Page 36 of Darkest Deeds

“You don’t.”

* * *

Mikhail leansagainst the back of the booth, staring at me until I can’t take it anymore.

“Say something.”

Lifting an eyebrow, he extends his arm and knocks at a fry until it’s close enough to grab. “So, let me get this straight,” he says, pointing the fry at me. “You want me to babysit a Bratva boss’s daughter while you convince everyone she is dead so you can keep doing fuck knows what to her?” Popping the fry in his mouth, he glares at me.

“Well, when you say it like that, it makes it sound a little irrational.”

“Irrational?” He snorts, his words muffled as he chews. “Niko, it is certifiable. You have never been one hundred percent there.” He taps his finger against his temple. “But this is nothing but a one-way ticket to the grave. Feel free to dig your own, but leave me out of it.”

Taking a slow drink of coffee, I observe the man sitting across from me and try to determine how much I’ll be able to trust him if I force his hand. His blue eyes look a little wild, but that’s nothing new. Like most of us who used to contract our services to the highest bidder, the man has psychopathic tendencies, although it seems he’s cleaned up his act in the three years since I last saw him—and I don’t just mean legally. His long blond hair is now cut short above his ears and a clean-shaven face replaces his long beard. However, one thing will never change—that long scar running down his nose. A reminder of a favor I’m about to cash in.

“Klaus Braun,” I say, watching his every move.

Mikhail’s jaw clenches. “What about him?”

“You owe me, don’t you think?”

I can hear his teeth grinding and watch as anger rises from up his neck, painting his face red. Balling his fists, he slams them on the Formica table.

“Motherfucker.”

That’s all it takes. I don’t have to explain. He knows he owes me.

Mikhail and I saved each other’s asses more times than I can count. If it weren’t for me, he would’ve never made it out of that Columbian prison. Braun jumped him, delivering twelve stab wounds with one heading for his throat when I came up from behind. It took all of two seconds to nail that German asshole in the jugular with a shiv I made from the steel from my bedpost.

“Fine,” he growls, knocking the plate across the table. It crashes against the wall, prompting our waitress to raise an eyebrow from across the diner. “But if I die, I will kill you.”

I decide now’s not the time to point out flaws in his timeline. “Fair enough.”

“So, what is the deal with you two?”

“We don’t have a deal.”

“Bullshit.” He crumbles his napkin and throws it in his plate. “You do not disobey one of the most powerful men in the world for pussy. I know you hate her. I know she is the reason you were in that hell hole. What I do not know is why. You never told me what she did to you.”

“Don’t take it personally. I’ve never told anyone.”

“If I am to stick my dick out for you, Niko, I must know your reasons for asking such dangerous favors of me.”

“Neck,” I correct him. “Stick your neck out for me.”

He waves his hand. “Whatever. Answer my question.”

“Ava…” The words get stuck in my throat, the taste of them still as corrosive and bitter as they were eight years ago. I can feel Mikhail’s eyes on me, but mine are focused on the knife sitting beside my plate. I can hear him saying something in the background, but I’m lost to it. The more I stare at that knife, the more the present slips away into a dark basement from the past.

The room smells of blood and death.

I can’t get her screams out of my head. They’re the reason I slam my body against the basement door until it shatters. The reason I fall to my knees when I reach the bottom. A Bratva soldier doesn’t cry. But as I take in the image of my Ava, dress torn, face bruised, and covered in blood as she kneels over Yuri’s dead body holding a dripping knife, I can’t stop the tears from falling.

But they’re not just for her. They’re also for me. Because I failed her. Because I can’t raise that motherfucker from the dead and kill him myself.

“Ava,” I say gently.

“Niko?” Her eyes see me, but there’s no life in them.

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