•Polina•
This can't be real.
My head swims in disbelief of everything that just happened downstairs. I reach up, gliding the tips of my fingers against the place where Giovanni's gun had dug into my forehead. I can still feel the ghost of it there, as if it left an imprint behind. I can still see the look in his eyes as he stared me down, the pure rage rolling off of him in waves. He hates me and I don't blame him, I would hate me too if I were in his shoes. I did something that can never be forgiven. I caused him to lose a child.
Then it was as if the world stopped spinning and Enzo held his brother at gunpoint. Even with everything I've done he went to war for me, he defended me. I'd never experienced loyalty like that until that moment. I could see it in his eyes, even as I avoided them, that it wouldn't have taken much for him to squeeze the trigger.
He was ready to be named a traitor just as his namesake had been— ready to kill his brother over me. It was a heavy feeling, my emotions were a mess by the time he carried me upstairs and I couldn't hold my feelings back any longer. I'm in love with them and before anything else happened I needed them to know. Now I'm terrified of losing them. I'd seen men in our world die for smaller reasons than harboring an enemy and holding your superior at gunpoint.
"What are we going to do?" I whisper so Toni doesn't overhear.
I can picture him now, leaning against the door with his ear pressed to the wood. My skin crawls as I think about him, the way his eyes lit up when he recognized me. I fought him with everything I had in me but he cornered me at the stairs and I almost went down them head first before realizing it. By the time I had gotten my footing he had a fistful of my hair and he didn't mind dragging me by it. No matter how I came at him he refused to even lessen his hold. I was his trophy and he had been elated to show me off.
"We're gonna run." Enzo replies simply. He dumps his duffle bag out on the bed and starts stuffing it with anything he thinks we'll need. "I'll have to take care of Toni, just make sure you stay with Luca and don't worry about me. There's a car waiting for us down the road, we just have to make it to it. I have a contact with a private plane and it should be ready to take off by the time we get there." He zips the dufflebag up and hands it to Luca.
How could I not worry about him? If they catch him running they'll kill him on the spot. He must read the thought on my face because he leans down and presses a kiss against my lips before I can object to his plan.
"This isn't the time to disobey me, Polina, it's life or death. Follow Luca and don't look back." He demands firmly
I purse my lips but give him a nod. "Okay."
Enzo hands me a stack of clothes and a pair of shoes I hadn't even realized he'd taken from my suitcase. "Put these on."
I quickly get changed and mentally prepare myself for what's about to happen. Luca grabs my hand as Enzo unlocks and opens the door. Toni eyes us suspiciously as Luca and I slip out and then we start running. I hear a grunt behind me but I do as Enzo said and don't look back.
We sprint down the stairs, his hand never leaving mine. Thankfully there's no one in the hall as we run to the door but as soon as we exit gunfire sprays up the side of the house. I squeal and duck, noticing the man across the street wielding a gun, but don't stop running. I hear another gun and shouts in Italian behind us and then everything goes quiet.
I'm out of breath by the time we make it to the car that idles by the curb down the road, a driver seated in the front seat. We slide in the back and Luca tosses the duffle bag onto the floorboard. My heart races against my ribs and he gives my hand a squeeze.
"He'll make it, it's okay." He assures me.
Sweat beads at the base of my spine, nerves churning in my stomach and then the door opens.
Enzo slides in beside me, telling the driver to go. Relief washes over me at the sight of him. I grab his hand, needing the contact from both of them and Enzo's lips curl into a smirk. "Were you worried about me, topolina?"
My brow dips in a glare. "Of course I was worried about you!"
"Well I'm fine." He grins but it's weak and not nearly as mischievous as it usually is.
He releases my hand, removing his suit jacket and I gasp at the blood staining the white fabric covering his arm. "You aren't fine, you're bleeding!"
He unbuttons his shirt, revealing the bullet wound on his arm and my stomach sinks at the sight.
"He got me as soon as I exited the house, cheap shot." He mutters. "I got him back though."
