Raze & Reap (31 page)

Suddenly feeling nauseous, I scurried to the edge of the bed and puked all over the floor, my head thudding like a drum.

I could barely see a thing.

An incessant ticking made me wince, the tinny pings shattering my brain. I slowly rolled my head left, only to see an old clock on a battered bedside table. I stared at the face, reading the time, knowing it meant something to me.

I tried to focus on what that was, my cheek lowering to the soiled sheets. I watched the second hand tick around, my eyelids lowering with every stroke, when, suddenly, The Dungeon flashed into my head and I stilled.

The Dungeon Championship!

My chest heaved as I stared at the time. Alik and Luka were about to fight!

Forcing myself off the mattress, working hard to breathe calmly through the pain, I managed to get to my feet. Reaching down, sobbing through the excruciating aches, I slowly fixed my dress and spotted my shoes and jacket flung haphazardly on the floor.

It was a struggle, but when I had everything on, I stumbled to the door, using my hand on the wall to guide my steps and keep myself upright.

I had no idea where I was. I knew I was near the docks, but I had no idea where.

Luckily the door unlocked from the inside. Alik obviously planned that I wouldn't be able to move through his punishment or else he would have bolted me in. But I needed to get to The Dungeon. I had no choice.

Opening the front door, the hot, salty breeze immediately smacked at my face and I cried out as it stung my wounds. Ducking my head, I kept walking forward, praying to find a phone. I walked and walked for what felt like an age, my body exhausted, the apex of my thighs burning with every single step.

That sensation almost had me crying again … Alik had raped me, beat me … My
fiancé
had nearly killed me.

All these years defending him, submitting to him, when I—when we
all
—knew Alik was disturbed … Alik was a psychopathic murderer. The fact that he was an heir to the great Russian Bratva could no longer disguise that truth.

And when my papa saw me like this—if Luka didn't kill him in the cage—my papa would, and I was now resolved to that.

As long as Alik lived, I would never be free.

“Miss? Miss? Are you okay?”

I lifted my head to the side to see an older man walking toward me. He looked like a fisherman or something, or a worker on the docks.

“Miss, are you okay?” he asked again. Then his face paled when he took in the sight of me. “Jesus Christ! What the hell happened to you?”

“Do you have a phone?” I asked, my voice barely audible through my severely bruised throat.

“Miss, I need to get you an ambulance!”

“No!” I argued. “Just … do you have a phone I can borrow?”

The man nodded and pulled out his cell, handing it over. “Miss, I don't feel right not calling you help.”

“This will be my help,” I said and weakly dialed Talia's number.

She picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Talia?” I said as loudly as I could manage.

“Hello? Kisa? Is that you? I can barely hear you.”

“It's me,” I replied. “I need you to come and get me.”

She paused. “Why aren't you at the fight? It's about to start!”

“Talia, please. I need you to come and get me … now, please—”

“Okay. Okay. Where are you?” she asked, and I could hear her moving, keys rattling in her hand.

I turned to the man. “Where are we?”

He told me the address and I relayed it to Talia.

“Kisa, what the fuck are you doing there?”

Pressing my hand to my forehead, I said, “I'll explain everything when you get here.” My stomach rolled in nerves, “I … I have something big to tell you. But you need to hurry.”

“I'm on my way.”

*   *   *

A while later, headlights glared on the road to the dock, the bright beams blinding. Lifting my hand to my face, I watched the man who had helped me wave Talia forward.

The car came to a stop and Talia lurched out the door and headed straight for me, her hand over her mouth.

“Kisa…” she whispered, and I caught her brown eyes shining, filling with tears. “What's happened to you?” she said and tried to reach out her hand, but she pulled it straight back for fear she would hurt me.

I pushed off the Sea-Can, and Talia caught me in her arms as I struggled to walk. “Alik … Alik did this … to me,” I said breathlessly as I made for Talia's car.

She stopped. “Alik?” Her eyes widened. “Shit! I knew he wasn't right, but I never thought he'd ever hurt you.”

“Talia, please, we have to go! I'll … I'll explain everything in the car.”

