
the sofa folding her hands on her lap. “I’m ready.”

This time Ryan pulled a
chair directly in front of her and took her hands in his as he sat
down. “We chased them down—your father and Ivan, and caught them at
the end of the dirt road just before the highway. Your father shot
Ivan in the head before we had a chance to take him into
custody.”

“I hope he rots in hell,”
she said harshly while wiping tears off her face with the back of
her hand.

“Me too.”

She paused and looked at
him. The pain her family caused this man was more than she had to
deal with. Her heart went out to him. “Yeah, you too.” She smiled.
It was bittersweet.

“But with Ivan gone, we’ve
lost him as a turncoat.”

“Against my
father.”

“Yes.”

“And the same with
Anna.”

He nodded.

“How did you know about
Anna’s promise then?”

“We also captured two of
Anna’s men. The rest are dead.”

“Oh. So you don’t have
anything on my father then?”

“We have enough Kat. He’ll
go to a dark cell, skip a trial, and no one will know what
happened.”

“But what about his bid for
governor?”

“This is the way we
work—there’ll be an accident and his remains will be found at the
bottom of a cliff in one of his fancy cars. Yet, he’ll live. The
agency needs him and his government contacts, but he’ll never see
the light of day again. That’s the truth. That’s all of
it.”

“Is that what you
want?”

“I wanted the man
responsible for my brother’s death. Demetrev is dead and your
father will be out of the drug business for the rest of his life.
I’m surprisingly okay with allowing him to live.” He took her hands
again and met her eyes. “He is your father Kat. I know you don’t
want him harmed.”

“Even after all he’s done,
no, I honestly don’t, but what is wrong with me?”

“We always love our parents
no matter how evil they can be. It doesn’t make you disturbed Kat,
it makes you compassionate.”

She looked away in thought
for a moment. “Can I see him?”

“Yes,” he answered
hesitantly.

“Now?”

“Yes, but straighten
yourself up first.” He stood up. “Ned has a private bathroom behind
that wall over there. Go wash up and be strong. You must understand
this too. You can never see him again.”

She nodded again, got up
and walked towards the restroom.

Ryan watched her with
concern. She shut down. It was too much and she’d already been
through hell. It seemed like every one of her family members, used,
abused, and discarded her. Yet, she was worth so much more than
they deserved. It was a miracle that she wasn’t a mental
mess.

***

Ryan slid a card on a lock
beside a solid painted metal door. Then he placed his hand on the
scanner above the card lock. The red light changed to green. He
took her arm, opened the door, and her led into a room that had one
way glass. There were half a dozen people in there, all men. Ryan
took her arm and led her over to the viewing window without saying
a word to any of them. She could see her father sitting at a steel
topped table and Ned, sitting across the table from him. One of her
father’s wrists was handcuffed to a metal loop welded to the table.
He looked angry and unimpressed. Another man, in a dark navy suit,
white shirt and matching tie stood in the corner with his hands
clasped together. He was a big man, and right then she knew he was
armed.

Her father’s hair was in
disarray, his suit was dirty and torn in places. It would have made
him angry. He was big on appearances. He had a bruise over his
right temple.

“You’re sure?” he
asked.

She nodded.

Ryan tapped on the
glass.

Ned stood up and went to
the adjoining door, opening it. When he saw Ryan and Kat he stepped
aside.

“I’m right here if you need
me,” Ryan reassured.

“I’ll only be a
moment.”

Peter was surprised to see
his daughter step through the door. “Katya?”

“Father.” She walked in and
took the seat Ned occupied a moment ago.

“What are you doing here?”
He glanced at the man in the corner, then at Ned who shut the
door.

“Mr. Casey brought me
here.”

“That fucking traitor!” He
spat pulling on his cuffed wrist.

She remained calm
completely unmoved at his burst of temper. She was used to
it.

“You betrayed me too,
didn’t you?”

“No. I wanted to see you
brought down, because of the people you’ve hurt, but I didn’t
betray you. I didn’t know anything. However, I certainly didn’t
stand in the way when I found out why Mr. Casey was
there.”

“You lying bitch! Look at
me! Look what you’ve done!”

“I’ve done nothing to you.
But if you want to get into it. I’ve been beaten, held at gun
point, sold by my sister, and lusted after by your most trusted
man. Did you know Anna was still alive, that she’d planned all of
this and told Ivan that he could have me in exchange for
information? This was all because of who you are. Do you honestly
think I’d support your run for governor after I found out you were
responsible for my pain. I would have shot you myself.”

He stilled and his face
fell.

“That’s what you created
papa. A house of monsters. Is it true you killed my
mother?”

He leaned back in his chair
and glared at her.

“You don’t need to say
anything. I can see it in your expression.”

“She was a cheating whore!”
He leaned forward. “Just like you.”

“This is the last time you
will see me.” She stood up. “I hate you, but I won’t let that run
my life because you will be rotting in a little cell while I live
my life out from under you, and I will live! You can’t take that
away from me. I will have children and they will never know your
name. So I’m going to forgive you because this is the last time I
will even think about you.”

