Saving Anya (40 page)

All the jokes and wit had left Renee suddenly. Frozen in place, tears running down her face, she looked at him and began to cry. Grabbing his neck finally, she hugged him tightly. “Yes,” she answered. “Da, da, I’ll marry you,” she said, as he slipped the ring on her finger.

“
I was hoping that your fingers hadn’t swollen or anything,” he said, happy that it was a perfect fit.

Renee was lost for words. She sat looking from her finger to Anatoly for several minutes before finally coming to grips with what had just happened. To say that she had not dreamt of this moment for a long time would be a lie, but never in her mind did she expect this now. There was nothing to express but her bliss. He had finally done it. He had finally claimed her as his own in the way that she had always wanted. It made her think of what her Big Momma used to say to her, “A man who finds a wife, finds a good thing.”

Thank you God,
she said to herself.
Thank you.

Anatoly knew that he’d have to make the first move, because for the moment, she had gone nearly catatonic and obviously speechless, which was completely knew for Renee. He rose up; the towel dropped to his feet and he leaned in to kiss her.

She met his mouth with the intensity and fire of the blazing sun. Lying back on the bed, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him more passionately then she had ever done before. Every evolution of their tongues sparked heated flames between them and sent zingers through her body. He held her close in his muscular embrace, clamping her down under him as he moved her underwear down her legs. “Let’s make love, baby,” he whispered.

“
Yes,” she said, panting and crying. Tears ran down her face as she watched him pull off her clothes. “I love you so much.”

He looked up at her and smiled. “I love you too.”

They crawled into bed under the covers and explored each other in a new way, almost like for the first time, because for the first time, they knew that they would be together forever.

***

When Balthazar awoke from his brief coma, he was in a barn. He looked around the large, cold, dark place and tried to get his bearings. It was only after he tried to get up off the stainless steel surgical table that he realized that he was without an arm and on an IV drip. Pulling against the restraints, he screamed out trying to get free. “Ahh!” he screamed. “Someone help me!”

The loud sound alerted a bodyguard standing outside the barn, who quickly opened the door and peaked inside. Getting on the radio as he looked at Balthazar, he called up to the chateau and then abruptly slammed the door shut again.

Then suddenly, Balthazar knew without asking where he was, and it made his heart nearly stop beating. He wished at that moment that he had a way to get free, if to do nothing else but kill himself.

A few minutes later, as he lay looking up at the rafters of the barn, the door opened and Dmitry came walking in.

“
Good, you’re awake,” Dmitry said, checking his IV drip. Leaning over the man, he smiled like a caring doctor while he checked Balthazar’s wounds. “I was beginning to get worried about you there for a minute, chief.”

“
How long have I been out?” Balthazar asked in a raspy voice. His lips were cracked and dry, his throat parched. Wishing for water, he looked around for something to drink.

“
Three days,” Dmitry answered, rising back up. “But you’re healing well. We were able to cauterize your arm socket to keep you from expiring,” he said, lightly touching Balthazar. “The arm is over there with Sven.”

Snatching his head back, Balthazar looked over to see his dead boyfriend’s corpse beaten badly, tied to the chair, eyes rolled to the back of his head, covered in blood and naked.

Screaming out, Balthazar cried as he called out Sven’s name. “Why don’t you just kill me?” he asked, turning his head away from Dmitry.

“
Why would I want to do that,” Dmitry asked with a frown on his face. “You and I are going to be close friends. You were supposed to have company but Vladimir didn’t last through last night. Such a pussy. He’s already been buried. I thought his screaming would wake you up considering that it woke up half of Prague, but you were out cold.” A toothy smile gave away Dmitry’s sinister intentions. “Oh and one other thing. I got in touch with Lawrence Winchester, you know the guy that you sold my daughter to in South Africa. He sends his regards… sent his regards
actually
. I had him put through a meat grinder yesterday.” Dmitry shook his head. “Pity. I heard that his metal plate messed up one of my augers.” Waving his hand across his face, Dmitry picked up a can of Lysol and sprayed it up in the air. “You’ll have to excuse the smell. Your boyfriend put out quite a stink. You’ll get used to it though.”

Going insane with thoughts, Balthazar tried again to pull himself free. “How long do you plan to keep me here? Why don’t you just shoot me and get it over with already?”

“
I already shot you,” Dmitry reminded.

“
So why don’t you just kill me then?”

“
Oh, you want to hear my plans for you? Okay,” Dmitry said, clasping his hands together. “I’m going to make an example out of you, Balthazar. No one will ever think about touching another Medlov child again after I’m done with you. I plan to cut your legs off, so that you can’t run away with any more children, cut your heart out the way you cut out my wife’s heart when you took her only daughter, take out your eyes and send them to your family so they can see what has happened to you and put your head on a stake and have it bronzed. It will stay in my office as a sort of book end for my Plato collection. The rest of you will be thrown in the grave with your life mate so you can rot in hell together until the end of time. But I haven’t figured out what order I’ll be doing all this so for now, just get some rest.”

In tears, Balthazar felt water rush down his leg. Dmitry looked at his pants and shook his head. “Did you know that you just pissed yourself?” he asked, turning up his nose.

Balthazar said nothing.

