Page 63 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
Chapter 36 - Kolya
In general, I was a pretty laid-back guy. I had been angry enough to break a nose or two in my life, and there were times when I had to order someone to be ‘taken care of.’ But I didn’t enjoy killing. Torture wasn’t a big fun thing for me, like my new in-laws, who were masters of the craft.
Until Vissarion sent me those pictures of Nat. Her hair was in tangles, her shirt torn open. Her cheek was violently red, like she’d been hit repeatedly. She looked absolutely terrified. Seeing her like that filled me with such white-hot anger that I swayed on my feet. Visions of what I’d do to Vissarion when I had him danced in my head. He was going to pay for this.
The only thing keeping me sane enough to start making a plan was how well I knew Vissarion. He would take his time torturing both me and Nat, and not kill her immediately. It was ice-cold comfort, but all I had to cling to. I had to get her back, see her again, make our mess of an arrangement the real deal.
For a moment, I was paralyzed. Rage, guilt, fear. Then, my mind began to click into gear. What could I do? I couldn’t turn to the Fokins. They’d kill me for letting this happen. Enough of my anger was already turned toward myself as it was. I should have taken Vissarion out of the equation, but my distaste for murder and my foolish belief that the man wasn’t totally insane came back to bite me in the ass. Now, I couldn’t wait to squeeze the life out of Vissarion the moment I saw him again, and I would. I would.
I had no other choice but to call Arkadi, even though he had made it very clear he didn’t want anything to do with me or my plans. I wasn’t even sure where he was. My only plan now was to get Nat back before the monster could hurt her more.
More pictures came in, and I paused to look at them only long enough to assure myself she was still alive. I was teetering on the brink of madness as I messaged my brother.
It’s not about me this time. Nat’s in trouble. I need your help.
After that, I texted some of my people who were trained in surveillance, told them to get their asses down here to get whatever camera footage they could from the parking lot and surrounding area. Then I paced, waiting to see if my brother would respond, or continue to pretend I didn’t exist.
It was only a few minutes before the call came through. I sagged with relief as I answered it.
“What’s going on?” Arkadi asked. I quickly filled him in, and he promised to get his people in LA working on it. “I’ll be back in town in less than two hours.”
It turned out he had misdirected me and everyone; he was actually close by in Mexico, not a day’s journey away in Rio. No one hated being followed more than my brother.
I wasn’t even mad about it, just so grateful I wasn’t working alone that I sank to the floor. Surrounded by all of Nat’s hard work, I could almost feel her there, hear her haranguing some contractor to get something done faster. See her staring at a painting for a solid minute before moving it a quarter of an inch. I would see her again. I would.
My surveillance team arrived, along with a crew that would begin searching the area. The background of the pictures Vissarion sent showed only plain, wood-paneled walls, nothing that would help us determine a location.
Once they knew the situation, I headed back to the beach house to set up a base of operation. My head of securitypromised to have everyone up to speed by the time I arrived. When I got home, the place was a hive of activity, with computers set up to receive information from the teams who were out searching or gathering intel.
One of the computers had a grid of the city near the gallery on its screen, but the person shook her head as I came near. Nothing yet. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, and the images changed as she began to study a new grid.
When Arkadi arrived, Mila was close beside him. It was clear she had been crying, her eyes red and puffy, and her cheeks mottled with tear stains. When I told her there was nothing useful yet, she collapsed against my brother, overcome with worry for her niece.
I wished I had better news for her, or for myself. The people at the shopping center were having trouble with the camera system facing the back parking lot, which shouldn’t have been a surprise.
“Do you know who’s behind this?” Kolya asked.
We drifted toward the kitchen, where he made his wife a cup of tea. I marveled at this new, tender side I had never seen before, but when he turned back to me for an answer, his face assumed its normal scowl.
I told him about Vissarion, starting to explain our history, but Mila spoke up, putting her teacup down with shaking hands.
“We know who he is,” she said, looking at Arkadi for confirmation. “Your Uncle Eldar admitted to working with him to undermine your Moscow operation.”
“That’s right,” Arkadi said, nodding as he remembered. “We had to interrogate him after… he betrayed me. He did speakof this Vissarion Kotlov. I thought it had ended in Moscow once Eldar wasn’t in the picture anymore.”
The beef between Vissarion and me went far deeper than that, but I still slammed my fist down on the kitchen table, rattling Mila’s cup and spilling tea into the saucer. Information like that might have been important to have.
“If I had known that, I might have dealt with him differently,” I stormed. “Before it came to this.”
“Why should I share family information with someone who made it clear long ago he’s not family?” Arkadi asked disdainfully. “That is, until you’re desperate and need something.”
It was a low blow, and also untrue. I was already hurting and on edge. I took a swing at him. He lunged at me, but Mila jumped in between us, eyes flashing.
“Your sibling squabble needs to take a backseat until Nat is found, got it?” She shook her head, sad and angry at the same time. “You both have a lot of baggage to deal with, but now is not the time.”
Arkadi agreed, tipping his head at me and looking sincerely apologetic. I thanked him for his help, for coming at all. Mila burst into tears and sat back down. In a second, Arkadi was at her side, rubbing her shoulder.
“Ignore me,” she sniffled. “Get back to work to find Nat.”
I was glad enough to do that, but before Arkadi followed me out of the kitchen, he gave Mila a look filled with such love and devotion it was almost like a punch to the gut. All his feelings were clear, and I recognized them because that was precisely how I felt about Nat. She was no longer just a means to an end. She was my everything.
What if I could never let her know?
