After leaving Carlotta and Maxim in the kitchen to prepare breakfast, I decide to head upstairs and get ready for the day.
Slipping on some blank trousers and a black button down, I fix my slightly dishevelled hair and make my way down to dad's office to discuss his business from the night before.
I enter the office and notice Andrei is already there, leaning back on one of the couches, his legs spread apart carelessly.
"Hey брат." He greets coldly, basically his default setting.
(brother)
I nod my head in a way of greeting and sit on the couch opposite him, waiting for our father to join us.
"What do you think he needs to discuss with us?" I ask Andrei, getting myself comfortable on the leather couch.
"I don't know. I'm too concentrated on tracking down Emiliano." He grits out, obvious tension still surrounding his name. My own blood boils at the mention of him.
"We'll find him. The pussy can't have gotten far in a day." I reassure, maybe more for myself than for him.
Andrei just 'hmphs' in acknowledgement whilst lighting a cigar, letting it hang from his hand as he sits forward, elbows resting on his knees.
At that moment, the office door opens, revealing our father looking menacing as always.
Cutting right to the chase, he makes his way over to his desk, rummaging through some papers, "I have updates from the Swedes." He says.
Both Andrei and I sit up a little straighter, interested in what the bastards are up to.
"And?" Andrei grits out impatiently around his cigarette.
"And," our father replies mockingly, "The heir still wants vengeance for his fathers death. Elias Nilsson, son and only heir of Oskar Nilsson."
Elias has been a problem for us for a while, not directly making any moves, but knowing that eventually his time for revenge would come. We just needed to be ready.
"He's now 26 years old, and apparently now has the manpower needed to become what their mafia once was before we killed Oskar." He continues.
"So we kill him." I suggest, simply.
Andrei rolls his eyes and puts out his cigarette, "тупая сука, have you forgotten the laws?"
(dumb bitch)
I huff and lean back in my seat, crossing my arms childishly.
The fuck do mafia's even need laws for. Aren't we supposed to be illegal?
Just as I was about to sarcastically reply, the phone on my fathers desk began to ring. He picks up with a sigh, frustrated at the interruption.
"Говорить." He commands.
(talk)
As he listens to the guards on the other end of the line, his face crumples in confusion and frustration.
Rubbing a hand down his face, he finally replies, "отлично. впустите их. Я хочу поговорить с ними."
(fine. Let them in. I want to talk to them.)
"There are some government officials here." He announces, "Find your siblings and keep them in line for the next 30 minutes."
Andrei and I nod, immediately standing up to go find the others.
"I'll grab Levi, go get Maxim and Car from the kitchen." Andrei commands, to which I mock salute him and he flips me off in return.
I hurry down the stairs and jog into the kitchen, ready to tell them to pause their cooking, but when I get inside all that's left of them is a spot of flour on the floor.
Did they disintegrate? The fuck?
Shrugging, I make my way back to the foyer where dad, Andrei and Levi are waiting.
"Did you find them?" Dad asks calmly.
"Nah, they're not in the kitchen anymore." I reply casually, tucking my hands in my trouser pockets as I lean against the stair banister.
"Fuck, okay. Let's just hope they don't embarrass us." He replies frustratedly.
Levi lets out a laugh at that, shaking his head slightly, muttering quietly, "Wishful thinking dad."
I slap him upside the head, which he then proceeds to rub looking at me innocently. I give him the 'don't do anything stupid eyes' and he mouthes 'what? me?'.
Rolling my eyes, we hear a knock on the door indicates whoever was by the front gate has arrived at the house. Dad steps up and opens it widely, yet not allowing them entrance to the house immediately.
"Good morning, you must be Mr. Vasiliev I assume?" The woman extends her hand which my father apprehensively shakes.
"Yes, what do you want." He replies stoically.
Both the man and woman pull out a badge, "We're with the Child Protection Service, we're here on an anonymous tip that there have been acts of domestic violence committed within your household. Specifically on your adoptive daughter, Carlotta Angela Vasiliev?"
All our eyebrows dart up, taken by complete surprise with the accusation made.
Andrei visibilly losing his patience, steps up towards the door, "And who the fuck told you that bullshit, huh?" He asked threateningly.
"I'm sorry sir, but the tip was anonymous." The man responds. "We have warrants to enter your house, can we come in and have a look around?"
Gripping the door tightly, his knuckles becoming white, our dad begrudgingly opens the door wider and steps aside, indicating for the pair to come inside.
They close the door behind them and turn to face us. I didn't miss the gulps they took when looking around the inside of our impressive mansion.
"Where-" The woman began, but was cut off by the sound of shouting, and heavy footsteps coming from the lounge.
"CAR!" We hear Maxim's voice shout from the longue, followed by a loud crash.
The CPS officers look at one another worriedly, taking a quick note of something on their pads of paper.
I narrow my eyes at them, warning them not to make any assumptions just yet.
Just then, an out of breath Carlotta comes bounding into the foyer, panting heavily whilst looking surprised by the extra company in the room. She visiabally squints at the pair, trying to figure who they are before her eyes widen at a certain voice.
"Carlotta you little shit, I'll kill you!" Maxim yells once again, before lunging at Carlotta, sending them both crashing into the floor, and Carlotta wheezing with either laughter or pain. Most likely the former considering how much those two wrestle.
Andrei, Levi, dad and I all look worriedly at the CPS officers, who look appalled at what they'd just seen. Frantically making notes in their dumb little notebooks.
I'll fucking burn those pussy books.
Maxim and Carlotta seemed to have realised the situation, noticing the officers badges and their compromising situation.
Immediately Maxim gets off Car, scrambling to his feet before Car does the same.
