Twisted Throne (Bratva Born #2)

17. Adriana

Adriana

We land, and a fleet of dark windowed cars usher us out of the private airstrip and through the streets of outer San Francisco. I feel as if we’re visiting dignitaries, getting the red carpet treatment. Is this what Dimitri’s regular life is like? It’s a head fuck for sure.

When we get to the compound, Dimitri steps out of the car, telling Jacob to stay where he is, and gives his biometric markers to the alarm mechanism on the gate. He’s let in, and the man at the gate post nods and waves.

The security here is even tighter than I recall. My stomach churns with the need to see Cade and with dread at seeing my father and Hana.

The cars pull up outside the main house. “We’ll stay here for a night or two,” Dimitri says. “We need to coordinate so much in the next day or so it makes sense.”

“Of course,” Jacob says. “You should stay too, Alexis.”

The man in question yawns and scratches his cheek. “That’s fine by me; I’m so tired, I just want to crash.”

“You can take the East wing,” Jacob says to us. “It’s all set up for guests, and it’s yours as long as you need.”

“But where is Cade?” I ask.

“He’s at my house,” Dimitri says. “With his grandparents and guards. We’re getting a guest house ready. He’s safe. Shall we go see him before we settle in?”

“I’d like to be where he is,” I say shyly. Dimitri opens his mouth to say something, but the door opens and footsteps race down the stairs.

“My darling boy.” Dimitri’s mother rushes down the stairs and hugs Dimitri, then Jacob. She pulls back from Jacob and looks at him critically. “Oh, darling, you are tired. Let’s all eat, and then you can rest.”

“Adriana!” She turns to me with the same enthusiasm, as if I matter to her, and pulls me in for a huge hug.

She smells of vanilla and something floral. Her hug is solid and reassuring.

“Adriana wants to visit with Cade, Mamma, so we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Of course,” she says.

“Let’s go see him, Adriana.”

He clicks his fingers at two men standing by the door. “One of you come with us.”

We’re literally walking across some grass, nothing more, on a heavily guarded compound, but the man, armed with a goddamn assault rifle, follows us.

“I hate that there are so many guns,” I say quietly.

“Sorry?” Dimitri turns to me, and I realize he didn’t hear me, so I repeat what I said, letting him see my mouth.

“Yeah, well, I hate my family being taken or targeted,” Dimitri replies. “Remember? I’ll always ask, except when it comes to your safety, then I’ll be the asshole.”

I sigh. “I don’t think there are many more people left who present a threat.”

“There are always threats in my world, littleblue.”

The world he wants me to be a part of. I want to be with this man every waking second. I want his hands on me every chance I get. But to live like this? The idea scares me. To never be free to simply put my shoes on and go for a run?

“Do you always have security?” I ask Dimitri. “Or is it just for us little ladies?”

He sighs. “Yes, I mostly have security. We’re a pack, you know.”

“I’m more of a lone wolf,” I say. “I like my alone time.”

He shrugs. “You get used to it, and the guards can be matched to what you want. If you want them to stand back and be quiet, they will.”

“That’s still weird, Dimitri.”

“Like I say, you’ll get used to it.”

I want to tell him that I don’t wish to get used to it, but we’ve reached his home, and the door swings open before I can speak. Cade’s grandma and his pops, as he calls him, are standing there, smiling, but with new worry lines etched on their faces.

“Adriana,” Rose says as she pulls me in for a hug. Harry, Pops, hugs me second.

“Where is he?” I ask.

“In the yard out the back. He’s discovered the pond with the big fish in it. There’s a guard watching him, so he doesn’t fall in.”

I smile at them but am already moving through the house. I remember the way now and head into the lounge, but Dimitri grabs my arm. “The pond part of the garden is accessed from a side door by the kitchen.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling stupid. “Yes, sorry.”

I acted as if this was my home, and it isn’t, and worse, I was wrong as to where things are.

“It’s fine,” he says, with a small frown. “I just didn’t want you to have to walk the long way round. I know you’re excited to see him.”

Then I do see him, and my heart lurches in the best way. He’s visible via the kitchen window, and I falter in my steps for a moment as I take him in. He looks so very young. His light hair blowing in the breeze, and his little legs bent as he examines the fish.

