Guns & Roses

Dimitri

The moment Abram mentioned that name, I was positive Tatiana was her.

The missing granddaughter of the Lunanov family.

The first time I made love to her was the first time I saw her birthmark. The crescent shaped mark which was like a brand that only those whose Lunanov blood runs through them possess. To say I was surprised was an understatement, I was more in the lines of stunned when the truth basically hit me right in the face.

To be honest, Tatiana’s background was a complete mystery at the beginning, as do all agents from the Agency. Admittedly, I only saw her as a way of getting ahead of Arturo at first, but things took the opposite direction when I met her. The look on her eyes made me think differently and I was instantly bewitched... and for once in my life, ever since that fateful day, I wasn’t so blinded by my lust for revenge.

Ever since then, I had to dig more info and pay more attention to the little things. If only I wasn’t distracted with the beauty in front of me, I should have recognized her immediately. She was the same girl but at the same time, completely different. Tatiana grew up to be a woman, far from the toothless toddler I used to play with. Yet despite the significant change in physical looks, many of her cute quirks were still there once I started paying attention.

A heavy sigh broke me out of my reverie. We were currently at the balcony as the night’s cool air blew through.

Far enough from the crowd, Abram’s posture slouched as he grasped the edges of the ledge.

“How?” He asked, his voice nearly croaking.

“It’s quite unexpected sir... and mostly likely fate that I ended up finding her” I started as Abram listened to every word I said.

“My sources reported that Arturo and his men were always engaged in a fight with a certain team. A team from the Agency. Which we thought was kind of suspicious. It wasn’t like Arturo to keep playing games, we know he always go for the kill.

I had the twins search up every profile of the members, it was hard but they managed to pull through. And her file in particular caught my attention.

She looked familiar, but I brushed it off, focused on the fact that she was famous for being the best female sniper at the agency and that Arturo wanted her.

It was only a while ago that I saw her birthmark and that’s when I was close to sure it was her” I said, leaving out the part on how I actually saw her birthmark”

Abram gave out a small smile. “Her father had the same birthmark as did I. The proud symbol of the Lunanov family...” he said, a look of longing present in his face.

“She always bragged about it when we were little” I smiled, remembering how she used to pull her dress down just to show it to me.

“It’s hard to believe the Agency had her all this time. Surely they knew of her true identity which infuriates me” the old man said as he fisted his hands.

Breathing out to calm himself, he closed his eyes and heaved another sigh.

“I can’t believe my little luna is alive” he whispered, fighting back the tears.

This was the first time I ever saw such a powerful man brought down to tears. I could only look away, as I know men like him doesn’t like showing weakness. I respected him enough to give him space and privacy.

“Does she know?” He asked after a while of silence.

“I’m afraid not. For starters, she doesn’t recognize me” I chuckled, trying to break the tense mood.

“Obviously, you’re now a grown man Dimitri, not the lanky boy she used to play with” Abram said chuckling.

“I know. I didn’t even fully recognize her at first until I saw her birthmark. She grew up to be a beautiful woman”

Abram raised a brow at my slip up but brushed it away with a knowing look.

“I want to meet her right now” Abram declared.

“I’m not sure Tatiana’s ready for the truth” I stated honestly.

“The longer you keep this from her the more it will hurt her Dimitri” Abram said giving me a hard look.

It was true. I knew Tatiana hated things being kept from her but I was afraid the truth might be too much to handle.

“Let me talk to her first before I introduce her to you” I proposed.

The old man merely grunted, showing his displeasure in my proposition.

“Fine. If this is what you think is best, I will agree with you on this one” He said.

“Of course. Let’s head back in, I’m afraid the boys can only keep an eye on her for so long”

Abram laughed at my words. “She isn’t a Lunanov for nothing”

***

Going back inside, I nodded at Abram as a silent agreement passed. I looked around the massive crowd for Tatiana but failed to locate her.

Looking from one corner to another, a nagging feeling starts to occur.

I was about to call one of the boys but then Anton discreetly offered me champagne with one hand on the tray and the other with a glass.

“Where is she?” I asked discreetly

“Damn it” he muttered.

“What happened” forcing the words out. The flute I was currently holding was now broken into two as pieces of glass fell down.

