Russian Bastard

Chapter 5

Chapter 5Tatiana

"Have you been enjoying the party?" Pavel Vasiliev asked as he walked her arm in arm a few paces around the room.

After his speech earlier, he approached her in greeting. Pavel Vasiliev was a tall, intimidating man with the same sandy hair that his son Ivanov had. It was also in his piercing gaze that she saw where Zeke got his striking blue eyes. Deep in the depths of his eyes, she saw a man who had been through some hard years but was still very much alive.

"It's a wonderful party,” she said, smiling at him. It really was, despite the conversation she overheard earlier—of Francesco and the unknown woman that put her on edge. She’d forgotten all about it after her dance with Zeke. Her thoughts drifted back to their moment. Up close, his eyes were even more mesmerizing and his arms around her had felt like a small slice of heaven had been given to her. When he disappeared into the crowd, she’d returned to find Carmen with Louis and had an amazing time dancing and enjoying the music. Nate and his associates never strayed too far.

"Your fine wine collection was particularly impressive,” Tatiana added. After dancing in the ballroom, she and Louis toured through some rooms of the house and one of the rooms was their cellar. It was filled with beautifully aged bottles, their labels still perfectly preserved.

He smiled at her. "Thank you. We like to keep a stock of the finest the world has to offer,” he said. She didn’t know why, but she immediately took a liking to him. He carried an aura about him that just seemed to make her trust him. No wonder he was such a successful businessman—on top of being the head of a prominent mafia group.

They stopped when Nina approached them.

"I apologize as I won't be overseeing the exchange. I must stay to entertain my guests," Pavel said, gesturing to the room before turning to her. "However, I am leaving you with the very capable hands of my children."

Tatiana only nodded at him and gave him a parting smile as Nina escorted her away from the lively party, through the hallways, and to the back of the house, Nate and her guards close behind.

"Bring the truck around," Nate said into his phone as they were escorted.

They walked a few more paces before reaching wood paneled double doors. Nina led them through it into a quiet garden. It was connected to a path that led from the front of the house and was essentially the whole back of the vast mansion of the Vasilievs.

As they slowed to a stop, she saw Francesco emerge from a doorway opposite to the one they came from, followed by Zeke and an unfamiliar man, the latter two carrying cases that were handcuffed to their wrists. Just as they stood a good few meters away in front of them, Nina retreated back to the house and their truck came around from the front.

It was a sleek, nondescript black truck van that carried the craters of guns and ammunition that followed their limo on the way to the estate and had been hidden in the shadows until the moment of the exchange.

Francesco Vasiliev stood at the head of the group and bowed slightly. "My apologies princess, I've failed to introduce myself upon your arrival," he said and she stiffened at his mention of her title. She had forgotten about how Zeke called her princess earlier, too lost in the moment when he asked her to dance. But if she had any doubts before, they vanished as Francesco addressed her as princess. Her speculation that they knew of her lineage was true. She took it better than Nate, however. Beside her, he had gone rigid, shocked at how he had called her princess. "I am Francesco Vasiliev, Underboss of the family."

"Mr. Vasiliev." She nodded in acknowledgment and smiled politely. "And please do not address me so formally," she added with a benign smile. "It's not the kind of thing I like broadcast around the city."

He nodded. "As you wish." He glanced at the van behind her. "Do you have what we asked for?"

Tatiana gestured for Nate and his men to bring out the packages.

She turned to the Vasilievs. "A selection of handguns, semi-automatic machine guns, grenades, and a French AA-52 machine gun," she rattled off as Nate's associates carried the crates from the truck. "They each have extra ammo, in addition to what’s already included in their chambers—“

A loud crash sounded from within the house. "Francesco!" A man shouted as he ran outside.

Time seemed to suddenly slow down, eventually standing still. She knew something was wrong the minute the man came running. Still, she couldn’t seem to comprehend anything as she heard a myriad of gunshots suddenly firing. She turned to the source and, as if in slow motion, she saw bullets flying towards her from the trees.

