Page 52 of Ruthless Son

“Mia…”

“I’m ok, they haven’t hurt me.” Blue eyes cracked open, his bleary gaze tracking over me to check I was telling the truth. Relief shining in them when he came up empty of injuries.

“Did they say anything to you?” he muttered, before jerking forward, the skinny man poking him in the back. The hard stab of his fist in Rex’s nape had him gritting his teeth, but his eyes flared as they stayed focused on me, refusing to close them again, keeping me in his line of sight.

Our eyes met across the wooden table, our concern for each other a bandage against the open wound our relationship had become. Determination lit a fire behind his eyes that said I’ll protect you, but we both knew that was a lie.

“Don’t worry, princess.”

“I think you should worry,” a heavy accented voice spoke from behind me, the light footsteps a contrast to the deep baritone of the speaker. “A Street King and princess, how funny…” The men around him chuckled at the newcomer who took a seat in between us. Leaning back, he crossed his arms, smiling at first Rex then me and back again, his head swinging back and forth with a stupid grin on his face.

“You seem to have us at a disadvantage,” Rex started, glaring at the suited man. “You know who we are, but I don’t know who the fuck you are.”

“Ah yes, I must apologize, how rude of me.” Heavy gold sat on each finger. He slapped his hand against his chest, that manic smirk pulling his cheeks taut. “I am Fedir. And you…” he pointed a finger at Rex, “are Gavin Ragan, also known as sergeant at arms for the Street Kings… Ohio chapter.” Fedir slammed his hand against the table, startling me, if I hadn’t been tied down I would have jumped out of my seat. “How did I do?”

Rex nodded, awareness sharp in his bright eyes, he’d shaken off the fogginess, and now stared at the man with caution. “And you are Fedir Sykyta… Ukrainian mafia.”

Fedir clapped his hands. “Ah, you know me. I am touched.”

“Of course I know who you are, you’re the largest dealer in North America.” My eyes widened, breath pausing in my lungs. “You’re far from home.”

Fedir’s face hardened, his black eyes narrowing on Rex, the two pools of darkness glared with hostility. “I have no fucking choice. Your shit drugs are on my streets,” he spat. “You sell dishonor, you make bad angel powder, and now I look bad… I don’t like this.”

“We never put drugs on your streets, clearly your men know nothing.” I kicked Rex under the table, imploring him to not anger the armed gangster. His head swiveled to meet mine. It’s ok, he mouthed, before turning back to the man who had ‘danger’ written all over him.

“I have been buying from Mexicans for long time, and now, everyone dies who snorts coke sold to him by you. You tell me, who is to blame?”

“Our drugs are pure, and we’ve been selling to Felix for years. But guess what… Felix is dead, and his dumbass of a nephew has taken over,” Rex gritted out. “Rio has been?—”

Fedir waved his hand in front of his face, annoyance coating his features. “Yes, yes, I know this. Rio sells drugs to everyone, not just us. But the drugs come from you! You, Street Kings, are bad for business.” The angry man leaned toward Rex, close enough his breath tainted the air. “So, I have decided, I will take your drugs, I remove the middle man, and sell them myself. Win win.” A satisfied smile grew on Fedir’s face, and he leaned back in his chair as if he’d just shared winning lottery numbers. “All you have to do is, tell me where you grow it, and I will let your woman live.”

Rex’s face paled. “I don’t care what you do to me, but the woman is innocent, she has nothing to do with this.” His eyes darted to mine, a silent apology in their depths. “In fact, she was going back to England tomorrow, her time here is done.”

I swallowed at the disinterest in his tone. I knew he didn’t mean it, it was for Fedir. He was trying to get me out of here unscathed, but he made no mention of himself.

“Well, if you like her or not, her life is in your hands Sergeant.” Fedir chuckled. “I want the drugs, you don’t tell me, you both die. You do tell me, only you die.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a deal.” Rex tried to move as much as possible with his limbs strapped down, shuffling in his seat to ease his discomfort. I knew exactly how he felt, my butt was starting to go numb and my fingers were red from lack of blood flow. “How about this, you let me call my prez and we can have a sit down talk about making a deal.”

“Pah. You think I want to trade with you. I fucking hate Americans.” The men spat on the floor by Rex’s feet, and his face flushed with anger.

“You buy our drugs from the Mexicans, but you won’t buy them directly from us? That’s fucking stupid—Unh.”

A slap resounded in the small space, a bright red mark appeared on Rex’s cheek as one of the men stepped back. Rex glared with hatred, promising retribution with one swift look.

“I buy from Mexicans, I don’t buy from fucking Americans.”

“I can’t make a deal without my president’s knowledge, that’s how we do things. I can’t give you what you want, but if you dial this number, you can speak to him, come to a decision.” I could hear the desperation in Rex’s voice, it was barely noticeable in the deep rumble of his voice, but his eyes darted to me every minute, trailing over my swollen fingers and pausing on my belly, longing overtaking the anger that was becoming a permanent mask.

But did he worry for me… or the child that he had put inside me? I wanted the chance to figure this out, I wanted to get out of here alive and feel the baby kick and move inside me, have a chance to grow to love it. My heart was resentful of the man in front of me, but seeing him try so hard to get me out of this screwed-up predicament had me softening toward him. I couldn’t forgive him, not yet. But I needed to get out of here—both of us—to be able to have that option.

The men muttered to each other, their language like music to my ears, but their words were anything but pleasant. Straining to hear everything that flowed from their vicious tongues, my heart stopped in my chest when the skinny one looked at me, his lust-filled eyes raking across my chest.

“Yaka garna zhinka.” The woman is pretty.

Their heads turned toward me as if as one, and I knew I had only one shot of getting me and Rex out of this alive. Of giving us the possibility of survival.

My grandad had always enforced the idea that Ukrainians stick together. There had been a small community of immigrants back home who would always be there for each other in their hour of need. I just prayed that he was right and that my heritage would work in both of our favors.

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