Page 20 of Nobody Wants Me (Volkov Bratva #5)

“She’s not, though. Yeah, she is not this wow-in-your-face beauty, but she’s pretty, and trust me, a lot of guys would kill to be with her,” I said. I happened to really like Freya. She was real. Against all odds, she was real.

But there was something about her that kept striking me as ... familiar. I thought I was going crazy, and I kept looking at her. I’m pretty sure I freaked her out with how much I looked at her. I had the evidence in my hands.

“Twenty-five years ago, a woman was raped by a member of the Volkov Bratva.” I looked at Ivan.

“That woman got pregnant. Now, rumor has it, this guy kept her for himself, he wanted a special child because he was obsessed with this woman. Again, all rumor and speculation. Until she ran away. She found a weak spot, and she got away. I just don’t know how this woman ended up in the hands of Harris. ”

I handed Ivan Volkov the DNA results that I had taken of Freya Harris, and himself. They were a match. Or, at least a close match.

Freya Harris was the half-sister of Ivan Volkov and with how Harris had suddenly disappeared, I had a feeling he knew it. It made a lot of sense. It also explained why he was very secretive with Freya.

Ivan took the results from me and stared at them. “How did you get my blood?”

“It wasn’t hard. You share the same strain of DNA.

You have the same fathers but I’m guessing different mothers.

You wouldn’t have even been around when this happened,” I said.

“My guess is, when you approached Harris, he panicked. Gave you Freya, and then when he realized you didn’t have a clue, arranged to have her killed. ”

I looked at The Beast who simply stared at me. He did that a lot, and it always pissed me off. Now I had to wonder if I owed Freya an apology. Ivan and Freya shared similar features. It was one of the reasons it kept bothering me.

“My sister?” Ivan asked.

“Yes, and she doesn’t have a clue.”

“How does this help with The Grid?” The Beast asked.

“This is new evidence and if The Grid goes after a Volkov, that will have the entire Bratva after them. They have no choice but to consider the hit. It will bide us some time. Not a lot, but enough, unless they are aware of who Freya is and this is part of their plan,” I said.

The Grid did not give a fuck about anyone or anything.

They were monsters, or at least they dealt in monster deals.

I intended to bring them all the fuck down, once and for all.

It was just going to take some time. I had to find Harris.

Killing him would be one of the solutions.

I wanted to kill that son of a bitch so badly.

Ivan kept staring down at the results I had given him. His expression was unreadable. There was so much I wanted to ask him, but I stayed completely silent.

Freya had family. Real family.

I didn’t know if Ivan even wanted to know his little sister.

****

F reya

Time was moving fast, but as I looked down at the test results, I couldn’t believe it.

“So, Harris is not my dad?” I asked.

“No,” Ivan said.

I had rarely spoken to Ivan Volkov. We had danced at the wedding, but from what I had been told, he danced with all new brides.

He was my brother, or my half-brother. My mother was dead, and my father had kidnapped me from my family.

Although, it was the same family that was also dead.

The only one alive was Ivan. My real family was as bad as my fake family.

“Do you hate me?” I asked, turning to look at Ivan.

“No, I don’t hate you,” Ivan said. He ran fingers through his hair. “If I had known, I might not have let you marry Victor.”

This made me chuckle. “Does that mean you want me to divorce him?”

Ivan shook his head. “Unless you want to.”

Victor was outside, and I glanced toward where I saw him standing, hands in his pockets, looking out over the ocean. Did I want to divorce this man? At first, I thought, hell, yes, I want to. I didn’t want to stay married to him, but at the same time, he helped me make sense of everything.

“Can you ask me another time?” I asked.

Ivan laughed. “Victor has that way about him.”

“I ... uh, I don’t know what to say to you. It’s not ... I don’t ... we’re not...”

Ivan put a hand on top of mine. “You don’t need to tell me more. I get it. Victor is a hard man, and he will not allow himself to be open with anyone. Vulnerability to him is a weakness. Trust me, there is a guy in there that you are going to love.”

“Did you choose me because you hated me?” I asked.

My brothers. At least those two assholes who I had kind of grown up with weren’t related to me. That was a welcome relief.

“No,” Ivan said. “I chose you because I knew you were damaged and I knew your life was difficult. That is why.”

I had tears in my eyes. “That doesn’t make it easier.”

“I have a thing about helping women,” he said.

“Women are to be cherished. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are a lot of women out there who do not deserve it, and that is on them.

I want to help those that have been dealt a bad hand and didn’t deserve it.

You’re one of them, Freya. Being my sister changes nothing. ”

“You’re a softy,” I said.

