by Zoey Parker
I was like a caged animal all day, and I couldn’t be happy about anything. Breakfast tasted bland, and Kelly had slept in, so I didn’t even have her to talk to. No preoccupation from my dark thoughts.
After lunch, I tried to call Aleksey for an update, but he didn’t answer. Which wasn’t too surprising, but it fouled my mood even further.
When I couldn’t handle the wait any longer, I decided to take matters into my own hands. After his shop closed for the night, I sneaked to the back door with the intent of looking for anything I could use against Vasilev. I had learned how to burglarize without a trace in my youth, before I reclaimed my name. It served me well then, and the skill had continued to serve me well as an adult. Some of life’s most important survival skills were things you wouldn’t be taught in school but out on the streets.
The lock was a decent one, but I took my time and still managed to unlock it. A quick glance to make sure no one was around. Good. The coast was clear. I quietly slipped inside and closed the door behind me. It was dark inside, too dark to see, and I had to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I couldn’t risk turning on a flashlight in case someone was lingering around, though I didn’t hear anyone else, and I had watched everyone leave before breaking in.
Once my eyes adjusted enough that I could see, I made my way to Vasilev’s office. While the rest of the place looked rather messy — actually that was too kind, as the place looked like a tornado had swept through it — Vasilev’s office was stark and neat and empty. He wouldn’t be the kind to leave trails, so this might be for nothing, but on the off chance his hubris could help bring him down, I had to check.
I moved to the filing cabinet first and had to unlock each and every drawer, but quick glances didn’t reveal anything important. I didn’t want to stay here longer than was necessary, so I moved onto the desk. If I needed to, I’d return to the filing cabinet. He was putting on a show that he was legitimate business owner, so if he was laundering money, he was doing a superb job of hiding it. More than anything, I wanted to find out to whom he owed money. That information would be the first nail in his coffin.
There wasn’t anything on the surface of the desk except for a pen. There were plenty of locked drawers, but what caught my eye was the trashcan.
The not empty trashcan.
It was full of shredded papers.
The shredder was tucked away in the back corner of his office. He must have done a ton of shredding recently, because the bin was still filled even though he had put some in his regular trash. But the best part was that there was a large piece that hadn’t shredded completely and was sticking out of the top. Maybe the shredder had overheated or maybe the papers were too thick.
I pulled out them from the top and riffled through them. A faded paid transaction to Sanchez Trucking. Interesting. Then I ransacked through the bottom and discovered strips that looked like they had been other transactions. This must be the connection I needed.
I wasn’t stupid enough to think Vasilev came back to my city just to earn money to pay back this company, which was most likely a cover for someone else. With those guns he had recently acquired, was Vasilev’s big plan to take me down and steal my money to get this third party off his back?
Not gonna happen, buddy.
I grabbed the transaction from the top of the shredder, folded it, and tucked it inside a pocket. My time here had come to an end. I’d better get out of here before someone noticed me. After all, even though I didn’t see any cameras, it didn’t mean they weren’t hiding somewhere. Honestly this had gone a lot more smoothly than I had anticipated. If a silent alarm had been tripped, someone would’ve been here long before now.
After I ensured everything was the way it should be, that no one would be able to tell I had entered the office, I was ready to leave. But when I stood by the doorway, the hair on the back of my neck rose. Someone else was in here. I could tell.
Fuck.
I ducked down, and there was a whoosh above my head as someone tried to punch where I had just been. Pissed but also happy I could release some of my frustrations and anxiety, I dove forward and wrapped my arms around the assailant’s legs. He was too strong to be knocked over, but I did push him back enough so there was space between us. A good start.
Before I could get into position to launch my own attack, he was already going after me again. His fist connected with my jaw, and I was lucky I didn’t bite my tongue, but then his elbow slammed into my nose. Blood gushing, dripping down my neck and onto my clothes, and I was livid.
The man backed off slightly, snickering and smirking. He was dressed all in black, but I couldn’t see anything that made him easily recognizable, and my first thought was to wonder if he was the same man who had accosted Kelly, which made me all the more furious, but I couldn’t give into emotions. I had to be careful. Not only did I have to take care of the man in black, but I also had to ensure there wasn’t any evidence of the attack. So I couldn’t bleed on anything and I couldn’t make him bleed either…at least not here.
The man dove forward, forcing me back into the office. I ducked down and dashed forward at his legs. He tripped over me, his head knocking into the desk. Good thing there wasn’t a bunch of papers on top, or else there would have been a huge mess for me to clean up.
Unfortunately, the blow wasn’t enough to knock him unconscious, so I wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled tight. He slapped at me, clawed at me, wiggled around, but slowly, my chokehold cut off his oxygen enough for him to slump over. He wasn’t quite unconscious, so I pulled back and hit him hard right in the temple. Now he was out. Still alive, but down for the count.