I run to the door and race out of it. “Cade,” I shout.

He turns around and his face lights up. “Dreenanna,” he squeals. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been busy, bug, but I’m here now.”

He runs at me and hits me so hard I stagger back a few steps. My arms come up to wrap around him, and I hold him tight, breathing in his hair and familiar smell. My eyes fill with tears. At one point, I thought I’d never see him again.

Stepping back, I hold him at arms-length and take him in. “How are you doing, big guy?” I ask.

He scrunches his face up. “It’s been weird.” He frowns. “Bad weird.” His voice drops, and sorrow tugs at my heart that he got involved in this so young. Then again, he was always involved because of his birth mother. The bloody bitch. The fact that she’s only a few doors down makes my blood boil.

A lady I don’t recognize walks out of the door toward us, and Cade grins. “Kiki,” he shouts. “This is my big sister.”

Those words have even more water springing to my eyes. “Hi, I’m Kiera,” she says.

“Hey, Kiera,” Dimitri offers her a smile, and she grins back at him.

She’s pretty and looks to be in her mid-forties. “I remember when you weren’t much bigger than this,” she says.

She must be a bit older than she looks then, if she cared for Dimitri when he was Cade’s age.

“Hey, Cade, nice to meet you. I’m Dimitri.” Dimitri hunkers down, so he’s more on the level with Cade. “I’m a friend of your sister’s, and I own those fish. Do you like them?”

“They’re so big, ” Cade explains.

Dimitri laughs. “They sure are.” He looks back at the pond. “Why don’t you show Keira your favorites? I just need to talk to Adriana and your grandparents for a bit; is that okay?”

Cade nods. “Okay, but don’t be long,” he says to me.

“I won’t, bug.”

I watch for a few beats as he takes Keira to the pond and starts pointing out the various fish he likes.

We head back into the house. I sit at the table, staring at my hands as Rose busies herself making tea for everyone. She is a British ex-pat like me and thinks tea can cure everything. Once we all have steaming mugs in front of us, she sighs and shakes her head.

“I always knew when our son brought that girl home that she’d be trouble,” she says. “Too full of herself and far too flashy and pretty.”

“Have you seen her?” I ask.

“God, no. I’d gouge her eyes out.”

“They’re in a house a few doors down.” Dimitri blows on his tea. “I can take you to see them if you want?”

“I can’t bear the thought of seeing her, either, but I ought to talk with my father.” I admit.

Rose purses her lips. “That man needs to dry out. He’s a drunk.”

I don’t say anything because what can I say? She’s right; he is.

She turns her focus on me. Her large brown eyes kind. “Are you holding up? What a terrible thing to go through. I don’t know it all, but we were given the basic details. I always knew Hana was nasty, but I never thought even she would stoop so low.”

There’s a knock at the door, and Alexis strolls into the room. “We’ve found a forty member group with links to Ari and Dorian up in Portland,” he says.

Dimitri pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. He turns to Cade’s grandparents and explains.

“The issue we have is that Hana is related to a criminal gang,” he says. “We’ve neutralized the threat from nearly all of the members in this city, but who knows how far their tentacles spread? We’re trying to find out if they have members or a presence in LA, but there’s probably others around elsewhere in the country, and we can’t know if we have found them all.”

“What does this mean for Cade?” Rose asks.

“We don’t know for sure,” Alexis answers. “The trouble is, some of these guys, they like to get kids involved when they’re really young. They see them as their property.”

“So Cade is always going to be in danger.”

“Not if he’s with us,” Dimitri says. “Under our protection. The same goes for you both. You’re not directly related to Hana, but your son was married to her at one time; it might mean you face some danger. If you’re with us, under our umbrella as it were, you’ll be safer. We have space here. We are building some more accommodation at the far end of our land. You’d be welcome to live here. With Cade, if you’d wish? I think some continuity would do him good.”

My heart leaps. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Dimitri is offering a home to Rose and Harry here. With Cade too.

“We have lives back home,” Harry says.

“I get that,” Alexis speaks again, “but you’ll never be truly safe, and Cade won’t be at all. I’m still collating the information I’m getting, but if he’s not here, Cade will be in danger sooner or later.”

“Cade can stay with me, if you guys want to go back home,” I say.

