“Not interested.”
“Why?”
“I work independently and have a team.”
“How many?”
“Three of us.”
He continued watching me, I could tell he was weighing his options. “You don’t want to become my enemy.” I didn’t reply but I stood my ground. I didn’t challenge him although my silence might have been a challenge in itself. “You remind me of myself when I was younger.”
Now that surprised me; though I didn’t let it show. If I reminded him of his younger days, my future was not that promising. If I lived long enough to have any future.
“You and your team can join me,” he suggested. “You will be independent but under my wing. If I require a special job, you’ll be available. Roof over your head with full amenities, food and protection every day.”
I weighed my options. Meals were getting less and less frequent at the orphanage. Nikolai, Sergei, and I had become accomplished thieves but it didn’t help our housing situation. Winter was coming and Sergei tended to get sick a lot. He needed a place that had heat.
“Apartment with water and heat, separated from all your other men,” I said flatly. I didn’t want him to think I needed this more than he needed us. I knew exactly why he wanted us on his team. Keep your enemies closer.
“Yes.” He pulled out a notebook and scribbled an address, throwing it over to me. “Top floor apartment is yours.”
I caught the piece of paper without breaking eye contact with Boris. I unfolded the crumpled paper and a quick glance down at the address told me this apartment would be adequate… for now. It was certainly better than the orphanage. I wasn’t sure if Sergei would survive another winter there without heat, medicine, and appropriate clothing. Last winter pneumonia just about killed him. I wasn’t sure if it was better to tie ourselves with the killer psychopath and risk getting killed by him or die of negligence at the orphanage. I wanted to fight for the life I wanted… for a comfortable bed, warm home, and food at the table.
“Okay.” And just like that the deal was made. I got us a deal with the devil. Now we had to beat him at his game.
Boris’ phone rang at that moment. The phone barely rang one time before he was on it answering it eagerly. “Did you find Alexandra?”
I didn’t hear the response but shock on his face was evident. “She had a baby girl?”
The expression on his face was devastating, everyone else around him forgotten for a fraction of a second then his face hardened.
“Dig up everything. She and the child are marked for me,” he spat out and ended the call. Then his attention was back at me. He threw a key over and I caught it midair. “This is the key to your new place. Be there no later than this weekend. Otherwise, it belongs to someone else.”
Anastasia stirred in my arms with a deep sigh, cuddling further into me, pulling me back to the present. Her blind trust and comfort around me amazed me. Usually people feared me, despised me, were disgusted by me, or were simply too intimidated by me. But not her. She’d meet me head on if she disagreed with something, and at the same time think nothing less of me for my background and lack of heritage.
Her palm was still placed over my heart, claiming every inch of it for herself without even realizing it. I craved all of her beautiful heart for myself. Her love and acceptance would be more valuable than anything else I owned.
The bruises that covered her body when I rescued her were gone or faded to a pale yellow.
Just the idea of seeing her hurt like that ever again made me furious. I deserved being beaten and held in the darkest pits of the earth. But she didn’t. She deserved light and all the best in this world. She should have never gone through such pain.
I thought back to my first encounter with Boris again. I was sure now that the Alexandra he mentioned on the phone that day was Anastasia’s mother. Striking coincidences like that just didn’t happen. I had no doubt Anastasia’s mother was the woman Boris loved. Sick bastard that he was, he probably couldn’t handle a rejection. Although knowing her heritage, it was odd that those two ever connected. It must have been a chance encounter while her mother spent her time in Russia. I couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling there was something I was missing. And it was something of importance.
I knew better than to ignore my instincts, they had kept me alive many times over. So I would have to focus on finding out what puzzle piece was missing when it came to the connection of Boris to Anastasia’s family.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Anastasia
The sun was barely creeping up the horizon of the river when I woke up in Dimitry’s arms by the fireplace. My face was buried in his chest, his scent deep inside my lungs. I’d remember his scent forever, the scent of a lover. I knew nobody would ever match it. It was incredible that in a matter of days, he had become so important to me.
Lifting my head, I looked at his beautiful, hard face. No wonder there were harsh lines on it; life was harsh and cruel to him from a very early age. I shuddered at the thought of a little boy going hungry… so hungry that he had to kill to get food and protect himself. I had a nudging feeling that he also did a lot of horrible things to protect Nikolai and Sergei. Dimitry Alexeyev was a good man, underneath it all. He just hid it all.
Mom always taught me to look for silver linings in life and people. Dad wasn’t exactly of the same thinking, which made sense since he was a criminal prosecutor. But not all people were lucky to have the luxury of choosing the right thing to do. If Dimitry wouldn’t have stolen food from the bakery, he and his brother could have died of starvation by now. While society would view them as criminals, I would challenge that the orphanage was at fault here. They should have taken care of the children. I would blame the parents that should have taken care of the children. It was a never ending, vicious cycle.
Although my dad complained that Dimitry Alexeyev escaped his prosecution unscathed, I disagreed with him. Dimitry had paid for his sins and tried to hold on to the core humanity despite everything he had witnessed during his life. Weaker men than Dimitry, Nikolai, and Sergei would have turned wholeheartedly to the crime. They wouldn’t have cared who got hurt in the process and these three men cared very much. Yes, Dimitry did wrong in his life but he was repenting for it and he was a good man deep down.
Even as I justified him, I knew none of that would matter to my father. If you did wrong, regardless of what forced you to it, you were guilty. But my father sent him to save me so maybe they came to some kind of accordance or agreement about it all. That was one thing I couldn’t do, choose between my family and Dimitry. I refused to love either less or more.