Page 81 of Disguised as Love

The man gave us directions, and I told Raisa to keep driving past the nightclub where he said Volkov and the People’s Court were waiting for us. It wasn’t far from where the bombing had occurred the day before, but at six in the morning, the streets and the bar were quiet. We drove down several blocks before I had Raisa flip around so we could park on the opposite side of the street with a line of sight to the front doors.

“Hold one of these on him while I call for backup,” I told Raisa, shoving the Colt at her and grabbing my phone out of the sweatshirt’s pocket. My chest tightened as I turned the power button on, because I knew that even if I called for help, there was little chance of getting it. But neither this man nor Raisa needed to know that.

The man ignored me as if I wasn’t even there. His gaze concentrated on Raisa. “Your mother will not make it through another night. If you do not come and stand trial, she will die, and we will still come for you. All of us. There is not a place on this earth you can go where we will not find you.”

“Stop. Fucking. Talking,” I told him.

“Cruz…” Raisa’s voice shook. I looked at her and saw the fear in her eyes. Fear for her mother and not for her. But if she walked in there, I’d be outnumbered and outgunned. I wouldn’t be able to protect her.

“He’s lying. The People’s Court doesn’t exist anymore,” I told her. “It’s a relic of the old bratva that faded away at the turn of the century.”

The man scoffed. “Just because the U.S. government thinks this, doesn’t make it so.”

He shot a glare at me, and my heart almost tore itself apart with a vicious pounding as I realized the truth. I’d been made. I’d suspected it after I’d seen Damien had escaped the safehouse, but this was the proof. Whatever the men in the club agreed to on behalf of Raisa, it didn’t extend to me. I was a dead man, and like Raisa had said the day before, they didn’t just come after you. They came after your family. Mom and Nan… Shit.

I dialed Nolan’s number, placing the call I’d never wanted to make. Nolan grunted out a greeting, and I spoke quietly and calmly. “Code squirrel.”

He inhaled sharply on the other end.

“Are you sure?” Nolan asked.

“Code fucking squirrel.”

It would be enough to send agents scurrying to cover Mom and Nan and take them somewhere safe until we could figure out how bad this was. Until I came back in a body bag that would hopefully be satisfaction enough for the bratva.

A knock on the glass had me whirling the gun in my hand toward the window.

Ito-san stood there. She had a black eye and a swollen lip, and she looked pissed.

I glanced at Raisa as I opened the door and said, “If he opens his mouth, shoot him. Hell, if he breathes, shoot him.”

I shut the door so I could get the truth of our situation from Ito-san without Raisa hearing. I didn’t need her panic adding to my own. I looked both ways down the street, feeling exposed in more than one way.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“Malik is a fucking idiot. He insisted on going back to a secret stash for money, passports, and guns, but they were waiting for us. I killed two, but they were an endless wave, and it was all I could do to get myself out. They didn’t care about me once they had him. I tailed them here and saw Manya and Ilia brought in not long after. Ilia looked to be in pretty bad shape. His legs were all twisted, and blood covered his face and neck. Manya looked like she was going to collapse but didn’t have a mark on her.”

“How many are there?”

“An army’s worth.”

“Fuck.”

I looked up at the sky.

“Want the good news?” she asked dryly.

I glared. “There’s good news?”

“I found the fourth carrying case.”

“What?”

“After you didn’t show, I went back to the Leskov apartment and tore it apart.”

“He didn’t use all the C-4,” I breathed out.

“I hacked into the cameras around the nightclub and then rigged two bombs: one at the back door and one on the roof above the main dancefloor,” she said calmly.

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