Chapter 50 Chapter 50
CHAPTER FIFTY
Dimitri
My captor led me out of the study and down another long hallway.
My mind was still reeling from everything I had just learned. I was a mafia lord. A dangerous criminal. I had a twin brother who had wronged me, and there was a woman I loved but could not remember.
"This will be your room," The man said, stopping in front of a large wooden door.
He pushed it open and I stepped inside.
The room was enormous, bigger than the entire restaurant where I had been working.
There was a king-sized bed with silk sheets, a massive wardrobe, a sitting area with leather sofas, and large windows overlooking the estate grounds.
Everything was luxurious, expensive, and perfect.
"All of this is mine?" I asked quietly, amused that a man could own something like this. But my heart sank because it wasn't clean money. It was money gotten illegally. Drugs, human trafficking, money laundering. All sorts of bad stuff.
"Yes," he said. "This has always been your room, you grew up here, you lived here before the accident."
I walked to the window and looked out, the grounds stretched for miles. There was a perfectly manicured garden, fountains, and pathways lit with lanterns.
This was my home? This was where I belonged?
It felt wrong somehow. It was too grand, and too perfect. It was nothing like the small farm or the tiny restaurant where I had felt more at peace.
"Get some rest," The man said from the doorway. "Tomorrow will be a long day. We’ll begin your training early."
"Wait," I said, turning to face him. "What should I call you?"
"My name is Mikhail," he said softly. I saw a smile spread across his face. "Stop calling me captor or the man, we are family, I raised you and your brother after your father died."
"Family," I repeated softly.
"Yes," he said. "I know you do not remember, but you will. In time, everything will come back to you."
He started to leave but stopped. "One more thing. Do not try to leave the estate, it is dangerous out there, your enemies think you are dead, and we want to keep it that way for now."
"What about Irina?" I asked. "The pregnant woman, what will happen to her? Isn't she more at risk where she is? She might be targeted."
Mikhail's face became unreadable again. "She is safe, that is all you need to know."
Then he left, closing the door behind him.
I stood there in this massive room that was supposedly mine, feeling more lost than ever.
I walked to the bed and sat down, the mattress was so soft I almost sank into it.
On the nightstand was a photograph in a silver frame, I picked it up and looked at it.
It was a picture of two young boys, identical twins, they were maybe ten years old, smiling at the camera.
One of them must be me, the other must be Alexei, my brother.
We looked so happy in the picture, so innocent. What happened to us? How did we become enemies?
I set the picture down and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
My head was pounding with information, too much information, and too many questions.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep would not come.
Hours passed, I just lay there thinking, wondering, trying to make sense of everything.
Finally, there was a knock on my door.
"Come in," I called out.
A guard entered and bowed. "Sir, dinner is ready. Sir Mikhail is waiting for you downstairs."
I got up and followed the guard down to a massive dining room.
The table was enormous, it could seat at least twenty people, but it was just Mikhail and me tonight.
The table was covered with food. Roasted meats, vegetables, bread, and wine. Everything looked delicious.
"Sit," Mikhail said, gesturing to the chair across from him.
I sat down and a servant immediately filled my plate with food.
We ate in silence for a while. The only sound was the clinking of silverware against plates.
"Tomorrow we will start showing you your businesses," Mikhail said finally. "Your casinos, your shipping companies, your legitimate operations and your less legitimate ones."
"Less legitimate?" I repeated.
"You are a mafia lord, Dimitri," Mikhail said. "Not all of your money comes from legal sources."
I put down my fork, and suddenly I was not hungry anymore. But before I could say a word, there was a loud explosion from outside.
The windows shattered. Glass flew everywhere. The ground shook violently.
"Get down!" Mikhail shouted.
We both dove under the table as more explosions followed, one after another.
Guards came running into the dining room with their guns drawn, shouting orders.
"We are under attack!" One of them yelled. "Multiple shooters at the north gate!"
Mikhail pulled out a gun from his jacket and checked the ammunition. "How many?"
"At least twenty, maybe more," the guard reported. "They have heavy weapons, we are losing men!"
My heart started racing, my body was tense, ready to fight.
"Stay here," Mikhail ordered me. "Do not leave this room!"
But I could not just hide while people were dying.
I followed Mikhail and the guards out into the hallway. We could hear gunfire now, loud and constant.
We reached the main entrance and I saw the chaos.
The front gates were blown open. Smoke was everywhere. Guards were taking cover behind pillars and furniture.
Bodies were on the ground, some were moving, groaning in pain, others were completely still.
"Return fire!" Mikhail commanded. "Do not let them advance!"
The guards started shooting back, the sound was deafening.
I grabbed a gun from one of the fallen guards and took cover behind a marble column.
My body moved on instinct again. I aimed and fired, my shots were precise, hitting targets I could barely see through the smoke.
The battle lasted for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes.
Finally, the shooting stopped, the attackers retreated, leaving behind several dead bodies.
Mikhail stood up slowly, his face was covered in soot and blood. "Check the perimeter, make sure they are gone!"
Guards rushed out to search the grounds.
I walked around looking at the damage, at the dead and injured guards, at the destruction.
This was my life? This was what I did? Fighting and killing?
"Boss!" A guard called out. "You need to see this!"
He was standing over one of the dead attackers, pointing at something.
Mikhail and I walked over and looked down.
The dead man had a tattoo on his forearm, it was a symbol I did not recognize.
"That is the mark of the Italian mafia," Mikhail said grimly. "The Rossi family."
"Why would an Italian family attack us?" I asked.
Mikhail said was quiet for a while. And I knew what his silence meant.
I wanted to talk when another guard came running up. He was carrying something, a piece of paper covered in blood.
"Boss, we found this tied to one of the arrows," the guard said, handing it to Mikha
il.
Mikhail read it. His face became dark with rage.
"What does it say?" I asked.
Mikhail handed me the paper silently.
The message was written in blood.
"The Volkov twins must step down, surrender all territories and businesses, or you will lose your lives and the little baby you are expecting."
My blood ran cold.
"Irina," I whispered. "Irina is in danger."