Reckoning

  Chapter 13

  Fake people don’t surprise me anymore. Loyal people do.

  - Anonymous

  Katya

  I wake up later than usual, the soft, fluffy comforter weighing over my body. This hotel is starting to feel like a second home in a way. I’m not sure that I like that feeling because it is so bland here. It isn’t decorated or filled with things that hold sentiment to my heart.

  I slide out of bed, careful to move as quickly and silently as possible. Turning my head, I see him still there. He passed out before I did. I thought about kicking him out. I almost did, and then I wondered to myself why I would do that. He took me out to dinner, made sure I wasn’t alone, and then did everything else that he did to me last night…

  I walk over to the dresser across from the bed, pulling on the drawer slightly until I find a black thong and a matching bra. I slide them both on, then grab my phone and turn around, leaning my ass against the dresser.

  Looking at my phone, I see email after email, business proceeds as always. My phone buzzes and I see a group message with the one man I don’t want to be speaking with at all.

  From: Sergei

  To: Katya, Rusev

  We need to meet. Business. New York. You both need to be here tomorrow.

  I roll my eyes. There is not an ounce of me that wants to see him, not even a small speck of me wants to be near him. I continue to do my job because if I don’t I will have nothing. At least now, I have money to get me by, so I can keep living my life. Without money I would be homeless. I’d be on the streets, or worse, I’d be a whore.

  What I want doesn’t matter in this situation. I must go, there is no choice, for the choice has been made for me. I will pack up my things and catch a flight at the airport sometime today. Where I will go after that? I have no idea. While I’m there I might as well see my sister, dear, little, Mariana.

  “What’s with the thing on your stomach?” I jump at the sound of his voice, he purely shocked me. He made no sounds, being as quiet as a mouse up until this point.

  I glance down at my stomach, looking at the tattoo I had put there, the giant brown bear that is native to Russia. I chose it because it represents my home, the country I was born in, the one place I love to be more than any other on this earth. As for the bear, I chose her because she was fearless. When I look at her, I think of her struggles and all the things in this life that she had to overcome and push through. In a way, she is my animal form. What do the American’s call it? Spirit animal? Yes. She is my spirit animal. “The tattoo means a lot to me,” I tell him, simply leaving it at that.

  “No, I’m talking about the fucked up smiley scar you’ve got going on there.”

  I look down, realizing he’s talking about the scars that mark my body. The ones that Sergei essentially put there. I glance up to him, and instantly he regrets saying it. I can tell from the pure look of sorrow drawn across his face. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that, and frankly, it’s none of my fucking business.”

  “You’re right, it is not any of your business,” I hiss, angered by the memories that are now plaguing my mind. I close my eyes, trying to not cry. Every fiber of my being wants to remain strong in this moment, to not give Sergei the privilege to make me this upset any longer. I open my eyes, looking straight at the man who lays in the bed I just came from. “Someone I loved took something from me, and he hurt me in ways that no one can imagine. I’m only telling you this because I think that you can understand it. I think that someone hurt you as well.”

  The room is silent for a moment before he laughs, rocking forward in the bed. “You’re damn right about that, Viper. I have been hurt, but Chuckles sure didn’t love me. He just wanted to fuck up part of this beautiful face.” He points to himself.

  I blink, staring at him. “He didn’t get what he wanted, then. You said he wanted to fuck it up? He didn’t.”

  “He didn’t?” he repeats, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I look like a fucking monster”

  “We are all monsters, don’t fool yourself.”

  “We are, are we?” he asks, standing from the bed, walking across the room until he’s right in front of me, cupping my face with his large hand. He tilts my chin, so I have to look up at him. “What is it you’ve done, sweetheart? You don’t look like much of a monster to me.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” I laugh.

  “I didn’t say that you weren’t a monster. I can tell you are. What I’m saying is that you don’t look like one, which tells me a couple things. That either your brother is right in everything he says, which I don’t really believe. Or, you’re so much more than anyone ever imagined. I’m guessing it’s the latter. You’re the kind of woman that gives everyone a run for their money. A complete showstopper.”

