Chapter Fifteen
"Someone Could Have Told Me"
"the truth will set you free,
but first it will piss you off,"
— joe klaas
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My wide eyes shot up, trying to look over Daemon's shoulder while he slowly reached into his jacket.
His eyes were trained on me in warning, and I could tell he was silently telling me to stay behind him. But the second he pulled out his gun, the owner of the gun spoke up.
"Don't."
My spine straightened before I stepped away from Daemon—who seemed ready to kill at any moment.
He was reaching for my wrist to bring me back to him, but I quickly shot my hand away from his grasp. I threw him a dirty look before turning back to our intruder.
"Hi, papa. Lovely day, isn't it?" I tried to chirp, but when his bright blue eyes narrowed on me, I could tell I was in trouble.
"Step away from Mr. Kade, Roza," he demanded harshly in Russian. "Now."
I pursed my lips. "Well, if you say it that way... no."
His eyes flared with anger, and I saw his hand gripping his gun tighter—which was pointed straight at Daemon's back. Without thinking of the consequences, I shuffled in the snow, so I was standing between Daemon and the gun.
"Roza." Papa's voice was full of warning, but I could see his hand twitching lower. "Get out of the way."
Behind me, I finally felt Daemon shifting before his hands dropped to my waist. He tried to pull me back, but I kept myself rooted in place, keeping my eyes on papa.
Daemon seemed momentarily at loss, but clearly, he'd come up with a plan when he ended up tightly holding my waist with one hand, but lifting a gun up with the other.
Now, without taking his eyes off him, papa barked, "Move, Roza!"
"Not until you tell me what's wrong." I kept the smile on my face, but it was chilling. "Put the gun down. Both of you."
Papa narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to take my time torturing him. I won't kill him yet."
"I'd love to see you try," Daemon drawled dryly. "You will be dead before you get your hands on me, Somov. Don't mistake me being here as your ownership over me."
Papa's nose flared, clearly annoyed. "Get away from my daughter, you son of a bitch."
I don't know why, but hearing that suddenly make me laugh. Papa glanced at me, mildly confused before turning his gaze back to Daemon—who was too busy wrapping an arm around the front of my body.
"No. You don't have the right to be mad," I said to papa, still laughing in disbelief. "You don't, after lying to me for months. Years, maybe, about the fact I'm a target. So, you're going to put the gun down, and then Daemon will follow."
For a moment, papa said nothing, but mixed with how he clenched his jaw and his avoiding gaze, I knew I was right. He'd been lying to me for a long time.
"That plan sounds stupid, Roza. I'd rather just shoot the убийца," a new voice called out, just as several guns safety turned off.
My eyes widened, but still, I stayed in front of Daemon as I looked around, only to see that all three of my brothers were outside, all dressed in suits and neatly styled hair.
And all of their guns were pointed at Daemon's back.
Micah was the most bloodthirsty, but Vladik was staring at me with a wary smile on his lips. Lev seemed robotic, but I did notice how his hand wavered when our eyes met.
Daemon didn't even bother peeling his gaze from papa before starting. "We all know I can take you and your patrol in less than one minute. But that is messy, and I have a certain flower here that I would like unharmed. So, put your guns down, or I will shoot all of your hands."
Vladik was the first one to slowly do so, watching me in the process. Micah was throwing him a glare while Lev surprised me by following our brother.
Besides Daemon, the only guns up now were from papa and Micah, who had the audacity to look mad at me.
"Stop it," I demanded, glaring at Micah for a few moments before twisting my head back to papa. "If anyone has the right to be pissed, it's me."
"And why's that?" Micah scoffed.
"Maybe because my family lacks the ability to be honest with me?" My voice was full of venom when I spoke, but when I saw him twitch slightly, a cold smile grew on my lips. "So how about we put our guns down before I blow your toe off."
His eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."
I scoffed, hearing the challenge in his voice making me angrier than normal.
My movements were quick as I squatted down, plucked my gun out from the snow and stood up, pointing it directly at his foot. I cocked my head when he didn't move right away.
Without thinking, I pulled the trigger and smirked in satisfaction when I saw I aimed right next to his foot. His eyes twitched in irritation as his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Down, boy," I drawled teasingly, waiting until he finally lowered his gun. Vladik seemed to be stifling a grin, and I noticed some of the tension loosen in Lev's shoulders. Now that was out of the way, I whirled my head back to the last man in question.
