“That all depends on you.” Dimitri slapped two pieces of paper onto the bar, along with a Montblanc pen. “If you cooperate and do everything I say, then he will remain alive.”
“You would really murder your own father?” I asked, aghast.
This was so not the same man I thought I knew.
Dimitri’s face twisted in revulsion. “A father would have known of my existence. He would never have let my mother leave in the first place. He is no more a father to me than the man who broke my bones and beat my mother black and blue. If you think I feel some level of affection toward him that would prevent me from slitting his throat, you’re gravely mistaken.”
Crazy.
Officially coocoo-ca-choo crazy.
“The first document is a money transfer that authorizes everything in Sergei Kozlov’s name be transferred to Alexia Kozlov,” Dimitri went on, turning his attention to the bar. “Bank accounts, liquid assets, everything. I’ve already gotten the old man’s signature. It just awaits yours.”
I frowned, getting a horrible sinking feeling in my chest. “What good will that do? You won’t have access to it.”
He glanced over his shoulder, an excited gleam in his eyes. “I will once we are married. Which brings me to the second document. I’ve taken the liberty of having your annulment papers drawn up.” He pointed the pen at me. “You will sign them.”
I pointlessly clutched onto my last vestige of resolve. “I won’t marry you, Dimitri. That will never happen.”
He sighed, as if bored. “We really need to work on your listening skills, kotyonok. If you do not want me to make your father choke on his own blood before I dump his body into the sewers, you will sign anything I tell you to.”
I gaped at this man that I’d considered a protector, a friend, and a confidante for fifteen years. “How can you do this? You were my family. For so long, all I had was you and Batya. How can you betray us like this?”
Dimitri gave the tiniest of flinches before he masked his features. It was the first hint of a chink in his armor. “He betrayed me first, Alexia. You have to understand, my fight is not with you. Ever since I met you, I’ve pictured you by my side when I take over the organization and become vor. You are the only person in my life who’s ever understood what it’s like to be abandoned. To live alone on the streets. Together, kotyonok, we can rule Russia. And we will never want for anything ever again.”
Tears sprang to my eyes.
It was the first time tonight that Dimitri sounded like my Dimitri. The skinny teenage boy who used to make me laugh after my nightmares with amateur magic tricks he’d learned on the streets. Could I bring that version of him back? It was obvious that he’d been damaged, brainwashed, misled. He was consumed by hatred and revenge.
But perhaps I could pull him out of the darkness.
“Please, Dimitri,” I whispered. “I’m begging you to stop this. There are other ways.”
His face hardened to stone. “You will sign them, Alexia. Or you will watch your beloved father die slowly in front of you.” He pushed the second document forward. “And be quick about it. That fucker Rossetti took what didn’t belong to him, and I’m sick of him having it.”
Signing that document would legally separate me from Nico forever. God, that idea was almost as bad as Dimitri threatening to kill my father. Those annulment papers might as well have been my death certificate because tying myself to a merciless tyrant like Dimitri would have only one ending for me.
Still, I tried to keep him talking.
I didn’t want to think about what was going to happen once he stopped.
“Other members in the syndicate won’t take kindly to you killing their vor. My father has more comrades left than you might think. And ones with enough influence to resist you. They won’t appreciate such an abrupt transition in power.”
He pulled at his shirt collar with jerky movements, his eye twitching in annoyance. “Why do you think he is still alive? Proving that I am the long-lost son of Sergei Kozlov will solidify my authority in the organization, as well as gain the loyalties of those remaining members of a bygone era. Not to mention, secure my inheritance. And marrying you will only cement their trust and confidence in me.”
He just showed too many of his cards.
He needs us. For now anyway.
But he was going to kill Batya no matter what. Eventually, once he’d gained enough syndicate allies and stolen my father’s empire, he would dispose of the former vor, probably making it look like some tragic accident.
Signing those documents now would keep us alive for a little while longer. But in what state? What was Dimitri truly capable of? What kind of existence would Batya and I be living until the moment he decided we were no longer of use to him?
And my God, I was pregnant.
What would Dimitri do when he found out and knew the baby was Nico’s? I didn’t want to even think about it. I’d not only be taking my life in my hands by allowing this man to drag me back to Russia, but my baby’s, as well.
Nico’s baby.
I would never see him again. He would never know that I carried his child. Our final words to each other on this earth would have been spoken in anger. Wails of agony were already clawing up my throat at the realization.
But what awaited me in Russia… My child would suffer right along with me.
I couldn’t abide that.
With one last squeeze of my father’s hand, I slowly rose to my feet. I prayed so hard that we would somehow come out of this alive. And if not, I prayed our endings would be quick and painless.
Dimitri kept his menacing gaze locked on me as I closed the distance between us. His eyes lowered, tracking down my body, and darkened. I took the heavy pen in my hand and reached for the first piece of paper.
He loomed over me like the devil as he watched me sign over my soul to him. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to fuck you, kotyonok?” He groaned. “So many times I’ve spent in my own hand while I imagined coming between your thighs. I doubt I’ll even be able to wait until we get to the plane. I promise I’ll make it good for you.” His tongue snaked out and licked up the length of my neck.
