Taking Emmaline: Power of Vashchenko Book 1 Read online

  Taking Emmaline

  Power of Vashchenko Book 1

  KL Donn

  Contents

  Glossary

  Prologue

  1. Viktor

  2. Emmy

  3. Emmy

  4. Viktor

  5. Emmy

  6. Emmy

  7. Emmy

  8. Viktor

  9. Emmy

  10. Viktor

  11. Viktor

  12. Emmy

  13. Emmy

  14. Viktor

  15. Emmy

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by KL Donn

  Glossary

  English – Russian

  No – Nyet

  Yes – Da

  Giant – Gigant

  Grandmother – Babushka

  Brother – Brat

  Bitch – Suka

  Beautiful – Krasivaya

  Pussy – Kiska

  My love – Moya lyubov’

  Mine – Moy

  Moron – Pridurok

  Prologue

  Viktor

  Crisp white dress, a gorgeous mane of dark midnight’s sky hair, a brilliant smile on her happy face. Emmy walks towards me, love in her heart and heat in her eyes.

  Emmy Taylor is the light in my life. The only purity I have ever known. She shouldn’t be here. She deserves to flourish in a castle, but I can’t let her go. From the moment her father offered her up to be mine, I knew this was where we would end up.

  Emmaline Vashchenko.

  Sounds like perfection to me.

  I remain stoic as she walks to me, my enemies are watching. If they know she means more to me than a debt being paid, she’ll be tortured, and if anyone touches her, they’re dead. I’ll slay them where they stand before another breath can be taken.

  And so, I watch, and I wait as she takes measured steps closer, my right-hand man at her side. Nikolai and Emmy have grown close these past few weeks. I assigned him to be her guard from the moment I learned of her existence.

  When she asked Niko to walk her down the aisle, no one was more surprised and honored than he. But he’s doing it in the guise of her protector, not her friend and confidant.

  Emmy reaches for me, and I’m finally able to draw breath again as she steps closer. Her soft hand in my rough grasp.

  “Viktor,” she sighs with a dreamy smile.

  I see the Haggen family—the German’s that have been at war with my family for generations—shift in their seats, and I know before the first gun is drawn what their plan is.

  The wedding invitation was supposed to bring peace between the families.

  What they don’t know is that we’ve prepared for this very betrayal.

  They don’t want the Vashchenko name to live on through Emmy.

  What they also don’t know is that this wedding is all for show. Emmy already bears my name.

  And soon, my child.

  1

  Viktor

  “Nyet,” I bark at the man begging for his life in front of me. He is weak. Corrupt in ways I am not. “Be a man. A man, Marshall. Be a fucking man!” It’s not often I revert to my Russian roots, but Marshall Taylor boils my blood.

  “She’s all I’ve got.” The pitiful excuse of skin blubbers on his knees as Nikolai stands behind him, hands crossed across his waist, waiting for my command.

  “You’re telling me that instead of paying your debt, acting like a man, you’d sell your daughter for an in to the next game?” I run a gambling underworld, but I don’t ordinarily get my hands dirty. Nikolai and Kodiak enjoy the seedier side of the business. While they may not be Vashchenko by blood, they are considered so by their loyalty to me since childhood.

  “Yes,” Marshall mumbles, losing eye contact with me.

  Like I said, he’s a weak excuse for a male. And I am a ruthless one.

  One who is looking for a bride, an heir.

  “Fotografiya.” I wave my hand in front of me. The rube stares with a dumb look on his face.

  “English, boss.” Niko smirks. He finds it amusing when I turn to my native tongue because it ramps up my anger even more.

  “A photograph, you have one, da?” Marshall fumbles in his pocket for his wallet, dropping it twice before locating the item.

  Handing it to me, I’m struck straight to the gut by the girl’s beauty. “Yeye imya?” The photo is small, just large enough for me to stroke the surface with my thumb. His daughter’s bright smile, midnight hair, and eyes so green they look like emeralds transport me into her world. Wondering about who or what has made her so happy in this moment drags a growl from my throat.

  With no sound from Marshall, I glance up to see a stupid look plastered on his face once again. Rolling my eyes, Niko kicks his back and commands, “Her name!” Translating for me.

  “Emmy. Emmaline Taylor.” Sweat lines the man’s brow, betraying his nerves.

  Sitting behind my desk, I lean back, implying that I’m relaxed when, in reality, I’m coiled and ready to strike. Cut the snake’s head off, so to speak. “Tell me about her.”

  His face blanks as he thinks, and I’m left to speculate if his gambling hasn’t consumed his life so completely that he doesn’t know anything personal about his own flesh and blood. “She’d be graduating high school this year, I suppose. I don’t know too much about her.” And that’s why it’s so easy for him to hand her over.

  If I were a respectable man, I’d care.

  If I weren’t ruthless, I’d leave her be.

  If I weren’t hooked by her soft looks and stunning smile, I’d kill him and let her live her life.

  But I’m none of those, and I make no apologies for it either.

  Ona budet moyey.

  She’ll be mine.

