Zaal’s shoulders dropped, and he turned away.
“But she also loved how you looked happy,” Avto said quickly, making Zaal freeze mid-stride. He didn’t turn. Avto shifted on the floor and said, “We told her how they rescued you, and any dishonor she felt seemed to fade away.” Zaal still didn’t move. Avto looked around the room and slowly pushed to his feet. Swaying nervously on the spot, he said, “Lideri, I have watched her grow for over twenty years. Most days she was silent and sad.” Zaal’s hand fisted at his side, but Avto finished, “Until the day she found out you were alive. Until the day she saw your face. Your older face.”
Zaal turned his head and looked over his shoulder. “Where is she?” he whispered, defeated.
“She was meant to wait for me. We were to come to you in a couple of days when I had things in place, but she must have changed her mind when I left. I returned to find her gone.” Zaal turned, and Avto bowed his head. “I went to the Tolstoi residence where she knew you would be. And in the alley opposite was this picture … along with marks on the ground that looked like dragged feet.”
I tipped my head back and blew out a breath.
“I think someone has taken her, Lideri.” Avto’s voice broke and his tears came thick and fast. “We thought the Jakhuas were gone. We thought there were no more threats.” His pause thickened the tension in the room. “I must have been wrong. I told her she would be safe. After all of these years keeping her safe, I told her there was no danger and she ran out to the waiting wolves.”
“She came to see me,” Zaal stated. I watched his back as it started to shake. “She came to see me,” he muttered, but this time pure rage tinged his voice.
Talia edged forward, then forward again, until a deafening roar burst from Zaal. Lurching forward, Zaal kicked over the stacks of free weights racked up beside the training ring. Balling his hand into a fist, he slammed it into the wall. A dull thud echoed through the room.
Zaal staggered back and dropped to his knees. “Zaal!” Talia called out, and ran to her man from across the room. My sister slumped to her feet and sat before Zaal, whose head was cast downward.
“Baby,” Talia whispered, and pressed the palm of her hand on Zaal’s cheek. I felt someone stand beside me. Kisa’s arm then wrapped in mine and she dropped her head to rest on my biceps. Leaning down, I kissed her head. Seeing my brother so broken reminded me just how far I’d come since getting my female back.
“Look at me,” Talia told Zaal. Her fiancé lifted his head. “I love you,” Talia said softly, and leaned in to kiss Zaal on his lips.
Avto coughed from behind. He turned his head as if he couldn’t stand to see them together. Anger wrapped around me. It was clear the Georgians held as strong as a grudge against us as my father did against them.
“My sister,” Zaal said in a hushed voice. “My sister, Talia. She survived. All these years … she survived, and I did not know.”
Talia squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head. Moving in, she wrapped Zaal in her arms, but her eyes met mine as her head tucked into his shoulder. I could see the fear in her eyes, and I knew I had to do something, not only as Talia’s brother but also as the Volkov Bratva knyaz.
Someone was fucking with my city, and that shit just wasn’t going to happen.
“How long has Zoya been missing?” I asked Avto.
His old eyes fell on me. “A while.”
Zaal must have heard the conversation. Taking Talia’s hand, he rose from the floor. He took a deep breath, his back still turned; then he faced us. And his face was stern. And set with fierce determination.
It was the first time since Zaal had killed Jakhua that I’d seen this look on his face. Stepping forward with Talia by his side, Zaal spoke to me. “The Georgian plan” was all he said. I nodded my head. “The Pakhan was right. They’re here for me, for us. My … sister.”
Kisa looked up at me with a frown on her beautiful face. “There’s danger, again?”
I pressed another kiss on Kisa’s head and gave her a look that told her it was Mafia business. Sliding my arm around her shoulders, I kept her at my side and regarded Zaal.
“Well, what are you wanting to do? You know it’s your call. You have the backing of the Bratva.” I tipped my head at Talia and said, “We know where your loyalty lies. But I know more than anyone what it feels like to have this inheritance in your blood.” Zaal ran a hand down his face. “It’s who you are, Zaal.” I cleared my throat, fighting the sadness, and said, “Anri would want this for you. Even without the memories, he knew something back in Georgia was calling him home.” Zaal wrenched Talia to his side and held her close. “I think his soul told him he was coming back for you. Coming back to restore your family’s legacy.”
“Lideri Anri has died?” Avto’s weak voice drifted from the side. Zaal’s forehead fell into Talia’s hair, so I nodded my head at the old man. Avto’s shoulders dropped in sorrow.
“Zaal,” I called. Zaal lifted his head. “You’re not alone. Our families will unite. You and I will rule together, just like the Bratva always has. A brotherhood. A family.”
“Zaal?” Talia called.
Zaal looked down at his fiancée. “You want this for me?” Zaal asked doubtfully.
Talia sighed. I could see that she had no desire to be a mob leader’s wife, but she made me proud when she replied, “I want you happy, zolotse. And I want you to find your sister.” Talia smiled and said, “I want to meet her so badly, too.”
Zaal was still for what felt like an age. Then, releasing Talia, he approached Avto, who straightened where he stood. “I have few memories from my life. I regret that I do not remember you.”
Avto nodded his head slowly but hung on Zaal’s every word. “Firstly, I want to thank you”—Zaal’s voice was thick as he said this—“for saving my sister when I could not. You have my gratitude, and I am in your debt.”
“Lideri, no—” Avto went to argue, but Zaal held up his hand.
“You told me I have clan men here in New York?”
Avto nodded. “Many, Lideri, and more throughout the United States. They are good loyal men. Many were guards or advisors to your father.”
Zaal nodded again, then held out his hand. Talia walked over to stand beside him. Zaal brought Talia’s hand to his mouth, then puffed out his chest. “This is my Talia. She is a Tolstaia. I know that our families have a bitter history, but our coming marriage turns that into a bond. An alliance. If you have been living in New York, you will understand that the Bratva run this place. And now I am one of them.”
Avto swallowed but bowed his head. “You will get word to our people that I live and I am ready to take my place as the Kostava Lideri.” Avto smiled, but Zaal added, “You will let them know that we will work beside the Volkovs, and that any threat against them will be dealt with as though they had turned coat on a Kostava.”
“Yes, Lideri,” Avto said, then fidgeted with his hands. “But what about Zoya?” His eyes shone with fear. “We have no idea who took her, or what they may be doing to her.”
Zaal reached out and laid his large hand on Avto’s small shoulder. “We have an idea,” he said, “and they are Georgian.” Avto stiffened, but Zaal added, “Our people will be integral to rescuing her, Avto. To returning our Kostava daughter.”
Avto paused, then put his hand on Zaal’s arms. “Our people will die to save Miss Zoya, Lideri.”
Zaal dropped his hand, then let Talia cup his face with her hands. “We’ll find her, zolotse. My father”—Talia looked to me just for a second before looking back at Zaal—“and my brother will not rest until you see your sweet Zoya again.”
Zaal brought Talia into his chest as Kisa squeezed my hand and said, “Lyubov moya, you must do this for Zaal. You must give him the peace his sister will bring to his soul.”
Pressing a kiss to Kisa’s soft lips, I promised, “It’s just a matter of time, solnyshko. With Zaal inheriting the Kostava Lideri seat, the Volkov Bratva have just become the strongest underground crime family on the continental U.S.”