Adrian
Kat doesn’t stay awake to eat, which bothers the part of me that desperately needs to see to her well-being. I want to baby the crap out of this girl. Pamper her until she forgets every last horrible thing I subjected her to.
I wait until room service comes, then I eat and take the laptop into the living room and shut the door to the bedroom.
It’s midnight in Chicago, but I send a text to Ravil anyway. Are you up?
A moment later, the laptop rings with a video call from Dima. When the video comes into focus, I see Ravil, Maxim and Dima calling from Ravil’s office.
“Adrian,” Ravil says immediately. “I don’t like when you dodge my calls.”
“I’m sorry, pakhan. I fucked up.”
He raises his brows at that admission. “What happened?”
Assuming he already knows everything about my plan from Dima, I start from what went down on the ship up until I blew it up.
“Where are you now?” Maxim asks. He’s half-dressed in an unbuttoned shirt. Ravil probably roused him from his marital bed for the call.
“At the Radisson Blu Astrid in Antwerp.”
He tips his head. “Interesting choice. You still have the girl, then.”
“Kateryna,” I say. She’s no longer the girl. She’s not Poval’s daughter. She’s my Kit-Kat. The lovely, wild, strong-fragile young woman I’m in love with. The one I have to let go.
“Yes. She’s sleeping.”
“Well, what are your thoughts, Adrian? I’m guessing you texted for a reason.” Ravil is completely polite, but I know I’m still in the doghouse, rightfully so.
I don’t answer. My mind has looped around and around. I’m out of plans and ideas. I just know my way didn’t work. It’s time to adjust.
“I’m…ready to abort.”
Ravil lifts a cool brow.
Maxim smirks and leans back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. “I knew that as soon as you said Radisson Blu Astrid.”
I shrug. “Perhaps this is police matter.”
“A police matter,” Ravil corrects me. “That tactic might have worked better if you hadn’t blown up the freighter.”
“But you said you took photos of the log books?” Dima asks. “Send them to me. I might be able to trace them to his bank accounts.” Dima flashes a grin. “I found them all. Oh, and the five mill appeared in her bank account. Did I tell you that? I can move it to one of our holding accounts.”
My heart pounds. I could keep his money. That alone would be punishment enough for a man like Poval. Then again, it would give him a reason to come after me, and Kateryna knows everything. My name. Where I live. If she tells him, he’ll come after the Chicago Bratva, and while Ravil can hold his own, I’m not going to put him into war.
“Hold off on that, please. Until I’ve figured out my next move.”
Dima nods.
“A man like Poval probably would find a way out of prosecution, but it’s worth a shot,” Maxim says. “We’ve got our boy at the FBI. He could contact Interpol.” Maxim scrubs a hand across his face. “Are you going to deliver him to Interpol, though?”
“Yes.” I’d considered this. “I could get him here.”
Or do I let the guy just walk free? I no longer care what’s just or even about the justice Nadia deserves. I’m thinking about Kat.
What it would be like to have her only parent locked up.
Then again, it’s not like he’s really there for her anyway. She’s been on her own, essentially, for years. It’s no wonder she’s uncentered. Off her axis.
I remember my absurd fantasy about taking her home with me and building her a pottery studio, and my chest tightens painfully. In an alternate reality, I would live that life in a heartbeat.
He’ll still be alive. He’ll probably get off. And she’ll have the five million dollars he transferred to her bank account. Which is good because his accounts might get frozen by proceedings. She would be all right.
I nod. “I will get him here.”
“I’ll contact Alex,” Ravil says. The FBI agent who once wanted Ravil dead is now beholden to him. “No guarantees, though.”
“I understand.” I bow my head. “Either way, I’m cutting bait.”
“Is she all right?” Ravil asks, somehow seeing into my heart with that laser gaze of his.
I frown. “No. I don’t think so. But she’s safe now. From me and those mudaks on the ship.”
“She was always safe from you,” Ravil points out.
I think of her bruised wrists from the zip ties. About putting her in the shipping crate. The near-rape I exposed her to on the ship. “No, she wasn’t. But she is now.” The best thing I can do for Kat now is to walk away.
As a good citizen, I will let the authorities know what I know about Poval. But that’s the worst I’ll do.
Anything more would be detrimental to myno, not my. She doesn’t belong to me. I have no claim on her whatsoever. Anything more would be detrimental to Kat.
“How is Nadia? Has anyone seen her?”
“Of course, we’ve seen her,” Ravil says, pinning me with a hard look. “You think we wouldn’t look out for her while you’re away?”
I shake my head. “Nyet. No. Of course not. I didn’t mean it that way. And I’m sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t want to drag your cellour cellinto my mess.”
“Your mess is our mess. We’re brothers, Adrian,” Maxim says.
“You cannot keep your mess from affecting us, which is why I don’t appreciate you keeping me in the dark.” Ravil’s rebuke is mild, but my respect for him makes it hit me square in the chest.
I place my fist over my heart. “Forgive me.”
After a pause, Maxim says, “Nadia seems to be doing fine. She came out with us to Rue’s Lounge Thursday night. She might have a thing for Story’s brother, Flynn.”
I grind my teeth. I know it’s true. I’ve seen the way she looks at him. And it’s a big fucking problem as far as I’m concerned. That kid is a player, and Nadia’s heart is already so fragile. There’s no way I’m letting him anywhere near her.
“It’s late here,” Ravil says. “We’ll be in touch. Answer your phone if I call, or I will superglue it to your ear when you return.”
“I willI’m sorry.”
I end the call and send Dima the log book information then send a message to Kat’s father.
Funds received. Kateryna unharmed. Pick up in Antwerp 10 pm CET tonight. Come in person, or you won’t see her again. Text when you arrive.
Exhaustion rolls over me, but I push through, going down to the hotel gift shop I’d seen to buy Kat a shirt, sweater and a pair of leather boots. They didn’t sell panties, but I bought her some fancy lotion, soap, shampoo and conditioner.
Then I return to the room and lie down beside her, curling my arm around her waist and pulling her against me. “Shh,” I murmur against her nape when she startles. “Everything’s all right, malyshka.”
“Mmm. Adrian,” she mumbles in her sleep like I’m a comfort to her, and my heart squeezes so hard I lose my breath.
Leaving her is going to fucking kill me.