  2

  Emmy

  “Emmy!” Little Sadie Williams—my neighbors’ daughter that I’ve been babysitting every Friday night for six months—calls and comes running, which looks more like a fast penguin waddle to me. Her dad, Ben, is waiting on the front grass with a huge grin as he watches.

  “Hi, sweet girl.” I can’t help smiling when I’m with her. Sadie is everything light in this world. Her short red curls, just like her mom’s, bounce as she runs. “Are you wrestling with Daddy again?” Ben isn’t home as often as he’d like, and this little angel loves to jump all over him as often as she can.

  “Dada got me a ike!” She claps as she skids to a stop in front of me.

  “Daddy bought you a tricycle?” She nods with a sparkling grin.

  “Do you wanna show me?” With not a word spoken, she grabs my hand and drags me along behind her. Dropping my backpack on the path up to my house, I laugh while she chatters as we pass Ben, who shakes his head at her antics.

  “How you doing, Em?” My startled gaze meets his briefly, and my words stutter out.

  “I’m good.”

  “Finals are finished?”

  Talking to my handsome neighbor has never been easy for me. “Just Biology left.” My eyes keep darting back and forth between him and his daughter. I won’t lie, I’ve been crushing on Ben since they moved to Atlanta last year.

  “Any college plans?” By this time, we’re in their garage, and Sadie is on her new bike, pushing it in circles with her feet as we watch. Happy as can be, she makes my dark world just a little bit brighter.

  “Not yet.” I shrug, unwilling to admit there’s no money for college.

  He doesn’t say anything, just views me out of the corner of his eye while watching Sadie shuffle around the garage. I know what he’s thinking, anyway. I can see it every time someone learns about me, my lif
e, my mom. Pity. I think it’s why he and his wife find an excuse to go out every Friday. To get me out of the house, give me even the smallest sense of purpose.

  “Emmaline!” I hear my mom and spin around, almost falling.

  Strong hands grip my biceps, halting my momentum. “Careful now.” Ben laughs. Butterflies flutter in my belly from his growly chuckle.

  “Hey, Sadie-girl, I’ve gotta go. Maybe we’ll go for a bike ride later this week?” I smile, trying to hide my anxiety.

  “You don’t have to do that,” her dad says with a frown. I know he wonders why I’m never out with friends or boys. Truth is, I’m kind of a loner. I don’t have the desire to be around immature people who can’t seem to act their age.

  “See you Friday, Mr. Williams.” His frown deepens as I ignore his previous statement.

  “Bye, Emmy!” Sadie waves so hard she almost falls over.

  With a wave back, I’m quickly jogging across the lawn to my home. Mom is…sick…but not sick-sick. More like lovesick, maybe? When my dad left, a part of her died. She was so in love with him, or at least I thought so, but lately, I’ve been thinking it was more dependency.

  Dad took care of everything. Mom was a stay-at-home parent from the time I was born and had no idea how to take care of the house, bills, me. She’s barely held herself together over the years, and I’m afraid that now that it’s almost time where I could be leaving as well, discovering my own life, she’s going to fall apart completely.

  When my father left, we never were able to find out his whereabouts. And, for me, that hurts more than anything else.

  “Hey, Mom.” I smile as I pick up my backpack and head up the walkway. I pause when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Turning, I look up and down the street.

  We live in a quiet neighborhood, and after Ben takes Sadie back inside, there’s not much noise. There is, however, a white SUV parked across the street and two doors down. I can see someone sitting in the front seat behind the tinted windows. When the door opens, the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and a sense of dread washes through me.

  Slowly backing up the sidewalk, I watch the man as he closes his door and reaches behind to open the back. An older woman steps out. I sag with relief for a moment until I see him bend down to whisper in her ear and point towards us.

  Shit. “Go inside, Mom.”

  “What’s wrong, Emmy?” Mom’s oblivious to everything around us.

  “Just go inside, please.” I turn to look at her and recognize the worry etched in her withered face. “Maybe you could make me some of your cornbread?”

  Her face lights up. “Of course!” Clapping her hands, she goes inside, and when I turn back around, the couple from the SUV is already on my sidewalk.

  Backing up the porch steps, I stand stiff, waiting for them to make their intentions known. The woman is old enough to be my grandma and seems harmless enough, but the man is large, intimidating, and he doesn’t hesitate to impose his presence.

  “Miss Taylor?” There’s a touch of an accent I can’t place. In his crisp black suit, shiny dress shoes, and dark eyes, I don’t know what to make of him.

  “Depends on which one you’re looking for,” I bite out. My defenses are heightened with him.

  The woman smacks his chest. “Easy Nikolai, you intimidate her. She doesn’t need your intensity.” I watch and wait for whatever it is they want. “Excuse him, he doesn’t know how to be anything but medved. Such a bear of a man.” I frown at her use of what I think is Russian mixed with English.

  “What is it you want?” I don’t want to be rude, but he’s terrifying.

  “Forgive me, dear. I am Theodora Vashchenko, and this gigant is Nikolai. He is here to collect you.” Stunned doesn’t cover how I feel.

  “Collect?” I repeat.

