by Bella Rose
Chapter Ten
Viktor didn’t even pause at the front door of the Karkoff home. Denis was standing on the porch staring out into the dark night. Recognition lit his features when Viktor approached, but he didn’t react quickly enough. Viktor smashed the flat of his hand into Denis’s throat and the man sank immediately to his knees, grabbing his throat and wheezing desperately.
“I think that’s become my signature move,” Viktor commented to Max before plucking Denis’s handgun from the holster at the small of his back.
Opening the front door, Viktor looked both ways but saw no other guards or mafia men hanging about. Most were probably at the gaming tables downtown, or holed up in a restaurant somewhere listening to a sexy lounge singer and drinking themselves into a stupor.
“Find Katie,” Viktor ordered Max.
The dog immediately put his nose to work. He snuffled his way around the foyer before heading down the hall toward the study. Viktor followed, looking around in case Sasha should be lurking about.
Max stopped right in front of the study door, whining softly and putting his paw up against the wood. Viktor pressed his ear to the door. He laid his hand on the dog’s head to quiet him. There were raised voices inside, ones he knew belonged to Karkoff and Katie.
“All right, let’s go.” Viktor pulled the slide on Denis’s weapon and prepared to enter the study.
The door gave easily. Too easily, in fact, as it smacked the opposite wall and nearly bounced back into Viktor’s face. He fumbled his way inside the room behind an eager Max. The dog made a beeline for Katie, immediately placing himself between her and Karkoff.
“Max!” Katie’s voice registered shock.
She knelt and put her arms around the dog’s ruff. He licked her eagerly, nosing her as if he wanted to make certain she was unharmed. Viktor crept into the room and let the door slam behind him.
“You can put the gun down, boy,” Karkoff told Viktor. “It won’t be necessary. Ms. McClellan was just leaving.”
“So this was a voluntary meeting?” Viktor asked, confused. He looked back and forth between Katie and Karkoff.
Katie’s expression soured. “No, it wasn’t voluntary.” She glared at Karkoff. “And either you do something about your nephew or I will. I’m sick of his attitude.”
Viktor was almost dumbfounded with shock at the way she was addressing Karkoff. Nobody talked to the mafia boss like that.
***
Katie could tell that her behavior was shocking to Viktor, but she was afraid to stop blustering lest the old man start in again about her staying away from Viktor.
She touched Max’s silky head. The familiar feel of her dog’s presence at her side gave her courage. “I’m really not kidding, Mr. Karkoff. I want your flunkies to leave me alone. I have no time for their idiotic antics, and I can’t afford to keep fixing doors just because they break them down.”
At least Karkoff looked amused. He nodded to Viktor. “Your friend is certainly the bossy type. As I understand it, my man Nicolai has burns on his face from her wrath.”
“I warned Sasha about trying to boss her around.” Viktor was obviously trying to be conversational, which was good. There was no need to poke the bear, so to speak. “But Sasha likes to do things his own way.”
“Which seems to be a problem for your friend.” Karkoff was staring at Katie and it made her horribly uncomfortable. What was this guy’s problem?
Then Karkoff cleared his throat and gave Viktor a very pointed look. “I did not have much luck speaking sense to Ms. McClellan, Viktor.”
“Is that so?” Viktor’s glance strayed toward Katie, but didn’t focus on her.
Katie held her breath, tangling her fingers in Max’s fur for comfort. Then Karkoff went for the jugular.
“You are an important part of our organization, Viktor.” Karkoff’s lofty tone said it all. “This woman is a distraction of the worst kind.”
“And yet your men are allowed to have relationships, marry, and have children,” Viktor pointed out.
“Within the family,” Karkoff allowed.
Viktor stared at the ground. Katie wished she could tell what he was thinking. He looked so serious. Then he lifted his gaze to Karkoff. “You have made no secret of the fact that I do not have the pedigree or the connections to be accepted as family.”
“You are a valuable asset to us as you are,” Karkoff stressed.
Viktor’s low laugh was eerie to hear. “But I’m alone, sir. And if you have it your way, I will always be alone.”
“You are safer that way,” Karkoff argued.
Viktor shrugged. “Perhaps I would rather be happy than safe.”
Katie’s stomach knotted as she realized what was happening. She was watching the rift open. A part of her was glad, because this meant that Viktor could be his own man. But he was also going to be perceived as a threat whether he was or not. And that meant danger for them all.
Viktor seemed to be done talking. He held up the gun he was carrying to show Karkoff. “This is Denis’s. Please see that he gets it back.”
Then Viktor took Katie’s hand and walked away from Boris Karkoff and whatever it was he was offering without looking back. The back of Katie’s neck burned as she anticipated some sort of retribution. But nothing happened. Viktor, Katie, and Max exited Karkoff’s home with no interference.
***
Viktor reached down and took Katie’s hand. They were perhaps eight blocks from her house and that was his goal. The only thing that mattered was getting her home safe.
“You would rather be happy than safe?” Katie whispered. “Really? Do you think that was a good idea?”
