Chapter 107

Juri threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t leave the bratva. This is your family, Marek.”

“I can. The contract we signed when you became head of the bratva allows for me to request leave once in my lifetime.”

Ria looked at me, shaking her head. “Marek, it’s…it’s okay. You don’t…”

I smiled down at her and brushed her cheek. “The both of us have done our time, zhena. I’ve been thinking, what it would be like for us to live normally. The two of us, raising a family, without the darkness looming over us.”

“Request denied. Now, moving on.” Juri waved his hand but Kaz caught his wrist.

“That’s now it works, Vor.”

Juri yanked his hand out of Kaz’s grip. “Why the hell not? I’m Vor. I decide who comes and who goes. Who can leave and who can’t.”

“Right. But there are consequences to saying no when one of us asks. Marek’s contract being the severest one of all of us.”

Kam nodded from her lean against the bookshelf. “Da knew that if Marek was forced to leave, forced to invoke the contract, that something was seriously wrong. Most of us just get land or money.”

“I get the business. All of it. It gets removed from the bratva.” Lec raised his hand and shrugged.

Juri whipped his head to Lec. “What? The entire business. That would cripple the bratva!”

“That’s the point, Juri. That Dad wanted us to run this as a family. He put the power in your hands but without each of us, you would lose something.” Kaz nodded to me and I gave him a single nod back.

“The fuck do I lose if I force Marek to stay?”

Kaz turned around and sorted through some of the files under the bookshelves. He pulled out a folder and placed it in front of Juri. I was young when Juri became Vor. Our father had called all of us together. We were told to sign contracts that would help keep our family together and allow us to keep each other accountable. Dad explained it to me but I didn’t I really understand it until much later.

Juri flipped through the pages, pulling out his hair slightly as he read through them. He started to shake his head and then slammed his hand down.

“If the undersigned party B is refused to be removed from the bratva…they will immediately inherit the title of Vor from undersigned party A or undersigned party A’s offspring…” Juri looked up from the page. “What is this?”

Lec seemed stunned but both Kam and Kaz seemed to know what the contents of my contract held.

“If you refuse Marek’s request, you have to had over the bratva? O chert.” [Oh damn.] Lec got up and leaned over Juri’s shoulder to read the page himself. “There is even a blood signature.”

“What’s stopping me from burning the fucking piece of paper?” Juri waved it in front of me and I narrowed my eyes.

Kaz looked at Juri. “You wouldn’t…”

“A conscious, for one.” I looked at my older brother. “The second is that this isn’t the only copy. Mom has one. Funny enough I bet you she remembers the contracts. She is a signee after all. We also all have copies of the contracts ourselves.” My voice dropped low. “If you try to break this, I will distribute the page to every single one of our man, our allies, hell, even our enemies. Every single one of them will know that you broke a blood contract and we can see how long you last as head of this fucking bratva.”

“You dare threaten me?” Juri stood, slamming his hands against the desk.

Pulling Ria behind me, I made sure she was mostly behind me and I glared at my brother. “I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t even have to invoke The Contract but the poison spewing from your mouth is enough. Either you let us leave or you hand over the title, brat. What will it be?”

Juri fell back in his seat and he rubbed his temples for a moment. The tension was thick as we all waited for him to speak. He shook his head for a moment before he smiled.

“You can go, Marek. But the contract doesn’t cover Rosaria. Nowhere in it does it say your wife or you get to have a plus one.”

“Juri!” Kam stepped up but I shook my head.

Smiling brightly, I put my hands up. “My bad. I didn’t realize you married Ria. Felicity must be heartbroken.”

“What? I didn’t marry that girl.”

My smile dropped. “You’re right. You didn’t. You didn’t sign the marriage certificate. I did. Ria signed a contract with me. Her oath is with the bratva but you’ve already broken it by threatening our child. So she doesn’t have any reason to stay with you but she has every reason to come with me.”

Juri folded his hands as he glowered at me. He wasn’t going to win this. The moment I brought The Contract into the conversation, Juri lost. The question was, how difficult was he going to make this.

“Alright, Marek. You win.” His voice was low and I felt the anger in his words. “You will leave the Baranov Bratva. You will be worse than dead. Your name will be removed from our family and you will mean nothing to us. You cannot contact a single one of us. If you do, I’ll kill the person you spoke to. Is that understood?”

“Vor!” Boris finally stepped up. “That’s…”

Juri smirked. “He wants to leave with his little pet, then he can leave. She’s done her job. I have taken over the Bernardi territory.”

“But you said…that you didn’t want a war…” Lec looked just as confused as the rest of us.