Papa and Daemon were still pointing their guns at each other, but I just stared at him coldly.
"The truth, papa."
He seemed to be thinking over something as his eyes travelled over my features, then the bag on my shoulders. His face hardened instantly. "I deserve the truth, too."
I knew he registering who gave me the bag, but that would not be an option. I wouldn't put Rolie's life in danger.
"Papa." My voice lowered in anger. "Either you tell me what's been going on, or—"
He tightened his grip on the gun. "Or what?"
I swallowed thickly, but managed to steady my voice before declaring, "Or I'll leave."
The threat was clear, and for a moment, I thought he'd make a snarky reply about how I'd never leave. Instead, I was greeted dead silence from all my family members, who clearly seemed to be thinking it over.
"Alright," papa began slowly before finally lowering his gun. Still, his eyes were trained on Daemon, who still hadn't released his hold around my waist. "Come to my office at six. But for now, I'll have to go back to the meeting."
For a moment, I wondered how he knew I was out here. But then I remembered: if Daemon was in the room with them and abruptly left, that only meant something serious happened.
I watched as papa glance over my shoulder before cocking his head in my direction. And before I knew it, Vladik and Lev were following papa back inside the house, while Micah came to Daemon and I.
Now standing in front of us, I could see the fury and violence behind his gaze—directed toward Daemon. Both of them were having a fun little staring contest when suddenly, Micah reached out with both hands and tried grabbing me from my Shadow, who seemed to tighten his grip on me, almost painfully.
"Release my sister, убийца."
"Fuck off, мудак."
Oh my God. Was this another pissing contest?
Slowly, I raised my hand up Daemon's arm that was around my waist, and instantly I felt the tension loosening from my touch. I slid it lower, until my hand was holding the back of his. I peeled him away before twisting around, so I was a few feet away from them.
"I don't know why you guys hate each other. You have so much in common." My eyes drooped in annoyance. "You both equally piss me off."
Then, I pointed my gaze at Daemon. "People skills, Shadow. Learn them already."
And with that, I spun in the snow before taking wide strides back to the house. Still, I was gripping the strap of the bag tight, surprised that no one tried to get it off me.
Behind me, I heard someone jogging in the snow before they came to a stop next to me.
With a quick glance to my side, I saw a blond head of hair and thinned lips pressed together. I dramatically rolled my eyes. "For someone who claims to hate me, you're way too eager to be around me."
He was silent for a few beats. "You're my sister, Roza. I don't hate you."
I ignored how my heart jumped in my chest. For some reason, hearing him kind of admit he didn't despise me made my heart happy.
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Something I never knew about my oldest brother: he was insufferably funny.
Which, to be honest, annoyed me. Because my main goals in life growing up was to piss off Mickie, since he'd never seen me as good enough. He was my bane of my existence, and he was actually making me laugh.
After we came back into the house, I was gripping the bag tight because Micah would not leave me alone. I figured it was because he wanted me nowhere near Daemon—which, again, was funny to me. He clearly didn't like him, and yet,
he was all for him guarding me the last few months.
Hypocrite.
Luckily, I managed to get a clean break for a few minutes when he left me in the drawing room. I quickly slipped out and hid the bag somewhere in the house without cameras, and when I returned, Micah was pacing with frustration.
He name-called me. I threw my shoe at him.
When six came, Micah was towering behind me as we entered the hall to papa's office. To spice things up, I abruptly stopped walking so Micah would trip. It worked two times before he cussed me out and moved ahead of me.
He opened the door once the guard stepped out of the way. The light from the office was filling the doorway now, and I squinted as I slid inside, surprised by how bright the room was in contrast to the hallway.
Behind me, Micah was already shutting the door when my eyes started getting used to the brightness, only to sag my shoulders in relief, seeing Daemon standing tensely in front of the bookshelves. He was alive. That was something.
The two chairs across from papa's desk were empty, but with a quick glance to the one-way windows, I saw Vladik dressed casually in a tee-shirt and sweats, leaning against the window.
All of their eyes were on me.
"Well, hello gentlemen," I chirped to lighten the mood, but that didn't stop me from clenching my legs together to hide my nerves.
My focus travelled back to papa, who seemed to be flinching from my gaze.
"Sit, Roza." Papa gestured to the right empty chair across from him, watching me expectedly.
