Page 153 of His Dark Demands
The instructions I’d received from Zotov stated I could bring two people with me. No cops, of course. I didn’t want to bring Roman since he was next in line to be the Don of our family if something happened to me.
“I’ll go with you,” Fabio said, volunteering. He didn’t fear death. As the youngest boy in his family, he had nothing to lose. “I’ll bring Ross with me.” His right-hand man nodded from the driver’s seat.
“I appreciate it. Are you fine with that, Wolf?”
“Yes. I’ll stay back,” he replied.
The exchange should happen smoothly. Zotov would give me Pippa, and I would hand over Kira. Then we’d part ways. Whatever Zotov did to Kira would not be in front of us.
“Did you get the stuff I requested?” I asked Roman. While I was at Alba’s, I’d texted him to pick up some supplies for Pippa. If Zotov was an experienced father like he claimed, my child should have been properly cared for; fed and provided with fresh diapers. Not that I wanted to think of someone I didn’t know changing her. I shook those thoughts out of my head.
If there was even a tiny bruise or scratch or a diaper rash on my baby, I would find Zotov at a later date and end his life. But I wouldn’t think about that now. The meeting would be uneventful. I didn’t want any trouble and neither did Zotov.
Everything needed to go off without a hitch…
The forty-five-minute drive felt likehours. But I was anxious and I hated being anxious about anything.
We were meeting at a park in Castro Valley, which at first, I thought was odd. But it confirmed Zotov’s wishes not to become enemies. He gave us specific directions on where to leave the van with Kira in it, and Pippa would be in a stroller with his own daughter in the playground. Having his teenager there was a show of his good faith, which I appreciated.
My phone pinged with a notification. I opened the text, which was an image of Pippa and the young girl. They were at the park waiting for us. My heart raced as I stared at my beautiful baby. Even got a little choked up.
“She looks in good shape,” Roman said.
I nodded.
“Can I see?” Fabio asked.
I passed him the phone.
He smiled wide. “Wow. You’re lucky she looks like her mother.”
“Always the smartass. But yes. She looks very much like Isla.” I took the phone back and stared at my sweet baby.
My muscles were getting tight the closer we got. I jumped when my phone rang in my hand. It was Zotov.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to call, but I didn’t want to offend you by not being at the park,” he said.
“Why not?” Not that I cared. I only wanted my daughter back.
“I didn’t want to make this bigger than it needed to be.”
“You’re not going to fuck me over, are you? That wouldn’t be smart.” I gripped my device tightly.
“Not at all. I need to ensure my daughter will be okay as well. Bratva and Mafia meeting in a public place in themiddle of the day would draw a lot of attention.” He wasn’t wrong about that.
“I get it. No offense, but I don’t care to meet in person. I only want my baby.”
“That’s fair. And I only want Kira.”
I glanced sidelong at Wolf, who’d been staring out the window.
“Well, we are pulling into the parking lot.” I saw the van go around us. Spotting the park, I searched for the girl with a stroller. “I see her.”
“That is my Alina. She is thirteen.”
The car stopped and I jumped out of the car. “Okay. I’m on my way toward them.”
