Chapter 62 The Warehouse
Anushka's P.O.V.
Tears stream down my face as I read my mom's letter again. I'm sad about what she went through, but at the same time, I'm happy she was able to fall in love. The rest of the files are just things Stewart had collected about my mom and the Kondrati family. I need to read her diary, but that will have to be another day.
"Is everything okay?" Christov asks as he and my brothers come through the front door and to my side. I show them the letter. At one point, my mom was part of all of their lives. Christov and Zakhar look shaken as they read.
"She's right. I did have a feeling she was pregnant, and I suspected she was having a girl. That's why I added that clause to my business. I loved her, and it tore me up losing her, but I understood that our life isn't for everyone." I take his shaking hand, and he sits next to me as he cries.
"That's not all. She was murdered." I opened the file with her death certificate and the information on what was used to poison her. "Stewart slowly poisoned her, and that's what made her sick and eventually killed her."
"Call Yeltsin. See what Stewart’s condition is." I look from Christov to Victor, who's pulling out his phone.
"I thought he was dead," I say quietly.
"He will be soon. I told Yeltsin to take his time," he says. He deserves to die a slow, painful death.
"Good," I reply, looking at Christov. He pats my shoulder gently.
"He's hanging on," Victor says as he slides his phone back into his pocket.
"Zakhar, come with me. The rest of you stay here. We'll be back soon." Christov kisses my head and then Dakota's. I know exactly what they're going to do, and the only thing that upsets me is that I can't be there with them.
"Can you give him a special treat from me?" I ask them.
"What did you have in mind?" Zakhar asks. I look at Courtney.
"What will burn the most in open wounds?" She thinks for a minute and then goes into the kitchen, getting a large bottle of lemon juice.
"This will do the trick." She hands it to Zakhar, and he looks between us.
"You two scare me a little," he says. Despite the situation, we both laugh. He and Christov leave, and I shut the laptop. I feel numb. There was so much about my mom I didn't know. One day, I'm going to have to read her diary.
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Christov's P.O.V.
I'm glad I didn't let Yeltsin kill Stewart right away. I typically keep my hands clean, but in this case, I will happily bathe in Stewart's blood. Gloria was the sweetest, kindest, and strongest woman I had ever met. I see a lot of her in Anushka and Dakota.
When we pull up to Yeltsin's warehouse, I push my sleeves up to my elbows. I know Zakhar stays away from violence, but he loved Gloria, too. His own mother wanted nothing to do with him from the time he was born. Even though Gloria was only with us for a short time, she was the only woman he had ever considered a mom. We knock, and Yeltsin opens the door, wearing an apron covered in blood.
"I have him awake for you. I'm glad you called because I was going to finish him off today." He says as he leads us inside. Yeltsin is very unassuming. He looks like an accountant, or as though he should be in a cubicle somewhere. However, he's the most ruthless killer I have ever met. He loves to torture people more than anything in the world.
We don't say anything as he takes us to an inner room. Stewart is sitting on a metal chair in the middle of the room, naked. He's alive, but I don't know how. His body is covered in wounds, and his penis looks like it's been shredded. Stewart looks at us through his swollen, bloody eyes as we walk in, and even in his condition, he tries to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" I ask, stepping on his foot, which looks broken and has a few toes missing. He screams as I push down as hard as I can.
"Gloria and her bitch daughter can go to hell." I punch him in the face as hard as I can.
"You are not permitted to speak about them." I punch him again and again.
"Anushka has a message for you." Zakhar stops me before Stewart loses consciousness. He opens the bottle of lemon juice and slowly pours it into his wounds. Stewart screams and tries to move away. Zakar pours the last little bit on his shredded penis, and Stewart passes out. Anushka may be Gloria's daughter, but she's also mine. The lemon juice was perfect. I pull out the gun I had brought from the car and shoot Stewart in the head. Yeltsin shakes his head in disappointment. The bastard didn't deserve to breathe another breath of air.
Zakhar and I stop at home to quickly clean up and head back to Anushka's, where I leave my gun in the car. When we get upstairs, Anushka is walking with the physical therapist. She looks a lot better than she did when we first met her.
"Grandpa Chrissy, you look sad," Dakota says from the couch. I sit down and pull her onto my lap. I hug her tight as I begin to cry. I should have fought harder to keep Gloria. If I had, she'd still be alive. I kiss Dakota's head, and she pats my back.
"It's okay, I'll take care of you." I don't know why, but her words make me cry harder. I want nothing more than to see this little girl grow into the woman I know she's going to be.