KATYA

 

AFTER DRIVING FOR a while, we finally arrive at our destination.  It's a dilapidated farm on the outskirts of the city.  Weeds are overgrown on every part of the property with broken down farm equipment and pickup trucks scattered about.  At one point in time, this farm probably was really beautiful; but now it looks like an apocalyptic mess.

"It's not much," Senga says, "but I only use this farm when I need to hide."

Why would she need to hide? I ponder internally.

I've seen a change in my little sister during the ride here; and quite frankly, I don't like it.  She seems distant now, as if she's on an entirely different planet.

I try to brush the feeling off, thinking maybe she thinks the exact same thing about me.  I mean, it has been over a decade since we've seen each other.  It's not like our reunion was going to be as if time had stood still all those years ago and we would unite with a bond as strong as we once had.

The car pulls in front of the barn, and the back door is opened by yet another muscular man that could compete in professional wrestling.

How many men does my sister have working for her? I think to myself as I climb out of the back of the car.

Grabbing me by my elbow the moment I step out of the car, the man whirls me around, pushes me up against the body of the car and starts patting me down.

"Oh, Franc, is that really necessary?" my sister asks with a smirk on her face as she steps out.

I notice that she doesn't stop him, though, and Franc continues with his pat down.  Seemingly satisfied that I'm not packing any kind of heat, he takes a step back and gives Senga a nod.

"Sorry," she tells me with a wave of her hand.  "My men are protective of me."  She gives Franc a pat on his muscular chest like he's some kind of pet to her.  "Sometimes too protective."

Senga leads the way to the barn, and I blindly follow her.  I'm wondering why we're not going to the house, but Senga must have a good reason.  Maybe the house is in worse shape, or maybe she has the barn setup like a home.

But when we get into the mostly empty barn except for several piles of hay, ropes, chains and some scattered farm equipment, my feet automatically stop before my brain can even comprehend what's going to happen next.

"Tie her up," Senga commands.

Even though I heard my little sister's words, I'm having a hard time believing she actually said them.  But when two men come out of nowhere and grab me, her words finally sink in.

My little sister lied to me.  She betrayed me.

But why?

I glare at the younger version of me, and the haunted look that I hadn't seen before is definitely there now.  Something happened to Senga while I was gone, and I'm determined to find out.

The rope hanging from a rafter works in the men's favor as they tie me up with it.  When they're done, I struggle even though I know it's futile.  They tied my wrists too tight, and the rope is way too thick for me to break on my own.

Senga seems pleased with their work as she walks around me in a circle.

I don't want to believe that my own sister would actually betray me, but there's no doubt in my mind now.  "How did you afford all this?  The land, the men.  How did you make your money?" I ask her, desperate to know the answer.

"I won my money through poker games and bets," she says calmly, continuing to circle around me.  "Papa had been dragging me into the back of seedy clubs with him after you left.  He would sometimes put me in place of his bets to, you know, sweeten the pot."

I cringe at her words.  Papa did the same thing with me, and Pavel took advantage of my father's loss that night and took me in return for his debt.

"So I made sure he won every night.  I learned how to cheat, how to count cards, how to do anything and everything I could to make sure he won…and that I went home to my own bed that night."  She stops walking, and her eyes look out of the barn entrance into the distance as if remembering something.  "But Papa loved the money I was raking in for him, so he kept taking me and betting higher and higher and higher.  Finally, I cracked under the pressure and killed him one night when he was too drunk to remember his own name.  I took his money and left that place."

She killed our father?  "And what happened to Mama?" I blurt out.

Senga shrugs.  "Who knows.  Maybe she survived.  Maybe she died on the streets.  I left that poor, pathetic excuse of a woman to her own devices."  Her eyes meet mine as she says, "She deserved to starve and die.  She deserved it because she let Papa use me as a pawn all those years."

Tears well up in my eyes.  In the blink of an eye, I lost my entire family — the one thing that kept me going for all those years.  The one thing I wanted to return to.  The one thing I was still fighting for.

I slump against my restraints, fighting back a sob.  If only my father wouldn't have been a gambling fool, if only Pavel wouldn't have accepted me as payment…perhaps everything would have turned out differently.  Perhaps Senga wouldn't have turned into the ice princess with the stone-cold heart that she ultimately became.

"So, while you were off being a trophy wife for some rich guy, I was at home trying to take care of our mother and not be sold by our father," she spits with hatred lacing her tone.

"Trophy wife?  Is that what you think became of me?" I ask her incredulously.  "Papa used me; same as he used you.  Pavel wanted me in exchange for our father's debt!"

My sister narrows her eyes.  She doesn't believe me, but I will make her believe.

