by Maya Hughes
Dahlia shook like a leaf behind me. Taking off my coat, I wrapped it around her shoulders as sirens wailed in the distance. I gathered her up and hustled her out onto the street.
22
Dahlia
His strong arms wrapped around my waist, tugging me backward. I clawed at them. I knew it was insane. There was nothing to be done. We’d made it out with our lives, but it was all burning. Every single memory of the new life I’d built for myself was disintegrating in front of my eyes. My breath came out in white puffs in front of my face, and I shivered as the heat from the fire competed with the frosty evening air. Adrenaline and panic pushed me toward the blaze, although there was nothing I could do.
“Dahlia, don’t.” His voice was frantic, but I didn’t want to listen. I’d failed. I’d tried everything in my power to make this work, and I failed. Over and over again. I stopped struggling, my breath coming out in ragged pants, the icy air freezing its way down my throat, but his arms were still there. Still wrapped around my waist. The strong arms I relished losing myself in. Where I’d finally been able to not be in charge for a while. And this was where I’d ended up. Thinking for some reason that letting myself be that girl he took out dancing would erase any of the past between us. Anything he and his family had put me through.
I’d known he was trouble from the minute he came back into my life. Before he took off the shirt to show me all the tattoos covering him. The ones showing me in detail the exact kind of guy he’d turned into after he left me. Stupid! The arms I’d found myself yearning for were like chains. Like heavy chains threatening to drown me.
He turned me in his arms. Trying to comfort me. He still smelled like he always did. Crisp and fresh, even with the smoke and soot everywhere. A fine spray of water rained over us as the firefighters put out the last of my rebuilt life. The life I’d promised my dad I’d live after he was gone. My stomach revolted, and I pressed against his chest. The police and firefighters corralled us away from the building, and Ivan lifted me, my feet barely touching the ground.
“Get off me,” I said, trying to shove him away.
“Dahlia. It’s over. There is nothing more for you in there. You’ll hurt yourself.” His lips brushed against the top of my head. And I pushed against his chest again, my hands trembling.
I’d nearly died. My brain couldn’t even process how close I’d come to death. How close everyone in the shop could have come to dying. Was it a freak accident? Was it a gas leak? Or had Ivan had something to do with it? Even now I was trying to make excuses. Trying to figure out another possibility for what had happened.
The entanglements I swore I’d avoid this time around had blasted me full on in my face, taking my livelihood with it and almost my life.
“I’m not going in there; just let me go,” I said, pushing against him, pushing away from him. All those other times I’d ever been able to push him away, he’d only been humoring me, letting me push him. I used every muscle in my body to try to move him, and he wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t escape his hold on me—not painful or even tight, but it hurt nonetheless.
The tiny cuts opened even wider. Every minute I spent with him had led to this moment. Everything I’d done with him had created this. It was my fault.
He set me on my feet with my back against a car parked on the street and draped his jacket around me. His arms on either side of me caged me in against the car like he was afraid I would make a break for it at any minute or maybe there was someone else lurking to finish the job.
“I’m fine. Move out of the way so I can go.”
“Where will you go? I think being alone now is a bad idea.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you think, Ivan. I’m leaving.” I tried to push past him, but like I’d learned before, if he didn’t want to be moved, there was no moving him.
“Dahlia—”
I shook my head sharply, refusing to look at him. He wrapped his arms around me, not to restrain this time, but to comfort me. I didn’t want his comfort.
“I will do whatever I can to fix this,” he whispered into my neck, holding me close to him. The muscles in his arms bunched across my back as he held on tight to me like he was afraid I’d evaporate into a puff of smoke. My fingers on his chest switched from pushing to clawing at the fabric to gripping it tightly in my fists. My tears soaked through his shirt as sobs racked my body.
The throb in my chest was like someone had punched me hard, knocking the air from me. For a moment I could stay there and forget everything else that had happened. Forget he brought this to my doorstep. Forget I was barely keeping my head above water. Forget so many people relied on me and I was letting them all down. I could just bury my head in his chest and never leave, the two of us immortalized in a statue of pain and comfort on the city street.
“Hendrix, what the fuck?” Axel screamed.
All I’d done with Ivan was try to forget. I couldn’t anymore. The reasons were burned deep, the flames singeing everyone around me.
“Dahlia, are you okay?” Ty said, for once sounding like he wasn’t trying to make a joke. Their mumbled words about Ivan hit me, but I didn’t even have the energy to explain any of it. They seemed to sense it wasn’t the time.
I don’t even know how they could see me around Ivan, but it seemed word had traveled fast about the explosion and fire at the shop. And the world slammed back into me with full force. Right in my face. No use in hiding. I pushed Ivan away again.
The smoke and soot invaded my mouth and nose as I didn’t have him there to ground me. Ivan stepped back like it had always been that easy, like I’d always been able to get him to give me the space I needed.
“I’m fine, guys.” I shrugged off Ivan’s arms, finally free of his touch. It hurt too much and for so many reasons. “I’m fine.” I clenched my fists to stay standing. The adrenaline still hummed through my veins. I couldn’t look at Ivan.
