Page 91 of Crash and Burn
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Marley
It’sthe night before Thanksgiving and I’m going out to dinner with Niko, my dad. I don’t think I’ll actually be calling himDadanytime soon, but getting the opportunity to know him is such an amazing gift. Rascal offered to come for support, which was thoughtful. I let him know how much I appreciated the offer, but I need to do this alone. With Rascal there, things could become too awkward.
I’m sitting outside with Cali, waiting for Niko to arrive, while Buster has Caden inside with everyone else. Cali’s dad is the Pakhan of the Bratva and has known Niko her whole life.
“I’m so nervous,” I mutter.
“Don’t be. He’s really excited about dinner with you,” Cali tells me. “Finding out he had a daughter was a dream come true for him.”
“What if we don’t get along?”
“Don’t think about that. Go into this with an open mind. Niko might be part of the Bratva, but he’s a good guy. He only wants to know you,” she says.
A few minutes later, a sleek, blacked out Lexus GS F pulls up in front of us. Niko steps out of the driver side, walking over to me and Cali.
“Dobryy vecher. Good Evening, ladies.” He greets us. “Marley, are you ready to go?”
“I am.” I stand from the picnic table.
“Have a good time,” Cali says to us.
Niko walks me to the passenger side, opening the door for me.
“Thank you.” I slide into the car and he closes the door, walking around the car to the driver side. There’s classical music playing softly. Glancing at the radio, it readsSmooth Criminal by 2Cellos.
“Interesting choice in music.” I grin.
He smiles in response, driving us away from the clubhouse. The ride to the restaurant is silent. I start to wonder if I made the wrong choice coming to dinner alone with him. We pull up to We Knead Pizza. I look to Niko to make sure we’re at the right place.
“Do you like pizza? I didn’t want to go somewhere too fancy and make you feel uncomfortable,” he explains.
“No, this is perfect. Pizza is great.” I give him a small smile. We head inside and get seated right away.
“Order whatever you’d like,” Niko tells me. “I’ll eat any kind of pizza.”
After reading over the menu, I decide on half sausage and mushroom and half pepperoni. When the waitress comes to take our drink orders, we go ahead and order our pizza and a couple of side salads, too.
“Can I get an extra side of ranch, too, please?” I add before she walks away.
“Of course.” She smiles and goes to put in our order.
I turn my attention to Niko. “So, how did you meet my mom?”
A look crosses his face as if he’s replaying a memory in his mind. “When I met her, I was aboyevik, a soldier for the Bratva. I was visiting California with my, at the time,BrigadierI was under. The two of us were tasked with meeting Rodrigo and his, at the time, higher up. We met them at a diner Rodrigo frequented and spoke highly of. Jenny, your mom, was a waitress there. Rodrigo had been there enough, he had spoken to your mom a few times.”
He pauses, taking a deep breath.
“I went to that diner every day for a week. Some days with Rodrigo, most days by myself. The seventh day, I finally worked up the courage to talk to her. To my surprise, she gave me her number. We spent the next few months nearly inseparable.”
At that moment, the waitress brings us our salads and drinks, promising our pizza will be out soon.
“What happened between the two of you? Why’d you leave?”
“I never came out and told her I was part of the Bratva. She found out right before I was scheduled to go back to Russia for a short trip. We got in a huge fight,” he tells me. “I left before I could fix things with her. My short trip turned into a long one. When I tried to reach out to her, she wouldn’t talk to me. I ended up not coming back to the States for a few years and by then, I couldn’t find her again.”
My heart hurts for my mom and Niko both.
