by Bella Rose
“I might as well be,” he said darkly. “I haven’t sworn myself to Karkoff, but he was the only one who would give me work after you left town.”
“So you consider yourself his creature now, is that it?” she guessed. “You’re more than that, Viktor. I know you are.”
He snorted derisively, sitting back in his chair and staring balefully at her. “Listen to you! You know I am more.” He muttered something in Russian, too quickly for her rusty and deficient language skills to follow. “I am surprised you care at all.”
“That’s not fair!”
Franco brought her pizza. He put the steaming pie on the table between them and handed out plates and silverware. Then he glared at Viktor. “If he is bothering you, Katie, I’ll have one of my boys get rid of him.”
“He’s not bothering me, Franco,” she assured the old man. “We’re just catching up after a very long time.”
“Ha!” Franco said sarcastically. “I bet he has a lot to tell, if he will.”
“Enough, old man,” Viktor growled.
“You be respectful,” Franco told Viktor. “I may be old, but I can still kick your ass.”
“All right then, I think that’s enough,” Katie told them both. “Thank you for the pizza, Franco. It smells just as amazing as I remember.”
Franco smiled broadly, forgetting his irritation with Viktor, at least momentarily. “You eat up, Katie. It’s so good to have you home.”
***
Viktor watched Katie take a big bite of her pizza. She waved her hand in front of her mouth, obviously trying to cool things off since the food was so hot. She was as adorable now as she had been five or so years ago.
“I should have never let you go,” Viktor told her quietly. “I was angry that you left. I took it personally. I’m sorry. It was childish of me.”
She wiped her hands on a paper napkin and shrugged. “You were young. It was understandable that you’d be angry. It’s not like I really spent much time explaining why I went.”
“Why did you go?”
“At the time?” She pursed her lips. “I went because of you.”
“What?” That unexpected announcement sent him reeling with shock. “What did I do?”
“Nothing, really.” She seemed to be struggling to find the right answer. “It was more what I was afraid I was going to do.”
“With me?”
“My mother came to me. She was worried that we were too serious.”
“Because of my past?” he guessed bitterly.
She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Would you get over yourself? No! It wasn’t because of your anything. It was our ages. My mother had married very young and had always regretted it. She didn’t want me to make the same decision.”
“So she asked you to leave?” Viktor was trying to wrap his head around the notion of a mother who wanted her child to leave, when Katie continued speaking.
“My mom had an aunt who lived a few hours away. She arranged for me to live there and go to school.” Katie’s pretty face took on a soft smile. “It was a good life. I had a scholarship and a place to live, and my aunt was really nice.”
“So you were happy.” Why was it so hard not to begrudge her that happiness?
She shrugged. “In a way. Yes. I was happy.”
“Did you ever think of me?” Why oh why had he asked that? Was he trying to make himself out to be a weakling? Viktor rubbed a hand down his face, wishing he could take the words back.
“Actually, yes,” she admitted softly. “I missed you a lot.”
There was an awkward little silence at the table. Katie ate a few more bites of pizza, obviously savoring what had been her favorite food back in the day. Viktor watched her. She was such a striking woman. It was difficult to imagine any man not treating her like a queen.
“How long did you wait before you met someone else?” he asked, wanting to know even though he knew he had no right to ask.
“A few years.” She didn’t look up at him. “You’re not an easy man to get over, Viktor.”
He took a breath to speak, but the front door of Franco’s was flung wide open. Sasha and Yakov swaggered inside with mischievous expressions on their faces. Viktor gave an inward groan. Why did his friends have to be such interfering assholes?
“Viktor!” Franco yelled from the back.
Viktor stood up. “I’ve got this, Franco.”
Perhaps it was the guarded expression on Katie’s face, but he wanted his friends as far away from Franco’s and Katie as possible. Now. He pointed to the door. “You guys need to step off,” he told them in Russian.
“We want pizza,” Sasha whined, also speaking in Russian. “We’re normally not allowed in this place. Since you got in, we figured we could finally get some good pizza.”
“No.” Viktor used the bulkiness of his body to push them back toward the door. “Franco doesn’t allow you in here.”
“But you’re allowed,” Yakov snorted, jerking his head toward Katie. “Or are you only allowed here because you’re hanging around with the good girl?”
“Something like that,” Viktor admitted. “Now get out.”
“We’re screwing things up for him, I think,” Sasha told Yakov. “Maybe we should just get rid of the woman so Viktor will stop acting like a lovesick moron.”
Rage swept over Viktor like a dark tidal wave. “You don’t want to find out what will happen if you go that route.”
Yakov raised his brows in surprise. “I think Sasha is right, Viktor. You are a lovesick moron.” His friend slapped him on the shoulder. “And we actually came to tell you that Karkoff has requested a meeting. He has a job for you.”
“It can wait,” Viktor told them coldly.
“No,” Yakov argued. “It can’t.”
“The boss wants to see you now.” Sasha said.
Sasha kept glancing over at Katie. It was making Viktor twitchy. Perhaps the best option was to just leave. It was obvious that his boneheaded friends weren’t going to take a hint or even an order. Viktor didn’t want to risk them doing something outrageous, just to make a point to Katie.
