Mikhail
I’m ready to leave for a meeting when I hear her door shut upstairs. From the corner of my eye, I watch and wait for Maria to come down to breakfast, but instead, Dominika descends the stairs. I tighten my tie, hiding my disappointment with a tolerant scowl. Dominika’s orders have been to care for Maria and watch her like a hawk, so I assume she is doing her job.
“Where is she?” I ask. “Sulking in bed?”
Dominka straightens her back and tries to compose herself quickly. She quickly steps toward the hallway and makes sure she’s nowhere near me.
I finish with my tie and glare at her. “Dominika,” I demand. “I asked you a question.”
“Who?” Her voice falters.
“Maria,” I say.
Dominika stares out the window behind me, not daring to look me in the eyes. “She’s staying at your sister’s house.”
I step forward, looming over her. “You were supposed to be watching her!” I snarl.
Dominika doesn’t flinch. Before fleeing her homeland, she saw far more evil than even I could muster. She stares back at me, her face stoic and her voice even. “She is safe. She only needed a little space,” Dominika says softly. “None of this is her fault.”
I scoff. “Are you choosing sides?”
“I look out for everyone in the household, Mikhail Ivanov,” she replies. “I’m always looking out for you.”
Her serene response keeps my anger at bay.
“Next time, I’m to be told.” My voice is slightly more controlled. “I rely on your good judgment and discretion, but it is not your decision.”
She nods. “I will. But Larissa Gennadyevna might have told you herself if you had been around to speak with her.”
Of course, Larissa is involved, and now I will have to talk to her. I glare at Dominika’s insolence, and she carefully looks away. I could’ve sent her out the door after Father died, but she was the last one left.
The only one who knows my parents’ history and secrets.
I get in her face so that she has to meet my gaze. “Don’t do it again.”
The meeting will wait. I grab my jacket and head down in the elevator to the private underground garage. With Anton in tow, I’ll head for my sister’s house, where Maria is hiding-safe, secured, and spoiled. Far away from me, Larissa is probably giving Maria everything she asks for. Including a phone, I bet.
Maria has managed to find an ally in Larissa, but neither of them understands the danger that will follow in her wake.
What if the Lanzzare find out Maria’s location?
What if Zakhar does?
“Call Rurik,” I snap at Anton as we walk from the elevator to the Mercedes. I stop in my tracks and decide to take the armored SUV instead. My feet move quickly in the other direction as Anton stumbles to keep up.
I watch him from the side of my eye. “Did you know?”
“Know what, Mikhail Ivanov?” Anton replies nervously. Of course, he wouldn’t know. Anton barely knows his left from his right. He hurries toward the SUV, and scarcely watching where he’s going, he taps Rurik’s number into his phone. His massive bulk towers over mine, but Anton shudders when I grab the phone out of his hand.
I feel a twinge of guilt. Anton is completely respectful and loyal to the Bratva, and so is Dominika. My anger isn’t with them. Alexander was right about Larissa’s meddling, and it makes me angry that I might have to listen to him and push her farther away. She spends more time in Long Island and less time in the city. The time between our phone calls is growing longer.
But Rurik … Why didn’t he tell me? I scoff when the answer comes immediately. Because the fool is in love.
“Yes, Anton?” Rurik answers.
“How long has she been there?” I snap as Anton drives the SUV onto 59th Street.
“Two nights?” Rurik pauses when he recognizes my voice. “You didn’t know? I thought you sent her here.”
Larissa. I don’t say anything about her to him, afraid I can’t take back the abuse once it’s spoken. I end the call immediately and switch off Anton’s phone, tossing it onto the seat. Rurik has changed since his marriage to Larissa years ago. He doesn’t realize it, but she’s domesticated him.
He’s less lethal, less ruthless, and less paranoid since he fell in love. Each day, I see Rurik as less of the killer I grew up with and more and more as just my sister’s husband.
For a stupid, careless moment, I thought Maria would be my chance, but I wised up fast. Afraid. She said I was afraid. Yes, I am afraid. Because falling in love is a distraction that leads to ruin.
Her father is firmly at the root of my hate. He went over to the Lanzzare after Desmier’s death. He still works with the Lanzzare even now. How can I show my adversary compassion? How can I love one and hate the other? I have feelings for her, but she’s the wrong woman to love. Unless Maria rejects the traitor and embraces the Bratva, her love will make me powerless.
And if I’m weak, I can’t serve the Bratva.
You care for no one but the Bratva, and you shall love none other than the Bratva.