Rose shakes her head. She turns to her husband. “Harry, that boy needs us, and God knows I’m bored sick of the only excitement being playing bridge on a Wednesday night. Let’s stay. Help raise him.”

“You won’t be doing it alone,” Dimitri says. “There’s Adriana, and I hope she’ll be living with me, which means she’d only be a few minutes walk away.” He turns to me. “Think about it, but know that I want you with me. If you don’t feel ready, there are spare rooms at my parents, or I’m sure Rose and Harry would love to have you stay with them. There are apartments across the way too, hidden in the trees, if you’d like your own space.”

“Cade can stay? Here?” I ask. “On the compound? And with Harry and Rose?”

“Yes,” Dimitri says as if he’s talking to a child, having to repeat himself.

“What if we … what if … I mean,” I can’t say it. How do I ask him what if we split up? That’s fucking rude in front of all these people.

He smiles at me, amused, his eyes crinkling. “Do you mean what if we end up hating one another’s guts? Then you’d have your own space here. I don’t ever want anything bad to happen to you, Adriana, no matter what our relationship status is.”

I nod and stare at my hands.

“Can I show you guys something?” Alexis asks Harry and Dimitri. They follow him out of the room to look at God knows what.

“Not sure what the hell they want to look at that we can’t see,” I grumble.

Glancing up at Rose, I’m surprised to see her watching me with glassy eyes.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s just, him . He’s moving heaven and earth for you, and it’s so nice to see. He clearly thinks the world of you.”

I take in her words. “It’s complicated,” I say. “He’s not exactly upstanding, and he’s … possessive. Bossy.”

She laughs. “Oh, tell me about it. Harry was a fierce one when we were young.”

“He was?” I ask, then realize that sounds rude, but I can’t imagine laid back Pops being that way.

“Oh, yes. Yours is intense, anyone can see that, but he truly seems to care for you, and what else matters? He’s giving half your family shelter and giving you space if you want it. I’ve seen how you look at him, though.” She grins.

“How do I look at him?” I ask, intrigued.

“You don’t look at him like he hung the moon and the stars for you—you look at him like he is the moon and stars.”

Her face grows serious. “Adriana, those other men who took you, did they hurt you, in … that way ?” Her cheeks heat a shade of pink. Rose and Harry are kind of old fashioned, and I know it took a lot for her to ask that.

“No, Rose. Not really. He tried. It was Barnaby, my friend’s father. He didn’t, though.”

She fingers the cross at her throat. “Thank God.”

The men eventually file back into the room, and we all head into the garden to drink lemonade and spend some time with Cade.

“What were you looking at?” I ask Dimitri.

“Some nasty shit. I’ll tell you later when we’re alone. I won’t show you, though. It’s upsetting. There is something we need to discuss too.”

“Oh?” My heart flips.

“Nothing to do with us,” he reassures me. “Or your future, but it’s something I think you should know.”

I nod.

Cade is playing catch with Harry, and he keeps trying to throw overarm and just dropping the ball a foot in front of him. I can see his frustration growing, but Harry goes and stands behind him, gently holding his arm and showing him how to do it.

“He’s good with him,” I say. “They love him.”

“I hope you know me asking them to stay isn’t trying to stop you from looking after him, if it’s what you truly want,” Dimitri says. “It’s just that I thought if he has them here, as well as you, then it’s like the old saying goes; it takes a village, right?”

I glance at him and smile. My heart feels so hopeful right now, but it’s like I can’t let myself fall. So much has happened, and I’m scared of believing.

“Dimitri?” The woman’s cry cuts through the night air, sharp like a blade.

“Nataliya?” Dimitri stands as does Alexis.

“I have to go,” I tell Cade. I hug him hard to me and then kiss his head. “I’ll be back soon, bug.”

The men run into the house, and I follow them as they sprint out the front door.

“Come,” Dimitri orders me.

I run after Dimitri and Alexis, my heart missing beats. Dimitri waits for me to catch up and then grabs my hand. Nataliya is standing at the wide-open door of her home. Crying.

“It’s Daddy,” she sobs. “Something is wrong.”

The sound of sirens cuts through the air, and Dimitri races into his parents’ home, pulling me after him.