"Tatiana!" Nate shouted as he started running towards her but he was too far, he was meters away as he was standing by the van making sure they unloaded everything.

Trees were being shredded—military-grade bullets tearing through them when all of a sudden a body slammed into her and pushed her down on the ground. Then, as if time finally seemed to have caught up, the alarms sounded. Shouts, screams, and bullets seemed to be coming from all directions when the body that was covering hers suddenly grunted.

She looked up, shocked to see Zeke's beautiful face that now grimaced in pain. She breathed in shock as she registered a sting by her side and she gasped out in pain when Zeke pressed her down slightly as he cocooned her in his embrace.

"Stay down,” Zeke said firmly as he reached into his coat and began firing towards the source of the attack. Collectively, the Vasiliev's and her guards began to return fire. Several men in black suits emerged from the house, shooting into the dark forest filled with trees that surrounded the back of the house, raining down bullets.

She stayed silent, trying to breathe through the ache of the wound as the world around her faded due to the throbbing in her side. They heard exclamations of pain from within the trees just as the firing seemed to have stopped. She could faintly hear a small platoon’s worth of footsteps retreating before those too faded away.

Zeke slowly raised himself off her, breathing hard. "Merde,” he swore quietly as he hovered over her, his eyes roaming over her face. "Are you alright?" he asked her and, as if he couldn’t help himself, he touched her face.

She breathed hard, looking down to see that the side of her dress by her hip was covered in blood. She groaned before leaning back and pressing her face further into his palm, straining against the pain. "I could be better."

"f**k,” he said once he noticed her hip. He carefully moved himself from on top of her to sit up next to her. His face was pinched in pain however, in the blink of an eye, he’d smoothed over his expression, erasing any trace of discomfort. He inspected her dress, deftly tearing it to check. As he tore through her garments, she, he noticed, seemed to be hunching over slightly.

"Are you all right?" she asked him this time.

He gave her a small grimace, passing it off as a smile. "I could be better,” he repeated the same words she spoke as he unlocked the handcuffs he was attached to from the case of money.

Just as she was going to press him more on the matter, they heard a shout. "Tiana!" she heard Carmen scream before rushing towards her, kneeling down by her side, Louis not far behind.

"Oh my God," Carmen breathed out, her hands fluttering over her. "We need to go to the hospital."

"No," Tatiana rebuffed just as Louis said, "Absolutely not." He didn’t look happy about the situation.

Between the two, Louis knew the inner workings of the family better than Carmen did. Carmen knew what was going on but she only knew the bare minimum since her father forbade them to involve her in the more nitty gritty parts of the business.

Further away from them, they heard Francesco giving orders. "Get them help,” he said, gesturing to his wounded soldiers who unfortunately were unable to escape unscathed.

"But capo, your wound—“ one of the men started to protest before Francesco cut him off. "Them first. I'll be treated later,” he stated firmly, cradling his injured arm. He pointed at a handful of men. "Check the forest if any of them were injured and still alive. Bring them back here for interrogation," he ordered. "And find someone to clean this up." He gestured to the back wall of the house that was decorated with fresh gunshots.

She was beginning to shiver from the cold and rapid loss of blood. Zeke, upon noticing, wrapped her in her fur coat that she had shouldered on to the exchange. "We need to get this out before you lose any more blood,” he said, kneeling up slightly before scooping her quickly into his arms and carrying her into the house.

She began to protest but suddenly a sting of pain flashed through her body, making her curl in on herself in pain. She was surprised at the amount of blood leaving her as he carried her into the house, past surprised security guards and the murderous face of Pavel Vasiliev.

Pavel looked at the pair. "Get her to the doctor and find someone to treat your wounds as well," he said in a quiet tone that did little to hide his emotions, as if trying his best to contain his rage at what just transpired on his property.

Zeke only nodded to him before he continued to carry her into the house. When they passed Pavel and rounded the corner, Tatiana glanced back and saw him as he looked out the back door of the house, into the trees where the firing began.

***

Translations:

capo - underboss/high ranking officer

merde - s**t/fuck

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