I double-checked that everything was right where it should be. The pen had fallen down, so I returned it to its place. Perfect.
After cracking my knuckles and doing a few quick stretches, I dragged the man outside and to a deserted alley. No one was around, and I attached a silencer to my gun. Movies acted like silencers made a gun completely silent, which wasn’t the case. Gunshots were super loud, and silencers only muffled the sound a little bit. If people were nearby, they would still hear it, but at this time of night, hopefully no one was around or awake to hear it, and it wasn’t like I planned on sticking around.
A single shot to the forehead, and it was done. I picked up the casing and then lifted the guy and dumped the body into a dumpster. There. All done. No one would know I had been the one to snoop around in Mikhail’s office. It was unfortunate that I had to kill the guy since it was a dead giveaway someone had been crossing the line into Mikhail’s business, but it was what it was. The man had seen me. He had attacked me. He had to be put down.
And he was only the first. There would be more death on my hands by the time I was done with the likes of Mikhail Vasilev.
Chapter 21
Kelly
I couldn’t stand being in the house, but I also didn’t want to leave. If I saw Mom, she would be able to tell something was wrong, and so would Stacy, and I just couldn’t deal with their questions and concern right now. While the idea of going for a walk seemed appealing, I didn’t want to have bodyguards tailing me the whole way, so that left me to pace around the house, careful to avoid Andrei’s room and the room next to it with all the weapons.
Lunchtime came around, and I couldn’t bring myself to eat. My stomach was too queasy, or maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy — knowing I was pregnant and expecting to have morning sickness. After all, I had felt fine all day yesterday and eaten just fine, and I had been pregnant then, just unknowingly. Andrei had eaten breakfast while I had been dealing with my whole pregnancy ordeal, and I purposely delayed eating lunch, too, so I would have the meal in peace and quiet. I wasn’t ready to face him yet. What if he could tell just by my face that I was pregnant? I could be good at hiding things when I tried hard, except when the person in question knew me well. Which was why I couldn’t get anything past my mom or Stacy, and I had a feeling that Andrei was in that camp, too.
The baby. I was already thinking of the baby as “the” and not “my.” My baby.
I wiped at my eyes, blaming it on allergies, and to cover up my feelings, I ate so much that I ended up going into a food coma back up in my room. I slept for hours, and when I woke up, I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went back to pacing up and down the hallway. Andrei should probably be home soon anyhow, and knowing him, he would want to have a romp in the sheets. If I wasn’t going to tell him yet, I had no excuse to close my legs. And, honestly, with how confused I was feeling about everything, it would be nice to be in his arms, to forget about my worries, and to feel good like only he could make me feel.
Normally, I stayed in my room, sometimes wearing nothing, sometimes wearing an oversized t-shirt. Andrei had bought me lingerie, and I had to admit I didn’t see the point of it. Why wear clothes that were only on for a few seconds and weren’t appreciated? I didn’t want any of Andrei’s money to be wasted, so I did wear the lingerie at times. The look in his eyes when I wore it…okay, maybe he did appreciate it. Tomorrow, I’d wear something special for him. Maybe I’d wear it all day long, underneath my normal clothes. Most of the time, I changed into lingerie shortly before I thought Andrei would be coming to see me.
The more I was looking forward to him coming home, the longer the minutes dragged on. Eventually, an hour passed before he came home and, for once, I greeted him right by the door.
And what a sight he made, and not in a good way. He was all bloody, his clothes stained, and his nose looked all swollen. Maybe it was even broken. He had a few bruises, too.
Horrified, I gasped. “What happened?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer because I was afraid he’d push me away. Whenever I asked about his day or his past, there was a chance he wouldn’t answer. Right now, I wanted to be close to him, to have a reason to stay.
Andrei glowered and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, brushing it off like I knew he would.
“It’s not nothing,” I insisted. How could he dare act like nothing was wrong? Did he think I was stupid? That I was a doormat? That I’d just sit back and listen to him and not care that he was hurt? Deep down, I figured this had something to do with his mob connection, but seriously he shouldn’t act like this was nothing. “You’re bleeding and your clothes—”
“I’ll rinse off the blood and then come for you,” he said. And he walked on past me, as if that settled things, as if I should just be willing to accept that.
Annoyed and disgruntled, I made my way up to my room and sat on the edge of my bed. What else could I do? I wanted to wash away the blood for him, to tend to him, to ask questions and for him to confide in me, but that wasn’t my place. I was separate from that part of his life — as separate as I could be as I thought back to the man who had accosted me. At least that had only been a one-time occurrence, though I still had nightmares about him sometimes. Andrei was clearly drawing a line.
