KRAIT MC STORIES
MOSCOW 1995
Chapter 12
CLOSURE
Kait woke slowly.
At first, she wasn’t sure she had.
The ceiling above her was high and painted with ornate gold trim. A chandelier hung in the center of it, crystals catching the pale light coming through tall windows covered by heavy curtains.
She blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Jesus.
If this was heaven, somebody had seriously fucked up letting her in.
Kait tried to move.
Pain ripped through her chest.
She sucked in a breath and stopped.
Then she remembered.
The alley.
Jora kissing her.
The gunshot.
His arms around her as he lowered her into the snow.
Blood.
The Polaroid.
The flash.
Jora walking away.
Her eyes opened fully.
A steady beep sounded beside her.
Kait turned her head.
An IV ran into her arm. A monitor stood beside the bed, along with enough medical equipment to make the beautiful room look even stranger.
She swallowed against the dryness in her throat.
Where the fuck am I?
Kait turned her head the other way.
Someone was sitting near the windows.
A woman.
She was beautiful.
Dark hair swept up neatly, dark blue turtleneck, silver cross necklace. Diamonds glittered at her ears. Her clothes were elegant, her posture straight, one leg crossed over the other as she watched Kait from across the room.
Not a hair out of place.
The woman stood.
She crossed the room without hurrying.
Kait watched her come closer.
The face.
The eyes.
Something familiar that took her drugged brain another few seconds to put together.
Then it did.
Kait stared at her.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Her mother.
She gave a weak scoff and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
Of course.
Now she found her.
Katya stopped beside the bed.
She looked Kait over without smiling.
No tears.
No dramatic reunion.
Just a long, cool inspection of the daughter who had crossed half of Europe looking for her and somehow ended up shot in a Moscow alley.
Katya shook her head.
“My foolish girl.”
Jora came home late.
He climbed the stairs without slowing and unlocked the apartment.
His coat came off first.
He hung it beside the door, pulled the pistol from beneath his jacket and left it on the side table. Then, he continued toward the bedroom, loosening his tie as he went.
The bruises were gone.
So was the stiffness that had followed him for weeks.
Nothing slowed him anymore.
He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over the chair, then pulled his tie free.
Then he went into the bathroom.
He turned on the shower and stripped.
When he came out, he put on his silk pajama pants and went to the kitchen.
He poured himself a vodka and drank it at the counter.
Then another.
He carried the glass into the bedroom and set it on the nightstand.
Jora caught something shiny out of the corner of his eye.
And stopped.
Something was lying on the other pillow.
Her pillow.
He stared at it.
The ballerina necklace.
And beside it, a Polaroid.
He knew the picture before he picked it up.
Kait stood in her coat, looking directly at the camera, hand up, caught off guard by the flash.
The last picture he’d taken of her.
Minutes before they left the apartment.
Minutes before he shot her.
Jora lowered the photograph.
His eyes went to the necklace.
He picked it up.
The ballerina dropped into his palm.
Then he saw the chain.
Broken.
His thumb passed over the torn end.
She hadn’t taken it off.
She’d ripped it off.
Jora looked around the bedroom.
She’d been there.
But nothing was out of order.
He rushed to the window and looked down. Maybe she had just left.
He rushed and grabbed his pants in a hurry then… stopped.
Jora looked down at the Polaroid again.
He understood.
She hated him.
But it was better that way.
Better if she believed he’d betrayed her.
Better if she never came looking for him.
Better if she stayed away from Moscow.
Away from Barinov.
Away from danger.
Away from him.
His hand closed around the broken ballerina.
It didn’t make it hurt any less.
The telephone rang.
Jora looked toward the living room.
It rang again.
He set down his vodka and went to answer it.
“Da?”
“Zmeyev.”
Viktor.
“What is it.”
“Konstantine Dragunov wants to see you.”
“Did you talk to him?”
Kait looked away from the Dragunov private jet window.
“How did you know I went to see him?”
Katya gave her a look.
Kait stared at her for a second, then rolled her eyes.
“Right.”
She shifted carefully in the leather seat.
“No. He wasn’t there.”
“And you’re disappointed.”
Kait looked back out the window.
Copenhagen was somewhere beneath the clouds now.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Katya waited.
Kait sighed.
“I just wanted to know why.”
“You think that would have changed what happened?”
“No.”
“Then it was pointless to go in the first place.”
Kait looked at her.
“Probably.”
“Closure is overrated.”
Katya slowly crossed one leg over the other.
“People have a peculiar need to return to things that have already pass. They believe one more conversation will somehow change the ending.”
Her gaze moved toward the window.
“Usually, it only obfuscates things.”
Kait made a face.
“Obfus—”
“Makes things less clear. One answer becomes another question and you end up even more confused.”
Kait shrugged.
“I guess.”
“In your life, there will be people and places that are transitory. They’re only meant to become memories, so don’t try to make them something else. You have to learn to move on from them and leave them in the past, where they belong.”
Kait smirked.
“Is that how you feel about Rokkstar?”
“I was being serious.”
“Me too.”
For the first time in the past few days, Kait noticed her mother getting restless.
“You nervous to see him?”
Katya let out a dry, humourless laugh.
“Please.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Katya looked at her again.
“What’s next?”
Kait shrugged.
“Go home and try to convince Rokkstar to let me prospect… again.”
Katya studied her.
“You still want that?”
Kait looked at her.
“A place in your father’s world.”
“It’s my world too. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
Something faint moved across Katya’s face.
“Then there is something you should understand if you want to survive it.”
Kait waited.
“Men will decide what you are long before you have the opportunity to show them.”
Katya glanced down at the diamond ring on her hand and slowly turned it around her finger.
