CHAPTER SIX
An hour or so later, seven men stepped out of the elevator and Kosta led the others to Yuri’s front door. After a swift knock he opened the door and stepped aside to allow the others entrance.
Sergi, Misha, Nikoli, Deke, Sam Jethro and Gator joined the others.
Ana got to her feet and stared at the new group of men. She only knew one of them and she barely knew him. “Jethro,” she whispered. “Is that you?”
Jethro smiled and held out his arms.
When she ran into them, Sazon growled but stayed where he was.
Jethro’s arms wrapped themselves around her small body and for a moment, he just held her. When he let her go, she looked up at him.
“Your brother is mad at you.” Jethro scolded her. “He wants me to paddle your ass for him.”
Sazon’s fingers curled into fists at the statement. “You’ll do no such thing unless you want to die.” He snapped.
Ana turned her head and giggled. “He wouldn’t dream of it but not because of your threat. He wouldn’t because he knows better.”
Jethro smiled and nodded. ‘She’s right you know. She may be tiny but she’s lethal when she wants to be.”
“I did not travel over twenty hours for this bullshit,” one of the men scoffed.
Ana turned her head to glare at the older man. “Well excuse the hell out of me.” She snarled.
“I came here for answers not for this.” He motioned at her with his hands.
Ana glared at him but before she could say anything Jethro’s hand covered her mouth and he whispered in her ear. “That is Sergi Constantine, Bratva leader in old Russia. Behave yourself.”
Ana nodded and pulled away from Jethro. “Well, after the last few days it’s good to see an old friend.”
Sergi nodded then turned to Yuri. “What have you learned about this man since we last spoke?”
Yuri reached for the pages Trudy had faxed over and handed them to Sergi. “I can order some food and drink if you like.”
Sergi went over to one of the chairs and sat down. “That would be good. It was a very long trip. I need coffee too.” He looked at Yuri. “Where is Raven? Are she and the baby all right?”
Yuri nodded. “Raven, the baby, Talli and Pepper are with Barshan and Mikial under guard. We didn’t know what exactly we were dealing with and now, I’m glad they are safe.”
“Oh,” Misha asked. “Why is that?”
“This man Michael Tabrone is not who he claims to be,” Yuri told them. “In fact, we’re not exactly sure who he is.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Sam Tory asked.
Yuri turned to stare at him. “Michael Tabrone died at the hands of a serial killer several years ago. This man may have stolen his identity to cover his own tracks.”
“What a clusterfuck.” Deke swore. “What the hell did we walk into here?”
“Where is he now?” Misha asked.
“He’s on his way here under guard,” Yuri announced. Looking over at Pappy, he told his superiors, “Several of Pappy’s men are escorting him here from Houston.”
“Do you have a safe place we can store him until we can get this figured out?” Nikoli asked.
Yuri nodded. “We have a steel cage in the subbasement at Sazon’s gym. We’ve used it before for holding prisoners until judgement has been passed. He’ll be out of the way and he won’t be able to escape. He’ll be under guard at all times. No one but those of us in this room will know where he is.”
“Good,” Sergi nodded. “We need to review this new information and decide on a plan of action.” He turned to stare at Ana. “Have you found the daggers? Did he still have them?”
Ana nodded. “Yes, he still had them. We found them in his apartment. Along with the sword he used to murder my grandfather.”
“Is it true that your family name was once Curcovic?” Sergi asked.
Ana nodded. “Although that fact is not well known by too many people.”
Sergi agreed. “Da, the government of Russia would have a great many questions if they knew where to find you. Your great grandfather changed more than just his name when he came to this country didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did.” Ana didn’t deny it. “He changed his way of forging the steel too. He had to if he didn’t want his whereabouts to be known in certain circles. His swords were too well known to keep his talent hidden for long.”
“May I see the sword your grandfather made for this Michael person?”
Ana moved over to a side table and drew the weapon in discussion out of its box. Walking over to Sergi, she lifted the blade up to offer it to him.
Sergi gently took the blade and examined it, turning the blade into the light.
The craftsmanship of the blade was outstanding. The finish on the blade sparkled in the sunlight. The engraving on the blade was a series of old Celtic symbols mixed with symbols of the old country.
Ana knew the blade intimately as she had done the engraving herself.
The hilt of the sword looked heavier than it really was. She knew every nook and cranny of the blade and how well balanced it was. She had balanced the blade herself and she knew you could hold it with nothing more than the tip of your finger. She had tested out the blade in every manner she could. It truly was a fine blade and worthy of her grandfather’s name.
Sergi passed the blade along to his son and while Misha admired the blade, Sergi looked at Ana again. “And the daggers? You said you found them as well? May I see them?”
