I've learned to move unseen. I've learned to exact retribution without regret. I've learned to snuff out the life of those who deserve death as easily as blowing out a candle.
I will find the people responsible for Taya's death. I will find them, and I will end them.
My dreams have begun to shift. I'm so consumed with the goal of avenging Taya's death that I'm no longer the prisoner but the tormentor.
I don't wake any more rested than before I go to sleep, because it's only a dream. The ones responsible for Taya's death still roam free.
They're still fucking free.
But I will find them.
The reports say it was a random incident. She was hijacked after a shift at the hospital where she worked. Knifed, her wallet emptied.
But a man in my position learns to trust his instincts, and my instincts say this was not accidental.
How could my enemies have found her? We keep the whereabouts of our loved ones a secret, sharing only the bare minimum details even among brothers, and I trust my brothers with my life. They are the ones who rescued me. Every one of us would die for one another. I know that both Filip and Vladek are single, Demyan the only one of our inner circle who has a woman. But Demyan and Larissa live on the first floor of our compound, and she's not allowed out of his sight.
"Report on the actions of The Thieves," Demyan orders, sitting back in an appearance of rest, but he's ever-alert. He doesn't trust them since my rescue and has been biding his time plotting retaliation, but my revenge for the torture I sustained is secondary to finding the men who killed my Taya.
"All quiet, Dem," Filip, our resident computer hacker, says.
"Mostly quiet," Larissa contradicts. According to Demyan, his wife Larissa was the one who traced my whereabouts. Her hacking skills are far superior to anyone else's, which is the only reason she's allowed to any of our meetings, and the reason why she has a three-man-detail on her whenever she's out of arm's reach of her husband. She jokes that she can't use the bathroom without a detail, and she's right.
Demyan sits up straighter. "What did you find, moya lyubov'?"
My love. Something hits me in the chest at once, a pang so hard it's almost physical.
My love.
It was the last thing Taya said to me before I left for the States, and I'd give anything to come back to that moment. I would refuse to leave her. I would lay and wait for that night and ambush whoever took her from me.
Larissa shoots me a look before she responds to Demyan, her eyes wide and apprehensive. My body goes tight.
She found something involving Taya.
"What is it?" I spit out. Demyan shoots me a warning look, but I ignore him. I don't fucking care if she's his. She has information I need, and I'll have it.
"I've been digging around for information about The Thieves."
"Larissa," Demyan warns. He's told her to stay away from them, to focus on the tasks he gives her, but she's feisty and brilliant. She can't help herself.
"Just listen," she pleads. "It's important."
Demyan releases a breath. "Go on."
"So, you all obviously know that all of you organized crime guys descended from the original Thieves of Law? The ones who formed this militaristic group after the fall of Stalin?" Larissa looks at Nicolai, the youngest recruit of our group. He sits by Demyan, who's a mentor to him, his arms crossed on his chest, wearing a scowl. With his hair shaved short and heavily tattooed, he looks older than his twenty-five years.
“Of course,” Nicolai finally says. “Our American brothers tell the same story.” Though Russian-born, Nicolai now hails from our American brotherhood, the most prominent Bratva in America, recruited by Demyan. Former spetsnaz, his special forces training has served him well.
“Go on,” he tells Larissa. Though he’s young, he is a commanding, formidable addition to The Bratva, and I’m pleased he’s joined forces with us.
"Alrighty then," Larissa says. "So, The Thieves like to think they're the original Bratva, even though you guys have a deeper history of origin with Dimitri than they do."
"Go on," Demyan tells her, growing impatient.
"You know that about twenty years ago, the deeper international affiliations of The Thieves became more well-known, at the same time you guys grew in numbers. You were more careful with your alliances, but they were not, which resulted in the apprehension of their pakhan. Because of the time he spent in jail, there's significant footage I was able to obtain."
We sit in silence while Larissa pulls up pictures on her laptop and enlarges them. I don't know where she's going with this, but she's piqued my interest.
Demyan nods. "Get to your point, Larissa."
"I'm getting there," she says. "I promise."