by Stacy Gail
“I don’t want your gratitude.” He was as hoarse as when he’d been a teen and he’d finally found his voice again after having it buried by years of trauma. “I’d sacrifice everything to keep all of you safe—your heart and your body. That might be hard to believe, because I know I put you through hell when I took that bullet. Going through that hell left all this shit inside you, even though you know I’m still alive. I guess I thought it’d just vanish once you saw I was in the land of the living, but I’d have to be blind to not see it’s done real damage to you. That I’ve done real damage to you. Knowing that, living with that… that’s why I know another scenario like this is never gonna happen again, Dasha. It’s never going to happen, because I will never hurt you like this again.”
The tension began to seep out of her, muscle by muscle. “No more leaving me in the dark about what’s going on around me?”
“No more. I’m done with that.”
“And you’ll share with me what your plans are with my brother, just as I’ll share everything with you?”
He sighed. In for a penny… “That too.”
A relieved breath whispered out of her, and she began to smile. “You’ll have to have a plan, you know. My brother isn’t like me. I usually just wing things and hope for the best, but Knives likes to set up the board in ways that surround his opponents in a trap.”
“Yeah, I know. That would be dangerous…if we didn’t know the trap is there.”
She nodded. “It’s still dangerous, though. But if I could—”
“No.” Whatever was at the end of that sentence, he didn’t want to hear it.
“Polo, I’ll be careful in luring Knives out. And I’ll be okay, because I know you’d never let anything happen to me.”
“That’s good to hear and I’m glad you know that, but safety issues aren’t the main reason why I won’t allow you to lure your brother out of his fortress.”
Fire flashed in her eyes. “For the sake of argument, I’m going to ignore the whole allow me thing so I can concentrate on the subject at hand. Why don’t you want me to lure Knives out into the open?”
“You said it right there. If I let you do this, you’d be responsible for luring your own brother to me, and I’m going to fucking end him, Dash. I won’t have you living with that for the rest of your days. It’s going to be bad enough as it is, having your brother’s blood on my hands. I sure as hell won’t allow you to play an active part in that. I won’t.”
She pressed her lips together like she had to hold herself back from arguing the point, before she eventually managed a grudging nod. “Then let me help you stack the deck against him.”
“Dash—”
“It’s my life Knives is trying to take,” she cut in fiercely, her chin elevating in a way that reminded him sharply of her father when he was about to lower the boom on an enemy. “I’m going to do this with or without you, but it would be so much better if we were in this together.”
“We’re together on everything,” he corrected on a growl, his arms tightening. “What do you have in mind?”
“A meeting. It can’t happen until tomorrow because security has to be arranged. But once it’s done, it should help level the playing field when it comes to Knives’s army.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that after tomorrow, you’ll have an army of your own.”
Chapter Seventeen
“If my sister can be a best-selling cookbook author, I can at least make a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of soup without having to call 911.”
At my announcement, Polo threw me a dubious look before wandering into the kitchen. “Rudy’s already gone to pick up something from his favorite deli, so it’s a done deal. Besides, from what I know about your eating habits lately I doubt you have any bread or cheese, or even a can of soup, so it’s a moot point.” He pulled the refrigerator door open, took one look inside and sighed. “Yup. A bottle of ginger ale, a couple yogurts and a tub of hummus. Holy shit, Dash, it’s a wonder you didn’t actually starve yourself to death.”
“I wasn’t doing it on purpose,” I tried to explain yet again. Seriously, the way the man fussed over my weight was going to give me a complex.
“That’s done now, though, yeah?” He closed the fridge and wandered back to where I leaned against the peninsula counter. “You’re eating and getting that ass back so I don’t have to worry about shattering you into a million pieces every time I fuck you, am I right?”
“I’m not fragile and I still have an ass. See?” I grabbed his hand and smacked it against my right butt cheek. “That’s Grade-A Prime right there, pal. Go ahead, give it a squeeze.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” His worried frown melted into a grin as he turned me completely into his arms and let his hands slide down to cup my ass. “I do love your ass, even when it’s this skinny.”
Good grief. “It’s not remotely skin—”
A rattle in the front door’s lock made both of us look toward it. But instead of Rudy and the bags of food he’d promised, Shona breezed through, only to freeze in her tracks when she saw Polo.
Oh, shit.
“Uh.” I stared at my best friend, whose mouth had dropped open, her eyes as round as I’d ever seen them. “Shona, I’m sure this is…” Stunning. Staggering. Mind-breaking.
I could relate. Oh boy, could I relate.
“Close the door.” In a heartbeat, Polo was across the room, pulling Shona by the elbow away from the door before shutting it and locking it up tight. Then he whirled and clapped a hand over her mouth when she inhaled sharply. “Don’t scream. Don’t make a sound, or you’re going to force me to quiet you down in a way you seriously won’t like, Dash’s friend or not.”
“Polo!” Horrified and immediately pissed because it was obvious he meant it, I leapt forward to drag Shona away from him and into the sheltering curve of my arm. “Why the hell would she scream? You don’t know Shona if you think this is going to rattle her, much less make her scream. Right, Shona?”
