Sacha chuckled and we shook hands. Then he turned toward the door. “Come along, Adrik. Or do you prefer Wolf? Or something else?”
“I prefer Adrik, boss.”
“Adrik, it is, then. Come inside. Let me introduce you to everyone…”
Something shifted in my chest, warming as I followed him inside the building, still in a bit of a daze, with Timofey taking up the rear.
Then reality crashed home, sinking in deep.
I had just been accepted for the first time in my life.
Into theRussian Bratva.
And no one had asked what had happened to my face.
CHAPTER TWO
Adrik
Five years ago…
The day I learned who Papa worked for was also the day he got fired.
We were eating dinner that evening when a loud knock came at the front door. Mom glanced nervously across the table at Papa, who grunted and turned to me.
“You expecting someone, boy?”
I held back a huff. Right. I had no friends. Why would anyone come to see me?
“No, Papa.”
“Well, go answer it,” he growled. “Whoever it is, tell them to go away and not come back until after we’ve finished eating. No one interrupts my meals.”
I slid out of my chair and hurried for the front door, not wanting to anger Papa. Damien watched me leave, a worried expression on his young face. We rarely had visitors, and never had anyone come to see me.
I cautiously pulled open the front door to find two large, intimating men standing on the porch.
The guy on the left took one look at me and cringed, his eyes bugging out. The other guy remained composed as he took in my ugly features. “Hey, kid. Damn, what happened to your face?”
I didn’t answer. Let him wonder like the rest of them. No one ever got it right, anyway. The truth was too shocking. Too horrifying. So, I told no one.
After a moment, the man cleared his throat. “Ahem. Okay, then…Your papa home?”
“He’s eating dinner. He said to come back later.” I started to close the door.
The man slapped his palm roughly on the door, sending it crashing into my foot. I scrambled backward as they pressed forward, entering the house.
The guy who’d spoken eyed me sternly. “Tell the Wolf it’s important and if he doesn’t want any harm to come to his family, he’ll see us right now.”
The second guy’s eyes filled with pure revulsion as he got a closer look at my face. Yeah, I was that ugly. I knew it. I got that look nearly every day.
“Stare hard, retard,” I muttered under my breath.
The man’s nostrils flared. “What did you say?”
The first man put a hand on the second’s arm, stopping him when he would have attacked me. “Chill out. He’s just a kid.” Turning back to me, the guy said. “You hear me? Get your papa. NOW.” He sent me a hard stare that said, do it now, or else.
I gulped. “Y-yes, sir.”