Tolva smiled and then laughed out loud. “So the little bitch took back what I acquired from her own grandfather huh? How fitting is that? Talk about a karma bitch slap.”

  Maksim stopped where he was and slowly turned to look at the other man. “You didn’t tell me you took the money from Sergi himself. Are you freakin’ nuts?”

  Tolva stared at the other man. “Once upon a time when I was a younger man, I was a trusted Bratva officer. I collected the taxes and wrote the numbers down in the books. I began skimming some of the money that was collected and tucking it away for dozhdlivyy den. How the Americans say... a rainy day. Over the next five years, I managed to gather what I thought I would need to live very well on for the rest of my life.

  “Then before I could get caught, I went on a business trip and sort of forgot to come back. I moved to the United States, changed my name, and found work here. I thought no one here would know my name or care, so I took my own name back. I worked for Carlos Lopez and his kind of work suited me just fine. Again, I found myself in a position to sneak money out and I took it. Carlos caught me. He gave me a choice, give back the money, or lose my life.” He shrugged. “I chose neither one. I escaped and ran. He sent three men after me but I was smarter than they were. They couldn’t find me for over a year. Then by chance, one of them found me. Or so the story goes. When I refused to go back and refused to give him the money, he began to attack me. I defended myself and he ended up hurt but very much alive when I finally got away. I’m sure the person who killed him was Carlos himself but the evidence was against me. You remember Carlos, he had more people in his back pocket than any politician ever thought to have. All he had to do was make a phone call and before I knew it, the police caught me and they tried me for a trumped up manslaughter charge. I tried to tell them I was set up but instead of being found innocent, I was convicted. I went to jail and just when I was about to be released another man attacked me behind bars. As I had gotten into trouble already, they added more time to my sentence and I have not been free until today.”

  “Then why do you want to find Carlos, the first thing?”

  “Because he knew where the money was hidden and he sent his little bitch to rob my home before I went on the run.”

  “So then why are you so upset?” Maksim wanted to know.

  “Because that figurine holds a key I need to get to the money I took from both Sergi and Carlos. I don’t think she gave the figurine to Carlos. In fact, I know she didn’t. I had friends in his organization and they told me he was seriously pissed when she came back and didn’t have the figurine with her. She even took a beating because she didn’t complete her mission. My thought is she knew what she had and she kept it for herself. She has the money and I want it back and I don’t care who I have to kill to get it back. Not now, not after spending half my life behind bars.”

  “If you go after his wife, Yuri Anatoly will kill you,” Maksim warned him.

  Tolva snorted. “He’ll have to catch me. I’m smarter now than I was seventeen years ago.”

  “If he catches you, you’ll still be just as dead,” Maksim replied with great skepticism.

  “He still has to catch me first doesn’t he?” Tolva snickered. “Come, let us get out of this fucking state, and go home. I have things to do and I will be very happy to never see Texas again.”

  Tolva Babikov got out of the car and stretched his cramped muscles after the long drive from Huntsville Texas to New Orleans. They got there about midafternoon. He was hungry and tired. He paused to look around the city he’d grown to call home before that bastard Carlos had sent him away in leg irons. The lights, the sounds of Jazz playing somewhere in the distance and the smell of those little French pieces of fried dough covered in powered sugar, came rushing back as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  Even now, he could smell jambalaya cooking nearby. The savory scent of the rue mixing with the fish and vegetables was something only a southern woman knew how to cook. His mouth watered as he remembered the taste you could only find in New Orleans. It was all coming back to him now.

  Maksim joined him and glared at him. “I still think you are a fool for coming back here. Carlos has many enemies still living here.”

  Tolva shrugged carelessly as he was brought back so rudely from his trip down memory lane. “I don’t care. You told me Carlos is dead, so be it, but his little thief isn’t and she lives here. I want what she took from me seventeen years ago. No, I need what she took all those years ago. Without it, I have nothing. I spent half my life in a prison for something I didn’t do. Da, I have done many thing that broke the law but I didn’t kill anyone. Carlos set me up all those years ago and now, I want what she stole from me so I can get back to whatever life I have left.”