When I didn't move right away, he sighed. "Roza, please," he spoke in Russian. "You want the truth, I would like for you to sit before I give it to you, okay?"
Grudgingly, I forced my stubbornness aside, rounding the chair before falling against the cushion. Next to me, I could see the other chair filling with a large body.
I hoped it would be Daemon, but a quick glance left me rolling my eyes. Micah lacked a soul and a heart, yet he had it in himself to piss me off every second of the day.
Still, my Shadow wasn't far for long. Even if the floorboard wouldn't dare creek beneath his feet, I felt the hairs on my neck rise as he moved, before leaning against the wall closest to me.
I could feel the silent threat hovering in the air as Daemon twisted his cold gaze toward papa. One wrong move, and he would pull out his gun.
Papa's jaw popped seconds later before finally, he brought his attention back to me. "Do you remember the crash?" Was the first thing he asked, lacing his fingers on top of his desk as he leaned forward.
That was all I heard before I pressed my back hard against the chair. "I was there, so yeah, I remember." I tried to keep the anger in my tone to a minimum.
If he noticed my attitude, he ignored it. His face was devoid of emotion before he demanded, "What do you remember?"
When I didn't say anything right away, he quirked a brow in impatience. I started to laugh in disbelief. "Are you serious? Why are we going down memory lane?"
"Roza, do as papa asks," Micah bit out, but I didn't miss how he started shifting in his seat. Was my darling older brother nervous? How fun.
In my head, I thought all about the torture I'd inflicted on Micah to keep the tears at bay. Then, the words started pouring out without another thought.
"We were flying to New York to visit Luba, and... something was wrong with our private plane, so we took first class tickets with an airline," I began, licking my suddenly dry lips. "Everything was fine. The take off was smooth. The captain said we could take off our seat belts."
My heart started squeezing in my chest. "We were barely ten minutes in the air before we started going down."
"Mama was sitting in the row next to me and Ruben. She told us to duck and protect our heads. But Ruben... Ruben wasn't listening. He was trying to calm me down." My eyes were burning now, and I forced myself to swallow it in. I tried focusing on how papa was tensing as each second passed, even though he'd heard it all before, when they saved me.
Once I felt like I wasn't gonna break down, I continued. "Seconds before the crash, Ruben wrapped his arms around me and held me. He was holding my head. Squeezing me to him. Everyone was screaming. I couldn't hear mama."
"Then we crashed," my voice broke. "And I heard no one."
None of my brothers spoke, and papa stared at me like he was ready to murder someone with vengeance. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling my shoulders shake in the process.
Then, I felt a familiar, warm hand brush some of my hair away from my face.
My eyes were wet as I looked up, only to suck in a breath when I met Daemon's softened gaze. His fingers were caressing my cheek now, and I closed my eyes, surprised no one was saying anything about him touching me. His fingers were leaving goosebumps at its wake.
Still, his presence gave me the confidence I needed, and he must have noticed because he released my face. But he stayed next to my chair, waiting.
"Ruben died right away. I tried feeling his pulse, and there was nothing." With another breath, I forced myself to keep my voice steady. "Mama wasn't moving. Even after I kept on calling for her. And then... you came."
I didn't know how papa realized the crash happened. All I remember was crying into Ruben's unmoving body and suddenly, papa was screaming our names outside.
I thought I died too, then.
"I came," papa nodded, hardening his voice. "I came because I was warned."
Tension filled the air the longer I stared at papa's harsh expression. "You were warned?" I repeated, because clearly, I couldn't hear that right. I couldn't have.
He nodded slowly, just as Daemon's hand dropped at the headrest of my chair. Not touching, but close enough to be a reminder that he was here.
And then, papa confirmed what I'd been thinking.
"The crash was done purposely, Roza."
There it was.
My ears started to ring as my vision turned black. I blinked it away furiously, trying to get myself to cool down. It was on purpose. Ruben and mama died on purpose. Someone killed them.
"Who?" I didn't realize I spoke until papa pursed his lips at my question. "Why?"
"I don't know," he bit out, baring his teeth in front of me. "But the men who told me were tortured and killed." I didn't doubt that for a second.
"They wanted you. Or mama," Micah spoke up for the first time, and I twisted my head, staring at him wide-eyed while he sat stiffly. "That's why they called. They told him to pick one, and he didn't pick in time. So they said you were both good as dead."
