Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions- Ch. 45 Russkaya Krov'

Chapter Forty-five

Russkaya Krov'

*Meet me at 2200 hours, at this location: coordinates- 40°46'11"N 73°58'15"W*

i've read and reread this message until my eyes began to blur. I'd received this note anonymously early this morning and now it was an hour from the meeting time.

I couldn't decide whether this was a setup for an ambush, potentially from the threat that has always been hovering in the shadows like an unwanted plague or the man thats recently become a nuisance and has on more than one occasion blind sided me with attacks.

What had finally persuaded me to go and meet the person who beckoned me was the location.

My heart was in my throat and i didnt see it going back down into its proper place in the near future.

Before i knew it, time had crept up on me and i found myself at the entrance of central park on 96/97th. I walked towards the dead end triangle while maintaining in the shadows.

I finally came to a stop in front of the statue that haunted me and made me feel at peace all at once.

'Balto' his name echoed in my head in my mothers voice.

I visibly shivered and it wasn't from the low temperature outside.

The peace was broken when I heard an unfamiliar voice speak up from behind the statue, speaking in Russian of all languages; "Privet, kak dela, Liv?"

Had you of told me that the person speaking in Russian, with a perfect Russian accent would be Nate's mother, I would have laughed it off and asked you what wack ass crack were you smoking.

But there she was, in a traditional Russian fur coat and hat staring at me intensely.

"Bozhe moy..." I responded breathlessly.

She continued in Russian, "Its time to come clean to you about who you are."

If she was going to keep up the Russian pretense, than so was I, "And who am I exactly? And who in the hell are you? Because you certainly aren't American."

"Neither are you, or my son for that matter." She responded without hesitation.

"Excuse me?" confused at what angle she was playing at.

"Russkaya Krov'." She spoke softly, as if trying to break the news to me gently.

"Russian blood? What are you on, Mrs. Vanderbilt?"

She just smiled, as if what she was about to say wasn't going to turn my entire world upside down.

"My birth name is Ekatarina Oksana-zhanna Romanov. Your mothers birth name was Liliya Kseniya-Irina Volkov. Her father is the leader of Solntsevskaya Bratva in Russia, my father is his second in command. We hated the life of violence and saw too much death. We had enough. We wanted out. We were twelve when our mothers helped us flee the country with new identities. We'd been learning english from an american and learned the american accent pretty well to pass as americans once we arrived in the U.S. Our fathers would never think to look for us in America. We were only in touch with our mothers once after we left only for them to inform us we were clear, our fathers blaming the Chechen mafia for our kidnap and started a massive war. Till this day, the war, it still goes on. We couldn't go through with our marriages to yours and Nate's fathers without them knowing the full truth. They took it... well. So well, that they flew us to Russia three months into our pregnancies and we lived there for a two years before coming back to the states. They wanted you both to have dual citizenship for whenever you wanted to return one day to learn more about your culture." She paused assessing me to make sure I was keeping up with what she was saying.