The pair breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the smoldering, soggy mess of the shop with their hands on the tops of their heads. Both their mouths hung open in disbelief. I stood beside them, and they wrapped their arms around me. Ivan’s shadow fell over us, but he didn’t move beyond that. No growling or menacing.
“We’re glad you’re okay. We were at the Bramble a few blocks away.”
“When we heard the explosion…” Ty trailed off.
“Is that concern I hear in your voice, Ty?” I jokingly hip checked him, glad for a sliver of tension relief. He peered over at me with tears in his eyes.
“Of course, boss lady. You guys and the shop are the closest things I have to family.” Tears welled in his eyes, and I wrapped my arms around him.
“I know, Ty. Me too.” He squeezed me and rested his head on mine. I could feel the jerky movements of his body as he tried to hold on. After a couple minutes he cleared his throat and pushed me off him.
“You know that can count as sexual harassment in some places.” He wiped his nose on the back of his hand, throwing his annoying smile back in place.
“I know.”
Axel sat on the curb to watch the firefighters put out the last bits of the fire. Fortunately none of the other buildings had caught fire. I sat beside him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. He had both hands covering his mouth, and his eyes were wide as he watched the ashes of our second home being doused with fire hoses.
“I think I’m supposed to be the one comforting you.”
“I don’t mind some role reversal.”
“What happened?” Axel peered over at me. “How in the hell did this happen?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and glanced back at Ivan. He stood stoically behind me like a sentry on duty, his arms crossed over his chest, his muscles straining under his shirt. I pressed off the cold ground and shrugged his jacket off, handing it back to him.
“Dahlia—”
“No.” I shook my head and tried to breathe past the lump in my throat. “This is finished, Ivan. It’s too dangerous, and I was
stupid to think it was anything other than that. You need to leave.”
“I can fix this,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.
“You can’t fix this, Ivan.” I jabbed an angry finger at the smoldering rubble of my shop. The one I’d worked in for so long and was my refuge after being thrust out into the world all alone. The wind whipped around me and blew my hair into my face. I wrapped my arms around myself as goose bumps rose over my arms. I was right back where I’d started, the shattered remains of my life littered around me.
“Keep the jacket.” He held it out, but I took a step back, bumping into Axel. Ty and Axel stood side by side behind me. Axel dragged his sweater over his head and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“I’ll be fine, Ivan. You need to go.” I kept my gaze as steady as I could, but I could feel the tears prickling the backs of my eyes. If they fell again, it would completely undo me. I needed him to go before I broke down. This was never going to work.
I should have heeded all the warnings and alarm bells that rang in my mind, but Ivan’s draw on me had never lessened, even after all the years of my telling myself they had. Other people’s lives were in danger if we were together. It wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.
He took a step forward, and I could feel the tension pouring off Ty and Axel.
“I’ll be back. I’ll make this right if it’s the last thing I do,” he said fiercely. “I’ll do that for you. Take her somewhere. Don’t send her back to her apartment. It’s not safe there,” he said over my head like I wasn’t even there, but I was numb again.
He stalked off, glancing back once before disappearing down the block.
I couldn’t feel anything. The entire time the police questioned me, it was like I was underwater. My brain was a foggy mess, and I went through the motions, trying to recall what I could about that night. Axel took me to his apartment. Even gave me his bed while he took the couch.
He handed over some clothes for me to change into. Mine were covered in soot and smelled like the worst kitchen fire ever. I took a long shower, longer than I should have, and crawled into bed. I wanted to be in my own bed. I wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV and eat popcorn with Rachel, but she was gone. I was gone. And Ivan’s uncle wanted me dead. How much longer would I last if Sergei Volokov wanted me dead?
23
Ivan
During the drive to the mansion, I nearly bent my steering wheel as my white-knuckle grip on the wheel made my fingers throb. My fingers ached as I revved the engine up the elevated driveway. I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car without even turning it off. Storming up the steps of the house, I stalked to the office where I knew he’d be. He had to know I would be coming.
“It’s now, Alexei,” I said with my phone clenched so tightly in my hand I thought I might crack it.
“Give me a few hours.”
“Now!” I growled.
“Don’t rush in there. Don’t do that and get yourself killed.”
“He nearly killed her!” My thoughts raced through my mind so quickly, I couldn’t even process them. The old bastard was going to meet his maker or I was. Only one of us was leaving the mansion alive.
“Just give me more time.”
“You have as long as it takes me to get there.”
“Fuck—“ whatever else he had to say was cut off when I threw the phone down.
My heart thumped so hard I could hear it in my ears, and the blood pounded in my veins. Every inch of me vibrated with an anger I had never known before. Like the beast who’d been on a chain for far too long had finally wrenched free and was ready for payback.
He could have killed her. He’d destroyed her business. A business she’d worked so hard to build. I flung the door to his office open, and he sat behind his desk, smoking a cigar with his arms behind his head like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Sergei,” I growled, rounding his desk.