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit,” she chanted, fanning her chest as if she was trying to indicate she was going into cardiac arrest and needed a defibrillator. “He’s alive. Holy shit, he’s alive, standing right there with his hands on your ass. Unless he’s a zombie. Then he was standing right there with his zombie hands on your ass. What the fuck, girl. Oh my God, what the actual fuck.”
My arm around her squeezed. “Remember who you are, honey. Raised in the worst projects Chicago has to offer. Clawed your way to the top. Toughest bitch who ever shopped Mag Mile. Nothing shakes you, right?”
“Dasha.” At last she tore her gaze from Polo to stare at me, and I feared her shock was so deep her eyes might stay that way forever. “We are talking about someone who has come back from the fucking grave, do you understand me? The. Fucking. Grave.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
“I went to that man’s funeral.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I held you up so you wouldn’t collapse during that man’s funeral.”
“I’m very grateful for that.”
“All you wanted was for him to come back to you. And now here he is, in the flesh.” By degrees, Shona’s shock melted into wonder, and her arms circled me in a joy-filled hug. “Oh my God, honey, it’s a freakin’ miracle. A dream come true. You must be so happy.”
My heart went all gooey. My bestie understood me so well. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“You just keep being happy, you hear me? As for me…I’m going to kill this motherfucker.” With that, she hauled herself out of my arms and launched at Polo, who was smart enough to step back while I caught her from behind at the last minute.
“Shona, for God’s sake—”
“Do you have any idea what shit you put her through, you sonofabitch? There’s a special place in Satan’s own hell for cold-hearted sons of bitches like you who don’t give two goddamned shits about the people they mow down because the
y’re too busy thinking about themselves.”
“Shona—”
“Let me go, Dash, ‘cause I need to tear this guy a new asshole in the worst fucking way. He wasn’t there when you couldn’t eat or sleep, or even fucking talk. I was. I had a front row seat to every god-awful moment of your suffering, so that gives me the right to rip his fucking head off, scoop his eyes out with a spoon and use what’s left as a bowling ball.”
Struggling with her as I was, I still couldn’t stifle my cringe. “Ew.”
“You should want to tear him apart too,” she went on, oblivious. “Instead, you’re letting that dead man play grab-ass and acting like your life is some sweet, make-me-want-to-vomit romance movie. Of all people, I thought you’d be more hardcore than that. Of all people.”
Oy. “Shona, please—”
“No, she’s right.” To my shock, Polo’s voice sliced into the conversation, cutting me off and even managing to shut Shona’s mouth, if only because her lips became a tight, thin line of outrage. “Shona was there for you when I couldn’t be. She looked after you when you needed it the most, and she was the one who walked every damn step through hell right along with you. For that, I’ll always be grateful,” he added somberly, meeting my friend’s condemning gaze without flinching. “You love Dash, so feel free to hate on me all you want. I’ll take it and be glad my woman’s got a friend like you by her side.”
Shona’s tight mouth softened for a full second before she scoffed. “Don’t you try to sweet-talk me, dead man. Dash might be a pushover for whatever shit line you’re feeding her, but I sure as hell am not.”
“Vitaliev blood doesn’t allow me to be a pushover,” I muttered, still holding onto her out of fear that she might haul off and deck Polo. “That means I’ve been working hard at making peace with Polo’s so-called death.”
“I don’t know how you could. No matter how hot he is or how rock-solid his ass might look, this dead man put you through all nine rings of hell without so much as a blink.”
“That sniper was meant for me, Shona,” I blurted when she paused to take a breath. I knew I’d gotten her attention when her eyes widened once more. “Right before the gala began, Polo found out there’s a hit out on me. He let the world think he was dead so he could have the freedom to uncover who’s gunning for me, and take that person out in order to save me.”
“And did you?” Shona pulled away from my grasp to face Polo straight-on. I let her go, but stood at the ready to tackle her in case she flew off the handle again. “Did you find out who’s gunning for my best friend, and did you take that cocksucker out?”
A muscle in Polo’s jaw jumped. “I know who it is. But the guy’s both slick and paranoid, so he’s almost impossible to get to.”
“That’s why Polo’s been playing dead all this time,” I added, looking to her beseechingly. “He didn’t think it would go on this long, Shona, or that I’d have to endure so much. But in order to prevent a lopsided war between the Vitalievs and the Scorpeones—and to keep me breathing—he put himself in the path of that bullet while still doing whatever he could to end the threat to my life.”
“That’s what I was trained to do—keep Dash alive.” When he glanced at me, his face softened like a miracle, and he reached out a hand to brush his fingers against my cheek. “But I’m learning it’s just as important to keep my Dash safe from all harm, like the shit that gives her nightmares. That’s a mission that has equal priority for me now, but I’m not sure she believes that. That’s okay. It’s up to me to prove it to her.”
“Your Dash.” Shona’s face softened a fraction, and I was pleased to see she no longer looked homicidal. “Hmph. Well, you’d better hope she’s still your Dash, is all I’m saying. When a man doesn’t take care of his woman and he leaves her to fend for herself, that man is teaching that woman how to live life without him. If you’re smart, you’d better figure out double-quick how to make yourself indispensible to her, because she’s already proven she’s strong enough to carry right the hell on without you.”
