Year of the Scorpio: Part One

by Stacy Gail

  “And I’ll stick to the business of keeping you safe from all-comers, Fearless.” Polo turned his face into my hair, and I thought I heard him breathe me in. “No matter who’s coming at you, no matter the cost I have to pay, I’ll protect you the only way I know how—by making anything that threatens you a memory. I made you that promise a long time ago, and I mean to keep it. I protect you.”

  The way he said it reminded me of the day we first met, and my whole being softened. I began to reach up to cup his cheek so I could bring his mouth to mine when I heard my name. Automatically I turned, then struggled not to deflate as Tiffany-Stoddard-Fanning bore down on us, wrapped in a skin-tight pink taffeta dress that should have clashed with her red hair, but didn’t.

  “Dasha, this really is quite the party.” Grabbing me out of Polo’s arms, she hit me with a set of those awkward air-kisses I never knew what to do with. “Excellent menu choices, too. Obviously you were paying attention at my Spring Fling event and spared no expense on the catering. Good decision on your part.”

  It nearly killed me not to snort. If she wanted to compare her stewed chicken with my flame-broiled filet mignon with truffle sauce or the restaurant’s specialty of traditional Peking duck, then there was nothing I could do about it. “It could be said that I was inspired.”

  “Just wait until you see the party I’m throwing for the ballet season’s opening day. You always have to be thinking ahead,” she said confidentially to my brother, who smiled politely.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, nodding.

  “Tiffany Stoddard-Fanning, may I present my brother, Nozhi Vitaliev.” I took my cue and made the introductions, tilting a wry brow my brother’s way to make his smile widen. “Nozhi is Russian for the word knives, so Knives is what he goes by.”

  Tiffany’s eyes widened. “Ah! So you’re Knives! It’s so wonderful to finally meet the man behind the intriguing name face-to-face.”

  It was a wonder my teeth didn’t fall out of my head. “Wait, what? You two know each other?”

  My brother shook his head. “Not really.”

  “We certainly do now,” Tiffany laughed lightly. “You have such a good brother, Dasha. He knew you were upset over that unfortunate incident at Chicago’s Future, so he put a call in to me personally to see if there was anything he could do to smooth things over.”

  “Really?” My heart melted at the revelation, and I couldn’t help but put a hand over it before it oozed out all over the place. “You did that for me?”

  “When my baby sister is upset, I’ll do anything to make things right.” Knives offered a kind of aw-shucks shrug. “Besides, Papa loved ballet, a leftover from his Ukrainian roots, no doubt, so I was more than happy to support your friend’s fundraiser any way I could.” He raised a brow at Tiffany. “So? Was it a successful night for the ballet company?”

  “Absolutely.” My mind boggled as Tiffany leaned into my brother’s personal space and touched his shoulder. “All thanks to you, of course. You were quite the hero that night with your considerable contribution.”

  “Somehow this doesn’t surprise me.” Polo’s smile looked as twisted as mine felt. No doubt he was trying hard not to laugh at the look on my brother’s face at being pawed by this fawning socialite. “What exactly did Knives contribute, if you don’t mind my asking? Must be the testosterone in the room, but I feel the sudden need to match it.”

  “It was only a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Knives said with a negligent wave of his hand before Tiffany could respond. “No need to be competitive, my brother. This was just something I wanted to do for Dash.”

  “Anonymous donors are always the most humble,” Tiffany gushed, beaming up at him. “In point of fact, your brother saved the day for me. The venue I had lined up had fallen through unexpectedly, so he came to the rescue by paying for a new venue, a party planner, new invitations, the valet parking and videographer, the caterer and the florists...name it, and he probably paid for it. All I had to do was make sure that you came to the party to enjoy yourself. Honestly, Dasha, I can only hope you get raided by the police again so that your doting brother will feel compelled to pay for my next fundraising event.”

