Unwanted Sacrifices (Russkaya Mafiya Book 3) (23 page)

I arrive back to
Viktor’s cabin and find the guys in his office, watching a large screen, full of guys clad in tactical gear running through what appears to be Perfectcore. “Hey, what’s happening?”

Tate glances over, as I take a seat in the extra kitchen chair they must have brought in for this occasion. “We’ve been watching them take control of Perfectcore.”

“When did they start?”

“About twenty minutes after you left, you know time difference and all. They wanted to get in before daybreak.”

I nod, understanding the importance of being discreet, especially with something so sensitive.

Viktor shifts, taking a gulp from his tumbler of vodka. “So far it’s gone well; they’ve secured three guards and have eliminated seven.”
I could go for a liter of vodka talking about this.

Paying special attention to Beau’s reaction, I’m curious about him being on the opposite side of the law as we are. Surprisingly, he doesn’t even flinch as we discuss it like it was what we ate for breakfast.

“Did they find the girls yet?”

“That’s the problem right now. Someone must have been watching—I’m assuming remotely—and locked level seven down. The men have to get through the concrete barriers without damaging the rest of the building too much. I’m hoping there isn’t anyone on that floor with the women, planning to kill them while they’re locked down. At this rate though, nothing would really surprise me. These people are obviously sick.”

Drawing in a deep breath at his words, that notion brings a pang to my stomach. I can’t help imagining it if my sister were still up there and being killed as she was trying to be rescued. Those innocent, broken women don’t deserve to meet an end like that. They deserve a chance to live.

God, I hope we’re able to get through it quickly. Leaning back in my chair, I settle in and watch along with the others as the leader of the group wears a small camera for us to witness everything ourselves. I wish I could help, but at the same time I’m thankful that I’m not having to experience it in person. I would probably lose my shit knowing Bina was there.

And that’s how the evening plays out; for hours we sit, quietly taking in everything. The guys attempt different ways to get through the thick concrete, but eventually it takes a small bomb and heavy drilling equipment to make an entry large enough for the men to squeeze through. I can see exhaustion in their faces, having been flown in from Russia to be straight on a job requiring intense concentration and expertise. They’re being shot at, killing others, looking for tools they didn’t know they’d need and drilling for hours, only to uncover a horrifying sight ahead of them.

They get through the wall to find three guards in the hallways with their brains blown out all over the place. No doubt they were instructed to kill themselves so they couldn’t be captured and be made to talk, and then there was the decaying bodies they discovered. I couldn’t even smell it, but I still puked several times from the sight.

It looks like the bodies had been left there, no one wanting to clean up the mess. The men kept walking and gagging, stopping to puke multiple times from the stench down the back hallway where Beau says Sabrina was kept. He mumbled quietly that she would have been one of them left to die back there as well. It hurt so badly to hear it, I couldn’t breathe for a moment imagining one of those deathly shadows being her.

Down the white tiled hallway, there were fifteen women discovered alive and on the mend. They were each allotted a cot and a small night gown. Clearly they were who the three guards were there to monitor.

I’m thinking since we had taken Chek the men didn’t know what to do and just left things the way they were. What I wouldn’t give to have that fucker alive again now that I know what he was really up to.

In the end, the women are all carefully taken to the private plane to be flown here immediately.

a week later…

There’s absolutely no trace of this Master guy anywhere. It seems like no matter what we look into, there’s nothing. There are two girls in the group we rescued who think the Master may be from Italy. We put feelers out but have gotten zilch back so far. We’re nowhere closer than we were when we first discovered his name. But at least we know what to look for now and we have a nickname he uses. If there’s one thing the Mafiya is good at, it’s finding other criminals.

I’m thinking it may be time to give Anna, down at Channel Seven News, a friendly call. She may know something that can help us out now that we have a few clues and I can ask her about other container shipments. I wonder if anyone else has found any in the past. She would probably know as that would normally be something that makes the news. Ours should have also, but we kept it under wraps.