  “You will never get close to her.” Maksim scoffed. “If your little thief is Raven, you will never get close to her.”

  Tolva shrugged. “The Bratva doesn’t want me for anything under the name Tolva Babikov. I doubt they want me anymore at all under any name. Twenty years is a long time to remember a name. Even for Sergi.”

  Maksim shook his head. “I told you Raven is his long-lost granddaughter. You go after her and he’ll remember. And if he remembers you at all, he’ll hunt you down and kill both of us.”

  Tolva glared at him. “Don’t be such a coward. Sergi has no power here. He can’t do shit to either of us.”

  Maksim gaped at the other man in astonishment. “If you think that then you really are a fool.”

  “Net, Sergi is nothing more than a weak old man. Like I said he has no power here, why should I fear him?”

  “Sergi has a long reach, even if he is in Russia,” Maksim warned.

  “He is half a world away and I’ll be long gone before he can get here,” Tolva assured him.

  “Just what did this little thief take from you anyway that has you risking both our lives to get it back?” Maksim asked.

  “A small ceramic angel.”

  Maksim frowned and glared at the other man. “You are risking our lives over a ceramic angel?”

  Tolva smiled. “This angel holds a secret and that secret is why I’m risking our lives.”

  “Bah, how could a small ceramic angel be worth so much?” Maksim scoffed.

  “I will show you when I get it back, my friend.” Tolva smiled. “And if I can’t have Carlos’s blood then I will have the blood of his little thief.”

  “Why?” Maksim stared at him in confusion. “Why would you want the blood of a thief?”

  “Because she set in motion my betrayal and everything that came afterwards. I just spent the last seventeen years behind bars because of her actions on his behalf and she needs to pay.” Tolva growled.

  Maksim stepped closer and got right up in his face. “Net, you spent seventeen years behind bars because of Carlos. He is the one who set you up, the one who alerted the law as to your crimes. Don’t be blaming the wrong person here.”

  “Eh.” Tolva shrugged. “We all know Carlos taught the kids he fostered how to steal. Back then we knew what he was doing and why. They took their orders from him. She might not be completely innocent but he told her what to take and when to take it, and who to take it from. That’s three strikes against her right there.”

  “Da,” Maksim agreed with him. “We all knew it but remember this my friend. Carlos was a vicious man. He didn’t ask them to steal, he forced them to do it. She didn’t really have any say in what she took or why she took the items. Also remember something else, he only took two kids, a brother and a sister and he held one while he made the other one go out and steal for him. If the one didn’t bring back what he wanted he would beat the other one. She would have been what? All of ten when she robbed you? That meant her brother was younger and more vulnerable than she was.” He shrugged. “I also heard she took her brother and escaped Carlos’s little hellhole and managed to grow up on the streets all by herself.”

  Tolva leaned in closer to Maksim. His eyes held the rage that had been growing inside him from the day of his arrest. “I do not care. Do you hear me? I don’t care whether it was her idea or his. She still did the deed for him. Carlos may not be here to feel my wrath, but that little thief will, when I find her.”

  “But the only reason you stand here today is because she didn’t give him that little angel.” Maksim pointed out. “Carlos never got it. A few days later, she escaped Carlos’s house of horrors and took her little brother with her.” He shook his head. “If your thief is Raven Anatoly, you will never get close enough to her to breathe the same air.”

  “I don’t want to breathe the same air as she does. I want to choke the air from her lungs and watch her soul leave her body. If she never gave the angel to Carlos I want it back and she will pay with her life.”

  “And you my friend will be running for the rest of your life. Yuri and the Bratva have long memories and they will find you.” Maksim looked afraid now. “They will hunt you down like a dog and they will leave your body broken and bloody to send a message to the next person who thinks they can run over on the Bratva.”