“Do I think what was a good idea?” Viktor glanced around at the shadows created by streetlights and the porch lights of the other houses in the neighborhood.
Max’s toenails clicked on the sidewalk beside Katie. Viktor could see the dog’s outline in the moonless night, but the shadows made eerie patterns from the animal’s fur. Max looked calm, though, and Viktor took that to be a good sign.
Katie tugged on his hand. “Did you even understand what was going on back there?”
“Of course I understood.” Viktor wondered what she was getting at. “Karkoff was blustering about the fact that he needs me to do his dirty work for him because I can’t officially be tied back to his organization.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for another block.
Viktor couldn’t help but feel jumpy. There was no way they were getting out of this so easily. At any moment, Sasha was going to appear and try to make good on all his threats.
“Viktor, you can’t just turn your back on Karkoff,” Katie said in a low voice. “As much as I’d like to tell you that you should give that man the finger and never do another job for him, he would just as soon kill you as let you go.”
“What are you getting at?” Viktor finally asked. “You keep going round and round in circles, but you aren’t saying what you’re actually trying to say.”
“Karkoff wanted me to stay away from you,” she admitted. “He said that would keep you safe.”
“Safe? Maybe. Miserable? Definitely.” Viktor shrugged. “That’s not happening so it doesn’t matter.”
“But what if he makes good on his threats?” she worried. “I know you’re capable of more than working for that scumbag, but you never seem motivated to do anything about it.”
“What?” He stopped walking and turned to stare down at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She paused in her energetic trek toward her house. “I was just referring to the fact that after I left town you never really attempted to do anything with your life. You run errands for Karkoff. And I know you said that nobody would give you work after I left, but that was years ago!”
“And so you’ve made the assumption that not only have I not done anything you would consider worthwhile, but that I’m unmotivated and incapable as well.” He didn’t know what to say. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been so thor
oughly insulted before in my life, Katie. Thank you.”
“What?” She looked confused.
“I just mean thank you for motivating me.”
“Okay?”
***
Katie had no clue what had just happened. Viktor looked so angry. Of course she could barely see his facial expression in the dim glow of the streetlamps, but he looked pissed.
“Let’s get you home, shall we?” His tone was brusque.
She grabbed his arm. “You’re angry at me.”
“No. You’ve just enlightened me. That’s all.”
“How?” Katie demanded. “Don’t you understand that I’m just trying to keep you from getting hurt?”
“Don’t you understand that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself?” He snorted, looking down at her and shaking his head. “You act like I haven’t been doing just that for the last five years. Did you honestly believe that everything just stopped while you were away?”
“It seems to have done just that!” she argued. “I talked to Franco. He says you got pretty much blacklisted after I left. You picked up with Karkoff’s crew and that was it. What else am I supposed to think?”
“So now you’re going to save me?” The disgust dripping from his words seared her like acid. “That’s rich, Katie. Really.”
They were approaching her house. She could see the familiar outline of her back gate in the murky darkness. “Maybe you need saving,” she told him primly. “Look at you! You’re working for Karkoff doing one task a week, or maybe more, and barely scraping by. Is this what you want for the rest of your life? You’re going to be fifty or sixty years old still doing odd jobs for a guy who won’t make you a full member of his family?”
Even when the words were out she realized how they sounded. He swung open her gate with a flourish and Max trotted right into the yard. Katie followed, but Viktor stayed outside. He closed the gate with a click that reeked of finality.
“I think I’ve bothered you enough for one evening,” he told her stiffly. “Knowing that you feel nothing more than some bizarre responsibility for my well-being, I think I’d rather just take my chances out here in the real world by myself.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Katie protested. “You’re twisting my words! That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart.” He said something else in Russian and then walked away.
Max cocked his head, lifting one ear as if wondering where the man was going. Katie wondered the same thing. Where would he go? What would he do? And how badly had she messed up their relationship?
“Viktor!” she called out.
He turned, but in the darkness she couldn’t make out his expression.
“Please don’t leave like this. It doesn’t have to be this way.” She gripped the top of the gate until the wood bit into her palm. “I just want you to be safe.”
He was silent for a long moment. So long that she thought he wasn’t going to respond at all. Then his voice drifted out of the darkness. “What kind of man would I be if I hid behind a woman?”
Chapter Eleven
Sasha was waiting for Viktor when he returned to his basement apartment. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. Viktor deliberately refrained from showing any outward reaction. He simply put his key in the lock, turned the handle, and gestured for Sasha to come inside.
“This is such a shithole,” Sasha commented once Viktor had closed the door and turned on a light. “One room, almost no furniture. Are you going to ask Katie to live here with you after you’re married?”
Sasha’s sarcastic tone was covering something else, but Viktor couldn’t be certain what it was. So he went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. “Want one?”
“You got any vodka?”
Viktor grabbed the bottle he always kept on top of the fridge and snagged a shot glass from the cabinet. “I didn’t realize you preferred hard liquor.” Viktor left Sasha to pour his own shot and opened his beer.
“Of course I prefer vodka,” Sasha blustered. “I’m Russian.”
