Chapter 40 Christov
Anushka's P.O.V.
I'm the daughter of a Russian crime boss, and when Dakota turns five, I will inherit a portion of his empire. I want nothing to do with the crime family, but if Stewart knows the truth, I'm sure he's not the only one.
"We don't have to tell anyone I'm his daughter, do we?" I ask, looking from Raymond to Jordan.
"No, you don't have to, but I'm sure others already know. Honestly, I think it would be best to go to Christov yourself. If you go to anyone else, it could make things worse for you. He has five sons who thought they would split the family business between them, giving them each a 20% share. If you get 25%, that cuts them out of millions, if not billions. If one of them finds out about you, they could try to kill you themselves to keep your identity secret. I don't know much about his sons, but I do know that you are his youngest child, and he never married after your mom left him. I truly believe he was in love with her. Your name, Anushka, was Christov's mother's name, so you were named after your grandmother." I am too stunned to speak when Raymond pauses. I hear running feet coming toward us, and I'm grateful for the distraction.
"Mommy, my room is the best room ever." Dakota stops when she notices Raymond. "Who are you? You're not a bad guy, are you?"
"I'm Raymond. I'm not a bad guy." Dakota looks at Gavin as though she's verifying that Raymond is okay.
"Why are you here?" She asks, stepping in front of him with her hands on her little hips. Sometimes, she takes her role as a police officer too seriously. I look toward the hallway to see Tyler and Sarah hiding behind Bobby. They are much shyer than Dakota.
"I came to talk to your mommy and daddy." I almost feel sorry for Raymond. He looks nervous answering Dakota's questions.
"Gavin, is it really okay for him to be here?" She asks, looking at the security man. He smiles at her as he tries to hide the fact that he's laughing.
"Yes, it's okay. We checked him out." He replies. Dakota smiles and walks over to Raymond.
"Do you want to see my new room?" she asks excitedly. Raymond looks at me like he doesn't know what to say.
"Sure." Dakota skips ahead, and he slowly follows her. Bobby and his two little shadows are right behind them.
"Here's your soup." Jordan pushes my chair over to the table, and Courtney puts a bowl of homemade tomato soup in front of me. My stomach growls when I catch a whiff of it.
"Thank you. It looks and smells delicious." She smiles and pats me on the shoulder.
"Jordan, are you sure you don't want some?" Courtney asks.
"If you have extra, I'll take some," he says, looking at my soup with his mouth almost watering. She returns to the kitchen and gets two more bowls of soup, giving one to Jordan and one to Gavin. Those security guys eat more than anyone I've seen, so she doesn't even need to ask if he wants any.
"What do you think about everything Raymond found out?" Jordan asks as we sip our soup. It's so good I want to savor it.
"I don't know. What do you think I should do?" I don't want anyone to know who I am, but at the same time, I understand what Raymond said. If I don't say anything, then I could have even more people after me, even my own biological brothers. This is such a mess. To top it all off, my mom named me after my birth father's mother.
"I think we should tell Christov, but I think we should request a private meeting with him here." I think about what Jordan said while continuing to sip my soup. Raymond returns, smiling.
"That is one special little girl you have in there," he says, shaking his head as he sits down.
"I want to tell Christov who I am, but Jordan would like to have a private meeting with him here. How can we arrange that?" I ask Raymond even though I feel sick about asking the Russian mob to come to our home.
"I can send him a secure message for his eyes only. For security purposes, he will most likely bring his own men with him, but I will ask him to leave everyone else at home. I'll try to set it up as soon as possible," he says. I was expecting him to leave to send an encrypted message from his computer, but he pulled out his phone.
"Okay, the message was sent, and it's being read," Raymond says with a small smile.
"You can send secure messages from your cell phone?" I ask him in disbelief.
"Yes, I have everything at my fingertips. He's replying." He stops to read the message and looks at me with wide eyes. "He says he can come now if you're okay with it. I told him that he has a daughter, and she wants to meet him. I gave him your mother's name as proof."
"The sooner we can get this over with, the better." I swallow the last of my soup while Raymond sends the response.
"He's on his way. He should be here in the next thirty minutes. I suggest letting all of your men know he's coming and that he will most likely have his own armed men. I will leave now because I would like to stay under the radar of these people. I'll let you know if I find anything else about Gregory." Raymond practically runs out the front door.
"I've let the others know about Christov. I suggest we bring the two outside the door inside and have Sean ride up with Christov and his men. Hopefully, he's coming just to talk. If he has another agenda, I think it's best we show you have your own firepower." Gavin says.
"Courtney, go with the kids and stay out of sight. I don't want them to know you guys are here." She nods and squeezes my hand before walking out of the room. Bobby comes out a second later. I can barely breathe as I wait. Please let this be a nice talk where I tell him I want nothing to do with his crime business, and then he can go on his way. The minutes seem to drag by, and I get more anxious the longer we wait.
"They're here," Gavin says. He and Bobby stand just inside the door, creating a barrier between our guests and us.
When the door opens, our two guards from the hallway come in first, followed by three men I've never seen before. I assume they're with Christov. When they move aside, there's a tall man with snow-white hair standing behind them. He looks at me in shock.
"You look just like your mother," he says with a deep Russian accent. When he walks toward me, I see the gun strapped to him under his jacket. I can't speak as I stare at him. Jordan stands in front of me and holds out his hand.
"I'm Jordan Holt, Anushka's fiancé." Christov looks from me to Jordan as he shakes his hand.
"Why are you in a wheelchair?" He asks me without saying a word to Jordan.
"I was shot." He glares at Jordan.
"You let my daughter get shot. Anushka, you're coming with us, and I won't take no for an answer. It's time you come home where you belong." Christov moves as though he's going to get behind my wheelchair. Bobby and Gavin step in front of him.
"I am not going anywhere," I tell him. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I don't care who he is. He can't come in here and start ordering me around.
"Oh, yes, you are. We can take you by force if needed." His three men remove their guns, and our five remove theirs. Holy fuck, can't we catch a break? Why the hell are people always pulling out their guns?