89

Avrora
I roll my head to the side and groan. Someone strokes my cheek, and I open my eyes.
At first, my vision is hazy, but when everything comes into focus, I find myself staring at a gray concrete wall. The light around me reminds me of the kind you’d use for a storage room.
My cheek is stroked again, and I turn my head to find Dad hovering over me. He has a long beard, blood-shot eyes, and his face looks like someone did a number on him.
We’re on the floor, and my head is nestled in his lap. It takes me a moment for my brain to connect and remember. Remember all he did and what he took from me. My family and my life.
The instant I remember, I scream and jump out of his hold.
“Get away from me!” The panic in my voice is mixed with rage and fear.
“Avrora, please.”
I back away into a wall, crashing hard against the surface. Then I notice the real problem we’ve found ourselves in.
We’re in some sort of cell, and while I am free, there are chains attached to Dad’s ankles, keeping him confined to the wall.
I look around the small unit that does indeed look like a storage room. Except I’ve never been in one that was equipped with chains to hold a person, or people, captive.
It’s a standard box room with a metal door, but there are chains with manacles all along the wall Dad is on.
I recall how I got here and how Anatoli has been looking for my dad, who isn’t really my father. I’ve just found him, and he’s in the same situation as me.
Mira and Mikhail. I remember what they said and did.
I remember the truth Mikhail revealed just before he knocked me out.
But what’s happening now?
“Tell me what’s going on.” Although tears burn my eyes, I hold them back. I can’t fall apart here. I mustn’t. “Where are we?”
“At one of Mira’s secret facilities. They’re keeping us here for transportation.”
“To where?” My voice rises by several octaves.
“Russia.”
“No. They’re not taking me.”
“Avrora, please calm yourself. It’s not good for you to get worked up in your condition.” He searches my eyes, and I guess he knows I’m pregnant. “They told me about the baby.”
“Did they also tell you they’re going to try and take it from me?” Saying those words hurt my heart. I’ve only just found out about the life growing inside me and had it threatened in the same breath.
“Not if I can help it. I’m going to try and get you out.” There’s a different determination in his eyes I’ve never seen before, but I don’t know how the hell he plans to do anything to help me when he’s a prisoner, too.
“How are you going to do that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I have to try. You are my daughter.” A tear runs down his cheek, and he nods. “It’s my duty to take care of you.”
He sounds like the man I know, but he’s too late to fix anything with me.
“I’m not your daughter. You killed my parents, and all of this is happening because of you.”
He dries his tears and brings his hand to his head. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, you don’t get to say sorry. You killed them. All of them. You and Mikhail were my monsters.”
“I am truly sorry, Avrora. I can’t take back the past, but please know I love you.”
He looks like he really believes that. Part of me believes it, too, but I no longer care how he feels. What I want is the truth. The rest of it. All the parts I don’t know.
“If you love me, tell me what happened. Tell me how this happened. How did a woman like Mira become so evil? What the hell were you guys planning?”
“She was always evil. Always. But so was I. That’s why this is happening.” He drags his knees up to his chest, looking like he’s aged by a hundred years in just those few seconds. “I take it you know the majority of things.”
“Yes. I know what happened to my family, and I know how my accident occurred. I know what you did to Anatoli and his mother, and I know the vineyard is really a billion-dollar oil company. What I don’t know is how you could be this evil. And what happened to the real Avrora?”
More tears flow down his cheeks, and I swear I’ve never seen a person look more broken. “She… died.”
Despite my turmoil, a wave of sadness hits me. In my heart I knew death had to be the answer because it always is. But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“How did she die?”
“She drowned.” He drags in a deep breath and continues. “As a Galitze, I was never going to have the chance to climb the ranks in the Bratva. Mira gave me a way to do so when I started doing her dirty work. The mission that defined me and set me up for life was killing Anatoli’s mother. That was how I first got close to the Scarfonis and how the marriage contract first came about. When Mira wanted to secure her marriage and prosperity, I gave her that. Then, when we found out the vineyard had oil, it was everything to her and a way for me to get a ownership of it. She pumped the money in to set up the company and kept it a secret. She knew if she could get her hands on the ownership, even through her son, it would be a done deal. He would have half, and so would I, providing it was given to me, then I’d give him forty percent more of the ownership. It didn’t matter who was killed or hurt to achieve the goal because to Mira, it was worth it.”
“So, when the real Avrora died, that threw out all the plans.” My voice is barely audible.
“Yes.”
“Then you met me and my family?”
“Yes. Everyone was in Russia that year for the entire summer on a business trip. The Scarfonis, the Galitzes, and a few other families. We stayed at the same resort. While the men were working, the wives and children hung out. My Avrora found a little girl who looked just like her. That was you, and it was how we first met the Butyrskayas. The two of you were always together. People thought you were twins, and you pretended to be sisters.”
He pauses for a moment, giving me a chance to think through his words. It’s devastating to hear these memories and not remember even a little part of it.
“It was so strange how you looked like her. The only differences were that my Avrora had a little mole on her cheek, and her eyes were a slightly darker shade to yours. The differences were so minute no one ever guessed you weren’t her.” He swallows hard. “At the end of the summer, the day before we were scheduled to go home, Vittoria was looking after the two of you while you played hide and seek in the woods. She lost track of Avrora, and we couldn’t find her. We searched everywhere, knowing something terrible must have happened. The next morning, Mira found her washed up on the riverbank. Dead. She drowned.”
“I’m… so sorry.” My voice chokes. “Was… that my fault?”
“No. Of course not. But I blamed Vittoria for not watching her properly, and after all this time, I still blame her.”
I remember how he killed her. It was with vengeance and rage. Like he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her and rip her apart.
“She was beside herself with grief for her carelessness, but your mother-my wife-lost her mind that day.” He straightens and pulls in a measured breath. “I lost my sanity, too. I was already a ruthless bastard. But in my grief, I didn’t think twice when Mira came up with the idea to take you. I wasn’t even thinking straight when she told me to bury my daughter in Russia and keep it a secret. She didn’t even have a proper funeral.”
My heart aches as I listen to him telling me everything.
“I didn’t want the oil company to go to charity either, or lose out on the partnership with the Scarfonis, but most of all, I wanted my daughter back.” He intensifies his stare. “When the Butyrskayas returned to the States, I tracked them down. Mira set up the entire operation and even got Evgeni to agree to me staying in the States. But I took the lead, and your accident just made things easier. Although you nearly died, Mira saw it as luck that you didn’t remember anything, and she made sure you stayed that way.”