Viktor snorted in amusement. “Are you actually trying to fit the stereotype?”
“Watch your tone,” Sasha said roughly. He poured a shot and threw it back. His eyes bulged a little as he tried not to cough. “You need to remember who is respected here and who is not.”
“Speaking of.” Viktor was getting more than a little impatient. He took his beer to his recliner and sat. “What can I do for you?”
Sasha poured another shot and slugged that one down as well. He didn’t look like he was about to choke this time, but it was close. “I’ve been thinking about you and your lady love.”
“Have you?” Viktor didn’t believe a word of it.
“Yes. I think you should just get married.”
“You think I should marry Katie even though you were threatening her less than two hours ago to stay away from me?” Viktor smiled. “I can’t wait to hear this one.”
“Don’t be sarcastic.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Viktor stood up, taking a long draw from his beer. “You can try to tell me you’ve come here to promote my happiness, but I know it’s a load of crap. You don’t care if I’m happy, and right now it would do you a whole lot of good if you could make your uncle really unhappy with me. I know how this works.”
“I know you messed with that shipment the other night!” Sasha snarled, pointing his finger emphatically at Viktor. “I know you did!”
“Perhaps it was the supplier?” Viktor said silkily. He could not give himself away. Not now.
“Do you know what was in the back of that van?” Sasha’s voice was rising higher each second. Soon he would be screeching like a woman.
“I told you,” Viktor said quietly. “I’ve learned not to ask.”
Sasha threw up his hands, practically stomping around the room in a tantrum. “Women! Slaves to be sent all over the country to my uncle’s brothels!”
It was only a confirmation of what Viktor had already suspected, but that didn’t make him less ill. He clenched his jaw tightly and tried to hang on to his temper as well. Then he glared at Sasha. “What part of ‘I’ve learned not to ask’ did you not understand?”
Sasha curled his lip. “I think you should know how badly you screwed up! Those women are wandering around in a strange city with no money and no protection and it’s your fault.”
“And how is this my fault?” Viktor carefully took another swig of beer, glad that he had declined any hard liquor. He needed his wits now more than ever.
“You let them go!” Sasha shouted. “I know you did! It’s just the kind of thing some softhearted loser like you would do!”
“Is there a point to this interview?” Viktor said, forcing himself to project an air of calm he did not feel. “Because I’m tired and you’re really pissing me off more than usual.”
“Either you admit what you did or I’m going to make you.” Sasha slammed his shot glass down so hard that the bottom cracked.
“Hey!” Viktor said indignantly. “Not all of us are rolling in our uncle’s money. Some of us actually have to buy our own stuff, which—by the way—is why I would never betray your uncle. Why would I do that? What purpose would it serve? And if I didn’t know what the cargo was, why would I bother to do anything with it? I don’t get paid to mess with the cargo. I get paid to drive.” Viktor pointed back at Sasha. “It’s starting to sound like you’re the one who has a motive to mess with your uncle. Maybe you did something with this cargo.”
“Do not put this on me!” Sasha shrieked.
Viktor stared in fascination at the man he had known for years. It was becoming more and more apparent that Viktor had never really known Sasha at all. The mask that Sasha presented to the world at large was not this half-crazy, raving lunatic who was convinced everyone was out to get him. This version of Sasha was dangerous and Viktor knew it.
“Sasha,” Viktor said firmly. “Just go. Get out of my apartment and go. I don’t know what
you want from me, but you’re not going to get it. And quite frankly, you’re just pissing me off.”
“No!” Sasha made a grab for Viktor’s arm.
Viktor hastily took a step back out of range.
“You don’t understand,” Sasha moaned. “My uncle is pissed at me! He thinks I had something to do with this. You have to help me find out what happened to those women!”
Damn.
“I’ll ask around,” Viktor agreed. “Maybe someone has heard something that they wouldn’t be willing to tell a pledged member of the Karkoffs.”
“I have to find them,” Sasha insisted.
“If a bunch of women went missing, immigration or social services probably picked them up,” Viktor suggested. “At that point, they’ll be well out of reach. There’s nothing else for it.”
Sasha seemed to shake himself out of his low mood. “You need to find them! I’ll be back tomorrow to see what you know.”
“Great,” Viktor murmured as Sasha walked out the door.
***
Katie woke up the following morning with a monumental headache and a desire to do nothing but stay in bed all day. Unfortunately, that was not an option. She settled instead for refusing to think about Viktor, which was a task that took considerable effort on her part and only served to make her headache ten times worse.
“Girl, you look like hell!” Anne told her not too long before three o’clock rolled around. “You’ve been sitting over there all day as if you were a zombie. What happened last night? Or did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”
“I guess you could say I had a little disagreement with my friend.”
“Your friend whose name starts with a V?” Anne guessed. “I think that was bound to happen.”
“I’m starting to think you’re right,” Katie said glumly. “It’s like the world just wants to put up a bunch of roadblocks, you know?”
“So maybe you go home and take that adorable dog of yours to the park and just enjoy yourself and forget about him for tonight,” Anne suggested. “It’s all right to take a break from someone, you know?”