Looking at the two properly now, they look a mess.
Maxim is covered in flour, it's all over his clothes as well as smudged on his face. To make matters worse, he keeps sniffing his nose, probably irritated by the flour lying under it.
To put it simply, my guy looks like a crackhead. Literally.
That's another thing to write down in your pussy books.
Car on the other hand, somehow looks worse. Sprinkles of flour are on her clothes as well, probably from Maxim rugby tackling her to the floor.
Fucking dumbass.
Her face is still covered in bruises from Emiliano, with a busted lip and swelling eye. The collar of her t-shirt shows off the handprints round her neck as well to put the cherry on top.
These CPS officers could write a whole essay in their pussy books with this evidence.
After a tense few minutes of silence, Maxim clears his throat, "Officers, hello. Let me start by saying this is not what it looks like." He says, pointing between himself and Carlotta.
The officers stare at him blankly, obviously not wanting to take the word of a supposed crackhead.
"Mr. Vailiev, I think we've seen all we need to see firsthand to testify the tip called in." The woman begins, "This is not a safe environment for an underaged girl such as Carlotta to live. Effective immediately, we will be removing her from your custody."
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
"WHAT?!" All my brothers and father roared in unison.
"This is not an acceptable environment for Carlotta as the anonymous tip suggests. The events that have transpired here today confirm that. We will be removing Carlotta from the home today." The man repeats.
"No, you've got it all wrong. I'm fine, these are my brothers, they'd never hurt me." I plead, trying to explain to them the situation.
"Carlotta, sweetie, you don't have to defend them anymore. We're getting you out, you're safe." The woman replies, a little condescending to be honest, crouching down to speak to me like a child.
"This is bullshit." Levi exclaims, "the fuck gives you the right to take away our little sister!" He pushes.
"This badge." The man responds sternly, looking at my brothers and father in disgust. He turns to me and speaks softly, "go upstairs and pack a small bag of essentials, you're leaving now okay?"
"But-" I start.
"No buts, I know this is difficult to process and accept but you'll be safer this way. Go now." He cuts me off.
I glare at him, about to say something else when Andrei speaks up, "Carlotta, делай то, что он говорит." He says calmly.
All our heads whip to him, "какие?" My brothers whisper-yell at him. My father however seems to understand what Andrei is doing, glaring calmly at the officers, despite the absolute rage behind his eyes.
"иди, собери сумку и уйди с ними. мы мафия, мы вернем вас из любого приюта, в который они отправят вас, максимум за день." Andrei continues, ignoring our brother's protests.
(go pack a bag and leave with them. we are the mafia, we will get you back from whatever foster home they send you to in a day maximum.)
"мы придем за тобой, сестренка, а потом снимем шкуру с офицеров, которые тебя схватили. Oни"
(we will come for you little sister, then we'll skin the officers who took you. they can't arrest us, you know that.)
I stare at him, conflicted as to whether to listen, or fight back. But I know the answer. Right now we cannot fight the authorities. As soon as they've taken me and they're gone, the mafia can get to work on overpowering them. I trust that my brothers and father will do just that.
I nod once, unshed tears brimming my eyes. As I make my way to the stairs, I try not to look at any of my brothers, scared of what I'll see.
However, I can't help but catch the eye of Levi who stands looking at me in defeat, a few lone tears running down his cheeks. Milan puts a hand on his shoulder in comfort and squeezes.
I turn around quickly before I begin to full on cry and jog up the stairs to my room. Grabbing a duffel bag, I stuff it with some essentials: my phone, laptop, chargers, toiletries, guns and knives.
Taking one last look around my room, my first real sanctuary since Norway, I close the door and head back downstairs to where I hear aggressive chatter amongst my family and the CPS officers.
I dump my duffel bag on the foyer floor, catching the attention of the room. I cross my arms and stare grimly at the officers, waiting for the next step.
"Come on honey, we need to get down to the station and sort out some details." The woman said, trying to sound motherly.
Gag.
I roll my eyes and pick up my bag, making my way over to the door. Before I step out, I turn around to face my brothers and father.
Levi had stopped crying, yet his cheeks were still wet from his previous tears. I sent him a small grin, letting him know I'm fine and I'll see him again soon. In reply, he let out a little chuckle and smiled softly at me.
"Я люблю вас." He says quietly.
(i love you)
"я тоже тебя люблю." I reply.
(i love you too)
Milan looks visibly angry, his fists and jaw clenched tightly. He's staring straight at me, obviously trying to anchor his rage so he doesn't do anything even more incriminating. I send him a small nod to let him know I'm okay, to which he visibly relaxes and nods back.
Andrei is staring at me calmly, looking visibly relaxed and composed, however I know better than to assume he's okay. Under his stoic expression, I can see the rage boiling beneath.
"ты всегда будешь нашей семьей, Car. Remember that." He says calmly.
(you will always be our family)
I smile at him sadly, neither confirming nor denying his statement before looking over to my dad, who was barely reigning in his sadness.
"Я люблю тебя, девочка, скоро увидимся, принцесса, хорошо?" He tells me, to which I nod again sadly, a few stray tears falling down my cheeks.
(i love you baby girl, i'll see you soon princess okay?)
I yet again nodded my head at his words and finally turned my head to Maxim, and couldn't help but stifle a laugh at his appearance.
He rolls his eyes at me playfully before turning his expression serious again, "Это моя вина, мне очень жаль, детка." He says, guilt lacing each word.
(this is my fault. I'm so sorry baby.)
"это не твоя вина, Maxi. Я люблю вас." I reply back to him before taking one more look at my dysfunctional yet true family.
(it's not your fault) (i love you)
And with that, I turned around and walked over to the CPS officers car.