Page 10 of Diamond Desire

As much as I wanted to continue bickering, he was right. So within twenty minutes we were fed – thanks to a burger drive-thru on the way – not bickering, and in my car, heading towards Sapphire’s house. She had texted earlier to let me know she wasgoing out again for one of her many missions, but she ought to have been home by the time I made it there.

I wasn’t worried about her or anything else in the world. At least I wasn’t until my phone went off when I was about five minutes away from the long road that led to Sapphire’s driveway. It rang twice before I hit accept. The thick Russian coming through the car’s speakers a moment later, from one of the few ex-Bratva people I actually trusted, made my car journey a little less droll.

“Boss – bad news and good news.”

My fingers tapped against the wheel.“Go on, Kiril. Good news first.”

“The girl you asked me to look into — Yeva – I found her family.”Kiril was straight to the point; one of the things I liked about him, even if he was older than Sapphire by a handful of months and I didn’t make a habit of enjoying the company of what I considered children.

“And?”It wasn’t like I had tasked him with finding the poor stolen girl’s parents for a friendly chat. I had simply been outsourcing the job Sapphire had on her list of tasks as a way to help out. I’d only given it to Kiril on account of not wanting to travel to Russia in the middle of all the stressful things going down with Sapphire.

I may not have been the father she deserved, or even the uncle she needed, but I would do my best to take as much of the burdens off her plates that I could find a way to handle. And this was just one of the many pieces of the game she played that I had offered to make a move on.

“And you were right; her father is the man you thought he was, and he made a name for himself with the money given for her.”

Kiril confirming the thoughts I had when discovering Yeva’s surname wasn’t fun in the slightest, but I was glad to know thatsome of her demons had been dealt with, even if it was only a drop in the bucket that was her trauma. I would find a way to help her with the rest, though. She was a Montana now and I would do right by her, and all the others, who held my surname even if they were women.

I would step up and be the kind of man Ford had been – a man that Sapphire deserved to have in her life.

I wouldn’t mess up again. Not for anything.

“Fuck.”I clicked my blinker on with a bit too much attitude.“I thought I recognized her surname. Are you definitely sure it’s him?”

“Yeah I am. He was a prominent player in the skin trade and drugs; mainly PCP, but he had his fingers in everything, and it all kicked off right around the time he got his debts absolved and a few hundred grand in the bank. At the same time, his almost eight-year-old daughter allegedly died in an accidental drowning that never recovered her body. I know you dealt weapons and things with him, but he had a lot of businesses you didn’t know about, and I found more than enough to confirm he was Yeva’s father, and that he was a run-of-the-mill piece of shit gangster.”

The fact Yeva’s father was a waste of oxygen didn’t shock me; I had known the man for a handful of years as a necessary evil because of his arms dealing connections. But to know how he had acted in his secret dealings and with his child - and that he had been happysellingher - pissed me off far more than it should have. No father in their right mind would ever have done such a thing to their little girl, and the fact I had put money in his hands after such a despicable act only enraged me more.

I felt partially responsible for Yeva’s fate, even if I had minimal to do with it, and just like with Ruby, I was channeling my misplaced guilt and issues on to people I actually had a chance of helping.

“Had?”I pushed past my annoyance and clocked onto the tense Kiril had used.“But also, that makes her eighteen, not seventeen. She was off by a year. Not that I can blame her for not knowing specifics. So the passports and things I asked you to get, I’m going to need her date of birth changing on there.”

I wouldn’t have been able to remember my birthday if I had spent years living Yeva’s life.

I wouldn’t have wanted to remember anything.

“He’s dead.”Kiril replied.“Not me though – his second executed him the second I brought up Yeva and showed proof of her being alive. Not entirely sure why, but I didn’t care to question it when the guy asked to speak to Sapphire directly. I figured it was above my paygrade and so I’m calling you.”

Kiril hadn’t been with the Red Diamonds long. In fact, he hadn’t even stepped foot in America yet, let alone met Sapphire or had time to get his ink. But despite that, I had known the kid for years – his father and grandfather too – and despite the evil in his bloodline; he was a decent man and was already proving himself a worthy soldier.

I was almost annoyed with myself for waiting so many years before asking him to kill his father to prove his loyalty to the Red Diamonds and, by default, me. But I should have known that just because I had my personal beef with the Bratva from my hometown, and those I unfortunately shared a scrap of blood with, didn’t mean they were all bad. Occasionally, I had a cousin of some kind, like Kiril, who wasn’t a complete waste of precious resources.

Plus, I had freed him from a horrific life and, by default, that made him more loyal to me and the Red Diamonds than anyone else. He had been in hell and I had saved him – I could trust him based on that alone when I knew how much it meant to him.

“Do I know the second?”I asked, as the car slowed down at a set of traffic lights and my car companions made out on thebackseat, clearly with nothing better to do with their time than act like horny teenagers because they were bored and liked to piss me off.

Not that anyone kissing Ruby pissed me off. I didn’t care what she did with her lips. The plump ones coated in lipstick that was just the right shade of red that would look pretty wrapped around –

Nowhere. Because I didn’t fucking like her likethat. At all.

“Not to my knowledge, boss. But I’m bringing him back with me and he had a boyfriend who seemed invested too. They’re both in my car as we speak, and I’m happy to either take them out or bring them. Up to you.”

“Both?”My brows rose, a little surprised how the idea of Kiril handling two Bratva men with ease even if I knew how skilled he was.“But sure, bring them here – they can speak to Sapphire, and she can decide what to do with them.”

“You worried about me?”Kiril almost laughed as I heard him unlock a car.

I scoffed, but a smile tugged at my lips at his confidence.“Never. But what about the bad news?”I’d almost forgotten he had more than one thing to tell me.

It wasn’t my fault, though. I had been stressed and half-drunk for months on end and my mind was a tangled web of darkness and emotions I wasn’t functional enough to handle. My brain needed a good nap for a few hours or something before it gave up working entirely.