Chapter 46 Zakhar
Zakhar's P.O.V.
Looking out my bedroom window, I watch my dad and Kozar leave. I know they're going to see this woman who claims to be Dad's daughter. I don't believe it. Why would she show up now out of the blue? I pull out my phone to call Dimitri. If there's anything to find on her, he'll be the one to find it.
"Hello?" he answers.
"Dimitri, it's Zakhar. I need you to find everything you can on a woman named Anushka Wilkins." I tell him.
"Are you looking for anything specific?" he asks.
"No. Just give me everything as soon as possible." I disconnect the call and sigh. For my dad's sake, I hope this woman is being honest. I don't care about the money from the business, despite what everyone thinks. I'm worried about someone getting close to the family only to bring us down. We have some clean businesses, but we also have some that aren't. I run my hands through my pale blonde hair and sigh.
Most people assume that our family deals in human trafficking, drugs, and prostitution. We don't mess with any of those. I'm not saying we're innocent. We do deal in arms trafficking, gambling, and money laundering, among a few other things. We have to kill the occasional person when they cross us, but that goes with the territory.
I'm the oldest of my brothers, but there's not much of an age difference because Dad didn't believe in being faithful to anyone other than Gloria. I'm twenty-nine; Victor is twenty-eight; Yurkov and Yegor are twenty-seven and only two months apart. Kozar's the baby at twenty-six. Dad was with Kozar's mom when he met Gloria. After that, no other woman mattered. If Anushka truly is Gloria's daughter, then our dad will be all over her. She was the only woman I ever saw him be faithful to. I don't have an issue with having a sister. I'm just being cautious.
I’ve never seen Dad so happy about a child the way he talked about Anushka's daughter. Yurkov has a five-year-old son who lives in Delaware with his mother. My brother is a mean, selfish bastard who will step on whoever he needs to so he can be on top. That included the mother of his son as well as his son. He saw them as a hindrance and made their lives hell until Dad set them up in Delaware to keep them away from Yurkov.
Personally, I would be happy to have a woman to love me despite my flaws. However, it scares me to bring a child into this family. We have been threatened and used to hurt Dad many times. I don't want that for my family if I ever have one, but this is the only life I've ever known.
If Anushka is my sister, I wonder if I can meet her. Maybe it will give me a glimpse of what it would have been like to have been born outside our family and a life of crime. I look at my phone when it vibrates and see that Dimitri is calling me back already. That didn't take long.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Zakhar. I have what you requested." He replies.
"What did you find out?" I hold my breath, not really sure what I want him to say.
"Anushka Wilkins was born to Stewart and Gloria Wilkins, according to her birth certificate. However, I found DNA results that Stewart had done when she was a baby that proved she wasn't his. I ran it against your dad's DNA, and it matches. Anushka is your half-sister." I let out the breath I was holding, and a sense of relief washed over me.
"Did you find out anything else?" I ask.
"Yes, actually. She has made quite a name for herself in the business world. She took over Stewart's business when it was failing. After forcing him out, she brought it back to life, making it more profitable than ever. She just turned twenty-five and is already very wealthy. She has a four-year-old daughter named Dakota. Her ex-husband is currently in jail, but they have been separated since before the child was born, and she has sole custody. She was shot several days ago during an attempted kidnapping from Jordan Holt's penthouse. She left the hospital AMA two days ago. I must admit, she seems pretty strong for being so young and a woman." I smile as I look out the window. Maybe she has some of our family traits, after all. I suddenly have an urge to meet her right away.
"Thank you, Dimitri." I disconnect the call and call Dad.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Dad. I know you and Kozar went to see Anushka. Can I come and meet her too? I feel like I need to." I can hear him talking to someone in the background before laughing.
"They said you can come, but Dakota said if you have a gun, you can stay at home." I smile as I walk out of my office.
"I'll leave my gun in the car. Text me the address." I practically run out of the house. I can't shake this feeling that I need to meet Anushka right away now that I know she's my sister. Dad texts me the address, and I head to Manhattan. When I arrive, I'm lucky to find a parking spot just down the street from her building. I remove my gun and hide it under the seat. When I reach the building, I see a couple of our men and two others standing near the door.
"Who are you here to see?" One of the men I don't know asks.
"Anushka Wilkins. My name is Zakhar Kondrati." He talks into an earpiece and then nods.
"Go on in. They're expecting you. Open your jacket, please. Are you carrying?" I open my jacket and turn around.
"No." They move out of the way, and I see more men in the lobby when I walk in. When I get on the elevator, I'm escorted upstairs. I don't know why I'm so nervous. When the door to the penthouse opens, I'm greeted by two large men and a little girl with her arms crossed.
"Do you have any guns?" She asks, looking me up and down.
"No, ma'am." I open my jacket for her.
"What's your name?" I try not to laugh when she tries to glare at me because I'm a little scared she may kick me out.
"Zakhar." I glance at my brother and Dad, smirking from the couch behind her.
"Okay, you can come in. I will call you Zakky. Are you my uncle, too?" I can see why Dad is so taken with her. She is the perfect combination of sweet and sassy.
"Yes. Are you Dakota?" I hold my hand out to her, and she shakes it.
"Yes. Please don't scare my friends; they're not like me. This is Tyler and Sarah. Their mom is Courtney, and she's almost done cooking dinner. Mommy and Daddy are there." She points to each person, and I swear she's a woman in a four-year-old body. When I see Anushka, there is no doubt she's Gloria's daughter. I was a child when she was at our house, but Anushka looks exactly like her. I hold my hand out to her.
"Hi, Anushka. I'm your brother, Zakhar." She smiles as she shakes my hand.
"It's nice to meet you. This is my fiancé, Jordan." I shake the man's hand next to her.
"Thank you for letting me come. After Dad told us about you, I wanted to meet you." Dakota walks over and looks up at me.
"Grandpa Chrissy and Uncle Kozy said some people might not be happy about my mommy. Are you happy about my mommy?" She raises her eyebrows at me, and I can't help but laugh as I look at my dad and brother.
"Grandpa Chrissy and Uncle Kozy, you sound like characters on a kid's show." I turn back to Dakota. "Yes, I'm happy about your mommy."
"She's incredible, isn't she?" Dad asks, looking at Dakota with nothing but pure love.
"Yes, she is. I can see her running the whole family business one day." Anushka looks concerned, but Dakota crosses her arms and shakes her head.
"You guys have guns. I don't like guns because bad guys have guns. A bad guy hurt my mommy with a gun. I'm going to be a boss, but not a bad guy boss with guns." I sit on the couch and stare at her.
"I have never met a child like you," I say, almost to myself, making everyone laugh. Dakota looks into my eyes, and I swear she can see into my soul.
"What are you doing?" Anushka asks her.
"Making sure he's not a bad guy. The bad guy who hurt you had mean eyes. Uncle Zakky doesn't, so he's not a bad guy." Ladies and gentlemen, the next generation better watch out. Despite what Dakota says, I believe the next boss of the Kondrati family will be a woman. By the looks on everyone's faces in the room, I think they know it, too.