  I don’t utter a word to him; we simply stare into one another for a few moments. All I can think about is how this man seems to know so much about me when we’ve hardly spoken; the only times we’ve exchanged conversation has been at my brother club, dinner, and last night. Not to mention this morning. It’s almost as if he sees through me. What I am, and what I’m not. The man before me may look like a monster, but everything inside of me is telling me that he isn’t.

  No, he’s not a monster.

  He’s an angel.

  “What is your name?” I ask him, realizing he never told me. I noticed what his leather says, it reads ‘Slasher’, but I somehow doubt that is his name.

  “Junior, sweetheart. My name is Junior.”

  Chapter 14

  The most dangerous person is the one who listens, thinks and observes.

  - @EmpireMindset101

  Slasher

  Katya is the type of woman you don’t see around these parts, if you even see them, it is only once in your life at all. She’s that kinda chick who takes life by the balls and makes it her bitch. I respect the hell out of a woman like that.

  Make no mistake, I can see the pain behind those light gray eyes of hers.

  I’ll say it over again and again, she is a mystical fucking creature. I can see how she’s related to Ksenia, but how in the fuck are Dmitri’s sisters this drop dead gorgeous? Ksenia has that whole snow white hair and tan skin thing going on and Katya is just… fuck. She’s pretty fucking tall, maybe she comes up to be about five nine or so, that long curly black as midnight hair, those legs of hers… shit, I could cream my pants right now thinking of her again.

  She told me she needed to head out of town and she’d be back in a few days, in the same room, at the same hotel. She even made the concierge give her an extra key and told me to give her my number, which I of course did. I don’t think either of us know what we’re doing, what this is. I just know that I want to see her again, even if she is off fucking limits. No way in hell am I going to tell anyone in the club what I’m doing with her. I can hear all of them now, telling me how I’m a traitorous bastard who just wants his cock sucked. Them reminding me how she’s married, and to be honest, I forgot about that. It’s not like I haven’t fucked married women before. Why would I give a fuck?

  Plus, wouldn’t a married woman wear a wedding ring? Pretty sure I didn’t see a giant ass rock on her hand, and trust me, she’d have one.

  It’s pretty quiet in the club when I get back. Pain, Chaos, Enzo, and Dmitri are all sitting around on their asses doing who knows what. Sometimes I wonder how shit even keeps going with the way everyone sits around.

  “Who’d you fuck last night?” Enzo laughs, glancing at me up and down.

  “A hottie I took to dinner,” I reply back, laughing on the inside cause I’m not even lying to these bastards. They’d never even guess who I was making scream all night long. I didn’t just have one round with that fucking Goddess, there were so many of me waking her up through the night just to hear that whimpering moan she has perfected.

  Fuck, I’ll get a hard on right now thinking about it.

  “You sure she was hot? When you
drink, I see the girls you take back to your room. Hot is pretty questionable, Slash,” Chaos adds, causing the rest of the men to break out into a bout of laughter.

  “Damn straight she was!”

  Elena comes strutting out of the office into the common area. Her face is bright red, and I can tell that hellfire is about to rein down on everyone within a twenty-mile vicinity.

  “What’s up with you, Red?” I ask her, Red became one of the nicknames we call her. It suits her pretty damn well.

  “Reed won’t stop worrying about his fucking father when we have bigger fish to fry right now. His dear old pops just off and left years ago, and it’s such a big shocker he does it again? No! This is fucking bullshit. He needs to focus on what we need to accomplish, on those girls who fucking need us, not his shitty fucking father,” she snaps.

  I can’t say I disagree with her. Will Michaels never really had the best reputation. Granted, I wasn’t around years ago to experience the shit he did to Kyle and Reed first hand, but from the sounds of it, he was a good Dad when he was around. It just sucks for them ‘cause he was gone for a pretty long time. A little over a year ago, he came to the club for I think it was a day or two? Well, the bastard fucking vanished with no trace.

