Page 24 of Nobody Wants Me (Volkov Bratva #5)

V ictor

“I’m going to have to swap her from one cage to another,” I said, looking toward Ivan.

The Beast didn’t have any ideas, nor did Rage. Slavik didn’t have anything either, other than have her move from territory to territory, only staying long enough for The Grid to be alerted. Andrei had the same idea. The only way to stay under The Grid was to keep moving.

“Harris has this tied,” Ivan said. “Until we find him, her life is in danger. But time is running out. Storms are building up, and it’s fine, as long as we give you supplies long enough to last. But, if you run out, we can’t get them to you.”

I shook my head. This was a new feeling. We were the Volkov Bratva, yet we didn’t have any choice right now.

“How has it come to this?” I asked.

“Simple, the guy made his move, and put us in checkmate,” The Beast said. “Each piece we move puts us in the line of fire.”

I looked toward Ivan. He wasn’t disputing this.

“How did this happen?” I asked.

“Simple,” Ivan said. “I was unaware of Freya’s true identity. Harris knew what he was doing.”

“So, because you wanted your hands on the Harris empire, we’re now stuck, and my wife could end up dead,” I said.

“This wasn’t about the empire,” Ivan said.

“I doubt that.”

I never spoke to Ivan with anything but respect, however, right now, our hands were tied. I couldn’t stay on that damn island indefinitely. Moving her from territory to territory would come with risks. Keeping her locked up in my home had its risks.

Our solutions were limited and until Harris came out of the woodwork, which we fucking knew he wasn’t going to do, there were no other options. Freya’s life hung in the balance, and I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t believe it.

According to Ivan, we had been married four months at this point. Three of those had been spent on the damn island. It was the perfect honeymoon vacation, only it hadn’t been.

“The Beast and The Butcher will be here,” Ivan said. “I will not leave your territory until I have everything figured out. I will find Harris, then all of this will be dealt with.”

“What about the two members of The Grid?” I asked. “I thought we had them?”

Ivan shook his head. “No, The Grid manipulated the data. They had nothing to do with it.”

“So, you’re saying they’re one step ahead of us?” I asked.

“It’s an organization that orders the contract kills of both innocent and guilty,” The Beast said. “It operates without any boundaries. There is no law controlling it. Harris is not the only member. There are multiple members.”

I run fingers through my hair, because none of this was helping. We were all stuck and we knew it. The chance of Freya making it out alive was slim. We could attempt to kill as many as we could, but more would keep coming.

“We can keep her alive,” Ivan said.

This made me shake my head. “How? With miracles?”

“You don’t believe in miracles?”

I rolled my eyes because right now, I was not in the mood for talking riddles.

We had nothing, and I didn’t like those odds.

Without another word, I stepped out of my office, headed down the corridor, and outside.

I didn’t stop until I entered my shed. There, in the center, was the cabinet I had made for Freya.

It had been a peace offering. One she had declined, seeing as I had set the precedent for gift giving.

I thought about my quilt back at the island.

I was going to cherish that quilt forever.

I wasn’t alone for long, as Ivan stepped into the room. Out of the whole Volkov Bratva, Ivan was the one I was closest to. The other Brigadiers were allies and friends, but it was Ivan I knew best.

“I know you’re not happy with this,” he said.

“What is there to be happy about?” I asked. “We’re tired. We’re up fucking shit creek with this.”

It was then I realized if I was struggling to get my shit together, then looking at Ivan, he was going to have a hard time dealing with this.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Better than you it would seem.”

This made me laugh. “You’re used to being the one in control.”

“Don’t worry, I will still be calling the shots. I have encountered The Grid in the past, admittedly not for me, but I will handle it again.”

“How did you handle it before?” I asked.

“I did a deal.”

“I don’t think Harris is going to be doing deals,” I said.

“They are willing to do a couple of deals,” Ivan said.

I looked up at him. “What?”

“The Grid knows I want Freya removed. There are ways around it.”

“Pay it?” I asked.

“It’s not money they want. Trust me, if it was, I would pay it. I want to get to know my sister,” Ivan said.

“What deals do they want?” I wanted to know so I could help Ivan make the right decision.

“Either The Beast or The Butcher, or both,” Ivan said.

There was no way we were getting this done.

“What?”