I shuddered.
His words made my skin itch, like it was covered in a rash. I tightened my hold on the pen, gripping it the way Nico had once shown me with a dagger, pointed end forward. I waited for Dimitri to move a bit closer…just a little closer—
I spun around and struck.
He shouted and stumbled backward, grasping at the pen that now stuck out of his neck. I tripped over a barstool, forcing myself not to get sick at the sight of him pulling the pen from his neck and opening the stem of blood flow from the wound.
He scowled at the bloody pen, chucked it across the room, then turned a murderous glare on me. The byki behind him retrieved their weapons from their holsters, seemingly about to aim them at me.
Dimitri gnashed his teeth. “Blyad’, Alexia! Why did you have to fucking do that?”
I turned and ran.
Why I headed for the spiral staircase instead of the distilling room where there were back exits, I had no idea. I only had seconds to make a decision and all I could think was my gun is upstairs.
I waited for it to end any second. Waited for a bullet to hit my back or my skull and prepared for pain.
A gun went off.
A bullet whizzed past my head, pinged off the metal staircase in front of me, and ricocheted somewhere. I jumped in shock, but I didn’t stop.
“No!” Dimitri yelled. “Don’t shoot her! Both of you will die if she is hit by a bullet.”
I skimmed my way around the scattered tables and chairs, heart racing. I reached the staircase and made it up only two steps before I was tackled from behind. I hit my head hard on the metal railing in the process, the pain jarring my entire body.
Taking advantage of my disorientation, Dimitri grappled with my arms and legs and managed to turn me onto my back. Hands manacling my wrists, he restrained m
y arms to the sides and lowered himself over me. Dizziness and nausea consumed me in equal measure. It took me several moments to make out only one Dimitri above me instead of three.
“Alexia, you must stop,” he gritted out, grunting as I struggled beneath him. “Not all members of the Voiny wanted to keep you alive. They think you’re a liability. I’m saving you by marrying you.”
“They’re going to kill me anyway!” It was all I could do to try and buck him off, but he was too big and strong. “If they betrayed my father, what makes you think they won’t betray you, too?”
He snarled. “I’ll slaughter all of them before I let any of them near you. You might think I’m a monster now. But I am still the same man who only wants to protect you from harm.”
I honestly believed him. He truly thought he was protecting me.
Dimitri had just lost his way.
The next thing my brain registered was another gunshot. Or was I hallucinating? I was still feeling lightheaded.
Dimitri’s head snapped in the direction of the front doors, where it sounded like a scuffle was taking place. Perhaps a fist fight. It was hard to tell—my vision was too blurry.
“Freeze!” a male voice shouted. “Let her go! Now, or I shoot some more.”
That wasn’t a voice I recognized.
Not Nico or any of his brothers.
My head swiveled around, but all I could make out from that distance was a tall, bulky man with his gun pointed at Dimitri. I couldn’t make out facial features, but the man’s size seemed imposing.
“And who do we have here?” Dimitri sneered. “You aren’t a Rossetti.”
When the other man spoke, I could tell he was grinning. “I’m worse, asshole. Detective Bryce Connelly. NYPD.”
Dimitri snorted. “You are a cop. You cannot shoot me.”
“Tell that to your comrades on the floor.”
I squinted through my mental fog and saw two vague shapes writhing around on the floor by the door. Still alive. Batya was lying in the same spot in the middle of the room. I only prayed he was still breathing.
Dimitri’s voice oozed confidence, though his body was tense. I felt his hand reach behind him, near his waistband where I knew he always kept a pistol.
“Got a bead right on your head, Novikoff,” Detective Connelly said in warning. “And I’m a damn good shot. A fast shot. You willing to risk it?”
Several heavy beats of silence passed before Dimitri finally began to ease off me. As he straightened, his hand kept inching for the gun at his lower back. When he grabbed ahold of it and went to point it at the detective, I shoved him back with all my might.
Gunfire exploded around me.
When I realized I hadn’t been it, I flew up the stairs, asking God to protect the detective and my father. I fumbled up each step, tottering as dizziness once again enveloped me.
My head throbbed.
Shouts and bellows sounded from below, but I didn’t stop until I reached Nico’s office and locked myself inside. I dug my revolver out of my purse and clutched it like a lifeline. My phone was—dead.
Shit.
I couldn’t even dial 9-1-1 because Nico didn’t have a landline telephone in the office. That’s when I heard the crashing of glass downstairs, followed by an ominous whoosh that sounded all too familiar.
“Molotov!” one of the byki shouted.
I froze. As in, Molotov cocktail?
Someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail through the window? Who the bloody hell would do that? Were there more Voiny here?
It didn’t take long before I smelled it.
Smoke.
Oh, God. Please, no.
I flung the office door open and ran out into the hall. I heard the flickering of flames before I saw them. Looking over the stair banister, I saw the orange and yellow flames already licking their way along the wall of the taproom. Clearly, they were being accelerated by something. They shouldn’t have spread that fast.
Batya!
He couldn’t even walk. If I didn’t get him out, he was going to burn. Without thought, I started back down the stairs.