  “I do not worry about Yuri Anatoly. If I can steal from a man like Sergi Constantine, I can hide from a man like Anatoly.” He rubbed his big belly. “But now I am hungry and I want to eat a steak. A big, thick, juicy steak.”

  Maksim nodded but he still looked uneasy. “I thought you would. Let’s go find us a steak with baked potatoes and a good glass of vodka.”

  Chapter Two

  Raven felt good but tired.

  The day had been long but great as usual. They’d all been busy playing in the park that Yuri had built at the back of the hotel. He’d installed it a couple of years ago, just for children staying in the hotel and for his own kids.

  She blew a stray bit of hair from her face as she’d just finished making sure they all had gotten their baths. Now finally, she was putting her children to bed. Halting, she got a sudden cold shiver down her back.

  Dominic looked up at his mother and asked, “Are you okay mama?” he whispered the question in concern.

  Gulping and steadying herself, she looked down at his big blue eyes and smiled weakly. “I’m fine sweetie. I just got cold for a moment that’s all.” Leaning down, she kissed his forehead. “You be a good boy now. and go to sleep right away.”

  He giggled. “Okay mama, I’ll be good. Love you.”

  Raven tickled him and said, “I love you too my darling boy.” She got up and went to the girl’s room to say good night to her baby girls, Caitlyn and Anya. Caitlyn was a twin to Dominic and was five while Anya was only three.

  Yuri and these three kids were her whole world. She could barely remember her life before they came along and she was happy about that at least. She had family now and she would lose her mind if she lost anyone of them. She was no longer alone living on the streets or trying to bring home enough money to stay in some rinky dink apartment anymore. Growing up had been lonely and thee were often times when the loneliness overwhelmed her but now she had her family. They all meant something to her and she cherished every day she had with them.

  She not only had Yuri and the kids but she had found her father and grandfather and she had Yuri’s brothers to cover her back now too. For the most part, they were a tight nit group. Yet, as each brother had found his woman their tight group grew bigger and was still expanding as each one now had their own families.

  She went over to Anya’s bed first as she was almost asleep. She tucked the little girl in and kissed her good night.

  “Love you mama.” Anya whispered as she closed her eyes.

  “Mama loves you too sweetie,” Raven whispered as she got up and went to Caitlyn’s bed. Caitlyn was a reader, she loved her books and had just started to sound out her words. Raven smiled as she took the book away from her oldest daughter. “It’s time for sleep now darling, you can finish the book tomorrow.”

  Caitlyn grinned. “I know mom. I was just reading until you got here.” She had already lost her first tooth so there was a gap in her tooth line.

  Raven thought it was adorable. “Good night sweet baby girl.”

  “Night mom, love you.” Caitlyn snuggled down in her bed, grabbing her white bunny as was her habit and closed her eyes.

  Raven leaned over and brushed her kiss along Caitlyn’s forehead. “Night baby. Sleep tight.”

  She turned off the light on her way out and walked down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Yuri. The cold shiver she felt earlier had spread to every corner of her being so she put on a pair of warm pajamas and went to the kitchen to make a cup of hot tea.

  Taking it to the living room, she sat on the window seat and looked over the city below her. Her eyes couldn’t see what her heart felt but she sensed danger down on the streets. She looked down the hall at her children’s bedrooms then down at the streets below her. She learned over the years to follow these types of feeling when she got them. Very often, it saved her life and Nicky’s while they grew up on the streets.

  She wouldn’t let anything touch them, she couldn’t. Her past was her past, not something they should take the blame for. She wasn’t sure what was coming for her but she couldn’t let it touch them. Or Yuri and the brothers. They didn’t know her entire past and they never would. Some of the darkness there had to be hidden for a reason.

  Her phone rang.

  When she answered, it was Nicky. “Hey sis, are you okay?”

