by Anna Antonia
Untouchable.
Rage-red swarmed my vision when I saw exactly who sat next to her. It was him. Marcus. I assumed I’d caught him unaware when we locked gazes.
Mine promised death.
His promised nothing.
Marcus then leaned close to her, so comfortable, as if he had the fucking right. He touched her hand, the one over her stomach.
Risa’s luscious mouth parted. She leaned towards him, brow furrowed. Fingertips tingling, I once again missed the simplicity of Austin. Risa got annoyed more often than not by me flicking her forehead, but it was just one way that I took care of her.
Not necessarily because I cared whether she got wrinkles or not, but because I didn’t want her upset.
Even now I couldn’t stand to see Risa upset.
What’s wrong, my love? What can I do to make it better?
Risa reached for her side. Marcus’s hand pressed on top.
It was like the footage.
Her name erupted from my mouth, but it couldn’t punch through what happened next.
The fire alarm went off. And then every phone alarm.
Children screamed with fright as parents plucked them off the ground and rushed for the nearest exits. The rhythmic cacophony drowned my heartbeat. I watched Marcus pull Risa to her feet.
As if she could feel me breathing down her neck, she turned her head. Risa saw me straight through the chaos. I heard her voice in my head as her mouth said one word.
“Damian.”
Her eyes refused to break away. Risa pulled her arm away from Marcus, but he wouldn’t let her go.
No! This time would be different. I wouldn’t let her slip through my grasp again.
I continued to force my way through the swarm. I couldn’t let Risa escape. Not when I was so close to finally getting Risa back.
She felt it too.
Her eyes, beautiful, haunted, and somber begged for something I couldn’t decipher. She mouthed three words to replace the one tattooed on my brain.
“I love you.”
Three more.
“Please forgive me.”
Then she was gone, swept around a corner.
43
RISA
Marcus pulled me along the back corridors, away from the crowds, and through the inner-workings of the aquarium. I didn’t know how he made the alarms sound, but I understood why it happened.
Damian was here.
Giddiness initially hit my system when I saw him. After what felt like an eternity, we were almost close enough to touch. If Marcus hadn’t pulled me away I’d be in his arms right now, regardless if the world burned around us.
Now I throbbed with worry.
Damian looked awful. His wrinkled black suit emphasized the paleness of his skin. His disheveled hair looked as if he was constantly running his fingers through it. Several days’ worth of stubble darkened his cheeks. His eyes gleamed bright with fever.
Or madness.
It was as I feared. Loathing stained his gaze. Even so, I still saw the love, corrupted though it may have been.
I prayed he’d been able to see my heart through my words.
“I love you!” then “Please forgive me.”
Damian wouldn’t understand. Not when there were so many patches and holes holding this plan together. A plan I still didn’t understand much less my part in it.
I’ve given my life to everyone else. I make no decisions. I’ve earned the life I have. All the anxiety, worry, depression—it’s all because I’m letting everyone else tell me what to do.
Considering I’d been independent for most of my life, this realization was like a kick to the gut. Obviously, I’d been passive for far too long. That was about to change.
Marcus held my hand tight as we raced past the employees, some who called out towards us. They could call security all they wanted. We wouldn’t be here.
When we hit the ground floor, Marcus paused long enough to yell, “Are you okay? Can you keep running?”
I couldn’t speak so I just let my head bob as answer. Marcus stopped long enough to haul me over his shoulder. Our SUV screeched to a halt in front of us and the door popped open. I dove in as soon as he put me down, Marcus right on my tail. The door didn’t even fully close when we peeled out of there, narrowly missing another car as the vehicle tore onto road.
Catching my breath, I turned around to look behind me as the building grew smaller. Damian was in there somewhere. I wanted him back. The only way was to make this come to an end soon.
I noted the driver. He was Volkov. His allegiance laid with them, not us.
“Marcus.”
He turned towards me, already picking up on my need for privacy. Leaning close, he asked, “Yes?”
“I need to talk to you when we get back to the hotel.”
“We’re not going back.”
“Where are we going?”
“To a temporary meeting place.” I didn’t have to ask the question for him to answer, “Things have kicked up in gear.”
“Because we ran into Damian?” I wasn’t leaving the city without a real explanation. This cat and mouse game was going to come to an end.
“No. I already knew he was going to be there. You seemed lost, Miss Kelly. Considering what you’ve learned today, I thought it prudent you see him again to get a full picture.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You arranged it? All of it?”
“I got word where he’d be. You wanted to clear your head. Nature took its course. Now the rest is up to you. My offer still stands. You can leave and we’ll roll without you. It will be more difficult, but it’s not impossible.”
“No way you’re doing this without me, Marcus!”
“Have you thought this through? Every angle?”
“Yes.”
“What about your unborn child? Ending this will put you both at risk.”
“My child’s entire future is at risk if I don’t do this. Now put me in contact with Elaine so we can end this.”
Marcus regarded me beneath a speculative gaze. A tiny smile played on his lips. “And the queen finally appears.”
44
DAMIAN
“She was fucking there, Wolffington! Not at the St. Regis like she was supposed to be!”
