Here, I was lost, numb. I didn’t know who I was meant to be. I didn’t know the family I used to have.
Talia made me someone. I was her Zaal.
But alone, I was nothing more than a number. Than Master’s dzaghii, his dog.
Lifting Talia in my arms, I placed her on the seat and got to my feet. “I am tired,” I said. I walked toward the door.
“Zaal?” Talia called, and ran up behind me. I turned and she pressed her small body against my chest, questions swimming in her eyes.
I lowered my head and pressed my forehead to hers. I breathed in her scent and felt warmth flood through my body. Since I had awoken drug free, I had needed her as much as I’d needed the old drug. But right now, I needed to be alone.
“I need to rest. I need. I need…”
“To be alone,” she said, finishing my words.
I pressed my lips to her forehead and said, “It is not because I do not want you. It is because I need to think I—”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “You go and sleep. You’re still recovering and today has been a lot for you to take in.”
I headed to the stairs, but turned back to Luka and asked, “Zaal is my first name. What was my family’s name?”
Luka’s eyes shot to mine. Tensing his jaw, he stated, “Kostava. You are Zaal Kostava from Tbilisi, Georgia. You and Anri were the heirs of the Kostava clan, a Mafia family.”
I soaked in those words and I wrapped my mind around that name, Kostava. Zaal Kostava.
Leaving Talia in that room took more strength than I ever could imagine. She was a part of me now. As I walked up the stairs to the bedroom, my hand felt empty without hers clutching mine.
I walked into the room and stared into the emptiness. My pulse raced and my palms began to sweat. Being alone again brought memories of being back in a cell. I fought the urge to go back downstairs.
I wanted to remember and rest.
I needed to find out who I really was.Remember exactly how Master had taken my life from me. Exactly what he’d done to my twin brother and me.
I strode to the mirror hanging on the wall and stared at my reflection. My black hair ran down over my shoulders, my skin was marked with scars and marks. Then I looked to my face and I remembered what Luka had said. I had a twin. Anri. We looked exactly alike.
Then I looked to my left cheek and the three moles beside my eye. One, two, three. One, two, three, the little girl’s voice sounded in my head. I could almost feel her little finger tapping at my skin.
A sister. My sister. Dark eyes and dark hair, clutched in my arms.
My heart sped up as I tried to remember more. But nothing else came. That was all I had to give, for the moment.
Going to the bed, I removed my hooded sweatshirt and climbed under the comforter. I closed my eyes, Luka’s words echoing in my head: he killed them all. Massacred your family … right in front of your eyes …
And my name … Kostava. You are Zaal Kostava from Tbilisi, Georgia. You and Anri were the heirs of the Kostava clan, a Mafia family …
Chapter Fourteen
Talia
My strength drained as Zaal walked out of the living room and up the stairs to our bedroom. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Our bedroom, I emphasized in my head. Because that’s how it was for me now. It may have only been weeks, but it was weeks of days full of just him and I. I’d taught him about life. I’d showed him the sun, but he’d shown me true freedom. He’d shown me what it was to feel wanted, needed, vital to someone else’s happiness.
A deep sigh sounded behind me. I knew I had to face Luka and Kisa. Luka’s face was stone when he’d seen me be affectionate with Zaal. I hadn’t told Luka he’d changed. I had lied to my brother repeatedly when he’d called in to check on Zaal’s progress.
And I’d done it on purpose. I’d wanted Zaal to myself. Just for once, I’d wanted to have something that wasn’t Bratva owned.
Zaal was mine.
In this house he wasn’t a Kostava. I wasn’t a Tolstaia. We just were.
Inhaling a long breath, I slowly turned to see Kisa and Luka staring at me. Luka’s expression was stern, but Kisa’s was sympathetic.
Silently, I moved toward them, then sat back in the large sofa cushions. Luka’s gaze was cold. Shaking my head, I said, “Just get it over with, Luka. You’re disappointed in me. You think I’ve lost my fucking mind.”
I caught Luka shift on his seat in my peripheral vision. “I am pissed, Talia,” he said. I raised my eyebrow at how much he sounded like my father. Betrayal of my family now ran through my blood—I got it. I went against the golden rule—never betray the family.