Talia led me past the old man, and I laid my hand on his arm and said, “Thank you.”

Talia helped me into the passenger seat, and I slumped back against the warm leather. It felt like paradise to my exhausted body.

In seconds, my best friend jumped into the car, and beneath the car's interior light, I watched her truly take in my injuries. I hadn't seen my reflection, but I could feel how messed up I was, how bad I must look.

“Kisa,” Talia said quietly and a sob escaped her mouth. I lifted my hand to land on her knee, and as if it snapped her to action, she turned on the car and began pulling away from the docks. “I'm taking you to Dr. Chazov. Then I'm calling Papa Kirill to tell him what Alik did to you. He'll gut the fucker!”

“No!” I protested. Talia looked at me like I was crazy. “We need to go to the fight. To The Dungeon Championship.”

“Kisa! Have you lost your damn mind? You're not looking good, sweetie. I'm worried you're injured internally. Your face … your wrist! Shit, Kisa, I think it's broken!”

“Talia, I need to go there.” I looked up at my best friend and took a deep breath. “We
both
need to go there.”

Talia's eyebrows pulled down in confusion. “Kisa … you know I can't go to those things. All that death … I can't … I've never been able to face it after Luka.”

We both sat in silence until Talia asked, “Why did Alik snap? What the hell happened?”

I stared out the window as The Dungeon's warehouse came into view in the distance. “I … I've been sleeping with Raze.”

The car swerved as Talia gasped in shock. “Kisa,” she said in disbelief. “What were you thinking? You never betray your man in this life! Especially Alik!”

Tears sprang to my eyes. “Raze isn't just any man.”

“He's a killer, Kisa! A killer you took off the streets and put in The Dungeon! What the fuck am I not getting here? You've known him all of a couple of weeks!”

“Talia, please. Come with me tonight and I'll explain everything.”

Talia sighed and reached over to put her hand on top of mine. “Okay, sweetie. I'm just…” Her hands began to tremble. “You're all I have left to remind me … to keep my brother's memory…” Talia trailed off, unable to finish her sentence, and I almost fell apart. I wanted to tell her now that it was Luka that I was with, but she needed to see him herself. I needed to tell them all together.

I rolled my head to face her and flipped my palm.

Talia squeezed my hand.

“Through the back door, Tal. Take the back way so we don't have to face the crowd.”

Nodding, Talia helped me walk round the back of The Dungeon. Max, my papa's head Byki, widened his eyes as he stood vigil by the door and saw us approach.

“Miss Volkova! What the hell has happened? Does Mr. Durov know this has happened to you?” he asked in shock, reaching out to help Talia take my weight.

“Max, please help me up to my papa's box,” I replied, bristling when Alik was his first concern.

Alik was feared. Feared by
everyone
.

Max glanced to Talia, and she nodded her agreement. Together, they helped me through the narrow hallway, my papa's men standing back, appalled at my state.

The sudden roar of the crowd made me stumble, and I looked up to Max. “How long has the fight been on?”

“About five minutes, miss.”

My heart began to pound again, and I looked up the stairs to my papa's private box. “Quickly, I need to speak with Papa.” I looked to Max. “Who's in there with him?”

“Just your father and Mr. Tolstoi, miss.”

I exhaled in relief, and Max and Talia helped me up the stairs. As soon as we reached the top, Talia opened the door and helped me inside.

Papa and Ivan were watching the fight, the overfilled crowd visible through the large bulletproof glass window.

“Papa?” I said quietly, and my papa looked over at me, a smile still on his face as he watched the fight. But as soon as his blue eyes fixed on mine, all happiness drained from his face. My papa shot out of his chair and ran over to me, Ivan doing the same. They ushered me to a seat, my papa's face reddened with anger.

“Who did this to you?” he asked curtly. “We need to get you to the doctor.”

“She won't listen. She insisted on coming here. And … it was …
Alik
,” Talia answered from beside me. “He beat her, and I had to pick her up at a shack he owns on the docks.”

“ALIK!” my papa roared, rushing to his feet and glaring out the window.