Ana went back to the table and picked up the box. Carrying it over to him, she gave Sergi the box and took a step back.
Sergi studied the box for a long moment then carefully set it on the table and his hand shook slightly as he opened it. His gasp was loud in the silent room. “Oh, my lord…”
Seven men gathered around the table and no one said a word as they gazed at the blades meant for a king. After a long moment, Sergi turned to stare at Ana. “Do you know what these are?” he whispered.
Ana nodded but didn’t say a word.
“What are these blades to you?” Deke asked.
“These daggers are Corsican war blades,” Sergi informed the group reverently. “No one has seen such daggers for hundreds of years.”
“Well, these are hundred years old, aren’t they?” Gator asked.
Sergi shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. These daggers are replicas of those worn by the earlier warlords of our country. Blades such as these would be specially forged when war was declared on another tribe. The stones you see in the handles declare intent. The first stone is the stone of the tribe itself, the one declaring the war. The second and third stones declare the allies tribes while the forth stone declares the tribe war is being raged on. Daggers such as these were forged every time a major battle was raged on our soil. But no one has forged daggers like this since the time before we acknowledged our first Tzar.” He breathed reverently. “Blades such as these would take the life of the loser of the battle. The winner would slit the throat of those who opposed him.” He shrugged. “Often both side would have daggers such as these made and the winner would confiscate the losers own daggers to show off his conquests.”
Misha sat down heavily in the chair next to his father. “What the hell was the Tzarina thinking when she had these made? Was Nikolas going to go to war against his own people?”
“Would anyone back in the day these daggers were made have known what these represent?” Sam asked.
Sergi snapped his head around to glare at the man. “Oh yes, they would have known exactly what these daggers represent. As would the men directly under the Tzar. Back then, Russia was proud of her history. Back then, as today we taught our children to respect our history and blades such as these would have been well known to the elders of our country.”
“Now you know why my great grandfather left Russia and settled here. Why he changed his name and kept these hidden for a hundred years.” Ana shook her head. “I don’t know how Michael even knew they existed or how he knew he would find them at my grandfather’s home. They were buried in a secret vault under my grandfather’s work bench.”
“Rumors of the daggers have been around since they were forged.” Sergi shrugged. “When they couldn’t be found the rumors would die down but they never really went away. Every so often, the rumors would start up again but they always died out after a time. People embellish the truth until you don’t know what the truth is anymore and what is fictional. Whoever this man is he’s done his homework. He already knew the daggers were real.”
Ana felt tears welling in her eyes. “And he tortured my grandfather to find out where they were hidden,” she whispered in a broken voice.
“We know child, we saw the security tapes.” Sergi assured her.
“What do you mean?” Sazon frowned. “What tapes?”
“He stabbed my grandfather in the back first then he speared his side and when he was down, this man stabbed him more than fifteen times. Those stab wounds were non-lethal but with each wound, he grew weaker from the blood loss. There was so much blood. My grandfather was so weak he couldn’t move anymore by the time I found him.” She hung her head and in a low whisper she continued, “Some of his wounds were deep and I could see he twisted the knife before he took it out. My grandfather could barely speak to me before he died in my arms. He fought death off just to tell us who killed He gave me a little piece of himself while he lived and it was something I would cherish all my days. I wish I could have the chance to give this killer in return, the pain he gave my grandfather. I want to see if it’s pain in his eyes or if he will welcome it when he knows death will come for him.” Anna was weeping by the time she finished speaking.
Sazon went over to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. Then he picked her up, carried her down the hall to the spare bedroom, and shut the door behind them.
No one else in the room said a word for the longest time. Then it was Sam who commented, “This guy needs a hurtin’ put on him, one that is as bad as the one he put on her.”
“That my friend would be impossible to achieve.” Nikoli sighed. “Her pain is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Pain like that never really goes away, it may lesson over time, but it will always be a part of her life as she goes on. His pain will never last that long.” He glanced at the paperwork on the table. “If he is who we think he is, he will never understand what he’s done, not only to her but to any of his victims. This man has no soul.”
“Then his death will be nothing more than an escape from his own reality.” Sergi shook his head. “Life is horrid sometimes.”
When the door closed behind them, Sazon leaned against it and listened to her heart breaking with her sobs. With one arm holding her waist his other arm held the back of her heart to his chest. After a while, her tears slowed then stopped but still he held her.
“I need you,” she whispered into his shirt.
Sazon closed his eyes and wrapped both arms around her. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea at the moment.”
“Why?” She raised her head to stare at him.
“Because, I just don’t….” He stared into her tear filled eyes. The pain he saw in them broke his heart. So much pain and no hope.