“Fine,” Viktor conceded. “Wait for me outside. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Sasha and Yakov smirked at each other before turning around and walking back out of Franco’s. Viktor sighed. So much for his romantic evening. Now he had to cut things short after making an utter mess. He would be lucky if Katie ever had dinner with him again.
“Business issues?” she asked in an arch tone.
He nodded. “Something like that.”
“Then I suppose I’ll see you around sometime.” She went back to her pizza as though it didn’t bother her at all that he was leaving.
“Are you staying in your grandmother’s old place?” he asked casually. “I heard about her passing. I was sorry about that. She was a wonderful lady.”
“Yes. She left me her house.” Katie didn’t seem to worry about giving him that information. Surely that was a good sign.
“Then have a nice evening,” he told her, laying a fifty-dollar bill on the table. “I said I would buy you pizza.”
For a second he thought she would refuse the money. She smiled instead. “So you did. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Viktor smiled, and then he walked out of Franco’s to face the everyday reality of his life.
Chapter Four
“Ah, Viktor!” Karkoff cried out as Viktor walked into the billiard room at Karkoff’s home deep in the city. “I knew you would come! The boys said you were too involved with your date”—Karkoff made a point of elbowing the jowly man beside him—“but I told them you knew which side your bread was buttered on. You know?”
Viktor said nothing. What could he say? Karkoff was practically daring him to do something stupid. Instead, Viktor moved right to business. “Yakov and Sasha said you had a job you need taken care of.” Viktor kept his tone mild and almost conversational.
“Yes, yes.” Karkoff took a long dra
g from the cigar hanging between his fingers. “I have another shipment I need you to pick up out at the docks.”
Viktor lifted his brows in surprise. “Two in one week?”
“It is not your place to question,” Karkoff said flatly.
Viktor quickly backpedaled. “I was only mentioning it because I was grateful to have the work.”
“Ah, yes.” Karkoff nodded. “You would be.”
“Should I go to the same place?” Viktor’s stomach cramped as he considered what he was so casually contemplating. Human trafficking was a dirty but lucrative business. It wouldn’t matter if Viktor went and picked up the shipment, or if someone else did it—the deed would be done either way. At least in this case Viktor would be able to pay his bills for another month.
“Yes. Same place,” Karkoff confirmed. “Sasha will have a van for you.”
“Tomorrow then.”
“Tonight, I think.” Karkoff took another puff of his cigar. The rich smoke made Viktor’s nose burn. “There is something particularly special about this shipment. It requires immediate attention.”
Viktor gave Karkoff a curt nod and then turned to leave. At the last minute, Sasha stepped in front of the doorway, blocking Viktor’s path.
“And Viktor?” Karkoff called after him. “Don’t forget who pulls the strings around here, eh?”
“Of course,” Viktor murmured.
The shit-eating grin on Sasha’s face was enough to let Viktor know who had been telling tales on him. It was tempting for Viktor to put his fist right in Sasha’s face. Unfortunately, that would not have earned him any goodwill with Karkoff. Sasha was his sister’s stepson and therefore family.
“I suppose you’re a little too busy tonight to entertain your little piece of fluff,” Sasha blustered. “Shall I go keep her company for you?”
Viktor stretched his mouth into a cold, hard smile. “Katie might seem like a pushover, but she’s made of sterner stuff than you might imagine. She can handle herself if you’d like to go try.”
Something twitched behind Sasha’s confident façade, and he seemed to back off without any further warning. Viktor didn’t pause to worry about it. Not right now. He had a job to do.
***
“Franco,” Katie said slowly. “Do you have a minute?”
The pizza parlor was hopping with the typical evening traffic. Neighborhood locals buzzed in and out to pick up their takeout orders, and the tables were all full. Katie had no doubt that Franco did not have a moment, but she was equally certain he would make one for her.
“I’m busy as a bee,” Franco told her. “But you may come back and talk to me while I cook. Yes?”
“Yes, thank you.” Katie eagerly stepped back into the kitchen. “It looks exactly the same!” she exclaimed. Then she took a deep breath. “Oh and it smells the same too. Just like heaven.”
Franco smiled broadly. “You always were my biggest fan. Now what can I do for you?”
“What happened to Viktor after I left town?”
Franco pressed his lips together into a thin line. At first, Katie wasn’t certain he was going to answer. He looked intent on pounding the dough before him into shape. Then he sighed. “The only thing that ever kept that boy out of trouble was you, my Katie.”
“I have a hard time believing that, even though that’s what Viktor claims as well.” She hated to imagine that she had left only to leave a poor boy to an inevitable life of crime.
“It wasn’t that simple at all,” Franco admitted. “But you were a good influence. The boys he grew up around, they were bad boys. All of them pledged their loyalty to Karkoff before they had graduated high school. I believe that if Viktor had been able to do so, he would have. But his father was dead, and he had no uncles or brothers to stand up for him.”
“So he’s an outsider.” Katie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the make table. “That has to be awful.”