Good grief, I loved Shona.
“If I ever leave Dash’s side again or even make her cry another tear, then I deserve to lose her. But there’s no way in hell I’m going to lose her, because I’m not going to allow any of that shit to happen. She’s the center of my world and I’m not shy about showing her that. Everything I’m doing now—good, bad and neutral—is motivated by one thought, and that’s how it’s going to affect her. That’s how much she’s in my head. That’s how much she’s in my soul.”
“Damn,” Shona murmured even as I melted from the inside out, and as I looked into his face I could see what Shona saw—Polo meant every single word. A moment later, Shona turned to me, grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I can’t imagine how confusing this must be for you, babe, but there’s one thing I do know. I’ve been married six years—and dated a hell of a lot longer than that—and I’ve never had a man talk about me like that. Not even remotely. So if he’s not full of bullshit, you’d be wise to hold onto him with everything you have. Bust his balls for a while for the hell you’ve been through, but long-term…I seriously think he’s a keeper. If he can stay out of the damn grave, that is.”
“That’s the immediate goal for this relationship.” I gave her hand a squeeze before letting her go, ridiculously thrilled my best friend was no longer eager to murder Polo. “Why did you drop by? I can’t even figure out how you knew I was home in the first place.”
“I didn’t,” came the surprising reply before she dug into her back pocket for a white envelope. “I was going to leave you this note because I didn’t know if your phone was still screwed up. I was going to try to text you when we got to the airport, though, just to make sure I covered all the bases.”
“Airport?”
“Whittaker’s packing us up to spend the rest of the month at one of the new properties he’s developed in Bermuda. He’s even taking my mother along, can you believe it? With my sexy-as-hell man and a built-in babysitter in an island paradise, who knows what’ll happen?”
“I can guess,” I drawled, relaxing enough to smile. That smile broadened when Polo pulled me to his side, his strong arm clamping me to his side like two puzzle pieces fitting together. “Don’t worry about a thing. I was going to tell you that I plan to temporarily close up Chicago’s Future until I’ve settled things with Knives, so this works out perfectly.”
“Is that because your brother paid me a visit that scared the shit out of me?”
I didn’t miss Polo’s sharp glance even as I shrugged. “Yes and no. I’d just feel better if I had all my loved ones—which includes you and your family—out of his reach for the time being. And for what it’s worth, I no longer consider Knives my brother. In every possible way, he’s dead to me.”
Shona, in the short time that she’d been in my apartment, had perfected the wide-eyed look of shock. “Because of what he said to me?”
“That was just one more confirmation of what needs to be done. No one I know and love is safe as long as he exists in my life.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t the cause to make you see the light, but I am glad you’ve seen it,” Shona confessed, pressing a hand to her heart. “I was going to have a big problem on my hands, staying on at Chicago’s Future with your brother still in the picture. Whit…well, he wasn’t thrilled when I told him what happened.”
My heart constricted. “I can imagine.”
“Whit can be just as scary in his own way when he’s crossed. He’s already taken the lumber to anything Knives Vitaliev has touched in the legitimate business community that he can get his hands on. In just forty-eight hours alone, he’s managed to sic a bevy of bank auditors on some property deal Knives was trying to work in New City, and he flat-out bought a piece of property in West Town near Ukrainian Village, because Knives had put a bid in for it. Whit’s looking to bedevil him any way he can, despite me telling him that he’s going to wind up swimming with the fishes if he keeps poking at
that bastard.”
Polo offered a closed-mouth scoff. “You’d be right about that, if Knives wasn’t going to be busy doing other things in the very near future.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Being worm food comes to mind. I kid, of course,” Polo said affably, smiling when Shona shot him an uncertain look. “If I had any plans of killing that bastard, would I actually talk about it? That’d be crazy.”
“Uh-huh. Crazy like a fox, but whatever.” Looking like she had reached her limit, Shona shook her head and wrapped me up in a bone-creaking hug. “You know I love you, right, my sister?”
I squeezed my eyes shut to block out a sudden sting of tears and hugged her back. “You know I love you more, right, my sister?”
“Always so competitive.” With one last squeeze she let me go, sniffing a bit as she headed for the door. “So, anyway. We’ll be back the first week in September, but I’m sure we’ll be in touch all the while, right?”
“Absolutely. Give Arabella a kiss from her Auntie Dash.”
“And tell your man to double up his security until further notice,” Polo added, his mouth grim. “Bermuda’s far, but don’t get comfortable thinking it’s far enough. You get me?”
Shona’s expression tightened a fraction before she lifted a deliberately casual shoulder. “I get you. Don’t get dead again.” With that, she waved and vanished through the door.
Looking at the closed door, I could only shake my head. “Havlik missed another surprise entry. I’m going to have to get that guy a gift certificate for an optometrist.”
“Since Shona lives right across the hall from you, and she obviously has a key, I guess I can see how that could happen. But as of now, he’s standing by the fucking door and has someone else walk the halls.” He let me go to grab up his phone and began speed-typing with his thumbs. “What was it that Knives said to Shona that got her man so fired up?”