He tears a strip of fabric off his shirt and hands it to me, wincing as I tie it around his bicep, as a makeshift tourniquet. He'll need to have the bullet removed but this should help with the bleeding until he can be seen by someone. He wipes the blood off of his arm with the remaining scraps of his shirt before tossing it onto the floorboard and taking my hand back in his.
We sped all the way to the airstrip and I can't help but glance behind us to see if anyones following, although Enzo assured me they weren't. A security guard opened the gate for us when we arrived and locked it behind us as we entered the private airstrip. A man with golden blonde hair greets us by the plane.
"I appreciate this, your loyalty will be rewarded tenfold." Enzo tells him.
"Your Papa was a good man, an even better Don. No thanks is necessary, it's an honor to help." He replies with a genuine smile.
"Polina, this is Franco. He was my fathers best friend. Franco, this is Polina." Enzo says, introducing us.
"It's lovely to meet you." Franco replies " A beautiful woman and a handsome man, your Papa would be proud."
Enzo chuckles lightly. "I think so too."
"Everything's ready. The sooner we take off the better." Franco says, growing serious.
Enzo's happiness quickly melts away as his eyes meet Luca's. Luca pulls me into a hug, burying my face in his chest and I melt against him. Love blooms in my heart, the feeling spreading down my body with a wave of warmth. Enzo comes up behind me, completing us and I've never felt more at home than I do in the arms of these two men. Enzo brushes the hair away from my neck, pressing a kiss right below my ear just before I feel a prick of pain in my neck.
"What—" I struggle against Luca's hold but between the two of them I can't manage to move even an inch. "What are you doing, let me go!" Panic sets in, my breathing growing erratic.
"We love you too." Enzo murmurs against my ear and my head swims.
He pulls away and I stumble over my feet as I try to step away from Luca.
"Be sure they all make it to the hotel safely. Fill their pockets with rubles so they're taken care of. They have a godfather there who will protect them from what she's told me." Enzo explains.
Godfather? But he's in Moscow.
My limbs grow heavy, my eyelids drooping. I lose all use of my legs and slump against Luca. If it weren't for his arms I would hit the ground. I feel them each brush a kiss across my face before I'm lifted into unfamiliar arms.
"I'll make sure they're safe, you have my word." I hear Franco say before everything goes black.
• • •
"Polya please wake up." A familiar feminine voice filters through the darkness in my head.
"Stop panicking Sofka. She's okay, she's breathing." Another familiar voice says.
The name of my little sister rips me from the black abyss I'd been swimming in. My head pounds as I peel my eyes open and my vision slowly adjusts to the lighting. Aleksandra and Sofka hover over me, glaring at one another. I push up off the bed I'm lying on, trying to gather my thoughts.
"What's going on?" I ask groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
Was it all a dream? Enzo and Luca? Sneaking into the mafias community and distracting Riot while Alexei grabbed Nolani? Did I make everything up? My eyes flick around the unfamiliar room, noting that it's not my fathers house or any other I'm familiar with. Where am I and how did I get here?
"Those assholes drugged us and put us on a flight to Moscow. You were already here when we arrived. A man was waiting for us at the airport and he took us straight here, gave us wads of rubles and left." Aleksandra explains, her face pinched in annoyance.
My brow furrows as I contemplate her words and try to remember what happened before everything went black. Then it hits me. The party in Sicily, Giovanni with a gun to my head, Enzo defending me. We ran to a private airfield and then...
I reached up, grabbing my neck where I'd felt the prick of the needle while Luca hugged me. Anger floods my body as everything sets in.
"They fucking drugged me and shipped me off!" I exclaimed in outrage, anger boiling in my veins.
They just put me on a plane as if I meant nothing to them.
"Shhh, don't scream." Sofka whispers, her eyes glancing around the room frantically as if she were waiting for someone to pop out and surprise us.
"We're in Moscow, Polya." Aleksandra repeats. "Nikolay's men are everywhere."
I shake my head. "Nikolay won't harm us, he loved us."
"Loved being the keyword here." Aleksandra scoffs.
I can't believe they would do this to me. I'm sure in their minds it was to keep me safe but if they loved me like Enzo claimed they would've ran with me. Giovanni will kill them when he realizes what they've done. Pain shoots through my heart so sharply it takes my breath and tears prick my eyes. How could they do this to me? Make me fall in love with them and then abandon me like this. This is the cruelest punishment they've given me by far.
