Page 34 of Broken By the Bratva

As our guests arrived, I joined Vadik and his brothers in the small foyer. Not sure what to expect, I stood half behind Vadik. They entered from the eldest to the youngest and Vadik introduced them to me and me to them.

“Hi, I’m so glad you could join us,” Vadik said shaking their hands. “This is Tasha,” he added stepping to the side and placing his arm around my middle.

The two men looked like they were scanning me as their penetrating glares moved up and down my boy.

“Tasha,” Vadik added looking at me. “This is Iosif,”” he pointed to the one. “And his brother Avgust.” He pointed at the man standing slight back.

“Welcome,” I said trying to smile. My lips felt stiff. My heart was racing. I felt slightly dizzy as the blood seemed to drain from my body. I didn’t dare stick out my hand as I felt the trembles running through me. They would clearly see my fair if I dared do it.

“Well, lets move through,” Makari huffed as he moved past us to the dining room. Pavel followed him. I stood with Vadik as he waited for our guests to move. Walking behind them, I felt Vadik squeeze my arm.

“It’s going to be fine,” he whispered as we entered the dining room. I sat down to his left, Pavel to his right, and Makarinext to him. Our guests took the other end of the table with Iosif sitting across from Vadik at the head.

The maids had already placed down our glasses and there were four bottles of wine on ice. One of the maids came from the kitchen and poured the wine. Once she left the atmosphere in the room quickly thickened. Iosif didn’t even wait for the food before starting to interrogate me.

“So, Tasha,” Iosif said after taking a sip of his wine. “Where did you come from? And please don’t waste our time by saying something stupid like from around here or there.” His tone was abrupt and louder than needed.

Glancing at Vadik, I swallowed so loudly that I was sure they could all hear it. “I grew up in New York,” I replied trying hard to keep my tone from quivering.

“You, local then?” Avgust added. The sarcasm dripped like honey from his words. “Strange we haven’t seen you around. What is your family’s lineage them?”

“I’m just a local girl, no lineage to worry about,” I replied hoping I sounded calm.

Iosif sat studying my face for a moment. Swallowing the sudden mountain growing in my throat, I wondered what he was trying to get out of me. As he spoke again, I could swear I heard sarcasm in his tone. “What did your parents do for a living?”

Taking a moment to calm myself, I sipped some wine. Speaking, I tried to keep the nervousness from seeping through. “My dad was an average office worker, doing books, I think. But I could be wrong. He worked long hours and didn’t bring his work home. My mother planted and sold flowers from our garden.”

I could only hope it was an answer he would accept. I thought I sounded reasonable and true. I couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over and these beasts to leave. I was relieved when the maids came out with the food. Once they had served the plates they left. I wanted to get up and leave with them but knew that would set off all the alarms.

Feeling a hand on my thigh, I glanced at Vadik. He smiled softly as he squeezed my thigh in support. As my mind started to leave the room and drift to another place, I was pulled back as Avgust spoke loudly. “You seem uneasy, is it because of who we are? Do you know who we are?”

He had a strange look in his eyes as I met his gaze. The smirk he boasted made me swallow hard. Taking another sip of wine and a deep breath, Vadik replied before I could. “She only recently came to terms with the type of work we do. But she is fine with it and will be getting involved.”

Avgust’s grin grew larger as he spoke. His tone now sounded softer but there was something there I couldn’t place. “What can you contribute? Was it hard adjusting after finding out?”

Looking at Vadik, I wished he had stayed out of it. Look at the type of questions they now have. Nodding, I responded in a softer tone. “It is hard, but we are working on it. I have some knowledge of computers, so I’ll be doing their accounts.”

Avgust looked at his brother as he chuckled. He cut some of his food and started eating. Feeling my beating heart calming a tad, I concentrated on my food hoping it was over. I kept my head down but could feel their penetrating stares.

We were about halfway through the meal when Iosif cleared his throat and spoke again. “It it’s not too personal, may I know how the two of you met?”

Vadik smiled widely as he proceeded to answer. His tone was calm and kind. “We bumped into each other one day at a coffee shop. I was mesmerized by her beauty and asked her out.”

Glancing at me I noticed the wink as he continued. “A few days later, we met up and since then we just knew.”

Iosif turned his head looking at Vadik as if he was trying to figure out if the man was lying. After a bit, he smiled and nodded. But I could see he wasn’t satisfied.

The rest of our meal went reasonably smoothly. Once the table was cleared, Iosif took the last sip of his wine and rose as he spoke. “Well, I think we have to go but it was nice meeting you Tasha.”

I rose and shook his hand as he passed me heading to the door. Avgust stopped next to me as he held his hand out. Shaking it, I tried giving him a normal smile. But I felt my lips pulling sideways.

“It was nice to meet you, we will see each other again though,” Avgust breathed out before following his brother out. Shaking my arms out, I couldn’t rid myself of the sudden feeling of dread that had come over me.

I heard Vadik, and his brothers greet their guests. My legs felt wobbly and weak. Holding onto the side of the table, I moved to the open window. I couldn’t believe how shaken up I felt from this whole ordeal.

These people weren’t anything like us. They were evil and opinionated beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Breathing out and in heavily I was glad it was over. I felt sure they didn’t suspect a thing, but it wasn’t something I would ever allow again.

“I am sorry, Tasha. I didn’t expect them to be so harsh. I am glad it’s over and we got through it. They are none the wiserand suspect nothing,” Vadik said. I knew he was coming closer as his voice grew louder.

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