  “Knives.” Deeply touched by his generosity especially since he’d done this after I’d told him about Tiffany Stoddard-Fanning—and proceeded to kick a chair into a wall—it was all I could do to stop from flinging myself into my brother’s arms. “You’re the best, big brother. Thank you for looking after me.”

  “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.” He reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I promised Papa I would.”

  “You’re definitely doing one hell of a job.” Polo kept his expression meticulously blank as he regarded my brother. Heaven knew I was trying not to laugh at how Tiffany was still in Knives’s space, but I had the sudden, thoroughly confusing feeling that Polo was keeping a lid on his reactions for a very different reason. “Speaking of looking after Dash, I need to introduce her to the rest of the security staff so she knows who’s who. If you’ll excuse us.”

  “The rest of the security staff?” I repeated as he led me away and headed in the direction of Andrew the Giant stationed near the front entrance. “I thought I knew everyone already.”

  “You do. Dash, I need you to listen to me.” Keeping his smile firmly in place, he snagged a couple flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to me. “Keep smiling at me and don’t look around.”

  In an instant my senses went on high alert, but I did exactly as he instructed. “What’s wrong?”

  “A lot.” He touched his flute to mine in an obvious toast, and the chime of crystal echoed in my ears. “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Even though I’m a Scorpeone?”

  My eyes heated so fast it was a wonder he didn’t go up in a puff of smoke. “You’re not.”

  “I am. But no matter what, I’m a Scorpeone who’s on your side, not theirs, or anyone else’s. You understand?”

  “Yes.” Unease ballooned inside me, and it was getting harder to keep my smile in place. “I trust you, baby. What do you need me to do?”

  “It’s simple, really. I need you to stay away from your brother.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The thunder of my pulse momentarily deafened me as unnamed alarm surged. Maybe I had misheard Polo, or misunderstood his meaning. “What?”

  “Stay away from your brother, especially tonight. Don’t go anywhere alone with him. Especially outside.”

  “Why? Is he in danger? That’s why you’re saying this, right? You know he’s in danger.”

  “He’s...” For a second, Polo’s gaze flicked to me. Something softened in his expression, and he reached out to tenderly tuck my hair behind my ear. “I won’t lie to you, Dash. Your brother, who I know you love more than anything, is in the worst kind of danger. And I can’t see a way out of it for him.”

  Fear clenched its icy fingers around my chest. “It’s that bad?”

  “Yeah, Fearless. I’ve tried and tried to figure out a way to make things work, but the things he’s set in motion... they can’t be undone. You have no idea how sorry I am to say that. Fuck, you have no idea.”

  “Oh, God.” I tried pulling in air, but it wasn’t happening. The fear was too huge. “Please tell me you’re going to protect him, Polo.”

  All the light seeped from his eyes. “I can’t. All I can do is save you. That’s why you need to help me keep you safe, and you’re going to do that by staying as far away from Knives as you can, starting now. Can you do that for me?”

  “I want to help.”

  “You’ll be helping by staying away.”

  Though I wanted desperately to argue the point, I could see the inherent logic behind his demand. If I was anywhere near Knives, both my brother and Polo would be far more focused on my safety than keeping Knives alive. “All right, baby. I’ll stay away from him and not get in the w
ay of you doing your job.”

  Some of the tension drained out of him. “Don’t forget what my real job is.”

  Distracted, I shook my head. “Sorry?”

  “My real job—my only job—is keeping you alive.” Very gently he touched my face, looking down at me as if he thought I was precious, like I was his world, like...

  Like he would never see me again.

  “I love you, Dasha Vitaliev.”

  My heart swelled with the sweet words, even as the fear deepened and took on a black, jagged edge. “I love you too, Polo Scorpeone. I just don’t understand why this feels like you’re telling me good-bye.”

  He merely shook his head for an answer, tilted my face up and lowered his mouth to mine. His kiss was painfully gentle, cherishing, and so bittersweet it almost stopped my heart even as it made my eyes sting. I reached out to hold onto him, because everything inside me screamed that he was slipping away, slipping way, and I would never get him back if I didn’t find a way to keep him with me now.