Vengeance burns in the depths of my soul, lighting me up until I can't even feel the tears spilling down my cheeks. Sofka wipes my face off with a tissue and I meet her eyes, letting the dark gaze douse the flames. She gives me a small smile before leaving me to toss the tissue in a nearby trash can.
I take in the room. Two beds covered in all white bedding, a desk with a rolling chair, a tv mounted on the wall and a single window flanked by thick drapes. The walls are a simple cream, the thin carpet only a shade or two darker. I immediately missed the dark tones of Enzo's house. The way it always smelled like a mixture of him and Luca with a dash of lemon scented cleaner. The sound of Hunter's nails clicking on the gleaming wood floor as he approached.
I can't stay here, I have to get back to the states— back to Enzo and Luca. Home. But how? If Giovanni caught me he would kill me on the spot since I'd already gotten away once, there wouldn't be a stand off like the previous time. What else could I do? Live the rest of my life here in Moscow and always wonder what they were doing or how they were? Always craving them. I can't live like that, I refuse. I spent twenty-six years living a life I didn't enjoy, I'll be damned if I spend the next twenty-six the same way. The only way I can make things better with Giovanni is to find my father and end the tragedy he's caused. Giovanni and Nolani may never forgive me for what I did but maybe they would tolerate me. I know Enzo told Giovanni that Luís was the one helping my father but that doesn't mean he knows where he's at. Maybe Nikolay can find him before they have a chance to. If I fly back to the states and they've already found him I'll lose my leverage but it's a risk I'm willing to take.
"You said Nikolays men are everywhere, so you saw them?" I ask.
"Yes, they're everywhere on the streets. We wore hoods into the hotel so our faces weren't visible." Aleksandra replies skeptically. "Why?"
"Nikolay is the only one who will be able to help me."
Sofka frowns. "Help you with what?"
"Find our father." I answer slowly, unsure of how they'll feel about me plotting against him.
Aleksandra seemed pretty disappointed with my relationship with Enzo and Luca because she saw it as a betrayal against the Bratva, so I'm sure this won't be an easy pill to swallow for her.
"But we're free, we're finally free." She emphasized as if she thought I didn't understand the definition of the word. "Why would you want to find him?"
I shift on the bed, refusing to break eye contact. "Because finding him will be the only way Giovanni will allow me back in Enzo and Luca's lives."
Her jaw falls open. "So you're just going to hand your own father over to them? You'll let them kill him without blinking an eye?"
"Aleksandra." Sofka mutters in a warning tone.
"Don't Aleksandra me." She snaps. "How do we know we won't be next on her list if our father isn't enough for them?"
Hurt tugs at my heart. "How could you possibly think that? I've done everything in my power to keep you safe and alive for as long as I can remember."
Even before Isays death I did all I could to ensure my fathers wrath never landed on them. They've always been my number one priority.
"Well you obviously aren't in the best state of mind right now." Aleksandra sneered.
"You may be right. I'm not in the best state of mind right now because I had a gun pointed at my head by a mafia Don who held nothing but hatred in his eyes. I thought I was running away with Enzo and Luca after professing my love to them but they ended up drugging me and shipping me off to Moscow. And now I'm here. Groggy, my head pounding and heart aching. But even if none of that had happened, if I knew where our Father was hiding while I was locked in Enzo's house I would've handed him over." I respond truthfully. "I love our father, I do but I can't live in a world where he does. I can't worry that he'll find us if we go back to the states. I refuse to live in fear of him any longer. You say we're free but we aren't because he still lives and breathes. If he has any contacts left here and they spot us he'll find out."
I'm trying to take him by surprise, not be dragged back under his thumb.
Aleksandra pinches her mouth closed, averting her eyes.
Sofka's gaze grows soft and warm as she takes a seat beside me. "You love them?"
A smile finds my lips. "I do."
"Did you ever stop and think that maybe they shipped you off to Moscow because they didn't feel the same way? If they loved you, don't you think they'd do anything to be with you?" Aleksandra says monotonously, her gaze stuck on the window. "And they just had those drugs on hand, private planes at the ready? I call bullshit."