“A daughter. A pretty girl. Something to protect. Something to possess.”
Her eyes returned to Kait.
“Do not waste your life trying to prevent them from thinking it.”
Kait frowned.
“Fuck that shit. I ain’t letting anyone treat me like no snakehole.”
“Ah.. there’s that… Texas spirit.”
Kait leaned back against the seat.
“What I’m saying is, let them be wrong and use their stupidity to your advantage.”
Kait was paying attention now.
Katya continued.
“You will have to work harder than all of them. You will be judged harsher. They will set the bar for you that much higher. A man will make a mistake and it’s nothing. Whatever, shit happens… But if you make the same mistake, it will become evidence that women should never have been allowed there in the first place.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Of course it is.”
Katya didn’t seem remotely bothered by it.
“But knowing something is unfair does not make it disappear. You are going to have to be better than they expect you to be.”
Katya paused.
“But do not make the mistake of becoming so determined to survive among men that you begin trying to become one.”
Kait looked up again.
Katya adjusted the diamond bracelet around her wrist.
“You will be tempted to become harder. Cruder. Louder. You may begin to believe femininity is something you must surrender before they will respect you.”
She shook her head.
“Don’t.”
Kait’s brow furrowed.
“And never underestimate the power of your beauty.”
Kait scoffed.
“Seriously?”
“Very.”
“That’s your advice?”
“Part of it.”
Kait shook her head.
Katya watched her with the faintest hint of amusement.
“You think beauty makes you weak.”
“I think it has nothing to do with anything.”
“Then you have a lot to learn.”
Kait rolled her eyes.
Katya ignored her and continued.
“Men become careless around beautiful women. They lose control. They perform. They underestimate and they start acting like assholes.”
A small smile touched her lips.
“They become stupid with remarkable consistency.”
Kait snorted.
“I’m not gonna walk around batting my eyelashes at guys to be accepted.”
“You’re misunderstanding.”
Katya’s smile disappeared.
“You can be beautiful and still be dangerous. You can be feminine and still be stronger than the man standing beside you.”
Her eyes held Kait’s.
“I’m already better than half those patches back home.”
A chime sounded through the cabin.
A moment later, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker, announcing their descent into Copenhagen.
Kait looked toward the window.
The clouds were beginning to break beneath them.
Katya uncrossed her legs.
“We’ll be on the ground shortly.”
Kait glanced at her.
“Awesome.”
For the first time, Katya smiled.
The jet touched down at Copenhagen Executive Airport a few minutes later.
Kait watched through the window as the runway rushed beneath them.
Danish flags waving all over the place.
She was officially back in Denmark.
She hadn’t expected to be this happy to see gray skies.
By the time the jet rolled to a stop, Kait had her jacket on and was standing near the door with Katya.
The stairs were lowered.
Cold air swept into the cabin.
Kait stepped outside.
She saw them immediately.
Gregor stood near the bottom of the stairs, hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket.
Rune was beside him.
Six-foot-five and built like Odin had carved him straight out of Yggdrasil itself.
Kait smiled.
Gregor’s face changed the second he saw her.
She started down.
The first few steps weren’t bad.
Then the pull beneath her breast reminded her that a bullet had gone through her not that long ago.
Kait slowed.
Rune noticed.
He walked forward as she reached the last steps.
Before Kait could say anything, his hands went around her waist.
“Hey, I’ve got you.”
Rune lifted her straight off the stairs.
Like she weighed nothing.
He set her carefully on the ground.
Kait looked up at him.
Rune smiled.
“Good to have you back.”
Kait laughed.
“Good to be back.”
He pulled her into a careful hug, keeping his arms high enough not to put pressure on her injury.
Then Gregor was there.
Rune stepped aside.
Gregor looked at her.
For once, he didn’t have anything smart to say.
His eyes moved over her face, down toward the injury hidden beneath her jacket, then back up again.
Kait smiled.
“Hey, Rokkstar.”
Gregor pulled her into his arms.
Kait sucked in a breath.
He immediately loosened his grip.
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“I’m okay.”
“You scared the shit out of me, asshole.”
Kait laughed against his chest.
Gregor kissed the top of her head before letting her go.
“I fucking love you, kid.”
“I love you too. I’m sorry.”
His hand stayed on the back of her neck for another second.
Then his attention moved past her.
Katya was coming down the stairs.
Gregor watched her approach.
“Why, look at that… my Russian doll.”
Katya reached the ground and stopped in front of him.
“Yours? Never.”
For a moment, neither said anything.
Gregor looked at the jet.
“You wanna… stay a few days and remind you why keep coming back?”
Katya looked at him.
Her eyes moved slowly from his boots to his jeans, over the leather jacket, long blonde hair and beard, all the way to his face.
She shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
Kait pressed her lips together.
Rune looked away.
Gregor nodded.
“Worth a shot.”
Katya turned her attention back to him.
“Do not ever let my daughter come back to Russia.”
Gregor glanced at Kait.
“Yeah. I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem.”
Katya’s expression didn’t change.
“I’m serious, Gregor.”
“So am I.”
She held his eyes another moment.
Then Katya looked at Kait.
No hug.
No tearful goodbye.
Just that same composed expression she’d worn since Kait woke up.
“Stay safe.”
Kait stared at her.
“I’ll do my best.”
Katya gave a small nod.
Then she turned and walked back toward the jet.
Gregor watched her go.
He waited until she was halfway up the stairs.
Then he looked at Kait.
“She still wants me.”
Kait made a face.
“Clearly.”
Gregor stared at the jet until the gate closed.
Then he turned to Kait.
“I talked to Don, by the way….”
“And?”
“And… it looks like we need to find you something to ride.”