  I love you, Dasha Vitaliev...

  Polo stepped back, ending the kiss and avoiding my hands just as he avoided my eyes, and the stark sensation of abandonment began to sink into my soul. More than anything I just wanted to grab his hand and leave the party behind so that we could be together, but at that moment the party planner found me to let me know that dinner was ready to be served.

  Like that, he slipped away from me.

  Distracted as I was, it was apparent even to me that the evening was a smashing success. Latrice Zendiah took the stage near the end of a dinner that tasted like sawdust—though thankfully I seemed to be the only one who felt that way—and wowed the crowd. Then several of the dancers she’d brought with her held an impromptu dance class that would have scandalized the likes of Tiffany if it had happened at her posh event. Personally I thought it was wonderful to see everyone loosening up, even if I was too tense to join in the fun.

  I should have been thrilled that the first fundraiser for Chicago’s Future was a rousing success, but all I knew was a terrible, gnawing dread. My stomach was a pool of acid, and I couldn’t stop myself from surveying the happy crowd, trying to read each and every face for some hint of a problem. But without knowing what specifically to look for—other than a huge, life-threatening danger to my brother—I had no hope of finding it so I could head it off at the pass.

  “Hey.”

  I almost jumped out of my skin. My head snapped around, ready for anything, only to sag in stressed-out relief when I saw it was just Knives.

  “You almost gave me a heart attack.” With a self-conscious laugh I gave him a quick hug before I remembered my promise to Polo to keep my distance. Covertly I sent another glance around the room only to find Polo watching us from across the dining area. “Let me guess,” I said, keeping things light while backing up a couple steps. “You’ve done your time here supporting me, so now you’re heading out?”

  “Yeah, I’m out of here. Before I go, though, I was hoping I could talk to you in private?”

  Yikes. The acid churning in my stomach increased to the speed of a heavy-duty washing machine as he hit on the one thing I couldn’t do. “Can it wait until tomorrow? I’m crazy-busy right now, trying to wrap things up for tonight. I’ve still got to gather all the winners for the silent auction and announce them, and we only have the place until eleven, which is like, twenty minutes from now.”

  “This can’t wait, Dash.” Without waiting for my reply, he caught me by the elbow and pulled me toward the terrace. I was able to throw an alarmed look Polo’s way, hoping he could help me out, but he was in deep conference-mode with Rudy, though both men had their eyes on us. Neither one looked happy, so I tried again, tugging unobtrusively on my arm.

  “Seriously Knives, I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to get these announcements made before I bring the evening to a close. Give me a call tomorrow, and we can talk all you want to then, all right?”

  “This is just going to take a couple of minutes.” The crowd was much lighter on the terrace. Not only was the dancing fun still going on inside, but outside was the one place the die-hard smokers could go without breaking the law. I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose at the acrid scent of cigarette smoke as my brother pulled me to the far end of the terrace. “Man, I didn’t realize how loud it was in there until we got out here. My ears are ringing.”

  “Which is why we could have had a private conversation in there and no one would have overheard us.” Vexed and more than a little freaked out, I scanned the night-darkened canyon of buildings surrounding us with wary eyes. My skin itched because I could easily imagine being caught in some killer’s crosshairs. “Look, this is way too dangerous to be out here like this, Knives. We’re too exposed.”

  “You’re the one who rented the place out.”

  “Yeah, for other people to enjoy, not us. Vitalievs don’t do open spaces, remember? Papa would hate this.”

  “Papa’s not here.” He sounded vexed himself, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Why do you always have to bring Papa into every conversation?”

  I was shocked. “Uh, because I loved him.”

  “I did too, but I don’t keep his ghost around to compare myself to every time I turn around.”

  I stifled a sigh along with an eye-roll. “Fine, whatever. Let’s not waste any more time talking about Papa. Just say whatever it was you wanted to say so we can go back inside. I feel like a sitting duck out here.”

