by Kaye Blue
“You were kidnapped,” he said, his voice tighter now.
“But I wasn’t in any danger.”
He’d looked away but turned his eyes to me again, the dark depths fathomless, filled with meaning. “Not this time.”
“And you’re worried about next time,” I said, giving voice to what he so clearly didn’t want to.
“Aren’t you?”
I didn’t respond immediately but kept my eyes locked on his. I studied his expression, trying to see what was in it.
I saw his worry, consternation. Saw things I never wanted to see in him.
I also saw hope.
It was then I answered.
“No.”
He physically recoiled, as if he found it impossible to believe what I’d said.
“No?” he repeated, his brows furrowed, his expression disbelieving.
“No. I’m not.”
“Why?” he asked, his voice scarcely above a whisper, disbelieving.
“I trust you.”
That felt more like a confession I had intended, but it was also true. Maybe it didn’t make sense, and if I looked at things objectively, I could see why it wouldn’t.
He’d lied to me before, and perhaps even worse, told me the truth now.
I had no illusions about what he was, what he did. But that didn’t change anything, not for me.
I trusted him completely, with my heart, with my life.
I told him so.
“I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No, I don’t believe it. I know it.”
“What are you saying, Ivan?”
I didn’t want to hear it, but I knew that I needed to. Whatever this was, he believed it with all his heart, and that belief might cost us the future I was just now beginning to think we might have.
“Being around me puts you at risk, and I would move heaven and earth for you, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll be safe.”
“No, you can’t.”
“And I can’t live with that.”
I could see how much it was costing him, the admission of his vulnerability, the idea that there was something he couldn’t control.
I reached over, wrapped my arms around him.
“You have other things to handle. Focus on them. We’ll talk about this later.
“There’s nothing to—”
I kissed him then broke away and shook my head.
“Later.”
He stared at me, wanted to argue, but in the end, he kissed me back.
Ivan
I believed Tru.
Despite everything she had seen, everything I had done in front of her, to her, she trusted me.
And that was the very reason I had to put an end to this.
She trusted me to keep her safe, and that was something I wasn’t sure I could do.
And I wouldn’t take chances, not with her life.
“I meant it, Ivan.”
I glanced over at Tru, nodded at her to continue.
“We’ll talk about this later. But for now, do what you need to.”
I started to dismiss her, to tell her she didn’t know what she was talking about.
But she did.
She knew what I confronted, and while she didn’t understand it, not really, that knowledge was both heartening and even further confirmation that I couldn’t let this continue.
But she was right.
I had a threat that needed to be eliminated.
Everything else would have to wait.
We showered and dressed, and an hour later I stood in front of her, Aras at my side.
“Aras is going to stay here with you.”
“Shouldn’t you be at home with Lake?” she asked Aras.
“She insisted I come.”
“I’d feel better if you were with him,” she said, looking at me.
“And I’ll feel better if he’s with you.” I kissed her, didn’t leave room to argue.
Then I walked to the door and looked back at Aras, who gave me a slight nod.
I left then, didn’t want to linger.
I hated the thought of being away from her for even a moment, and as much as my pride might have dictated otherwise, the only reason I was able to leave her was because I knew Aras was with her.
We had our differences, but I had seen the way he was with his family, knew that he understood how much Tru meant to me.
Knew that I could trust him with her.
Strange to think, the one who had put this all into motion was one of the only people I could trust.
But I did, and knowing that Tru was in safe hands was the thing that kept me moving.
I made my way to the SUV where Ezekiel was waiting.
“You ready?”
I glanced at him, nodded, and then he pulled off.
“You don’t have any questions?” I asked Ezekiel.
“Like what?”
“You’re not going to ask if I’m nervous. Ask if I think I’ll be able to handle it?”
“You looking for a fight, Ivan?”
His voice hadn’t changed, but I knew he was serious.
“Would you give me one?” I said.
“No. But to answer your questions, I think you’re ready. And even more, you have a reason to fight.”
“Meaning?”
“I was pissed when Aras and Lake got together.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I don’t like change. But I saw what caring about her did to him, how it gave him a reason to live. Tru does the same thing for you. So, if for no other reason than that, I think you’ll be fine.”
“I know I will be. Let’s get this over with.”
Twenty
Tru
“Pacing doesn’t make the time pass any faster.”
I looked over at Aras, who seemed completely at ease.
“Gotta do something with the nerves,” I said, continuing my pace.
“Suit yourself. But he’ll be fine.”
“You sound sure,” I said, glancing at him.
I knew I was grasping, latching onto anything that might help me believe that everything would be okay, but I didn’t care.