It will probably take some time, but eventually that bastard will get what’s deserved. As much as I would enjoy it, it may not be by my hand. But it’ll happen. Karma always gets her man in the end.

With Sabrina safe and home, it’s time for new beginnings. We’ll help these women any way possible to rehabilitate into society. I’ll marry the woman of my dreams and build her a beautiful house to hold all of the babies I plan on giving her. My sister will be beside me always, reminding me how truly blessed I am in this life.

My phone vibrates and I’m happy to see its Avery calling me back finally.

“Hi, Bean,” I answer cheerfully.

She sobs, “Niko, I’m scared.”

My best friend crying instantly sets me on edge. “What is it, Avery? I can be there in sixteen hours, sooner with Tate’s jet.”

“N-no it’s nothing like that, but I love you for being so willing to come help me.” She cries and it worries me that the biker has hurt her.

“Talk to me, tell me how to fix whatever’s wrong. Do I need to kill him?”

She chuckles a little through her tears, “Niko…I’m pregnant.”

“That is wonderful, bun in the oven!”

“No,” she hiccups. “I do-don’t know who the father is.”

“What did you just say? It’s not 2’s baby?”

“It could be Ares’.”
Holy shit, the Butcher!

“There are two bikers now? Fuck Bean, this makes it harder for me to kill them.”

“I love them both.”

“Of course you do. Now, do they hate each other?”

“No, it’s complicated, they love me too. Can you come visit?”

“I’ll bring Sabrina and Vishna; I think they’ll like Texas.”

“Thank you, Niko; I can always count on you.”

“Yes, always Bean.”

After all, I love her and I’ve dealt with many unwanted sacrifices in my life, but they’ve taught me about what really matters in life—love.

FAST FORWARD

SABRINA

five years later…

Our little brownish-red
haired daughter dances around at the end of our oversized bed, waiting not so patiently for me to get up for breakfast.

“Dye voosh ka, go tell Papa to put chocolate chips in our pancakes.”

Her bright blue eyes grow wide at my request. “You’re not supposed to have chocolate in the morning, Momma!”

Cocking my eyebrow, I sit up and question her, “Says who?”

“You always tell me no!” she retorts sassily with her hand resting on her hip. She’s like a mini version of me but full of her father’s bossy attitude all stuffed into a nightgown with princesses on the front.

“That’s different, Brenna. I say nyet because you like to ask every day for a month straight. Right now, Momma wants them because she has a baby in her belly.”

“You don’t look like you have a baby in there.” She nods to my waist and I fight to hold in my giggle. No one knows about the baby yet, except me and now her and it’s so exciting… Okay so Elaina knows also, but no one else!

“That’s because it’s a new baby.”

She huffs, irritated, “Another one?”

“Da.”

“But I already got a sister; I don’t need two.”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “What if you’re wrong, it could be a boy you know.”

“Puh-lease, Momma, we all know you have girls!”

“Oy, I know. Go tell Papa we’re having another.”

“Nuh-uh, this is your doing, you tell him.”

“How is it my fault?”

Brenna taps her chin, and then reasons, “Papa said you’d have a house full of kids, so that means it’s your fault.”

“Ugh, get out of here little girl. Go put chocolate chips in my pancakes, if not I’ll tell Auntie Na-na not to paint your nails!”

“Fine, but you better let me choose the name this time, and Auntie Na-na has say straa outside on the deck.”

“Okay, thank you, my little love,” I call loudly as she breezes out of our room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

She’s barely five years old and already wheeling and dealing. She’s been hanging around Uncle Tate and Uncle Viktor way too much when they play cards.

My brain hurts thinking of having a five-year-old, a two-year-old, and now a brand new baby. These girls are going to be the Black Death when they become teenagers. I should strangle that man down there for having me knocked up one after the other. Everyone was right when they placed bets at our wedding years ago, damn them.

A house full, huh? I’m never fitting into another cute dress that doesn’t have elastic involved again. I feel like a duck always wobbling around, I muse as I climb out of bed, and wrap up in my pink polka dot robe Blondie got me for my birthday last year. I loved it and had an extra surprise when I reached in to the pocket to find a beautiful mother’s necklace tucked inside.