Dmitry smiled again and leaned close to the man’s ear. “When you’re laying here over the next few days asking yourself why this is happening to you, I want you to remember that you brought this on yourself. Just be happy that when it’s all done, I’ll give you a decent burial right beside the men that you indirectly killed, because I want them to know that they don’t have to roll over in their graves in humiliation that no one took revenge for them. I want you there by them to remind everyone what happens when you cross the wrong person. People are going to tell this story for a hundred years. And every time that they tell it, you’re going to be remembered as the man who died a hundred deaths. And my daughter’s great grandchildren will be able to walk past your gravesite and read your tombstone, and you know what it will say?
Don’t fuck with Dmitry Medlov
.”

Standing up, Dmitry took a wet towel and wiped Balthazar’s cracked bloody lips then set a mason jar beside him. The jar was filled with bloody water and had a severed penis and testicles in it.

“
See anything you recognize?” Dmitry asked, setting it across from Balthazar’s good arm. “I wanted to save a little piece of Sven for you. I’m going to leave this for you, and when your thirst and hunger reaches fever pitch, you know what you’ll do.” Straightening his suit jacket, he turned his back to him and walked away whistling. “See you soon,” he said as he walked out of the barn and closed the door behind him. “See you real soon.”

Epilogue

7 months later

Memphis, TN

Alexandria Anabeth Medlov was a bubbly nine pound, 3 ounce, 21 inch baby girl born to Anatoly Medlov and Renee Cooper on a beautiful Sunday morning. Two days later, when she and her parents arrived back at the Medlov compound, everyone was ready to celebrate. Dmitry and Royal had flown in with the kids and Gabriel and Briggy had been there for a couple of months helping with all the preparations that were needed. Plus, with Gabriel being very new to the council, he had moved back stateside to Miami permanently in order to serve under the tutelage of his cousin.

With a huge dinner underway and some of Renee’s family who had drove up from Atlanta on the way over, it looked like little Alex as Anatoly called her was going to have her very first party before she was even a week old.

It was a mixed fanfare today of southern fried foods and old world Russian recipes and a combination of Russian mafia figures and good ole down home folk. Everyone was looking quite forward to it and being able to hold Dmitry’s first grandchild.

Of course Dmitry and Royal had pulled out all of the stops, gifting the child with a hand-carved nursery commissioned by one of the best carpenters in the world along with a host of gifts that could barely fit in the house. In a pair of jeans and t-shirt, Dmitry carried boxes of toys and clothes out of the trunk into the mansion, while Royal chased the twin boys around the entertainment room.

They had recently taken to walking and were a handful, but Anya was more than happy to help keep an eye on them. She watched them every moment that she was around them, fascinated by their growth.

Plus, the wedding plans were still underway. With only five months left, Renee, Royal and Briggy were planning the biggest wedding that Memphis had ever seen and it would take place right there on the Medlov grounds.

Basically, everything was going great. Gabriel still was staying far away from the idea of marriage or children, but he cared deeply for Briggy. Royal and Dmitry were busy raising three busy Medlovs themselves while Dmitry overhauled the council and went after new money like he was a starving teenager again. Happy to be fully back in his element, Dmitry had been reinvigorated by his new life and all the infinite possibilities.

As far as Anatoly was concerned, he was enjoying not being the Czar anymore. There was more time for him to spend with his family, his dogs and focusing on some of the smaller ventures that he had brought before the council. Plus, he was learning by leaps and bounds under his father’s new reign. In truth, he had learned that he might not have been as ready as he thought to carry the title.

While all the hoopla was going on around the house, there was a call from the gate. At first, Anatoly thought that it was another one of Renee’s family members, but security said that it was someone else. When he found out who, he went and got his father and cousin as had the man escorted into his study.

Making sure that no one saw him when he entered, they closed the door and locked it.

Dmitry sat in the corner of the room with his legs cocked open and his elbows on his knees. Gabriel watched, confused about why the guy was so important, and Anatoly sat behind the desk amazed that out of everyone in the universe, he had chosen to come to them.

Nicola Agosto.

The Italian Memphis Police Department detective sat across from all of them unshaved and wearing jeans and a pullover. He looked worse than Dmitry ever recalled seeing him before.

“
I’m sure that you’ve seen what happened,” Agosto said, taking off his shades.

“
How could we miss it? You made national news and started a city-wide riot,” Dmitry said, getting up to go to the bar. “You still drinking Jack and Coke?”

“
Yeah,” Agosto said, sitting back in the chair. “Funny how shit happens, right?”

“
Real fucking funny,” Gabriel said, remembering who the guy was after he pulled off his shades. “You’re in deep shit. Why did you do it? Beat that guy up like that.”

Agosto looked over at Gabriel. “He deserved it. Trust me. He was threatening to harm my children…sexually.”

Anatoly looked over at his father as Dmitry passed Agosto a drink. “Here, this will take the edge off.”

“
Thanks,” Agosto said, taking a big gulp.

“
So, you’re off the force?” Dmitry asked, sitting back down.

Agosto nodded.

“
Wow,” Anatoly said, raising his brow. “I never thought it would end this way.”

“
Oh, it’s not fucking over,” Agosto said. “That’s why I’m here. I need your help. There is a child sex ring right here in the city, and if they think just because they were able to destroy my name that they can stop me from coming after them, then they have another fucking thing coming. This only means that I get to take the gloves off. But I will get them…all of them. I will make them pay.”