“It keeps him suspended between two worlds,” Franco explained. He began tossing pizza toppings together in a bowl. “His mafia ties make him a risk for anyone else to hire to do good, honest work, but he isn’t considered a true part of the Karkoff family, so he doesn’t have their protection either.”
“That sucks.” Katie couldn’t even imagine how badly that must hurt Viktor’s pride.
“It would most certainly suck, as you say,” Franco told her with a laugh. “But he has made his own choices. We all do.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Katie leaned forward and kissed the old man on his cheek. “Thanks for the pizza.” She slipped the fifty-dollar bill that Viktor had given her into Franco’s pocket. “Do something nice for your wife.”
“I have always thought that you were an angel, my dear.” Franco brushed her cheek with his flour-covered fingers. “Just be careful not to get your wings singed.”
***
Viktor walked toward the docks. The scent of the harbor was heavy in the air and the darkness was falling quickly. He grasped a set of keys in his hand. They cut into his palm as he searched for the van that should have been sitting in plain sight. He circumvented a large container, not even wanting to know what cargo might be inside. He had long ago learned that ignorance wasn’t just bliss; it was survival.
Finally he saw the van sitting by a loading dock. The dingy brown color made it nearly invisible in the deep shadows. Normally he was not a jumpy man. He could handle himself quite well in almost any situation, a status that lent itself to confidence. But tonight he felt as if something were just off.
He stuck the key in the door and it opened without incident. Climbing inside, Viktor started the engine and began coasting out of the wharf area before he even considered turning any lights on.
“Help!”
The sound nearly made him swerve off the road. Viktor turned around, but the only thing he could see was the solid wall between the cab of the van and the cargo area. It was late. It was dark. He was already tired and feeling out of sorts because of all the drama involving Katie’s return. It was not unrealistic to think that his mind was playing tricks on him.
“Please help us!”
“Shit,” he muttered. Apparently his mind was not playing tricks at all. He groaned softly. How could he simply drive on as though nothing had happened?
“Please! I know you’re there. We have children back here!”
It could have been a ploy, but Viktor could hear the whimpers of what sounded like very young girls. He knew then that he could not complete this job. The only question was how to circumvent it without losing his life in the process.
Viktor was supposed to meet Sasha at the park in the usual place to trade out vans. Before now, Viktor had never thought to wonder why Sasha was the one who brought the money, which Viktor then had to deliver to a third location while Sasha took the merchandise to the buyer.
His road was just passing a hospital when Viktor had an idea. Of course, he would have to be careful not to be caught on one of the hospital’s security cameras. It wouldn’t matter that he was doing a good thing. The authorities would string him up from the nearest tree.
Carefully pulling the van around the far side of the hospital and parking in an alley, Viktor got out of the vehicle. There was no doubt in his mind that the back of the vehicle was going to be locked. Fortunately, he had a childhood full of lock picking to fall back on.
***
Katie paced back and forth in front of her little fireplace. There was a little bit of a spring chill in the air this evening, so she had started a fire. Truthfully, though, she sought the comfort of the merrily crackling flames rather than the warmth.
She could not stop thinking about Viktor. It seemed such a shame that the whole neighborhood had written him off simply because they didn’t want to chance an interaction with the mafia. Since Viktor wasn’t tied to Karkoff enough for the man to accept Viktor’s pledge, surely Viktor was a free man. Right?
A sudden knock on the back door nearly made Katie leap out
of her skin. On the couch, Max sat up and cocked his head. He wasn’t barking, which suggested that whoever was at the door wasn’t a stranger. But Max wasn’t rushing to the door either, so it wasn’t really a friend. There was only one person she could think of.
“Come with me, boy,” she murmured to her dog.
Max yawned and jumped down off the sofa. He followed her lead through the house, his toenails clicking on the wood floors as they made their way through the kitchen to the back door. Sure enough, she could see Viktor peeking between her grandmother’s lacy curtains in order to see through the panes of glass.
Katie flung open the door. “Can’t you use the front?”
“I was feeling nostalgic.”
She wasn’t buying it. “Considering the way you’re looking around as though you’re expecting someone to be following you, I suspect that’s not really why you opted to use the back door.”
He slipped into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. “Maybe.”
“No maybe about it. Either you come clean or I’m going to boot your ass back out that door.” Katie arched an eyebrow expectantly.
“Let’s just say that the job Karkoff wanted me to do for him wasn’t to my liking.”
Katie’s heart leaped for joy. “That’s good!”
“I’m not sure he’ll see it that way,” Viktor said ruefully. “Which means that if he discovers I was involved in botching the job, he’ll be particularly pissed off at me.”
“What job?” Katie wanted to know. In fact, she was dying of curiosity.
“I’d rather not say.” Viktor headed for the living room. He put her blinds down and drew the curtains over the top as if he were truly expecting someone to be watching her house. “I don’t want you involved. And if anyone ever asks, you are to tell them that you have absolutely no idea about anything involving the work I do for Karkoff.”
“You’re really worried about me, aren’t you?” she asked him softly.
He turned around suddenly. She was so close that her nose was nearly brushing his chest. Very gently, he reached out and cupped her face. “Katie, you’ve been the only thing I’ve worried about for the last five years. I cannot imagine why that would stop now.”
