Page 39 of Blazing Embers

He scans her chart on his tablet before looking up. “I’m inclined to want to keep you here another night or even two. You had a very bad infection and nearly coded.”

“I have a private doctor and can get her all the medical equipment we need,” I tell him, already making a list of who I need Konstantin to call to get it setup for us to get there. “I will arrange for the proper transportation to take her to my home town.”

“I don’t think it’s advisable for Mrs. Dragunov to travel right now,” the doctor warns me.

I look at Tara. “How do you feel?”

She nods. “Like I like your idea.”

I look at the doctor. “Start the discharge papers and I’ll get a medical team ready to journey with us.”

“I need to examine Mrs. Dragunov first and get all her vitals,” the doctor tells me.

“Fine.” I sit in the chair and pull out my phone. The man frowns at me before turning his attention to Tara.

I scroll through my contacts and find Pavel’s number and send a message telling him what I need.

He messages back:Give me an hour.

I reply:Keep this between us.

He replies:Of course.

Two hours later we are flying toward Dragunov Territory where we’re met by a nondescript black van kitted out to transport Tara to a safe house in the mountains fifteen miles from Dragunov Village. A safe house that only a few of my most trusted men, including Pavel and Konstantin, know about.

Until Tara is well enough I can’t risk Clyde or that bitch who kidnapped me finding us. Once she is getting settled in I go through to my office in the house. I haven’t been here in a while. It was an old abandoned house, a remnant from the battle when the Mirochins and Russian Army invaded Dragunov Territory. I claimed it and fixed it up. Built it into an impenetrable fortress under the guise of a large farm house.

I take my coat off and hang it on the hook. As I pull the envelope from that bitch out there’s a knock on the door and Konstantin steps in holding a faraday bag. “Here’s that phone you asked me to bag.” He puts it on my desk then turns toward me. His eyes drop to the folder in my hands and they darken. “Want to talk about who kidnapped you or should I guess?”

He looks pointedly at the envelope. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve already figured out who kidnapped me?” My frown deepens. “You know who she is don’t you?”

“I don’t,” Konstantin shakes his head. “I never met her. All your grandfather told me was that someone would deliver your first test in the baptism of fire when the time was right and to be ready.”

“Ready for what?” I ask curiously.

“For the fallout.” He glances at the envelope. “The first test is about me and what you will at first glance perceive as my ultimate betrayal.” He walks to the counter and pours us each a shot of vodka. He hands me a glass then grabs the bottle. “If I’m still alive by the time you’ve worked through it,” he chinks his glass to mine then downs it, “I’m either going to help you find the answers you need or you’ll have failed the test and have your title as the Dragunov and Village Elder stripped from you.”

“Tell me what I’m about to open.” My eyes don't leave him as I stand watching him flop into a chair in front of my desk.

“It’s all in there,” Konstantin tells me. “What I can tell you is that I was sworn to secrecy. I could never tell you what I did. I didn’t realize that it would one day be used as a test of your ability to be a leader until after I chose to open my envelope.” He pours some more vodka. His eyes meet mine. They are blank. “I can also tell you I was given a choice to take the mission or walk away. I was given that choice because of our Bratva code and it was my right to carry it out by honor of that code.” He takes another swallow of his drink. “And I chose to take it.”

My heart slams into my chest as a sick feeling rises from my gut and every sense goes on high alert as different scenarios playthrough my mind.What the fuck is in this envelope? And do I want to know?I walk around my desk and sit.

I down my vodka. Plonk the glass on the desk and rip the envelope open. I look inside and see it’s a photo. My instincts start to scream at me to rip it up. But I ignore them and as I start to pull the photo out I know there is no turning back from a turning point that’s going to change my life forever.

14

RUSLAN

The envelope sits in front of me, the flap half open, a thin sliver of a photograph peeking out. I press my thumb down on the edge and slide it back inside, flipping it over and laying it face down on my desk. The weight of it burns like acid against my thoughts. It’s not just a photo—it’s a landmine.

I slide my glass across the desk toward Konstantin.

He picks up the bottle and pours without a word. The vodka trickles into my glass like a countdown.

He sits back broad-shouldered, patient, a statue of a man waiting for a verdict.

I drain my glass, set it down with enough force to send a shudder through the bottle. I push it toward him for another refill.

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