  “I just wanted to know what you and Polo talked about.”

  I had to clench my jaw to keep it from dropping. “Seriously?”

  “I’m always serious.”

  Wasn’t that the truth. “That’s none of your business.”

  “It is my business if it had to do with me.”

  My conversation with Polo had most definitely centered on my brother, but every instinct I had told me Knives wouldn’t thank either of us for worrying about his safety behind his back. Because of that, I just shook my head. “What makes you think our little talk had anything to do with you? I hope you know how paranoid you sound.”

  “Paranoia is what keeps me alive.”

  “Obviously you’re not paranoid enough. It doesn’t keep you off rooftops, and it sure as hell doesn’t stop you from making yourself and your sister a prime target.”

  Both Knives and I turned, and my brows shot up when I saw not only Polo and Rudy, but the head of PSI, Cap Fogelmann, along with Yuri Rodin heading our way. I couldn’t help but stare at the impressive show of force as they approached. “Um...”

  Yuri made a summoning gesture with his hand. “Please come inside, both of you. It’s not secure out here.”

  Knives’s jaw firmed and kept me in place when I would have moved. “I just want five minutes alone with my sister. Is that too much to ask?”

  “Yeah, it is.” Polo’s face was so taut he looked almost demonic in the dim light. “You don’t get five minutes with Dash, Knives. Not out here. Maybe not even inside. Maybe never again.”

  I blinked, stunned. “What...?”

  “Oh, really?” Knives stared hard at Polo, as if he thought his glare alone was enough to knock the other man back. “Why the hell not? What right do you have to talk to me like that?”

  “I have every right to keep my woman from danger, and that’s what you are, Knives. It guts me to say it, but that’s exactly what you are. As of now, Dash doesn’t go anywhere near you, do you understand?” Polo reached out a hand to me. “Come here, Fearless.”

  Automatically I took a step toward him, but was summarily jerked back to be held against my brother’s side.

  Damn it.

  “You forget yourself, Polo,” Knives said just above a whisper, and when I looked up at him, my skin iced over. I’d seen that smiling, wide-eyed look on my brother’s face once before—when he set fire to a cabin in the woods, then stood amidst the killing flames just so he could hear the screams. “You’re not the one who’s in control
here. She goes wherever I want her to go, whenever I want her to go. I’m the one who controls everything now. Not you.”

  “No.” With my heart pounding like a sledgehammer against my ribs—that unhinged, self-destructive look in my brother’s eyes was enough to terrify anyone—I struggled against his hold. “Let me go, okay? We need to get inside, we’re all in danger out here. Let me go, Nizhy.”

  “Don’t fucking call me that, whore!” He let go of me so that he could raise his hand to hit me, and then...

  My world came to an end.

  Rudy grabbed my brother’s free wrist, a practiced, professional move which unbalanced him with almost laughable ease. At the same time, Polo made a move toward me while Cap followed right behind him. But Polo never made it to me. Without warning, his forward momentum suddenly went into an impossible reverse. It was as if he’d been smacked by a massive invisible hand, and he flew backward into Cap.

  As if a switch had been thrown, the world went into slow motion, and all I could do was stand there and watch in uncomprehending horror.

  Only, that wasn’t quite right.

  Something in me comprehended just fine as to why Polo’s body made that impossible, flying-backwards movement.

  Something in me also comprehended why Polo fell down and didn’t get back up, instead lying on his side with his back to me while Cap bent over him and Yuri pulled me down to lie on the ground.

  And something definitely comprehended what it meant when Cap’s hands came away from Polo’s unmoving body, and those hands glistened wetly with the dark stain of blood.

  But.

  I didn’t understand.

  I didn’t understand how my world could come to an end so fucking quickly.

  The only thing I knew was this.

  Someone would pay.

  Keep reading for a glimpse of the opening of

  YEAR OF THE SCORPIO: PART TWO, coming in

  January!

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