Ria stepped out from a little behind me but I put my arm out, covering her. “He didn’t want a war. He wanted a massacre. That’s what he got. Thousands of innocent people caught in the crossfire.”

“You have thirty minutes to get off the property or the guards will shoot. You have three hours before I submit Rosaria Bellona Baranov as a bounty. Preferably alive but dead is fine too.”

I froze and stared at my older brother. Where had I gone wrong? When had he started to swing this far into the darkness? Who was the one whispering in his ear? Juri held up his phone and then turned it around. A thirty minute timer was already counting down.

Grabbing Ria, I pulled her with me out the door. Moving down the hall, I lifted Ria up into my arms and sprinted to my room. Setting her down gently, I pulled out my duffle bag.

“Marek…what…what is happening right now?”

There were still items I kept here that were hand-me-downs from Dad. A couple jewelry items and then a few from Mom as well. Throwing them in, I only grabbed a few things and zero clothes. Grabbing a couple of things that I loved for Ria and were one of a kind, I zipped up the duffle.

“We are leaving. Is there anything you want from here?”

She shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. Pulling her close, I kissed her quickly.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”

“I know.” Ria whispered.

Picking her up again, I made my way across the house and knocked on the far door. My mother’s nurse opened up and she smiled brightly at me.

“Your Mom is having a good day today.”

I nodded. “Do you mind giving us a moment?”

“Of course.”

The nurse stepped out and I pulled Ria in with me. My mother was sitting in her favorite chair, reading a book. Walking over to her, I went down on my knees in front of her.

“Marek, dear. Look at you. Sometimes I wonder where time has gone.” Mom closed her book and brushed my hair to the side.

“Mom, I…I want you to meet Ria.”

Mom’s eyes moved up behind me and I looked back, holding out my hand for Ria. “She’s a cute one, Marek. A bit young…how old are you now?”

Ria tittered and took my mom’s hand, kissing it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Baranov. Marek has told me wonderful things about you. Except for the apple pie incident.”

My mom’s mouth dropped open and she lightly hit my shoulder. “How dare you, Mar!”

I chuckled. “It was only after Ria was near tears when she burned dinner.”

“Well, we all have our moments.” Mom smiled up at Ria. “Do you love my son?”

“With every fiber of my being.” Ria didn’t even hesitate and I smiled up at her.

Mom cupped my cheek. “I don’t even need to ask you. It’s written all over your face and in your eyes.”

“Mom, I-I’m not going to be able to visit anymore.”

“What? Why?” Her brow furrowed.

I took her hands in mine and kissed them. “I used The Contract.”

“You what?! Marek Baranov, what happened? You can’t just have a petty fight with your brother and leave.”

Nodding, I flashed her a smile. “He threatened our child. Threatened Ria and our unborn baby. I can’t…I can’t stay. I have to protect her. I wanted to say goodbye.”

“You-you’re finally giving me grand babies and you have to leave? I will give your brother hell. I promise you that, Marek.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mom. You just keep strong. Make sure you take care of Bronya. Kick her butt. She needs it.”

My mom brushed my face again and I almost broke there.

“I will, sweetheart. Take care of yourself and your family.”

Nodding, I stood up. “We need to go. Juri gave us a deadline before we need to be out.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Marek. I-I should have been stronger after your father passed…”

I shook my head. “If anything, I should thank you. If it wasn’t for The Contract, there would have been no way out.”

“Take care of my son, Ria. Make sure he stays out of trouble.”

Ria smiled and nodded. “I will, I promise.”

“Now go! Get out of here. Go!”

Taking Ria, I fled the room and the house to the garage. Boris was standing next to my car as I grabbed the keys. He looked like someone shot his favorite puppy.

“Marek, I’m sorry. I had…I had to tell Vor. I didn’t think…I didn’t think it would turn out like that.”

Stepping up to him, I watched him shrink as my anger was on full display. “You know who did see this? Me. There was a reason I didn’t tell him, Boris. You could have come to me first. Waited until I got back. Regarding my zhena.”

“Marek…I…”

“Nikogda bol'she ne poyavlyaysya peredo mnoy, predatel'. Ili ya pristrelyu tebya za ugrozu moyey sem'ye.” [Never appear before me again, traitor. Or I'll shoot you for threatening my family.] I growled out before I wrenched the car door open and threw my duffle in the back seat.

Ria put her hand on mine and I hadn’t realized I started to shake.

“It’s okay, muzh. It’s okay.”

Shaking my head, I pulled out of the open garage, flooring it down the driveway. “It’s not. None of this is. But we are leaving and never coming back.”