“No, I’m not,” Ivan said.

I smiled, because it didn’t matter what he said, I knew the truth. He was soft. He cared. For Ivan, he just showed it differently.

“Does this change anything about The Grid?”

“Nothing, not right now.”

“Do you think it will?” I asked.

“No,” Ivan said. “It’s why they need to be brought to their knees.” He spoke normally, and yet I heard the threat within his voice.

He was not joking and was being deadly serious. The Grid had become Ivan’s new target.

I nodded.

He didn’t stay for dinner, but he did pull me in for a hug. “One day soon, you and I will have a good friendship. I will be your big brother, and I will do everything in my power to take care of you.” And he kissed my temple.

I watched as he left, going to Victor. I went to the kitchen.

I had a half-brother. Okay, up until a few hours ago, I had a dad and two brothers I hated. Now, I had a half-brother, and I got the feeling I was going to like him a lot more than the family I grew up with.

Had Harris wanted to kill me?

What good was I to him?

It made no sense, yet look what had happened. I’d somehow ended back up with Volkov, which is where I was supposed to be.

I was preparing the steaks when Victor walked in. I had already heard the helicopter leaving. We were once again alone.

“You okay?” Victor asked.

“Am I okay? To be honest, I don’t know what to think or what to feel right now. It is a lot to take in.”

“The Butcher was the one who figured it out,” Victor said.

“She was?”

He nodded.

“How?”

“You looked familiar to her. She did some digging, went with her gut, and this is what she found out.”

“Wow,” I said. “If she is paid by Ivan, she deserves a raise. Do you want a salad with your steak, or just potatoes?”

“Potatoes,” he said, with a wrinkle of his nose.

“He said he doesn’t think this is going to change much.” I opened up the fridge to grab some of the ingredients to make a fresh salad.

The wine called to me, even though I didn’t drink.

Wine tasted a little like vinegar to me, but with what I had just learned, I didn’t think now was the time to hold back.

Pulling out the wine bottle, I unscrewed the top and grabbed a glass.

The temptation to just swig from the bottle was strong.

I poured a very large glass, and then I took a nice long drink.

“Are you thirsty?” Victor asked.

“I just found out that a guy I don’t know is my half-brother. My fake father has made arrangements for me to be killed. He has made my life a nightmare for as long as I can remember, and I’m not even related to him. I just think now is the time to have a drink.”

I took a large gulp. It tasted so bitter. The glass I finished a couple of days ago had given me a lovely hum. I needed that hum. I needed to feel numb. Right now, I didn’t know who I was.

Before Ivan arrived, I was Freya Harris, married to a guy I didn’t choose, and was going to make it work.

Now, Ivan has given me the choice to divorce this man.

I don’t know why I didn’t just take it. Victor and I were like chalk and cheese.

We were not the same, not even close, yet I had a chance to divorce him today and I didn’t take it. Why?

He wanted to kiss me the other day, and I said no.

Drinking my second glass of wine, I finished the entire glass, and that numbness turned into a nice little buzz which I was enjoying. I needed this wine.

Putting the steaks on the grill, the potatoes were nearly cooked, and I attempted to chop a salad.

But when you’re not used to drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, your hand coordination goes out the window fast. I put salad ingredients on my plate, however, I was not going to be winning any awards for my chopping anytime soon.

I stumbled as I drained the potatoes, and added way too much butter and salt to the pan. I added a scant amount of pepper. I pretty much just slapped the steaks onto the plate.

Victor grabbed our plates, and I made sure to hold onto my wine.

I was not going to let this out of my sight quite so quickly.

Stumbling to my chair, Victor helped me sit my ass onto the seat, and then he put the knife and fork into my hand.

When he went to take my wine away, I let out a little growl and took the glass from him.

“You’re not taking my wine.” That is what I meant to say, but I’m not exactly sure what came out of my mouth. I was drunk. No doubt about it.

The food was good, and I did miss my mouth a few times. A piece of potato ended up on my chin, and I think I swiped some slices of steak across my cheek. It was not a good look for me. None of this was good.

By the end of the meal, I had no choice but to wipe my face, and then I got to my feet. I might have been onto my fourth or fifth glass of wine. I stopped counting. Who needed to keep counting the wine?

I stumbled and Victor was there to catch me.

“My savior,” I said, and giggled.

Looking up at him, I was struck by how handsome he was. It was odd. I didn’t want to kiss him the other night, but right now I did. Gripping the back of his head, I pulled myself up and smashed our lips together. It was the first kiss I had ever initiated and I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing.

However, very quickly, everything went completely dark.