"Pavel wasn't a good man, and I was far from a trophy wife.  He raped me repeatedly — him and his friends.  Pavel beat me, threw me down the stairs more times than I could ever count, starved me, locked me up for weeks at a time."  I stare at my sister, trying to convey in my eyes just how much I truly suffered.  "I'm covered in scars, because he hurt me deeper and more savagely than a person should ever be hurt."  I stop talking and release a shuddering breath.  I have never said most of those things out loud before, and it actually feels good to have them out in the open.  I've opened up a little to Jax, but he will never know the true extent of what I went through.

"Why didn't you run away?" she asks, her voice just a whisper now.

"Pavel told me that if I left him, he would go back for you.  He would take you in my place."  And I vowed to never let that happen.  I suffered the abuse for Senga even though some days I wanted to die from the agony I was put through.  I did it all for her.  Everything was always for her.

Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, and for a moment I can see the little sister I once knew behind that stony façade.  But it only lasts for a second before she shakes her head.  "You're lying."

"I'm not lying!" I scream at her.  I went through hell and back because of her, to keep her safe.  And all this time my father's debt wasn't even owed…because he was dead.  And my sister was out of the country, safe.  I could have left Pavel years ago, but I endured his abuse for ten solid years.  Ten fucking years!

Angrily, I pull at the rope, screaming in frustration.  "I stayed with that abusive asshole for you, Senga!  I did it for you!  I did it for you!  I did it for you!" I scream over and over again, struggling against my bonds.

A loud crack sounds before the rotten rafter I'm tied to comes crashing down.  I fall back just in time to roll out of the way of the large, wood beam that slams onto the floor only inches away from me.

Quickly slipping out of the now loosened ropes around my wrists, having learned to be an escape artist a long time ago after many punishable nights with Pavel, I stand and run towards the exit.

"Don't let her escape!" my sister yells at Franc.

Franc comes towards me, and I panic, backing up towards the way I just ran from.  But then my mind comes into sharp focus because I've been in this situation before.  Franc is the same size as Wraith.  They have the same menacing stature, same build.

You can do this, I tell myself.

Instead of retreating, I advance on him.  Like Wraith taught me, even though he's much, much bigger, his size compared to mine will always be his downfall.  I can outmaneuver a stronger, larger man.

Franc looks surprised by the sudden turn of events, but he keeps coming towards me with his gun drawn.  When I'm only a few inches away, I throw a block out to knock away his hand holding the gun.  Then, I lift my leg and kick him so hard in the balls that his grandchildren will ultimately feel it.

I had practiced the move time and time again with Wraith, although he didn't actually let me land the second blow to his family jewels.

And now, the soft tissue connecting with my boot and the look of pain on Franc's face give me all the satisfaction I've needed.

The gun goes skittering across the hay-strewn floor.  While Franc falls to his knees in pain, I lunge for the weapon.  I get my hand around the cold metal and put my finger on the trigger before rising to my knees, keeping Franc in my line of sight.

He's still doubled over and incapacitated at the moment.  With all of my attention on him, I never hear my sister until it's too late.

A shot rings out, and my eyes snap up as I see the gun in Senga's hand raised too high to be aiming for me.  I realize that was a warning shot to get my attention.

"You're worth more alive to me than dead," she says as an explanation to why she didn't shoot me dead on the spot.

"How nice of you to say," I hiss at her.

"But I still get some of the money from the Bratva even if you're dead, so I'll leave that choice up to you."  Then she lowers her weapon to point it straight at my chest.

I should have known she was working with the Russian mafia.  It all makes sense now.

Keeping my hand steady, I aim for Franc's leg and pull the trigger.  The bullet rips through the meaty part of his thigh, and he screams out in pain.  It's not a debilitating injury, but it will keep him from sneaking up on me once he recovers from that kick to the balls.

And then I mimic my sister's stance and point the gun at her.  "I guess we're at a crossroads," I tell her.  "You could kill me…or not…but you also can't spend the money if you're dead."

"Marko!" she calls towards the open barn door.  "Eli!"

She's calling in for reinforcements, but they never come.  I'm surprised her hired help didn't run in here after the first shot was fired.  Something must be wrong.

"Feeling lonely?" I ask her.

Senga's eyes narrow.  "Shut the fuck up."  Then, she looks nervously towards the door once again.  "Marko!"

Silence.

"Doesn't look like they're coming," I tell her with a grin.

Senga begins to fidget, the gun shaking in her grasp.  I guess my little sister isn't so bad ass without her big, musclebound goons backing her up.

"So, what are you going to do, Senga?  It looks like your men abandoned you."

Her face scrunches in anger, and she takes a step towards me, the gun trembling in her hand.

I won't shoot first.  At least that's what I tell myself.  But at this point, the way the gun is shaking in her grip, Senga might even shoot me accidentally.

And then that's when I hear it.

Footsteps.

My stomach churns as I realize her bodyguards didn't actually desert her.  But I know I can't take them all out by myself.  I did the impossible by taking Franc out.  I can't do that two or maybe three more times.

But then I hear my sister ask, "Who are you?"

Risking a peek over my shoulder, I glance back.

And my whole world turns upside-down.