More gunfire.
One bullet struck only inches from my foot.
“Alexia!” Dimitri bellowed.
A plume of smoke billowed up from the fire and blew right in my face. Coughing like crazy, I dashed back up the stairs. I could barely see through my watery eyes as the smoke began to thicken around me.
Hot. Destructive. Deadly.
Not again.
It couldn’t have come back for me. I couldn’t be lucky enough to make it out of two fires in my lifetime, could I? No one could escape death that many times. Was this my fate? Was this how it ended for me?
With fire and fear?
The only means of escape from the second floor was the window behind Nico’s desk. It wasn’t too terribly high off the ground, and there was a small ledge about six or seven feet below the window. I could shimmy out that way and go back in downstairs for my father. I’d shoot anyone who got in my way if I had to.
I wouldn’t let the fire get him.
It took all my strength to lift the heavy window, but I eventually got it open. Sticking my head through, I peeked over the edge—
And nearly fainted from terror.
The fire had already engulfed the small ledge below the window. I couldn’t even see the ground over the rising flames.
Devastation gripped me. Panic rocked me.
I had no way out.
Something inside me shut down right then. My mind went somewhere else. A place without so much pain and anguish. Somewhere that allowed me to live inside my dreams forever.
Safely. Happily.
The people I loved most in the world were there with me. I forced my mind to see nothing but that place and nothing but those faces. That way I wouldn’t have to see what was coming for me. What was about to happen.
That way, Nico’s face would be the very last image I’d see.
Before I left him forever.
I never even got to tell him that I love him.
911. BAH. Now.
That was the text I’d received from Bryce about twenty minutes ago. I’d heard the chime when we’d all been looking for Lexi at my house, but I’d figured whatever he had to say couldn’t have been more important than finding my wife.
I’d earned myself another ass kicking.
That text came in before the fire alarms went off. Which meant shit had already been going sideways at my distillery. I just hoped Bryce had the situation under control.
“Faster!” I snapped at Cris.
Too much time had already passed since those alarms sounded.
He slammed his foot onto the accelerator, cursing under his breath.
I flipped my favorite dagger around in my hand, hilt to blade, hilt to blade, over and over. I didn’t flinch when the blade nicked my skin and drew blood. Didn’t blink. I liked the pain. Needed it to fuel my anger, fuel my rage, fuel my energy to take down whatever stood between me and my woman. Until I had Lexi back in my arms, in one piece and unharmed, I wouldn’t be capable of forming another sane thought.
We sped around a corner, and the distillery came into sight.
“Oh, Christ,” I murmured.
“Fuck me.”
The building was ablaze.
Lexi!
Through the busted-out windows, bright orange flames illuminated the interior of the first floor. It didn’t look like the second floor had caught fire yet, but this son of bitch was spreading fast. It wouldn’t be much longer.
And my wife was inside that building.
Cris screeched his Bugatti to a stop down the street, followed by Rome’s Hummer just behind us. Mom had refused to let Dad come along, so it was just us brothers climbing out of the two vehicles. I was surprised the fire department hadn’t arrived yet, but it was only a matter of time before the big red trucks came rolling in.
We all ran for the building at full speed.
Every one
of us was armed to the max. I had my .45 1911 holstered, but I kept my dagger in hand. In close combat situations, the weapon was oftentimes more convenient than a gun. Plus, I would love to take out the fuckers that started this fire with my own hands.
A loud groaning noise followed by a crash came from inside. Fuck. That sounded like something had just collapsed.
I pushed my legs faster. “Lexi!”
“Nico, wait! We don’t know who else is in there yet.”
I quickly glanced up and down both sides of the street, checking for any assholes with Uzis lying in wait for us.
Then I did a double take.
I could have sworn I saw a familiar figure hovering near the alley across the street, watching us. I squinted in that direction, but thick smoke wafted in front of my face and obscured my vision. It was probably just shadows playing tricks on me.
And I didn’t have time to worry about fucking shadows.
“You guys secure the building,” I yelled. “I’m going after my wife.”
I threw my shoulder against the front door and was hit by a heavy cloud of hot smoke and steam.
“I got your back!” Cris roared. This close, the noise of burning materials was much louder. “Luka and Ace have the other entrance covered. Rome’s got the loading dock.”
We pulled our shirts up over our mouths as we advanced into the taproom, choosing our steps carefully. The smoke was so thick I could barely see in front of me. The first level wasn’t fully engulfed in flames yet, but we needed to hurry before their path trapped us inside while the whole place burned to ashes. The fire had basically formed a giant “U” around the room. The bar was lit up, as well as the back wall and the entire right side of the room, leaving a miniscule path for us down the middle.
A large man carrying a body over his shoulder suddenly appeared before us, shoving aside overturned chairs. The light from the flames reflected off the shiny badge that was clipped to the man’s belt.
“Connelly?”
In between hacking coughs, he rasped, “Yeah. Got Sergei. He’s not in a good way.”
The man was completely limp on Bryce’s shoulder. Shit, was he even alive?
Booze and Bullets (Brooklyn Brothers #3) Page 32