“Wait! Slow down. You’re saying Risa was at the waiting point?”
“Yes! That bastard Marcus took her from me again! You know where they went and that’s where I’m going.”
“Negative. They’re not at the hotel, but the Volkov head is. You cannot show up there. Not now. I’ve got three men on the ground assessing the situation.”
I laid on the horn, enraged at the goddamned snarled traffic. “I’ve had enough of doing things your way! It hasn’t gotten me shit. Marcus and the fucking Volkovs are running circles around me. It comes to an end now.”
“Look, you’re playing right into their hands. You go in there tearing shit up you might as well blow your life straight to hell. FBI is all over the building, Black-Price. Why do you think I don’t want you there? They see you with the Volkovs, how long do you think it’ll be before they think you’re involved with them?”
You don’t know the half of it.
“I’m going to the St. Regis and you can either back me up or pack your shit and go the fuck home. I don’t care either way.”
Disconnecting the call, I threw my phone on the seat. It skidded off the leather and landed on the floor. Predictably, Wolffington called back. Again and again.
I appreciated his dedication to his job, but he didn’t understand.
Risa called out for me. She begged me to forgive her. Why? If she’d been the heartless bitch I built her up to be, she would’ve looked at me like I was the devil come to collect.
Not like the man she loved above all others.
“I love you. Please forgive me.”
All this time I’d seen Risa as the architect of her betrayal. A willing participant. Her hatred of me and my truth inevitable. S
he always tried to run. It was her fatal flaw as far as I was concerned.
None of the angles connected. They were all wrong.
Downshifting, I turned the wheel sharply to the right. The St. Regis was up ahead. I was already screwed as far as the FBI was concerned. If they were going to pull me in, there wasn’t much I could do to stop them. The Volkovs would see me coming if they didn’t already know.
Volkovs.
Elaine hired Marcus and traded with the Volkovs using Risa and my compliance as pawns. She’d yet to resurface, also using her silence to toy with me.
Why?
I knew she was guilty of betraying me and my father. Her denials lasted as long as my meeting with her fucking mercenary.
With my father gone, the government wanted to take a piece of me. Risa had been taken. My power and wealth meant nothing. What was Elaine’s endgame? To see me dead or punish Risa for usurping her position?
My father had been on the verge of sharing a particular truth about Elaine. Was all of this just to keep it a secret?
How did Risa fit in?
Feverish, I replayed the incident at the aquarium against the footage in my penthouse. Risa and Marcus’s hand stayed against her side. In the exact same spot as her tattoo.
The one she brushed away as a youthful attempt at therapy.
The tattoo. It all had everything to do with that damned tattoo.
Risa and Marcus disappeared from film the first time around. I’d bet my fortune they did again. Maybe more.
What kind of weapon did they turn my Risa into?
Punching the roof, I recalled it with morbid fascination. My public initials were within a frame, a K serving as the apex. What I assumed was the bottom point took on a different cast.
V.
Risa had the Volkov initial inked on her body.
Whatever calm I possessed disappeared beneath a bloodthirsty rage. Sascha Volkov kept Risa on his arm as a prized possession because that was exactly what he saw her as.
A piece of property.
By marking Risa the way they had, the Volkovs were flaunting my secret, and flexing their power. They wanted people to know who I was and what they had. Elaine most likely gave them the idea.
Clever Elaine. She always knew where to slide the knife.
The rental roared to a stop in front of the lobby. A valet rushed forward, ready with a smile only for it to crumble. I didn’t wonder why. My expression promised retribution.
I was getting into that suite. No one was going to stop me. Not the FBI. Not Sascha. Not Marcus. Not the Volkov soliders. Not even God himself.
Stalking through the empty lobby, I readied my body when two soldiers went to block my way to the elevator. I narrowed the fingers of my right hand to a point. In a flash, I drove them into each man’s throat. I then slapped my palms against one set of ears and then the other, leaving them writhing on the floor in agony.
Time wasn’t on my side so I only stayed long enough to divest the soldiers of their handguns and room keys before stepping into the elevator. I quickly inserted the key into the panel before pushing the penthouse button.
I couldn’t count on Wolffington’s men backing me up. I was either going to get through that suite door or go down in a hail of bullets. It was up to me to make sure I penetrated the Volkov defense successfully.
Readying my body, I widened my stance just in case the doors opened to my enemies. Pistols at the ready, I blew out a ragged breath.
I’m getting Risa back. I swore I’d follow her no matter how far she got lost.
The doors slid open. It was time.
45
RISA
We pulled up to a seemingly abandoned warehouse just south of Atlanta. Marcus didn’t seem alarmed that the Volkov driver stayed with us. He motioned for him to approach the main doors. Looking up, I saw the camera’s blinking red light. Whoever watched us buzzed us in.
Our combined footsteps echoed throughout the darkened cavernous space. Sunlight somehow found its way through the filthy windows, enough to make the use of a flashlight unnecessary.
Marcus led us up two flights of steps. He walked with purpose, already knowing exactly where we were going. Stopping in front of a door, he beckoned me closer.