“The twins notified me that Tatiana’s tracking device suddenly went off and still is” he explained.

I placed the broken glass on his tray forcefully, garnering a few heads towards our direction. I paid no attention to them as I quickly made my way towards the door.

As soon as I got to the door, I snatched my bow tie off and was soon accompanied by Viktor.

“The last time I saw her she was at the bar alone. That’s it”

“If something fucking happens to her, all of you will be in hell of a lot trouble”

I tried calling Boris but there wasn’t any signal. What the actual fuck.

We quickly made our way to the front, my car ready as Viktor threw the kid some cash. I drove out of the place and made my way towards our meeting place.

I was holding the steering wheel tight enough that my knuckles were turning white and I was sure I’m breaking the speed limit but I didn’t give a shit.

I needed to know where Tatiana is.

I fucking promised to keep her safe.

“Relax Dimitri. We’ll find her” Viktor said.

“Relax? You want me to fucking relax Viktor?!” I shouted at him as I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

“Yes! Because driving like a fucking crazy person might get us killed and that won’t be helping anyone’s case” he reasoned out.

Seeing the black metal van camped out near an old abandoned farm, I parked my car just a few meters a head of it. Shutting down the engine, I got out of the car not waiting for Viktor as I opened the van’s door forcefully.

My head was automatically met with guns pointed at me but I just grasped it with one hand and gripped it tight.

“Get those fucking guns out of my sight” I grounded out. Looking at them dead in the eye.

“S-sorry boss. I thought you w-were someone else” Alexei stuttered.

“Give me the stats. Now”

“Tatiana’s tracker flickered about 45 mins ago” Andrei started explaining.

That was roughly around the time I left her.

Damn it.

Taking my silence in, Alexei started explaining as well.

“Anton also reported Arturo’s presence in the ball. He was supposed to be at Italy right now”

“Where’s Anton?” I asked to nobody in particular.

“He’s still at the ball. Searching for some clues” Viktor piped in.

“We need to go back boss. The equipment here at the van won’t allow us to do much” Alexei said.

“Go ahead. I need to inform someone first”

I went down the vehicle and Viktor followed shortly. Hearing the van starting, they sped away leaving us both.

Feeling the migraine that was coming, I closed my eyes in frustration as I forcefully unbuttoned the top few of my shirt.

This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her there.

Punching the wooden pole nearest to me, I stayed in that position for a few seconds until I leaned my forehead on it to calm myself down. The light that the pole was holding was now flickering until it finally burned out.

After a few deep breaths, a hand landed on my shoulder.

“It’s not your fault Dimitri. And besides, Tatiana’s a tough chick, she can handle herself for a while” Viktor said, trying to console me.

“For a while? That isn’t exactly reassuring me Vik” I said as I made my way towards our car.

I drove out of there and into the busy streets of New York. As traffic caught up, I dialed the number I was dreading to call.

“Dimitri! Where the hell are you!” Abram shouted.

“She’s missing”

“Blyad!” He cursed out in russian. “Where are you right now”

“We’re going back to our place” I said as the line went off.

If it were anyone who hang up on me like that, they would most probably get a beating. But I couldn’t blame the old man for acting the way he did. Hell, I blame myself for it.

Dodging cars and speeding off, I parked the car in front of the house as I headed towards the main surveillance room.

Shrugging my jacket off and throwing it to some chair, I bent down, directing my gaze at the computer. Andrei and Alexei were typing furiously. They were trying to hack into Firenze’s security footages.

“Dimitri” Boris said as he entered the door.

“What” I replied not looking at him.

“He’s here” was all he said.

“Shit” I cursed out as I took off from my position and headed towards the door.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Your office” Boris replied as I made my way.

Opening the door to my office, my jaw was instantly met with a heavy punch.

“Fucking hell Dimitri! How could you loose her?!” Abram shouted.

I wiped the small blood that trickled down the side if my mouth with the back of my hand as I faced a raging old man.

“I’ll bring her back” I said, meaning every word.

“You better! I won’t have a repeat of the last time”

“Don’t-” I said deathly low. “I said I’ll bring her back and I will”

My blood was boiling but I needed to keep myself in check. I know he was equally frustrated as I was but what he said was such a low blow.

