Page 126 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

"A few months." Belle presses on her forehead like she has a headache. "It may not look like it, but she wanted to live with me.”

"And your mom was fine with that?”

Belle winces. “No. Not even a little bit.”

“I’m sensing a story.”

“I guess so,” she chuckles. “It was a littleMission Impossible-esque.”

“I have a hard time believing you’re capable of something like that. Considering how many times I’ve caught you eavesdropping on me and trying to steal my car, but—”

“That was all under duress!” she argues. “I didn’t have time to plan.”

“Then tell me the story. Impress me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, now, you’ve built it up to be this big thing that it wasn’t. It’s just that my mom hasn’t wanted Elise to have any contact with me since I left for college. Unless, of course, my mom wanted to pump me for money.”

I shake my head. “Fucking leech.”

“Nailed it. She liked to give me sob stories about needing clothes for Elise or money for food, but it all went to getting her high. I knew her tricks, and I cut her off. But I found ways to get Elise what she needed from time to time. Money sharing apps, giftcards, that sort of thing. But it couldn’t be anything my mom would notice—no clothes, no devices—or she’d shut it down. So mostly just some money for her to buy hot lunch at school and get basic necessities, the kind of stuff she could plausibly pick up from a shelter or a free clinic somewhere. Deodorant, tampons, laundry soap.”

“Things were that bad? You had to send her money for tampons?”

Belle nods, but I can tell she’s ashamed. I have no idea what she has to be ashamed of—she isn’t the one who refused to take care of her own child. If anything, she stepped up and did what no one else would do.

It’s admirable. She should be holding her head high.

But before I can say any of that, Belle continues. “Six months ago, Mom went on a bender. A bad one. She’d just gotten out of forced treatment and swore she’d be clean again, but less than a week later, her dealer was at the house. This time, he hit on Elise.”

I find my hands clenching under the table. “Did he—”

“No,” she says quickly. “No, Elise got out before anything happened. I warned her about him. I told her to stay out of sight whenever he was around. The guy is a creep. He never touched me or anything, but… I was just a kid, barely thirteen, when he started sniffing around. One night, I overheard him offer my mom a trade. Me, in exchange for some product.”

If the man was in front of me right now, I’d kill him without blinking. Without hesitating. I’d rip his useless head from his useless shoulders and laugh at his blood.

“A man like that doesn’t deserve breath,” I snarl.

Belle’s eyes widen at the fury in my voice. “My mom didn’t take him up on it, for the record. She said no, but… I didn’t know if she’d always say no. As soon as I could, I got out of there. I hated leaving Elise, but—”

“You were a kid yourself. You couldn’t take her with you.”

“I know,” she whispers. “I do. I just don’t know if Elise understands that yet. But I always made sure she could get in touch with me, and a few months ago, she did. She called and we made a plan. I drove to Omaha, she slipped out of her window in the middle of the night, and we left.”

“Your mom isn’t looking for her?”

“She doesn’t have the money to chase us down,” she says. “She has no idea where I’m living, and she won’t call the police. They wouldn’t listen to her anyway.”

Maybe I could get a security detail on Belle. Or spies on her mom. Make sure she’s staying right where she’s supposed to be. Though I don’t know why the fuck it matters to me.

I grab my phone to text Arslan, but before I can, my screen lights up with a call from the man himself.

“Excuse me,” I tell Belle. I stand up and walk into the living room before answering. “I was just about to text you. Isn’t it the middle of the night in New York?”

“It is, so why would you be trying to text me and wake me up? Also, you’re welcome for being so dedicated,” he says.

I snort. “You’re always on call.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” he grumbles. “Anyhow, I’ve been up all night because Giorgos is up to some bullshit.”

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