“She’s waiting for you in here. You two have fifteen minutes before we have to get ready to leave.” Marcus already explained our second meeting point was a four-hour drive further south.
I nodded and grabbed the knob. Whatever happened behind this door was definitely going to change everything. Good or bad.
Steeling myself for the worst, I almost missed seeing Elaine. She leaned against a battered desk, one that reminded me of the one I laid on the last time I saw her. It seemed original to the building and worse for wear. Elaine’s expression looked just as bad.
“Hello, Risa. How was our Damian?”
“Our Damian looked like he was hanging on a string. Are you here to pull him up or cut him loose?”
Her thin-lipped smile was almost as I remembered. I walked into the room, closing the door behind me. I almost asked if she needed to sit down because Elaine simply looked exhausted. Her skin, once taut and relatively smooth, now was papery thin. Her eyes, although still sharp, carried the haunted stare of someone run to ground and wanted it to be all over.
“Have you figured out your part in all this yet, Risa?”
I considered the question. “You’ve had a role for me and I’ve played it, but I’m done. I want Damian out of this. Completely. How do we get this done?”
Her smile lost its brittleness. “You’re negotiating with me.”
“If I have to.”
It was time to put it all out on the table. The suspicions I’d had from the very beginning that only got strengthened through the last month.
“Look, we can continue to play this game where you’re the bad guy and I’m just a pawn in your scheme.”
“It’s no game, Risa. Trust me.”
“Elaine, I know you love him, but you’ve done all this to make Damian hate you. Why?”
“I’ve betrayed him. He knows it and so do you.”
“And I’ve betrayed him. Because I’ve done it I know anything you’ve done is because you love him. I just want to know why. What are you hiding?”
She widened her stance and crossed her arms. “I wanted to think you were a crush. A passing fancy. Do you know why? It’s not because I dislike you. It’s because I knew once you arrived it was going to all come crashing down.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. But my heart ached for her. Whatever Elaine carried it didn’t start with me entering Damian’s life. It happened long before the first time he said, “I’m Damian Black. Miss Kelly?”
The story she told was one I never saw coming. Not in a million years and never from the perpetually elegant Elaine Black-Price.
“My name wasn’t always Elaine Black-Price. It was once Katja. My mother died when I was eleven and her husband sold me to the Konstantinov family. That surprises you, doesn’t it? The grand lady you’ve thought I was turned out only to be a prostitutka. How does it make you feel?”
Even after all these years, I could see the defiant girl she must’ve once been to survive such betrayal. I owed her an honest answer.
“It makes me feel sad that you went through that.”
Elaine shook her head. “Sad. I would take the word if it was all there was. My virginity was auctioned off to a high-ranking member of the KGB. I was his toy for a bit until he sold me back to the Konstantinovs.”
Swallowing, I felt queasy. How could anyone do that to a child? Worse, how could my child’s family be part of something so dark and depraved?
“I should’ve rotted in that brothel. I almost did until Grigor found me.” Elaine’s expression softened. The brief smile opened a door to another time, one where she fell madly in love with Damian’s father.
I knew it because I’d seen it on my face often enough.
“Our work didn’t lea
ve much time for genuine laughter. We found pleasure and joy wherever we could. I happened to discover I had a talent for mimicry because one of my clients had a fascination with Catherine Deneuve. I remembered watching one of her movies with my mother when I was very little.”
Elaine’s voice changed, becoming sultry and French. “My accent was spot on. My client was very happy, yes? Grigor overheard me one day while on an errand for his father. The girls asked me to imitate one famous actress after another. Like this.”
I stood where I was, knowing I’d break the spell if I moved. Elaine seamlessly went from French to Spanish to British to Italian to American.
“He came in and said, ‘That’s very good. Do Farrah Fawcett.’ I nearly pissed my pants. I knew who he was and I thought he’d beat me for being impertinent.”
I tried not to flinch but Elaine saw it. She dared me to ask the question.
“Did he?”
“No. He laughed and called me a good girl. That was the start of our friendship.” Elaine’s gaze softened. “It was Grigor who saw I had more value than a whore. He convinced his father to have me trained.”
“Trained?” I imagined it to be of the lurid sort.
“Trained to be a sleeper cell agent.” She re-crossed her arms, no longer looking like a young girl in the full throes of hero worship. “It was the 1980s. We were locked in the midst of the Cold War and my country did not trust Reagan and his SDI program. I, along with Thomas, were recruited out of the Konstantinov brothel.
“If we failed we died. If we excelled we’d get to go to America. We’d never be free, but we’d never have to give our bodies over to whoever paid our masters.”
I heard the words and believed the source, but to hear it like this—no wonder Damian’s Black-Price family carried that particular name so well. I couldn’t fathom those two sophisticated people being bartered like an object.
It sickened me.
“How did you come to raise Damian?”
Elaine shifted her stance again. I sensed the agitation all the way across the room.
“Grigor met Damian’s mother after I’d completed my training. Thomas and I were already in the US, living our lives as an up and coming broker and his wife. I heard he fell in love with an American girl and married her. I couldn’t believe it. Grigor wasn’t a man to entangle himself in love affairs. It…hurt.”