Russian Mobster’s Revenge (11 page)

“Since someone said she wasn’t very hungry, I’d figured we would share.” Ivan held out his hand, indicating that she should hand over the sandwich.

“I don’t like to share.” Emily took another huge bite.

Ivan didn’t care about the sandwich. He was too busy being fascinated by Emily. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

She covered her mouth with her hand, an adorable attempt to remain polite. “Like what?”

“Playful, I guess.” He struggled to find the right word. “Normally you’re very reserved.”

“Did you think I was reserved before?” Her countenance grew serious. “I think I’ve always been that way. It’s always felt so somber, you know? Everything is focused on business. I’ve started to realize over the last several years that Sergei is a bit of a workaholic.”

“Oh, only a bit,” Ivan said sarcastically.

She reached out and poked his arm. “And you aren’t? I’ve seen your office, remember. There is no way anyone who does that much for himself isn’t buried morning, noon, and night in business dealings.”

“I approached your brother about a merger of sorts today.” He wasn’t exactly sure why that had popped out.

“Really?” The hopeful note in her voice made Ivan wish that Sergei had been more receptive.

“Let’s just say that Sergei doesn’t see the purpose of pooling our resources.” Ivan tried to downplay the more irritating aspects of that conversation. “He considers me beneath him and therefore lacking as a business partner.”

“But that makes no sense,” Emily murmured. “I don’t believe my brother could be that shortsighted and arrogant.” She rethought her argument. “Okay, maybe he can be arrogant. But that’s counterproductive!”

“I don’t think he particularly cares.” Ivan picked up the sandwich that Emily had lain back on the plate and took a bite. The crunchy bread was well balanced by the cheese. Ivan munched in silence for a moment before speaking again. “At some point, you’re going to have to come to terms with who and what your brother really is.”

“That’s unfair!” Emily scooted to the edge of the counter and jumped down. She was glaring up at him angrily. “Sergei is my brother. He may not be as good at business dealings as you are, but he’s a good man.”

“Emily, please.” Ivan set the sandwich down and held out his hands. “What do I really have to gain by lying about your brother?”

“Seriously?” She looked at him as though he’d grown a second head. “You and I have been dancing around this issue since I first agreed to your stupid scheme!”

“What are you talking about?” Ivan’s gut began to tighten as he realized he hadn’t given Emily the credit she deserved.

“Oh please. You’ve been trying to drive a wedge between Sergei and me since the first day I met you. What do I know? Maybe this is part of your ridiculous plan for revenge on Sergei. Not only are you sleeping with me, going against Sergei’s wishes, but you’re going to teach me to think he’s a self-centered, arrogant prick who has been using me for his own ends since I was a kid.”

“Emily…” Ivan had the odd thought that she had put far more thought into his “revenge plot” than he had. “Look. It’s true that I wanted you in my bed because I knew it would really piss off your brother. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you too.”

“Yeah?” She put her finger in the middle of his chest and gave him a little shove. “I’m not sure what to believe anymore. What I do know is that I need to ask my brother the truth about what happened eight years ago, and what’s going on now. His is the only side of the story I haven’t really gotten to the bottom of yet.”

Chapter Fourteen

Emily was aware that it was nearly one o’clock in the morning when she pounded on the front door of her brother’s house. She didn’t care. She wanted to get to the bottom of this entire bullshit situation now. If anything, she had been waiting eight years to find out the real story.

“Emily?” Sergei’s hair was mussed and he looked groggy. “It’s the middle of the night. Are you hurt? Did Ivan do something horrible?”

“Not exactly.” Emily looked down at her bulky sweats. “Look, can I just come inside?”

“Of course.” He took a step back so that she could walk inside. “Can I get you anything? Hot chocolate or something?”

“No, thank you.” Emily walked into the front room and took a seat on the couch. She had always liked this room. It was cozy without being ostentatious or overdone. But then their mother had been mostly responsible for its decoration more than ten years ago.

“So what is the problem?” Sergei took a seat on the opposite sofa. “You seem very upset.”