“I am.”
“How?”
He looked at me warily, his icy eyes revealing nothing, though I got the sense that he was considering my question.
I could tell when he decided not to answer it and tried to do my best to change that.
“Ivan told me about you,” I said.
“What did he tell you?”
His voice was even, gave away nothing, and a week ago, I wouldn’t have been able to be in a room with him without going crazy with fear.
Right now, I was at ease.
I knew that if he needed to be, he could be as dangerous as Viktor or Ivan. But I still felt comfortable with him, comfortable enough to say what I was thinking.
“About what you did to his father. Your father.”
“And he told you why?”
I nodded.
“You don’t seem bothered by it,” he said.
“I guess I’ve changed a lot over the last few days.”
“Yeah. That happens.
“You know, all those years ago, I didn’t want any harm to come to him or to you,” he said, sounding the same as always, though I suspected he was sincere.
“You say that,” I said.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I guess I do, but I wonder, why couldn’t you just let him stay? He might have walked away from it all.”
“You don’t believe that,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“This life is in his blood. It’s who he is. He might have liked to walk away, and for you, I think he would have tried. But that couldn’t have happened. Others wouldn’t have let it.”
I frowned, wanting to reject what Aras was saying but knowing he had no reason to lie to me.
/> “So, you couldn’t just leave him.”
“He wouldn’t have lasted a week. It sucks that it had to happen that way, but it did. And it more or less worked out.”
I chose not to point out my ten years of heartbreak. But Aras smiled, seeming to know what I was thinking.
“He’ll be fine,” Aras said.
“Again, how can you be so sure?”
“Because he wants to get back to you.”
Aras’s words allowed no argument, and I didn’t even try to refute them. Instead, I held them, prayed they were true.
Twenty-One
Ivan
I cinched the diamond cufflink then took one last look at myself in the mirror.
Perfect.
I looked exactly like the boss I was.
In the end, I knew the look didn’t matter.
What mattered was what I did, but looking the part wouldn’t hurt.
And I did, and even more. I would play the part to perfection.
I walked out of my bedroom then made a great show of walking down the stairs of my two-story penthouse.
It was an intimate gathering, fewer than twenty people if you counted guards, but everyone I needed to be in the room was there.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I stopped, stood, waiting for silence to descend.
It didn’t take long.
I could feel the curiosity—and the tension—rising from the crowd.
Most of them had thought that I was dead, and those who didn’t were responsible for making sure that I ended up that way.
That I had summoned them all to my home was a curious choice.
And an intentional one.
I knew that any hint of weakness, any attempt to hide, would only further the threat I faced, and I refused to allow that.
“Bet you wondering why you’re here,” I said to the gathered crowd, looking each and every person in the eye but not lingering.
“Yeah, you want to explain?” Midas, one of the older and more respected members of my organization, said.
“Maybe I should be asking you.”
“Me?” Midas asked, a brow lifted.
“Yeah. What have you been hearing?”
He was quiet for a moment, considering, and then shrugged.
“That you were dead or as good as, that your territory was ripe for the taking.”
“And didn’t you act on that information?” I asked.
“I was going to give it another day or two, see how things shook out,” he said.
“I appreciate your honesty, Midas.”
He shrugged.
“I don’t have to tell any of you that somebody tried to take me out. Infiltrated my own security team to do so.”
“You’re holding all of us responsible for that?” Midas said, clearly the only one with enough balls to ask what all the others were thinking.
“Why would you think that?” I said.
“It’s what your father would have done.”
“You’re right. But I’m not him.”
My father wouldn’t have wasted time trying to figure out who was behind the attempt. A strong show of force—killing three, four, all the people in the room to send a message—would have been his style.
And would have inevitably led to a bloody struggle, one that would cost lives, innocent and otherwise, and disrupt business.
“No, my father would have put a bullet in each of your brains and gone on with his day. But I think we can avoid all that.”
“How?”
“Maybe the person, or people, who tried to take me out have honor. Maybe they will step up, admit what they did.”
“Maybe, but they’re just as likely to say nothing,” Midas said.
I smiled, though I doubted the expression reached my eyes.
“That was my take on it too, which is why I needed to be sure.”
“Are you?” he asked.
“I am.”
I looked over the crowd, this time letting my gaze linger before it finally settled.
“My own family.”
I didn’t bother to try to keep the scorn out of my voice as I looked at my cousin Yuri.
“You were named for my father. You’re my blood. I don’t know why I would have thought you better than this.”