“They are willing to take either of them, or both of them, and in return Freya will not be harmed at all. She would have total immunity.”

There was no way we could do that.

“What do they think?” I asked.

“The Butcher was willing,” Ivan said.

I knew from what Freya had told me, she and The Butcher were getting tight. They were becoming friends. I didn’t think it was the cleverest idea—my wife and a contract killer—but who was I to judge?

“I couldn’t do that to Freya.” Although, it did make me like The Butcher a hell of a lot more than I thought I would ever like her. “She would never forgive herself.”

Ivan agreed and this no longer helped us. We were stuck, with no other options before us.

I stared at the cabinet, and I couldn’t help but think of all of the things I had done wrong.

“You know, I knew my dad was a piece of work, and I fucking hated him. Still do, and his life ended way too easily.” I couldn’t take my eyes off that piece of furniture. “I promised myself I wouldn’t become him, and that is exactly what I have done.”

Ivan stood right in front of me. “Have you killed my sister?”

This made me frown. “What?”

“Have you killed my sister?”

“No.”

“Have you hit her?”

“No.”

“Then you’re not like your father.”

“I hurt her.”

“We all hurt the people we love, Victor. We don’t always realize how much we’re hurting people, but it doesn’t change anything.” He sighed. “Sometimes, we fuck up more than we realize. We just got to hope they’re willing to forgive us once we have messed up.”

I wanted the chance to earn Freya’s forgiveness. I wanted her to fucking live. I didn’t want her to have a death threat on her life. She didn’t deserve that, but right now, there was nothing either of us could have done.

****

F reya

“You don’t look happy?”

Ivan had stepped off the helicopter with Victor. The Butcher had already hugged me, and gone and climbed back into that helicopter.

“I’m going to make arrangements for you to come home,” Ivan said.

Victor was back in the house, as I stood out on the beach with my brother.

My brother . That still seemed strange. Although I had grown up with two other brothers, I happened to like this one. Ivan was A-okay.

“But it’s not good news?” I asked.

“The threat is still attached to your life. I want to know if you’re willing to sacrifice The Butcher in your place?”

“What?” I turned to look at the plane, but Ivan stopped me.

“Don’t,” he said. “I do not want you alerting her to anything.”

“Does she know?”

“Yes, she knows.”

“I don’t want that,” I said. “I don’t want her to take my place.” Bethany had shared parts of herself with me. I knew her name, although I was going to stop thinking of her as Bethany right the fuck now.

She was not Bethany. She was The Butcher. That is what she would always be, and nothing was going to change that.

“Don’t do it,” I said. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

Ivan smiled. “You know, she said the same thing.”

“I like her,” I said. “She’s the first real friend I’ve had.”

“She’s not the only one. I’ve not had a real sibling in a long time. Slavik, one of my Brigadiers, we’re close, like brothers. I’m close to all my Brigadiers, but Slavik and I shared this dream, and we’ve built it into a reality. I want to be your friend, Freya. I want to be your older brother.”

“You are. Nothing is going to change that,” I said.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make it safe for you.” And with that, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me. “I love you, sis,” he said.

I had tears in my eyes. If my other brothers had come near me, I knew pain was going to follow. Ivan held and comforted me, and I loved him like a brother.

“I love you too, big brother.”

He pulled away, cupped my cheek, and I watched as he left.

Victor came to join me.

“It didn’t go well, did it?”

“We’re going to come up with a plan to take you back home,” Victor said. “Staying here is not ideal.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Did you have fun with The Butcher?” he asked.

“I did, and she told me you two were switching today, so I got everything ready for dinner. Come on.” I took hold of his hand and led him back into the house. It was a chicken noodle soup. The noodles were literally going to take seconds, as I used the ramen kind.

Victor went to the fridge, held the bottle of wine up, and I wrinkled my nose. I hadn’t touched another drop of alcohol since throwing my guts up. He gave a little chuckle, and then got us both some water.

I finished the soup, served us both some food, and carried our dishes into the dining room.

I had already put away my sewing machine.

I was working on another quilt, this one for The Butcher.

I wanted to give her a gift, not just to say thank you, but because I had a feeling not many people gave her gifts.

If they did, they probably had agendas behind them.

Not me. I just wanted to make her a quilt. To give her something no one else had.