  “Are you shitting me right now?” Reed roars, coming from his office. “Do you think I can’t hear you screaming from there?” He looks to his wife, fury plastered across his face. He’s usually pretty good at hiding his emotions, but today is not one of those days.

  “Maybe I wanted you to hear me,” Elena huffs back at him.

  “You wanna play it that way, do you? Fine. While you think I’ve been sitting on my fucking ass twiddling my thumbs these last couple weeks, I’ve been working my damn ass off. Fist and I have been chatting a lot, Siren.” He spits out her nickname like acid. “He’s agreed to take ten to fifteen of the girls and house them up at the Reapers compound in Montana. I was going to have Jenna and Mar talk to them tonight and see who wants to go. I can set a meet with Sergei soon. I’m going to do what you fucking want me to and get more than we can handle, doubling the order from the last fucking time. Does that make you happy?”

  Elena’s lip shakes, almost like she’s going to break down and start crying.

  “You didn’t answer me. Does that fucking make you happy?” He screams at her. I’ve never seen him act like this before, and especially not to Elena. If any of us were treating our women like this, Reed would have our heads, and I’m not talking about the ones on display. “As for my father, what the fuck does it matter? I need to focus on finding him,”

  “No, you don’t,” she whispers.

  Everyone in the room falls silent, not any of us diving into the depths of this conversation. Shit just got so much tenser.

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “You need to focus on being a father, not finding your deadbeat Dad!” she screams back, tears falling full force down her face.

  Dmitri rises from where he’s seated, walking over to Elena and pulling her into his arms. If looks could kill, Reed would be dead. “I suggest you take a walk. A long one.” Dmitri and Elena have a weird fucking relationship, in a way they grew up together. It’s almost like she’s his third fucking sister.

  “Y-you’re pregnant?” Reed mutters, looking at Elena with nothing but regret. He wipes his hand over his face, breathing slowly for a few moments.

  “You’re pregnant. Holy fuck. You’re fucking pregnant.” The smile that drags across his face is almost contagious. I want to fucking smile seeing it. It’s no secret that they’ve been trying to have a baby for over a year. I overheard him telling Seamus that last year when I came back from the hospital, right before I left to go out on the open road.

  “Yes, you jackass! Why do you think I’ve been vomiting twenty-four seven!” she cries, ripping her head from Dmitri’s chest.

  “I… I thought you couldn’t handle your liquor anymore.

  All of us bust out into laughter, even Elena.

  “You ass. I can’t believe I fucking married you.” She shakes her head, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Can you make this up to me and schedule the meet in the next couple weeks, and get the girls headed to Montana within the next couple days?”

  “Anything for you, Siren. You know that.” Reed looks to me and then to Chaos. “You two need to go tell Jenna and Mar that we need about fifteen girls who are willing to go up to Montana, then tell them to pack their things and be ready to leave tomorrow morning. I want you both escorting them. We’ll rent a bus and have Enzo drive it.” Reed starts blabbering off the details, and I know that it’s going to be one long week ahead of me.

  Chapter 15

  When your past calls, don’t answer. It has nothing new to say. - Anonymous

  Katya

  There was a part of me that desired to ignore Sergei’s summons and see what would happen. I have grown so tired of remaining to be his tool, the key that keeps his empire not only massive, but grand. When I was first sold to him, he was slowly building his empire. Over time by his side I took note of things, and there came a time where I would suggest another alternative to his business practices. He never asked for it, and I had thought he would have beat me for even speaking without being questioned. When he didn’t, shocked couldn’t describe my feelings. While he was a proud man, he was not a dumb one. All in all, he knew that changes needed to be made. Soon thereafter, he implemented them to his advantage. After all, look how his business has grown.

  When he essentially tossed the divorce papers in my face, I had assumed that I would be done with the business, over time he showed me that I wasn’t. That I was valuable to him as a business asset. Where I had no value to him was as a wife, and a mother to our unborn child.