  “No not really,” she told him honestly. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t really.” Nicky admitted. “I’ve just felt something the last little while and was wondering what was going on, then I thought of you and decided to call.”

  “Oh god Nicky, what is this?” Raven asked. Her voice was whispery as if she didn’t dare speak the words too loud.

  “I don’t know sis, but I’ll find out. Just don’t do anything stupid. Yuri will protect you and the kids. So let him, at least until I find out who or what is after us.”

  Raven shook her head. “Not us, just me. Whoever this is... is after me, not you.”

  “How do you know that?” Nicky wanted to know.

  “I feel it more than know it. I think this goes all the way back to Carlos somehow. Even years after his death, he still haunts my dreams. Lord, I hate that man.”

  “Me too,” Nicky admitted under his breath. “I may have only been a kid when we lived with him but even then, I knew he was pure evil and what he was doing was wrong. You were my only safe place and I wasn’t going to let you go.”

  Raven sighed. It had been a horrible time in their lives. “But which one of the things that he made us do was so bad that it’s coming back to bite me in the ass now? That was so very long ago.”

  “That’s what I have to figure out, isn’t it?” Nicky stated. “Please stay safe until I do. And don’t do anything until we know what we’re up against. Please?”

  “I have to protect my babies and Yuri. I can’t let them be hurt by whatever this is,” she vowed. “I’ll do what I have to do to protect them. My family comes first and part of that family is Yuri’s brothers and their families. You stay in New York, I don’t want you mixed up in this mess.”

  “Sis,” Nicky protested.

  “No, Nicky. You stay in New York no matter what. Find out what you can but don’t you come down here. I mean it.”

  When there was silence on the other end Raven pushed, “Promise me you won’t put yourself in the middle of this. Promise me.”

  “Ok, I won’t put myself in the middle, but you take care of yourself, or better yet, let Yuri take care of this.” Nicky shook his head, knowing this could turn out badly with the way his sister was.

  “All I can do is say I’ll try,” Raven whispered. “I love you brother.”

  “I love you too sis,” Nicky said with misgiving in his heart. He knew she was going to do something major. Experience told him that, but from where he was, he knew he couldn’t stop her. The only way he could help her was to find out what the threat was.

  As he hung up the call, he looked over at Serenity and shook his head. “She’s gonna get herself killed one day.”’

  Serenity rubbed her big belly and shook her head. “No, she won’t because you have her back.” She looked over at the little boy sleeping on the sofa beside her.

  He was a precocious three year old and he looked just like his daddy and his grandpa. They had been both pleased and alarmed when they found out that she was pregnant. She hoped not to pass her affliction onto her children but Nicky told her he would love their kids no matter what.

  They named him Alexander the day he was born and Nicky felt so proud the first time he held his son.

  The new baby must have given her a vicious kick as Serenity hissed in pain.

  Nicky was concerned and reached out to rest his hand on her stomach.

  Serenity smiled after a long moment. “The baby calmed when you did that.” She gazed at him. “The same affect that you have on me.”

  Nicky nodded. He loved his family and it reminded him of what his sister just said. Protect them, no matter what. “I love you is why...Yuri has her back, if she lets him. I know she loves him deeply but there is something she isn’t telling him.”

  “How do you know that?” She asked.

  “I know my sister well from growing up with her. Most people would never notice her hesitation, but I do. Every time she hesitates, there is something bothering her. Lately, she hesitates a lot. Every time I called her this month, she seemed more and more preoccupied.” He shook his head. “I have to go back through Carlos’s files and find out who or what threatens her now. She’s afraid for some reason. Though what or who it could be I have no idea. If Carlos is dead then how can she feel it is because of him?”

  “Then you need to find her boogey man don’t you?” Serenity patted his hand. “I have all the faith in the world in you. If anyone can find this threat, you can.”

  Nicky looked over at his beloved wife. Five years ago, he never dreamed he would be here. Married with two kids? No way. But here he was and he wouldn’t change his life for anything.

 

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