“You—“ he stood up abruptly
“—selfish bitch!”

The man in the corner
intervened and shoved him back in his chair. “Keep your ass glued
to the chair Mr. Nickolov or I’ll bolt your feet to the
ground.”

“Goodbye,” she said softly
and turned around just as Ned opened the door. She walked by him
towards Ryan while her father’s screams of rage followed her. Ned
shut the door to cut them off.

She stopped in front of
Ryan and looked up at him. “What now?”

He stared back down at her.
“What now? Anything you want. You’re free.”

EPILOGUE

Katya stood in the large
foyer of her father’s house and looked around. It was empty. She
sold everything including the house.

It had been four weeks
after her father’s so called accidental death. Only she and
whomever Ryan worked for knew the truth, that he was locked up in a
cell for the rest of his life. Shortly after, several government
officials started resigning their jobs. There were publicized
scandals which made her wonder if they even happened, and some just
silently faded away. She didn’t realize how deep her father’s
connections went. She knew she did a good thing, but promised
herself this was the end of her relationship with him. She no
longer had a father.

The house had sold within a
week of putting it on the market and it was cleaned out within a
few days. She didn’t want anything that reminded her of this life.
She was starting her last year in college next week and was
determined to follow through with her plan.

“Hey?”

She turned around at the
deep sound of Ryan’s voice. She didn’t expect him because he said
he had some business to take care of. In fact she hadn’t seen him
in over three weeks, but they talked every day. It was painful, but
he said it was necessary, that he had some loose ends to tie up.
She grinned from ear to ear and ran to him. He gathered her in his
arms and kissed her hard lifting her off her feet. His tongue
delved in her mouth and she could feel that familiar reaction deep
in her pelvis. Oh God, she missed him so much!

In fact, it was as if an
eternity had passed since she’d last seen him. They never really
talked about the future either and although she was feeling quite
insecure about them, she kept the faith that he still had strong
feelings for her. He did tell her he loved her and she had to
recall that this man was
not
forward with his feelings at all.

He released her and allowed
her feet to touch the floor again. “I’ve missed you something
fierce. How’re you doing?”

She gave him a small smile.
“I’ll be okay. Better now that you’re here.”

“I had to go see Georgy’s
widow and kids. Then I took a leave of absence from my
job.”

“Is that what you were up
to?”

He nodded. “Georgy’s life
insurance gave her a decent living, but I wanted trust funds for
the kids. So I set that up and stayed a few days to get to know my
niece and nephew. I needed the time with my family. Next time I
want to take you.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

“I think I would really
like that. Why did you take a leave from your job?”

“I had somewhere important
to be.” He reached up and moved his finger down her cheek. “Someone
to be with.”

“Are you sure?” She felt
her eyes water.

“Positive.” He looked past
her. “How hard was this?’ He meant cleaning out and selling the
house.

“It wasn’t that bad. I
thought I might have some regrets, but I have none. I didn’t have a
family. Certainly not like the one you had.”

“You will.”

She tilted her head in
confusion.

“I meant,” he said
seriously, “Once we get married and start our own family,
you
will
know
that type of love.”

Her jaw fell.

He chucked her under the
chin to get her to close her mouth. “You’re gaping
darling.”

“D-do you mean
that?”

“I never say anything I
don’t mean.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and
produced a black velvet box.

Tears spilled from her eyes
as he opened it and inside was a stunning diamond.

She gasped.

“Do you like
it?”

Her eyes went to his and
saw that his brow furrowed. If she didn’t know better it was as if
he was worried that she’d turn him down. Well, that never even
crossed her mind. “Are you kidding? It’s so beautiful.” She could
barely get the words out. In fact she wasn’t sure if he’d even
heard her.

He removed the ring and
tossed the box over his shoulder. “So is that a ‘yes’?”

She nodded as more tears
fell.

He lifted her hand and
placed the ring on her finger. Then he pulled her into his embrace
and kissed her. “I promise you, that I’ll give you the best of
everything. I also swear that I’ll never let anything hurt you
again.”

“If I’m with you, nothing
ever will. Oh, I’m so happy!” she jumped into his arms and kissed
him.

He returned her kiss
aggressively. Then he released her again. “Look. I know you want to
finish school, so we’ll plan a wedding for after that. If you still
want to move away from Miami, I can do that too. I have no ties,
and I can live anywhere in the world.”

“You’d do that, for
me?”

“I’d follow you anywhere
babe,” he said softly. “I thought you knew that by now.”

“I’m learning,” she
sniffed.

He wiped away her tears
with his thumbs and then cupped her face while searching her eyes.
“I know I just want to be wherever you are. And when you’re ready,
we’ll have children and you can show them how much love you’ve
shown me. Love that you’ve never had, and have never been able to
express.”

“I love you so much
Ryan.”

“Of course you
do.”

She smiled and then
hiccupped. “Thank you for everything.”

“No,
thank
you.” He lowered his head and
took her mouth under his.

***