“A few days ago you were telling me that you were never going to trust me again. Now you’re mildly concerned that I seem upset?” Emily wondered what game he was playing at. It occurred to her that if she asked him outright what she wanted to know, he could just lie. In fact, neither one of these men had a real incentive to be forthright with her. So perhaps she needed to use her brain and approach this issue from a slightly different angle.

“Emily, you’re my sister.” He seemed almost uncharacteristically calm. It was a little unnerving. “Of course I’m going to get upset, but I’m not going to just disown you or something equally ridiculous.”

Emily decided to put his strange behavior aside for the moment. “Can you tell me about heredity in the organization?”

“What?” A frown marred Sergei’s brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well how much importance does heredity play in rank and things of that nature? You inherited your position from our father. And I know the other made men under Yuri did as well. Is that the only way to become more than just a lackey?”

“It should be,” Sergei said fervently. “Our bloodlines have been keeping secrets within the organization and shouldering responsibility and blame for decades.”

“But it isn’t your blood that does that,” she argued. “It’s a person. Don’t you think there are people out there who would be good additions even though they don’t have the right parents?”

“You mean like Ivan?” The derisive tone of Sergei’s voice made Emily take a mental step back. Sergei curled his lip. “That man was born a bastard. His mother was a Russian immigrant, a woman who would spread her legs for any man in the organization as long as he would pay her.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say!” Emily perched on the edge of her seat and leaned forward. “Tell me that’s not why you didn’t want me dating him all those years ago.”

“Of course it is!” Sergei burst out. “Ivan Dedov isn’t fit to lick the boots of a Volkov, much less date and eventually marry one! And if you think that bastard really loves you, you’re more gullible than I thought.”

“What do you mean?” Emily’s heart lodged in her throat.

“Oh Yuri might let Ivan do business in our territory because it’s lucrative, but he would never let the man become a made man.” Sergei sliced his hand through the air. “In fact, Yuri told Ivan that just the other day. He told him that bastards stay in the sphere where they were born. That was right after your buddy Ivan tried to convince Yuri to give him
my
position.”

“I don’t believe it,” Emily said weakly.

Sergei leaned back in his seat, looking as though he were thoroughly enjoying her discomfort. “What’s the matter, Emily? Hearing that your romantic hero has ulterior motives is sort of hard. Isn’t it?”

“I would be a fool not to know that all of you have ulterior motives.” Emily stood up, feeling as though she were thirteen years old again and her older brother was explaining that her parents had died in a car accident and now he would be looking after her from now on. “I always knew you had your reasons for wanting me single. I didn’t really care. I knew you wanted to marry me off to one of Yuri’s sons even though I barely know the man and don’t like him at all. But I’ve never complained. I’ve respected you and tried to get along with you even when you make it hard as hell.”

Sergei’s expression seemed to soften. “Emily, please. I understand you might not know Yuri’s son yet, but you’ll like him. He’s a very nice young man.”

“And why am I not capable of finding my own nice young man, Sergei?” Emily demanded. “Seriously. What year is this?”

“You’ve never seemed as though you
wanted
to find your own husband.” Sergei looked honestly surprised. He made an awkward gesture at her as though he were completely surprised that she would care about her romantic future.

“Ugh!” Emily felt like stomping her feet and throwing a tantrum. “You are such an idiot!”

“Idiot?”

“I haven’t been interested in anyone else because I’ve been in love with Ivan for years.
Years
, Sergei!”

“Ivan?” Sergei’s countenance darkened until he looked as though he was about to blow his stack. “That lowlife piece of crap is not marrying a Volkov!”

“Then I’ll change my name!” Emily knew it sounded ridiculous, but she was so disgusted that she didn’t really know what else to say. “And at this point, you’re both such jerks that I don’t want anything to do with either one of you!”

“Emily—”

The front door burst open and men and women wearing jackets emblazoned with the letters
FBI
came storming inside.

***

Ivan swerved through traffic, narrowly missing a garbage truck and nearly mowing down a pedestrian unfortunate enough to be near the edge of the sidewalk. He had gotten Samantha’s text only minutes before he went tearing out of the building, headed for his car.