My heart constricts as I contemplate her words. Enzo told me they loved me too right before I blacked out and he's usually not one to lie. I think about how they'd been acting, how their happiness wasn't as abundant as it once was, the sudden sleepless night Enzo had. My stomach sinks. They had this planned. Aleksandra is right. How else would they have gotten the drugs so quickly? I could excuse the car and the plane, Enzo had been texting frantically on his phone so he could've easily lined them up but I couldn't figure out where the drugs came from. Unless the driver or Franco had them. But Enzo told me he would never let me go, was that only one of many lies that I never caught?
"Why do you have to be such a bitch?" Sofka glares at Aleksandra and pulls me into a tight hug.
"I'm not, I'm just making sure she isn't living in a day dream that was conjured up in her head due to Stockholm syndrome." Aleksandra rebuked. "They may have never hurt us and they did save us by shipping us off but they still can't be trusted."
"She's right." I mumble against Sofkas shirt. "They'd been acting differently, arguing. Maybe it was planned all along."
"I'm sorry." Sofka whispers, rubbing my back.
I pull away, wiping the tears from my face. "Don't be. I'm not sorry. It hurts but I refuse to accept this. If they don't want anything to do with me they'll have to tell me to my face, not take the coward's way out by drugging me."
Aleksandras eyes meet mine, pride shining in the depths. "So what's the plan then?"
Sofka lets out a yawn and a glance at the clock by the bedside read midnight.
"First I'm going to shower then we'll sleep. We can worry about a plan in the morning." I rose from the bed, wincing at the pounding in my head as I grabbed the duffle bag Enzo had packed.
I shut myself in the bathroom, my shoulders slumping now that I'm alone. I clutched at my chest, pressing my hand against my aching heart and let tears silently spill down my cheeks. How could they do this to me? How would I forgive them for separating us like this? Don't they know I need them? I strip out of my clothes and bring the shirt to my nose, praying for the smallest note of one of their scents to still be imprinted on the fabric only to be disappointed. I tossed the garment onto the floor and turned the shower on to let the water heat up. I unzipped the duffle bag, grabbing my toiletry bag from its contents before snatching a rag off the counter.
The blistering hot water pelts against my flesh as I stand beneath the spray, washing away every trace of them down the drain with the bubbles. Wishing my heart would follow. My hand glides across the mark on my breast and a scream builds in my chest. How could they make me feel so much and take it all away like that? My nails scratch against my skin, marring the pale flesh with pink marks until my body burns. I shut the water off and wrapped a towel around my body before exiting the shower. I dig through the duffle bag, growing angry as I find it's only filled with my things. I hadn't even paid attention when Enzo packed it, too worried over how things would go. I quickly get ready for bed before finally leaving the bathroom.
I slipped under the covers of the bed I'd woken up on while my sisters got ready for bed. Once they were done they shut the light off. Aleksandra chose the unoccupied bed and Sofka slid in beside me, cuddling against my side just as she had as a toddler.
I lie there for hours, staring at the dark ceiling, thinking. The night out of the house together, the day in the city, it's like they were solidifying our bond before they broke my heart. It's as if they wanted it to hurt more than it already would if we hadn't done those things together. My heartache bleeds into anger and I welcome it with open arms because it doesn't hurt. Even though it's only been a few hours I'm tired of the pain. I'd rather burn with the white hot flames of rage than sink into the agonizing pit of sorrow.
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Hey babe's, this hurt to write after building the three of them up 😭
Some of y'all were confused when I asked if you were ready for heartbreak in the authors note of the last chapter. Polina's obviously going to be heartbroken. The two men she had come to love and trust DRUGGED her and shipped her off to Moscow. That shit would hurt lol
I know I've only been uploading once a week lately and I'm sorry about that. My brain doesn't work like it once did. I also took some time to make sure my plot was on the right track. I've actually had this chapter done for days but I had to be sure my ducks were in a row before posting.
Thoughts & theories on this chapter?
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Love youu🖤🖤
— Katy