Shaking her head, she informed him, “I know what I need and I need you to help me forget this terrible pain. This pain is tearing me apart from the inside out. I know I’m using you and I’m sorry for that but I need you to give me something else to feel right now. I could forget my own name in your arms and right now, I want that.”
Sazon groaned. He could feel his body heat up and the blood rush to his cock. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
Ana stood on her tiptoes and kissed his jaw. “Yes, I want to lose myself in the awesomeness that is you. I apologize in advance for using your body but this is what I want, what I need.”
Sazon captured her mouth with his and he lost himself in her offering. He moved over to the bed and they fell as one onto the mattress. He slipped her shirt over her head barely breaking the kiss they shared. His fingers pulled her bra down and his lips went to her hard nipples. Biting and nibbling her suckled first one breast then went over to the other one and repeated his actions. Ana groaned and ground her hips against his. Sazon’s hands slipped down to her waist and worked the button on her jeans. Pulling down the zipper, his hand slipped into her underwear and he felt her heat. Then he felt her wetness and he groaned his own pleasure just touching her skin.
Slipping his fingers inside her core, he caught the scent of her passion. He scent feed his passion and blocked out everything but what he was doing at the moment. His blood went from very warm to lava hot in an instant and he could couldn’t contain his actions. He felt like he was burning up from the inside out.
He ripped her clothes off and then his own within seconds. He had nothing more on his mind than satisfying the intense need he felt for this small woman. In that moment, he knew she was the only woman he would ever feel this way about and the connection he’d felt for her earlier would last the rest of his days. Sazon could feel her walls gripping his digit and it made his cock harder than it had ever been before. He growled as his cock was rubbing along her wetness.
He didn’t want to wait as he used his muscles to slide inside her. She didn’t fight him, in fact she opened her legs wider to accommodate him. He surged to bury himself within her and frowned when she tensed.
Sazon stilled his movements when he felt the breach of her barrier of innocence. When she would have moved off him, he held her close and whispered, “Don’t move. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Too late for that.”
“Do not move, the pain will pass if you let it go.” His fingers moved to her clit and began to touch her again.
Ana stiffened but didn’t move away. Her body responded to his touch. “Please… I need more,” she whispered.
“Are you sure?” he asked her softly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“The pain is gone,” Ana assured him. Her own hands went to the place between her legs and covered his hands.
Sazon brushed her fingers away and surged up inside her by moving his hips. When he heard her exclamation, he began stroking his cock in and out of her core. She was tight and wet and he was in heaven as he moved inside her. He grabbed her hips and pushed himself deeper into her as his cock grew harder than he’d ever felt it before.
Ana whimpered and slammed down on him repeatedly as her body went crazy with need. She didn’t know what was happening but she wanted more of him. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and she splinted apart, screaming out his name. Sazon clamped his hand over her mouth the keep her scream muffled.
His hard cock sought her warm wet core and when he found his way to her again, Sazon couldn’t help himself. He slammed into her deep and buried his full length in one stroke. Sazon was a big man and he normally took his time to work his length into his lovers but this time he couldn’t wait.
Ana gasped but didn’t pause. She wrapped her legs around his hips and locked her ankles in a tight lock. She felt the pain of his intrusion but didn’t care. This was what she wanted and the pain soon turned to intense pleasure as he began to stroke in and out. His thrusts were wild and with each stroke he lost a little more of his control.
His mouth crashed down on hers as he slammed his body into hers. When he broke the connection to her mouth, he growled, “You are mine. I told you this before, you belong to me and I’ll kill any man who tries to take you away from me. Do you understand?”
Ana barely heard him but she felt his meaning. She moaned and lifted her hips to allow him to go deeper. She nodded but couldn’t say a word. The look in his eyes told her he meant every word he said.
Sazon began thrusting inside her again and with each thrust, he repeated his earlier vow, “You gave me your body and I’m keeping it and you. I will never let you go.”
Ana felt her body ramp up again and her mind went blank even as his words sank into her consciousness. She couldn’t make her mind work now all she could do was feel him take possession of her soul. Her nerve endings began to tingle and her body tightened as she sped toward fulfillment. Sazon thrusts became deeper and harder than before and moments later, they both exploded. Sazon’s mouth crashed down on hers before she could scream and he muffled the sound of her climax. When his body calmed down, he collapsed on her for a long moment, then he moved over to her side.
Ana came back online as her heartbeat slowed down to a normal level. She’d never had something like that happen to her before. It was truly an out of body experience. Now she laid wrapped in his arms. With her head resting on his chest, she listened to the rhythm of his heartbeat and the sound soothed her raging soul.