The old man let out a heavy sigh. “I apologize. It was not my intention to bring back bad memories”

“Some of my men are already on the lookout. Update me as soon as possible. I’m counting on you Dimitri”

Abram said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I won’t disappoint” was all I said as I made my way back to the surveillance room.

Opening the door, hushed tones were heard. Slamming the door shut, everyone’s head snapped towards my direction.

“Did you find anything?”

“Well sort of” Viktor said.

“Get straight to the fucking point Viktor”

I was in no mood for petty delays. I needed to find Tatiana.

“It’s not a thing, it’s someone” Viktor said.

And when I was about to ask what the hell they were talking about, Anton barged in holding a scrawny kid by the collar.

Crossing my arms together, I raised a brow at the new intruder.

“And who the hell are you?”

“I-I, u-um...” the kid said stuttering.

Anton shoved the kid forward.

“This is the bartender that Tatiana was last seen with” Anton explained.

“I suggest you talk before we make you talk” Anton grunted.

“I-ah, s-she ordered r-rum and coke, and I served her one” he started off, his eyes darting everywhere.

“Speak the hell up kid! We won’t kill you for fuck’s sake” I shouted as I was getting impatient and if it was possible, more color drained from his face.

“I suddenly n-noticed the guests around the bar disperse quickly and that’s until I s-saw him”

“Who?” Boris asked, wanting to confirm our suspicion.

“I only heard the guests, but I was guessing the m-man was Arturo Mortelli”

“What happened after?” I asked.

“He sat beside her and they talked. Until I saw him pull a syringe out and that’s when I-I”

“That’s when you what?” I said narrowing my eyes at him.

“That’s when I h-hid”

“Did you see where they took off”

“I just saw them go through the staff q-quarters. That’s all I know. Please don’t kill me” he begged.

“Get him out of my sight”

Anton dragged the frantic kid away and I was deep in thought until I heard Boris mumble something.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“They couldn’t have gone that far” he repeated.

After hours and hours of waiting, the twins was still out of luck. I was getting more and more frustrated at these turns of event and I don’t even want to imagine what Tatiana was going through in the hands of that bastard.

I left the room and headed towards my personal gym. I needed to release tension. Going straight for the punching bag, I threw punch after punch until I feel the warmth of my sore knuckles. I slid down the mat and closed my eyes, steadying my heavy breathing.

Hearing the door open, I didn’t even bother to look at who the person was.

“Who would’ve thought Tatiana turned out to be her”

“And I almost fucking sent her to the wolves”

“But you didn’t. Even when you didn’t know her true identity”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I failed to recognize her and protect her for that matter”

“Oh come on sobrat, you were both young when you last saw each other. People change in more ways than one” Boris said.

“We’re going to get her back Dimitri. We always have your back” he said patting my shoulder.

Once I calmed myself down, we went back to the surveillance room and helped the twins. As much as we were trained in combat, computers and hacking was one subject every crime family should be taught.

The sound of typing was the only thing you cam hear at the room until one of the twins spoke up.

“Wait!” Andrei shouted.

“What is it?” I asked rushing to his desk.

“I saw it, I swear. Tatiana’s tracker popped up for just a second”

I don’t get it. I was sure they haven’t gone away that far but my men reported back that Arturo was not in any of his hideouts.

Tatiana was still wearing the necklace which only means...

“They have signal blockers” I concluded.

“Search all areas within the perimeter that has blocked servers” I ordered.

There were countless of places that showed zero signal but one that caught our attention made my temper spike up.

Banging my fist on the table, “I’m going to kill that fucking son of a bitch”

They were still at Firenze’s and I couldn’t believe how stupid and ignorant I was.

“Boris get me those fucking blue prints. NOW”

He went towards the metal file cabinets and withdrew the material. He laid it out on the table and I studied the layout.

If what the boy said earlier was true, then the staff quarters should have at least one more door. A door not present on this print.

“Anton, bring back the boy”

Nodding at my command, he went out of the door to retrieve the kid.

“I can’t believe she’s still there. And I let her slip through my fingers”

“Don’t beat yourself too much Dimitri. Save up your energy when you need to kick that son of a bitch’s ass”

“He’ll pay for this”

I’m coming for you Mishka.