We were both good as dead. But...
"I survived. They weren't expecting that," I whispered, snapping my gaze back to papa, who was back to clenching his jaw. "They still want to kill me?"
Silence was given back to me until papa snarled frustratingly, "I don't know."
"We didn't know if they were done, wanted to take you, or kill you," Micah added, his tone thick with fury. "But we couldn't take the risk after you came back from the hospital."
I nodded slowly, already knowing where this was going. "So you locked me up."
Micah's eyes flashed with annoyance. "We protected you."
"You isolated me. Made me go fucking insane," I hissed.
"And then you ran away!" He shouted, slamming his palm against papa's desk, all while keeping his burning gaze on me. "You ran away, but we thought they took you. For over a year, we scoured Russia for you."
"Don't make it look like you're all the heroes in this," I hissed before pointing my finger at his chest. "You should have told me what was going on!"
"And what would you do?" Micah scoffed, leaning back against his chair.
I narrowed my eyes. "Don't undermine me, Micah." And then I turned back to papa, feeling some of my anger crack away when I saw how pained he looked. "Someone could have told me," I repeated, almost brokenly.
Papa lowered his head, and he almost seemed... ashamed.
But it was Micah who cockily spoke next. "We were handling it."
It was my turn to scoff, snapping my gaze back to him. "It's been six years. You've done a shit job."
His jaw popped, but he said nothing. I finally managed to shut the great Micah Somov up. Nice.
"What about him?" I continued, nudging my head in Daemon's direction but kept my eyes on my brother. "What was his role?"
This time, papa spoke. "When we realized you were in the states, we reached out to Mr. Kade." He threw a glare in Daemon's direction but quickly turned back to me. "There were more threats now, and we hoped to persuade him to help us."
"What a great help he's been," Micah drawled, just as the temperature in the room dropped instantly.
No one spoke, until Daemon's cold voice spoke steadily, "I can be a great help and dispose of the body."
"Who's body?"
"Your body." There wasn't an ounce of humour in his tone, and glancing up, I could see his face, void of emotion and cold as ever.
I rolled my eyes. "Relax children. You can play later."
Micah snapped his gaze to me, clearly heated before turning back to papa. "I don't understand why he's here. His job was to return her to us, not to be a bother."
"You know why he's here, Micah. Now, quiet," papa hissed out in Russian, almost as if he didn't want Daemon to hear them arguing.
While they were both giving each other death glares, I peeked in Daemon's direction, whose eyes were already on me. I noticed he was closer to the wall now, so I didn't have to lift my chin as much.
"What about Naveen?" I asked, which was enough for his foot to tap twice before stopping. The tapping foot. My favourite show.
Naveen first introduced himself to me on the streets of New York, after I hurt a guy who groped me. Then, again I saw him at the pool, and at the florist shop. He always showed up at random times, until I heard him and Daemon talk. It was because of him I found out who Daemon really was.
"Naveen Patel was hired when Mr. Kade failed to bring you in," papa answered instead, bringing my attention to him. "And all he had to do was follow Mr. Kade's steps before finding you."
He did. He found me. In the beginning of August. Fuck.
"He's vanished," Daemon continued, and four pair of eyes turned to him. His jaw ticked in annoyance. "I didn't kill him. Not yet."
With that, everyone became silent. But while I was busy fiddling with my hands on top of my lap, I remembered the Christmas party, and papa's assailant.
"I think whoever threatened you six years ago are linked to whoever shot you in December," I admitted, causing papa to tense up. "It would make sense, wouldn't it?"
"And why would it make sense?" I didn't need to look at Micah to know he was rolling his eyes.
I kept my gaze steady on papa. "Because clearly whoever is threatening you is in one of the seven Dynasties, and all seven were at our house that night."
"That's not possible—"
"Yes, it is," Vladik cut him off, pushing himself off the window to stalk next to papa's desk. "Whoever has been behind all of this is right under our noses."
Argument ensued between Micah and Vladik while papa was too busy watching. But I was annoyed that clearly, no one was listening to me, so without another word, I shot up from my seat and started striding toward the door.
No one called out for me, too busy shouting at each other. They were also too busy in their own world to realize Daemon left right with me.
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happy Friday lovelies! I hope your
week is going much less stressful
than mine :)
no long authors note today,
but I will see you Tuesday!