  I shake in my heels, pacing the length of the conference room. He texted to meet at what was previously our home, but I declined. I would rather die than step one foot into our home again. While there were memories there, the bad ones outweigh the good.

  It’s just past ten in the morning. He is late, yet again.

  I glance over to the window and catch my reflection. I haven’t come face-to-face with him in ages. That was purposefully planned. For I did not want to even be in the same country as he is, nevertheless the same room.

  If I was going to see him, I made sure that he wouldn’t forget me. I was not going to look anything like he remembered me before – knowing that I needed to make a change. So, I did. I went to the salon I used here in the city and had them change my hair. No longer was it the black curled mess it always was. I wanted something different, something that would stand out. In all, I wanted a hair color and cut that would show the old Katya is dead and the new one has risen from the ashes.

  My hair falls just a few inches past my shoulders, no longer does it go past my ass, and no longer is it a curled mess. It falls against the top of my back, the silver meshing with my black strands well. The hair stylist called it a balayage, giving me a temporary straightening treatment that should last a few weeks.

  It was new, and much needed.

  Since I received that text from Sergei, I could do nothing but think about the woman that he made me become when I was by his side. It took me until yesterday to realize that I have never truly figured out who I am by myself. In a way, I was never given that opportunity. I can think of no other time than now to explore who I am, and what I want.

  A loud cough brings my attention to the glass door that leads into the room. I turn quickly, surprised when it isn’t Sergei. Who stands there is much worse, it’s his monkey Rusev.

  “Rusev,” I greet, as coldly as possible.

  “Katya,” he seethes.

  It is no surprise that we hate each other. Rusev has always wanted Sergei’s business, and I can guarantee that he is not happy knowing what Sergei wants if he were to pass away – my leadership.

  Sergei has made it apparent that if he were to die, the business would be transferred into my name completely. He had spoke
n with Natasha, his daughter, who wants nothing to do with it, and while Rusev has been loyal to Sergei, he is not fit to handle what needs to be done. Rusev is a man who will think of bloodshed before compromise. We cannot possibly shoot everyone we dislike?

  “I see you both have made it. This is good,” Sergei’s voice echoes as he steps into the room.

  “Nice of you to show up,” I sneer, waiting for him to talk back to me. He always does.

  He peers up from his phone, mouth gaping open when he lays his eyes on me. This is what I wanted. I want him to know that I am different, and that it is not him who has changed me, but he who has held me back.

  “What do you need? I have business to attend to,” I grumble, walking across the room to face him head on.

  “I’m the boss, or have you forgotten that, little one?”

  “You are my boss, not my husband, so go fuck yourself.”

  Sergei grabs my wrist, squeezing so tight I can feel the pain shooting up my arm. I swing around with my free arm and slam him in the face. How dare he ever lay another fucking hand on me. “How. Fucking. Dare. You.” I spit each word out, raking my nails across his face. He releases me, shoving me back.

  “My, how you have changed, my dear.”

  “No. I haven’t changed, Sergei. I have evolved. There is a big difference.”

  Sergei laughs so loudly it echoes through the room. Rusev is standing against the wall, sneering at me. “Now that the show is over, we will discuss business. I will keep this short and sweet for you, dear. Ramirez is fucking with my territory. I have put scouts out to do my bidding, but I know this will only last so long. There needs to be a more permanent fix.”

  “I will hire The Arcane. They will fix our Ramirez problem in no time,” I tell Sergei. The Arcane is the largest, most expensive assassin contractors in the world. The best of the best work there, and we will need the best to rid ourselves of that vermin named Ramirez.

  “He has killed two of our shipments. I know this will happen again if we are not careful. We must all reach out to our affiliates and tell them that Yellow is in effect.” Yellow. Sergei’s favorite color, also a code for randomizing our trade routes. We have perfected our system, mixing up our trade routes once every six days. We have multiple rotations we use, but now we must become randomized and use routes that we never have before. It seems as if the Cartel has caught wind of our practices, and this is not good for business.