I leaned forward and looked out onto the cage too. The floor was smeared with blood, Alik and Luka rolling around, grappling for dominance.

“Who's winning?” I asked, and my father glanced to the cage and then back at me.

“Kisa—”

“Who?” I pressed.

“Raze gets the upper hand more than Alik, but right now, it's anybody's fight,” Ivan answered, and I pressed my hand on my head.

My heart raced with what I was about to do. “Is Abram cage side with Yiv?”

My papa looked at me like I was insane. “Yes, of course. Kisa! You need to start talking. Why did he do this to you? He's a dead man!”

Taking a deep breath, never taking my eyes off the cage, watching my Luka face Alik, and trying not to cry, I said, “I have to tell you all something.”

I glanced to Talia and Ivan. “About … about Luka.”

Ivan paled and Talia's eyes darted to her father. The pain flashed immediately across their faces. Talia then kneeled down and felt my head. “Kisa, does your head hurt? Are you confused? You're worrying me.”

“No!” I snapped, but then I gripped Talia's hand. My eyes filled with tears and my heart kept time with the quick stamping of the crowd's feet below.

“Then what, Kisa?” Ivan said in a softer tone. “What of my boy?”

“He didn't do it,” I blurted and immediately felt the atmosphere in the room change. I looked up at all three sets of eyes. All were looking at me like I'd gone insane.

Closing my eyes, I pictured Luka's face and said, “I need to say something. Please don't interrupt me. I need to get this out.”

Ivan, Talia, and my papa nodded their heads.

“Luka didn't kill Rodion all those years ago. Alik set him up. They were at the falls. Something happened and Alik stabbed Rodion and then stabbed himself to make it look like Luka was guilty.”

I caught Talia sucking in a sharp breath, but I kept my eyes shut.

“Abram had told Alik he had to kill Rodion so he would be next in line, that Rodion wasn't strong enough to lead when they were older. And Alik placed the blame on Luka because…” I cleared my throat and felt the pit of guilt that lay within me expand. “Because he wanted
me
to himself … and believed I would never choose him with Luka still around. He was right. I never would have given up Luka for anything. You all know that.

“Abram didn't plan for Alik to harm Luka. Why would he? Alik would be next in line because of where Abram stood in the Bratva, but he had to protect his son. He couldn't let you find out what Alik had done. It would jeopardize everything he'd planned … planned under your noses.”

The room was still silent, so I continued. “When Papa sent Luka away, Abram ordered for the Georgian Mafia to intercept the transport. They burned the bus, put bodies in place of the boys en route to Russia, and took them to Alaska instead.”

“What … what was in Alaska?” Talia's tiny voice asked.

Trying to stop my bottom lip from quivering, I said, “An underground prison, nicknamed the Gulag, ran by the Georgians. A gambling ring just like this, where their prisoners are forced to fight to the death. They torture them, force them to take drugs, build them up to a frightening size. They make them into killers, drug them and torture them so badly that they block out their past and any memories they had before the Gulag.
Any
memories.
All
memories.”

Tears flooded my cheeks and my chest grew tight.

“And what happened to my boy?” Ivan asked, and I finally opened my eyes. “Did he die? Did he die in the Gulag ring? Did my boy die?” Ivan's voice cracked, and when I cast a glance at Talia, she appeared numb with shock, her hand cool on mine.

“No,” I whispered. “He became a champion, unrivaled … He survived, Ivan. There was an escape, and he fled, having no other memories but that of New York … He knew he had to come back to Brooklyn.” I inhaled, watching as Luka and Alik circled one another around the cage, praying Luka would be victorious. “And his need for revenge on Alik.”

My papa moved my hair back from my face. “How do you know all this, Kisa? Who told you? How can you be sure it's all true? This accusation against Abram is serious. You know it means death for his betrayal if you are correct, Kisa.”

I nodded my head. “I know it's true … because…” I steeled my nerves, took a deep breath, and confessed, “Because Luka found me again. We found each other again, and he told me so himself.”

Talia stood abruptly. “He's … he's here? In New York? My brother is back?”