“Ivan? What the fuck are you talking about?” Yuri said, his mouth gaping.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
My cousin stammered, looking at me and then at the others in the room.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
I held his gaze and saw the moment reality settled in.
“I’d hoped you’d be dead by then,” he spat.
“Finally, some honesty.”
In an instant, I watch my cousin’s face transform, an ugly, mean, jealous look on his face.
“The family was supposed to be mine.”
“And it would have been, if you’d had the balls to take it. You didn’t.”
“I don’t get a chance at first. When I saw a shot, I took it.”
“And you missed,” I said.
I sprung without pause, burying a letter opener in my cousin’s throat.
He was so stunned, he didn’t immediately react. He eventually moved and pulled the knife out.
I sidestepped the waterfall of blood that gushed out of the open wound.
I watched as he sank down, blood rushing out of the wound in his neck, listened to the gurgle as blood and air rushed out.
He was in agony, and some small part of me felt sympathy.
I’d liked Yuri, and though we’d never been especially close, my father had always preached the virtue of family.
I couldn’t take that seriously, not after what he’d done to Aras. And thinking about how my cousin’s actions had put Tru at risk snuffed the last of the emotion.
He’d gotten what he deserved.
I watched as he took his final breath then looked at the remaining people in the room.
“I’ll assume everyone understands that attempts on my life won’t be tolerated. He was family. The next person who tries me won’t be treated so nicely.”
I stepped aside as two of my guards grabbed my cousin’s body.
“You can go now.”
The crowd moved out, a low murmur among them.
I watched as my men cleared the area and then looked at Ezekiel as he approached.
“I think your message was delivered,” he said.
“I would hope so. Too bad about my cousin though.”
“Yeah. You sure nobody will talk?”
“No. They won’t. Besides, they’ll never find his body.”
“So, I guess that’s that,” Ezekiel said.
“Yeah.”
I glanced over at him. “You did good work.”
“I live to serve.”
“I can use more men like you, men with a good head on their shoulders.”
“You’re the first person to accuse me of that,” he said.
“For some reason, I don’t believe that. But I want you as my second-in-command.”
“And give up the luxury of taxiing assholes around and picking up cash? I’ll have to consider it,” he said with a shrug.
“You start tomorrow,” I said.
Ezekiel smiled and then left.
When I was finally alone, I waited for something. I couldn’t say what.
Maybe some reaction to my cousin’s death, a reaction to the fact that my own family had betrayed me.
But there was nothing.
Well, nothing besides the need for Tru, the drive to be with her.
It was terrifying, exhilarating, all of the emotions that I had sworn I was done with.
Emotions I knew would never leave me.
Twenty-Two
Tru
Hours had passed, and though Aras wasn’t the most talkative, he made a good companion.
At the
very least, he kept me from crawling up the walls thinking of every scenario, most of which involved Ivan hurt, lost to me forever.
When the phone I hadn’t even noticed he had vibrated, I didn’t even pretend not to stare at him.
He glanced at the phone quickly then tucked it back in his pocket and stood.
“Are you ready to go home?” he asked.
“What happened? Is he okay?”
I’d told myself I would be calm, but my voice came out high-pitched, frantic.
“He’s fine. Are you ready?” Aras said.
I stared at him, knew that he wouldn’t tell me anything else.
I nodded, the tension I’d been trying to deny replaced with a different kind of worry.
I guess I’d expected something more, something different, not a silent ride with Aras back to my apartment. When we arrived, I didn’t get out immediately but instead looked at him.
“Thank you, Aras. For everything. Maybe, if Lake wants, I can visit after the baby is born?”
He nodded but didn’t otherwise acknowledge my words.
“I guess that’s it then,” I said.
He looked at me then, his eyes almost warm. “It will all work out, Tru.”
“I hope you’re right.”
With that, I got out of the car and made my way to my apartment.
Again, I was struck by how different it was, how empty it felt without Ivan.
He was all right, and that was what mattered.
I kept telling myself that over and over again as I showered, prepared for what I knew would be a sleepless night.
I lingered around my living room, waiting for him, each second that ticked by making me less and less hopeful.
At the knock on my door, I jumped, not sure that I’d heard it.
Not daring to hope he was on the other side.
I walked toward the door tentatively, the moment feeling heavy, ripe with meaning.
When I opened the door, found Ivan on the other side, I breathed out a deep exhale.
I stepped aside to let him in, all without saying a word.
As he entered, I couldn’t help but notice how he looked.
His dark suit was tailored perfectly, not a hair was out of place, and his cufflinks probably cost more than my entire college education.
Like always, he appealed to me on every level, but more than the desire that was always at a low thrum, I was struck by his expression.