Nikoli’s a good man, a great husband, and an absolutely wonderful father to our little girls. They think he hung the moon and he treats them like they’re precious diamonds, always spoiling them.

We nearly collide as he meets me in our bedroom doorway as I’m about to make my way downstairs. “Careful, Pixie,” he mumbles with his sexy deep morning voice. “Brenna says you’re demanding chocolate chips. Is she trying to eat chocolate for breakfast again?”

Laughing, I shake my head. “Nyet, it was really me.”

“You’re not one for sweets in the morning, well unless…” He glances down at my stomach, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his big body. “Unless you have something to share with me?”

“I sent Brenna down; I figured she would have spilled already.”

“No love, she was just eager about the chocolate chips. Should I be excited about something also?”

“Maybe,” I shrug and smile sweetly.

He releases me, pushing my body up against the wall while pulling the robe open.

“Let me see what you’re hiding, little one,” he mutters and drops to his knees to lift my long night shirt up under my breasts. There’s a small pooch there, but it’s hard to tell if I’ve just eaten too much or if it’s truly a tiny baby bump.

Nikoli rains sweet tender kisses all over my stomach, taking his time to make sure he gets the entire area where a baby would be resting beneath the surface.

“It’s hard to tell with so many clothes on; I may need to remove more.” He works my panties to my thighs and exposes my tender part to his mouth. He attacks me like a man starved. I reach out to hold his hair, enjoying each pass of his tongue, when we’re interrupted by the impatient minion, yelling that her papa is burning pancakes.

“Oh shit!” Niko hops up, adjusting himself as he practically leaps down the stairs. I hear the thumps from his heavy steps then the smoke detector alarm goes off, triggering the other two downstairs to blare loudly along with it.

My morning went from quiet and sleepy, to hot then noisy as the beeps continue and Vishna rushes in screaming if everyone’s all right. The baby, Lala, starts wailing, it’s pure utter chaos, but that’s my life now and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I yank on a pair of shorts and throw on a bra, ditching my robe and hightail it downstairs to help calm everyone down.

NIKOLI

I make it downstairs
and the smoke alarm’s alert with its shrill buzz that’s loud enough to give you a migraine. Brenna has the stool in front of the sink; water turned on full blast pointing the sprayer towards the smoking pancakes on the stove, doing absolutely nothing since the spray won’t actually reach that far but soak the floor.

Avery’s son, Kane is busy throwing handfuls of flour at the smoke, making it all an even bigger mess. The kid looks like he should be seven, not five, taking after his massive father. I’m keeping my eyes on that boy, already egging Brenna on and trying to flirt.

The dog comes in barking crazily and then my sister runs inside screaming about the smoke alarm, pissing off Lala. I could rip my fucking hair out and Bina just announced she’s pregnant again. I see what this is; it’s payback for me giving my mother hell when I was a boy.

Even through all the turbulence with Sabrina getting well and learning how to cope with what happened to her and then the struggles we’ve had discovering how to be decent parents, I’ve never been so happy, in love, and at peace in my lifetime. She has given me hope, family, and joy. I’ll be eternally grateful and always cherish her as the prize she truly is.

I can’t wait to experience the rest of my years with her and my beautiful daughters. My beautiful
single
daughters who won’t marry or move away from us until they’re
forty
and that’s only if I approve of the dude.

It’s been five years and we still haven’t found the man known as ‘The Master.’ It haunts Sabrina some nights, but I’m always there to offer her comfort. We still search for him all the time. In fact, Beau has become his newfound tracker. Turns out he kind of likes being the Mafiya’s hunter.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

So who’s next in the Russkaya Mafiya? Spartak, Beau, Alexei, The Master? Let me know who you want more of, and thank you tremendously for reading! If you would like to know about Avery, she has her own books called Relinquish and Forsaken Control. Please check out the chapter in the back from my good friend, Anne Mercier.

XOXO- Sapphire