  “Perhaps we should go inside and discuss this?” The woman phrases it like a question, but it’s more of a command.

  With a look to Nikolai and back to her, I pivot and turn the knob, opening the door. Stepping through, the smell of Mom baking is already in the air. “Don’t”—I point my finger at them—“make her upset.” I don’t care what they want with me, but Mom is off-limits.

  Theodora smiles fondly at my mother while the big brute smirks as he closes the door behind him. “Emmaline, who’s this?” I see some nervousness enter her cobalt gaze even though she puts on a smile.

  Straightening my spine, I swallow the lump in my throat. “Mom, this is Theodora and Nikolai Vashchenko.”

  Setting the mixing bowl in her hand down on the counter, Mom wipes her hands on the towel across her shoulder. “It’s a pleasure.” She holds her hand out to Theodora. “I’m Kelsey.”

  “Is that cornbread you’re making?” Theodora asks, guiding my mother back into the kitchen and leaving me with the beast of a man who has yet to say anything else.

  As the two older women become immersed in cooking, I stand awkwardly by the staircase leading from the living room. A sincere desire to run hits me when Nikolai snares me with his cold gaze.

  “Viktor Vashchenko has requested your presence at his home in Newark.” I can’t read this man, and I hate that.

  “You want me to go to New Jersey? With you?” I shake my head and let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think so. Whoever this Viktor is, he can take a hike.”

  Nikolai chuckles and not in a he finds me funny kind of way, more like my refusal is laughable. Which for him, it probably is since he could easily take me anywhere he wants.

  “Then Marshall Taylor will die.” I gasp at the use of my father’s name.

  “You kn-know my father?” I’m so shocked my words stutter.

  This time he lets loose with a booming bark of laughter that has the women in the kitchen turning to us. Mom looks…relaxed. She typically shrinks in the face of company, but with Theodora, she appears comfortable.

  “How do you know him?” I lower my voice. The very last thing I want is for Mom to hear mention of his name.

  “I will explain,” he says, “but only if you pack a bag and come with me.”

  “I can’t abandon my mother.” It would kill her to be left alone like that again. “I have finals to take.” It’s only half a lie because it’s only Biology that I have left, and I’ve aced the class even if I miss the exam.

  “Viktor will arrange for you to take it another time,” he replies with finality. Like this Viktor person can control the world.

  “I can’t just leave.”

  “Theodora will stay with Kelsey; you come with me.” It’s no longer a choice I get to make. He’s telling me now.

  “I don’t…I can’t…” I want to deny them, but the desire to see my father, find out what happened and why he left drives me hard.

  “Theodora,” his voice booms through the house, “Emmy needs help packing a bag. I’ll be outside.” He doesn’t give anyone a choice. He walks out the door, leaving Mom and me stunned in silence. Theodora straightens her outfit and walks over to me. “Come, come.” She pulls on my arm and guides me upstairs. I can hear my mom’s feet trotting after us.

  “You’re leaving, Emmy? You never said anything.” Straight up terror threads her words.

  Spinning on the first step, I grip her shoulders, worried about the tears I see in her gaze. “Not for long, Mom, I promise. Nikolai said that Ms. Vashchenko is going to stay with you while I’m gone.”

  “Please, child, call me Dora.” Her smile is warm, genuine, giving me a small bit of peace, given the situation.

  “Well, alright.” Mom smiles and goes back to the kitchen.

  “Please don’t mention my father around her. He broke something in her, and I don’t think I’ll ever get her back.” Dora nods with a sympathetic smile, and I find I kind of like the woman.

  3

  Emmy

  Thirty-seven thousand feet in the air, and I still don’t know my fate for this trip. Nikolai is slow in answering questions, if he bothers to acknowledge me at all. I take the time
to study him. He’s handsome in a rugged way, he doesn’t make me a foolish mess like Ben does, but I can see the appeal. His dark brown eyes match the rest of his brooding nature. Strong and silent is definitely his type.

  “Tell me about Viktor,” I request. I got the sense when he mentioned the man that he has great respect for him. His eyes rise from his phone, but he says nothing. “Tell me something.” I’m beginning to feel kind of desperate. If I don’t keep distracted, I’ll stress and worry myself into a corner of fear.

  He sighs loudly, conveying his inconvenience. “Your father is a stupid man who made some wagers he shouldn’t have, and now, he’s desperate.” I blink rapidly. Well, he gave me something.

  “What do you mean, wagers? Like gambling?” I shouldn’t be surprised, but I feel that I am.

  Rolling his fierce eyes, he levels me with a glare. “Fucking hell. Your father made a deal with the devil, and you’re the price. Quiet now.” He slices his hand through the air on the last Russian comment, and I don’t need a translator to tell me that he wants me to shut up.

  Sitting back in my seat, I try not to freak out more after that. I try not to imagine the worst. I try not to let fear take control.

  I fail at them all.

  “He was a good man once,” I say, more to myself than Nikolai. I know he’ll just ignore me. “He used to love us. When he disappeared without a word, I think he broke my mother. She’s never been the same.” He huffs out a breath. “She didn’t know how to take care of us.”