“Come on, Samantha!” he barked at his phone. “Pick up!”

He got her voice mail once again. Swinging the steering wheel hard left, Ivan squealed his tires around a tight corner onto Sergei’s street. The house was as busy as an anthill. There were black SUVs with flashing blue-and-red lights parked everywhere. In the center of it all, Ivan spotted Samantha standing next to Emily.

“Thank God,” Ivan muttered as he haphazardly pulled up to the curb.

Emily wasn’t in handcuffs. She was standing beside Samantha and looked deep in earnest conversation. Ivan got out of his car and strode quickly in their direction. He hadn’t wanted Emily to come over to Sergei’s house tonight anyway, but he would have never allowed it had he known the FBI was going to start making their arrests.

“Emily!” Ivan said eagerly as he approached. “Are you all right?”

She whipped around, her blond hair loose. She pushed a few stray strands away from her face. That was when he noticed her expression.

“What are you doing here?” she snarled at him. “Haven’t you done enough already?”

“Emily, please.” Ivan tried to reach out, but she pulled away before he could touch her. “Let me explain.”

“I think I’ve got it.” Emily shook her head. “I cannot believe I was so gullible! I was so in love with you for so long that I didn’t even see what was right in front of my face.”

Ivan looked at Samantha, intending to enlist her help in explaining the situation to Emily. Surprisingly, his long-time friend did not look as though she were very pleased with him. “Samantha?” he asked quietly. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Were you ever going to tell her the truth? Or were you just going to let her believe that her brother’s idiotic bookkeeping skills were responsible for his situation?” Samantha pointed at Ivan. “If Emily hadn’t been here when it happened, she would have never had anything but your word to go on! Admit it,” Samantha said hotly. “You were planning to create your own little story about how you tried to keep this from happening but couldn’t. So then you’d spend a few weeks pretending to try and get Sergei released without actually trying to do anything.”

“No,” Ivan said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

“Ivan,” Emily said softly. “I trusted you. I was nothing but honest with you. I loved you. And yet you lied to me from the moment you came back into my life.”

“Emily, no.” He shook his head, adamant that she understand. “I never lied. There were things I wasn’t exactly forthcoming about, but I hadn’t decided yet.” He ran his fingers restlessly through his hair. “And then Yuri came up with that
bullshit
about someone with my lineage never being more than a moneymaker for men like your brother. It just…I realized then that it would never matter. To them I would always be less.”

“And so you schemed to just have them all removed so you could step into their positions,” Emily said bitterly. “And believe me. I know Samantha pressured you about that. I can only imagine, but this was the choice that you made. And I just don’t think I can handle that.”

Ivan opened his mouth, but no words came out. Emily turned and walked away. She was moving slowly toward a black car idling at the curb. Ivan turned to Samantha. “Where’s she going?”

“I told her that one of my men would take her to a hotel. That seemed the best solution.”

“Hotel?”

“We’re still processing this house for evidence,” Samantha explained. “The poor girl doesn’t have her own place. It’s not like she has much of a choice in any of this.”

“She should have had a choice,” Ivan muttered. “We all took away her choices a long time ago.”

Samantha slapped him on the shoulder. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“You’re not going to like it,” he began slowly.

The sky was just beginning to lighten. Ivan thought about last night and how Emily had bravely shown him exactly what she wanted and how she felt without any reservations. He had never been brave. Not like that. Now, though, he was going to at least do the right thing.

Samantha sighed. “I’m going to have to arrest you for obstruction of justice, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” he mused. “Because I’ll give evidence against just about everyone. But I’m not saying a damn thing about Sergei Volkov.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Samantha muttered.

Ivan offered her his hands, knowing she was going to cuff him. “I’m finally doing the right thing.”

Epilogue

Six months later

“Ms. Volkov?” Tessa poked her head into Emily’s office. “There’s a woman here to see you. She has an FBI badge.”

“Does she?” Emily murmured, trying to ignore the cramping in her stomach. “I suppose you’d better show her in.”