But why? We had been growing close, a lot closer than just those in a business arrangement. What had changed his mind? Why the need for space? Despite his being closed off, I couldn’t deny that he had wormed past my defenses. I cared about him more than I should. I wanted to be there for him.
Which made it all the more frustrating that he wouldn’t open up completely to me. Did he think I didn’t realize he had a mob connection? Of course I did! Didn’t he see that my still being here despite being used to threaten him should mean something?
Bottom line, did he respect me? I knew that had nothing to do with our business deal, but I wanted his respect. Somehow, along the way, I had fallen for him. His talk about the future of his son, what he wanted out of life…he had a lot of the same desires and goals I would have if I had a son of my own to raise. His job notwithstanding, he had the potential to be a great man.
Potential that wasn’t realized and might never be realized. Maybe I shouldn’t stay here, waiting for him. What was the point? Giving him this child would fulfill his desires, but was that in the child’s best interests? I never regretted my hastiness in agreeing to all of this more than I did right now, in this moment. Seeing Andrei hurt brought the terrible nature of his dark world crashing home to me. As much as I wanted to believe in the future he talked about for his son, I knew it was impossible. His son would be stuck in that same dark world that had hurt Andrei, that same dark world that made Andrei so desperate to have an heir.
Because Andrei was afraid he was going to die and soon, and given the threat, that was a very genuine and necessary fear. I didn’t know how exactly he planned on responding, but he was trying to make a contingency plan if he didn’t win.
He wanted a legacy to leave behind. Even though that legacy would be sucked up in that same darkness. Even though his son might be left without a father. Even though his son would be threatened, too, maybe even killed.
Andrei was being selfish by wanting to bring a child into the world so badly. And I was being greedy and selfish myself to have agreed to help him.
Only a few days ago, I had visited Mom. She had been up and about, looking happier and healthier than I had seen her in a long time. There were no lingering aftereffects of her recent fall and trip to the hospital. My mom and her nurse were getting on like the best of friends. Claire’s husband had also died, so they had plenty to bond over. Claire had been telling my mom stories about the few disaster of dates she had gone on in the past few years when I arrived. They had been laughing so hard they didn’t hear me open the door. The picture of my mom being so happy, of actually having color in her face instead of being so drawn and pale all the time gave me hope. I had agreed to this craziness because of her. She needed me. I was stuck.
Or was I? Did I really have to stay here and fulfill my end of the agreement? The more I weighed our agreement versus what was best for the baby, I didn’t know how I could stay. Yes, I needed the money for my mom, and if I did run, I would have to take my mom with and that would mean a new doctor and new tests and a new home.
On the other hand, could I really contemplate running away knowing about Andrei’s connection to the mob? He would track me down and drag me back here — and it wouldn’t be to take me to bed. He was a man who got what he wanted. He would not take well to betrayal, and running would be betrayal.
What could I do?
My bedroom door opened, and Andrei strolled in, kicking the door shut behind him. He had changed his shirt, and not a trace of blood remained on him. He sure knew how to clean up blood, and that was almost more terrifying than the sight of him wounded.
“Andrei.” I shakily climbed to my feet and rubbed my arms. Why did I suddenly feel so cold? I swallowed hard and suppressed a cough.
He stared at me, his expression unreadable, his eyes half closed.
“Do you work for the mob?” I asked in a rush. I knew he did, but maybe I needed to hear it. We had talked about a great many things, but his work was one subject we never broached, and I was tired of that. I wasn’t a fragile egg. I wouldn’t break. I might run, but I wouldn’t break.
“Why would it matter?” he asked matter-of-factly, his expression not changing.
I gaped at him. Seriously? He came home all bloodied and maybe with a broken nose, and he expected me to just turn a blind eye? Of course it mattered! I needed to know what he was capable of. Yes, he had grand plans for his son, but he would want his son to follow in the family business. What did he expect of him? I had no illusions that Andrei would change who he was for me, but seriously, couldn’t he see what the mob was doing to him? He was so
blind by the need to have an heir quickly that he wasn’t thinking about the danger that his child would be in since he was obviously in danger himself. If he could just focus on that, on his son and his son’s future, maybe then he might be willing to change.
“And you’re one to talk,” he continued, his eyes narrowing. “You’re the one selling your own child.”
How dare he! I didn’t even stop to think. I just slapped him as hard as I could.
His fingers closed around my wrist, and he pushed me back toward the bed. His eyes were dark, and I had never seen him quite like this before. For the first time since I walked up to him in the bar, I was terrified of Andrei.
He leaned down close to me. “I killed a man tonight,” he uttered, his tone dark.
To say I was horrified would be an understatement. He killed a man? Why was he telling me this? Yes, I had wanted him to open up, but not to hear something like this. How the hell had I ended up here, and how the hell was I going to get out of this mess? And get out of it alive?