Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“Will it still work once it’s out of her body?” Piston hadn’t spoken much while I was poked and prodded, but he never once left my side. Now that they were close to making decision whether or not to go ahead with removal, he was hovering and asking questions.
“As long as it’s not damaged, yes.” Suzie gave me a small but friendly smile.
“Good,” was all Piston offered.
After that, Mama took me to exam room. Bohannon’s club doc had a small office set up for routine injuries, but Mama was going to remove tracker once tech guys gave go ahead. Now, I waited with Piston while Mama got prepped.
“I swear to God, Jo, it’s like lookin’ at you when we first met.” Pops scrubbed a hand over his face, shaking his head slightly like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t even try to hide what he was thinking.
Mama was different. Mama had studied me covertly for the first day, staying in background while guys took all kinds of digital images. I had no idea exactly what they were talking about or meaning of all terms and phrases, because they weren’t important to me. The only thing I wanted to know was how difficult would it be to remove and how much down time I would need.
“Who are you, girl?” Mama marched up to me, demanding an answer. “You’re too old to be Kurt’s child and all siblings are accounted for except Logan.”
“My mother knew him as Demetri Volkov. But his real name was Logan Peyton.” I watched Mama carefully, needing to know what the other woman was thinking. She was expert at hiding her emotions.
“Logan. Peyton. My brother, Logan.” She tilted her head at me, taking a slow step toward me. I was about an inch taller than Mama was, but I wasn’t fool enough to think I could take her easily in fight. Yes, I’d come out on top, but only if I respected her abilities enough to not think of her as a woman in her seventies, and look at her as deadly warrior she was. Not doing so would definitely get me killed.
“Da,” I answered softly.
“How did you know?” This time, it was Pops who asked the question. “His real name. And how did you put him and Mama together?”
“Because Victor is one who blew his cover.” I never imagined how hard it would be to acknowledge this out loud. “I… I was there when they killed him.” Even after so many years, I could still feel the horror and terror and grief and loss of that day. I hadn’t been a child, but I wasn’t yet an adult either. “Victor gave his real name and told everyone he worked for United States and executed him on spot.” Mama’s expression didn’t change.
I blinked rapidly to get emotions under control when I’d never had difficulty with not showing my feelings before. “Anyway, when Victor sent me off to FSB, I put what they taught me to good use. I looked into names of both Logan Peyton and Demetri Volkov. According to their records, Peyton was a double agent undercover as Demetri Volkov. When Victor made our mother his wife, he destroyed everything associated with Logan.” I cleared my throat and, with shaking hands, pulled photo from my vest pocket and handed it to Mama. “That picture was taken two days before Victor killed my father.” I pointed to photo Mama now held but hadn’t looked at. “That is Demetri Volkov. The child is me.”
Mama studied image. Holding it close to really look at it. When she met my gaze again, her expression gave nothing away. “What else?”
“I know you’re Josephine Peyton. And that you’re supposed to be dead along with Michael Wilbanks. I also know CIA would lay waste to Bones if they knew you were still alive and Bones had been hiding you all this time.”
“What do you want from this, Venus?” Mama was as direct as I’d always known her to be.
“I want Godforsaken chip out of my fuckin’ shoulder. After that, I want to kill Victor.”
“And us?” She raised an eyebrow.
This was it. The moment Mama decided my worth. Never in my life had I expected someone’s opinion of me would matter so much. Piston’s opinion mattered, but I knew where I stood with him. He’d been the one to pursue me. Not the other way around like I was doing with Mama. I could have kept all this from her and remained in background, content to watch from afar. But that’s not what I wanted.
“I want to claim my family.”
Mama smiled then, the sight warm and welcoming. “My dear Venus, you have always been family.” She stepped toward me and laid her palm on my cheek. “The only thing this changes now is you don’t get to go your own way. Even though more than one of us has been concerned you’re too much of a loner, we’ve all given you space because Thorn said that’s what you preferred. Now you don’t get that luxury. You tell us what you need. We make it happen.”