“Nephew. Where are your manners?” He stood from his chair with a self-satisfied smile on his face. Like this was something minor. I flew at him, unable to stop myself.
“What did you do?” I roared, my hands wrapped around the lapels of his jacket as I slammed him against the wall. I’d pretty much signed my own death warrant, but at this point I didn’t care. He’d ripped away everything I cared about with one act meant to kill the woman I loved.
“I would watch myself if I were you,” he sneered. His accent was thick and heavy like it always got when he was pissed off. His level of anger didn’t compare to mine. She’d be dead if I hadn’t been with her. If I hadn’t called her out into the back of her shop, I’d be reading about it in the news and dying a thousand deaths inside. I shook those terrifying images from my head. Rage made my vision tunnel to the point that there was no one else but me and him. Soon there would only be one.
“You tried to kill her?” I pressed him harder against the wall. His head bounced against the heavy wood paneling. I knew it was him, but I wanted to hear the words. I wanted him to know, when I strangled the life out of him, that it was because of what he’d done. No doubt in my mind that his bullshit about nothing being more important than family was just that—bullshit.
“You did not need the distraction of a woman who doesn’t know her place in your world, Ivan. That you’d attach yourself to someone who was responsible for the death of my son. Unforgivable.” He sneered.
“She had nothing to do with it.”
“But her father did. In our world, the sins of the father are those of the son and, in his case, daughter. I tried to play nice. I tried to give you both a chance to walk away. But you had to be so stupid, plotting and scheming behind my back. I thought I made that very clear when you met her before, but it seems she still makes you stupid and irrational.”
“Things have never been clearer, Uncle. And I don’t give a fuck what you think. You went too far when you torched her place. Nearly killed her.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t do it before, but you couldn’t be smart. Couldn’t do what I needed you to do.”
“And I never will again.” I reached behind me to the gun at my back.
“As if you could stop me.” He laughed, and his eyes darted behind me. I turned my head slightly, not wanting to take my eyes off him, when pain exploded in the back of my head. One hit. Followed by another. The beast inside howled in rage that I’d let my guard down and been stupid. Not let him rip my uncle limb from limb when it had the chance.
My vision blurred, and I staggered on my feet. Blood poured down my neck from the back of my head. I dropped my uncle. A hand reached under my jacket and pulled out my gun. I spun around and came face-to-face with the barrel of Igor’s gun.
“Igor, I have no problem with you. This is a family matter,” I said through clenched teeth. He’d attacked me from behind like a coward.
“You told me to bring a gun next time, so I did. And now we will see who wins this competition.” Igor smiled, his ugly teeth bared for all to see, like he was so fucking pleased with his own joke.
“But you see, dear Ivan. Igor is family now. It seems my ungrateful nephews are not able to carry on the family business.” Sergei spat blood out of his mouth, and it landed on top of my shoe.
“We never wanted to be a part of this. You dragged us in.”
“Your father’s weakness seems to have transferred to both his sons. I should have left you in Russia to fend for yourselves like the dogs you are.”
Then more men filed into the room.
“I wish you would have. But at least Elena is safe from you.”
“Do you truly think that? That I didn’t know your little plan? That your paperwork and visits to the embassy would go unnoticed? I know everything that happens in this family.” He snapped his fingers, and two more men came in dragging a bloodied Erik. His head hung low, and blood ran down his arms, dripping off his fingertips. My stomach dropped as they dumped him in a heap on the floor. My pulse pounded.
“Whe
re is she?” I growled, my teeth gritted so hard my jaw ached.
“Who do you mean? Do you mean your sister? The one you tried to get here without me knowing? The one you thought you could protect? Just like you thought you could protect your girlfriend?”
“Where is she?” I roared.
“I don’t know. Isn’t that what you said to me before? That you didn’t know?”
“Where is she?” I ground out, taking a step forward.
Sergei snapped his fingers, and Elena was pushed into the room. The meaty hand of one of Sergei’s personal guards was wrapped around her arm.
“Erik!” she screamed the minute he came into view. Tears streamed down her face, but she looked unharmed. She tried to rush to him, but the guy with his hand around her arm jerked her back. He would be the third to die after Sergei and Igor. I’d enjoy it just as much as I would with them.
“Once we are finished with you, we’ll ensure your waste of a brother doesn’t interfere anymore. Too bad your little girlfriend wasn’t smarter about who she let into her bed. Unfortunately, they jumped the gun and thought she was dead, but I’ve since been told she isn’t. When we’re finished here, I’ll have someone wrap things up once and for all. Too bad you won’t be there to watch her suffer.”
Sergei’s gloating let me know one vital piece of information. As far as anyone outside the room knew, Dahlia was dead. The information that she was alive hadn’t been sent to everyone loyal to Sergei yet. No one would go after her if they thought she was dead, and it could stay that way…if I made it out of this room alive.
The odds were not in my favor, even if I’d had a gun. I was outmanned. Sergei continued his tirade about what a disappointment we’d all been. It was nothing we hadn’t heard before, but it bought more time.
