Jason's POV
"So she's been here this whole time." He asks, looking pretty shocked.
"She's definitely the person you've been looking for." I confirm. "But I can't believe she's been using me as a cover for the last two and half years"
"She left me three years ago." He says glumly. "I've been looking all over the globe, and she's been here this whole time. I never thought she'd be working for you."
'That Natasha is definitely a sly one,' I smirk to myself. 'Can't wait to confront her about this.'
"So what happened?" Gio asks him.
"She thinks I cheated on her." He says, looking glum.
"She thinks, or she knows?" My tactless little brother blurts out, and I smack him in the back of the head, "Ow." He whines, rubbing the back of his head. "What'd you do that for?"
"You know exactly why." I glare at him, before turning my attention back to Ivan. "Please continue."
"I would never" Ivan exclaims, clearly offended by my brother's statement. "She thinks that Iov and me were in on the human trafficking stuff. She confronted me and I told her I didn't do anything and that I would never, but she kept calling me a liar, saying she had proof. I thought everything would work itself out once she cooled down, and we could talk, but when I came home the next day, she was gone. She left all of her stuff and just ran off."
"And you've been looking for her ever since." I comment.
"Wouldn't you?" He states in a 'duh' tone.
I think about that before I answer. Tiana ran from me a total of three times. The first, the reason she gave me was believable, and I always knew we would eventually get back together. Although, I do regret not going after her that time. The last two times were most certainly my fault. I pushed her away, and I couldn't be upset that she needed her space from me.
Plus, it's not like she left, and I didn't know where she went. I would have known had she moved from Atlanta, and there's no way in hell I didn't know she was living in a new apartment. I just respected that she wanted her space.
"It depends on whether it was my fault that she left." I answer honestly.
"That's fair, but that's not the case for me." He growls. "My brother was just being a jealous asshole." He grumbles, scrubbing his head over his face. "I met Natasha when I came here for school. My family has property in Brighton Beach, where she grew up. We met and were inseparable, so when it was time for me to go back home. I took her with me.
"So what made Iov want to destroy your relationship?" I ask.
"When my father got to the point of being so sick that he could no longer work, he finally decided on an heir." He begins to explain. "Everyone of course thought that it would be Iov, because he's technically the oldest, but that wasn't what was happening behind closed doors. We let people think what they wanted, but even my Ded (Russian word for grandpa), knew that it was me who was taking over. Iov was smart, and he could be very convincing when need be, but he was also very sheisty and conniving. He would make deals and then fuck over others to get more profit than he deserved.
And even though he was told by our father over and over again, that he was never going to be the next to take over, he refused to listen to it and lived in his delusions."
"Why didn't he take over?" Gio asks curiously. "It usually goes to the oldest, and he technically was the oldest."
"Yeah, he was the oldest, but he was also the dumbest one of us. He was smart, but he only ever used his brain on how to con people for the next buck. He didn't care about the destruction he caused in his quest to get his way. My father wasn't going to let someone so reckless and careless undo all of his hard work.
Once father formally announced me as his heir, he told Iov he would be my right hand man for a year, and if he could handle that, we could run everything together. I tried working with him and even tried to make it equal, but Iov was going to do him," He looks down sadly. "When I found out about his little side business, I wasn't happy, at all. I told him to shut it down immediately, or I was telling father. But of course, he has the 'if you're not with me, you're against me' mentality, so he decided to ruin my relationship."
"How did he convince Natasha that you were cheating?" I Damien asks curiously.
'That's a good question.' I think to myself. Isaac and Damien are about ten better than Iov when it comes to morals and still, Tiana would never take their word over mine.
"He drugged me." He states matter-of-factly. "He drugged me and had one of his 'girls' do some unsavory thing to me whilst I was passed out and recorded it."
"What the fuck?!" Damien exclaims. "Your brother drugged you?!"
"He knew Natasha would never take his word for it, so he had to take drastic measures to make his story believable." He elaborates. "I should've never trusted him."
"Why didn't you look here first?" I ask. "This is her comfort zone, since this is where she grew up. Plus, you said she didn't take anything with her."
"I did." He defends. "I combed every borough and city in this place and still couldn't find her. I never thought to look into your companies, legal or not, because why would she run from one mobster, to hide under another one. It's not like she didn't know who you were."
"Huh," Damien laughs a little. "Who would've thought Natasha was using us a cover this whole time."
"So, will you help me?" He asks me, completely ignoring Damien.
I give him an empathetic look and nod. "I'll help you, but there have to be rules."
"Rules?"
"Yes, rules." I repeat firmly. "If you want to stop by the office when she's at lunch, then that's fine, but don't distract her from her job. And I'm not giving you her personal information, so don't ask. Don't be a pushy asshole and respect her boundaries."
"Okay that's fair," He shrugs, "though, I didn't need you to get her address. I've had men there for about two weeks now just to make sure that she was really my Tasha."
'I can't even call him out on that.' I think to myself with an inner laugh.
'Okay well, if that's all," I stand up and straighten out my shirt. "I must be going."
Damien and Gio follow my lead and stand as well. "Don't look so down." I pat his shoulder, "If it's only a misunderstanding, then it should all work itself out." I encourage him.
"Thanks." He nods as he walks us to the elevator. "And thank you for taking care of my Tasha while she was here."
"Eh," I shrug, "I doubt she cares for me as a boss. I can be a bit of a hard ass."
"Still, thanks." He smiles. "I'm glad she wasn't struggling without me."
"No problem." I say as the elevator closes.
