Page 42 of Pike’s Redemption

“I like whiskey,” Natasha offered. When Eli nodded, she continued. “You and I will have whiskey then. Maybe we can get Ronnie to come up from the basement.”

That seemed to interest him, and he reluctantly followed us inside, even though he took one last look into the courtyard. I couldn’t read his expression.

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

NATASHA

“Where the hell are Enzo and Luca,” Dimitri frowned as we moved back into the house. “You’re going to need to phone Maxim.” He was texting frantically on his phone. “That Irish guy phoned him. That’s how we knew where you were.”

My hands were still shaking badly, my laptop forgotten in the courtyard, back near Victor’s body. I couldn’t pretend to be unaffected but was thankful I was unharmed. I was lucky. That’s what I needed to remember — and an accessory to a crime, I thought belatedly. Now, I was really living the Bratva life. I huffed a laugh.

Maddox and Pike had tried to coax Eli into the kitchen for drinks and a milkshake, but he was stubbornly lurking in the hallway, watching them with his dead eyes as the blender whirred loudly, drowning out the quiet tension still in the air. They argued over the correct ratio of ice cream to milk for the perfect milkshake, trying to fill the air with ridiculous banter that sounded insane even to me. Eli looked tense, his eyes darting around the room as if expecting trouble to come barreling through the door any minute.

He had washed his hands off in the sink, blood whirling around the white porcelain like it was just any Tuesday. I’d be concerned about DNA evidence and shit, but Dimitri probably was all over that.

I caught his eye and gave him a small smile, hoping to ease some of the tension. He didn’t smile back but looked away. I knew he was on edge after what had happened in the courtyard, and honestly, I didn’t blame him. Victor had shaken all of us, but Eli wasn’t particularly affected. Whatever their relationship was seemed complicated — twisted. Eli looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Victor had said things in the courtyard that I didn’t understand, but Eli had. I wondered what that meant.

“Hey, Eli,” Maddox called, waving a spoon in his direction. “You want chocolate or vanilla?”

Eli blinked, clearly not expecting to be included in the conversation. “Uh, chocolate, I guess.”

Maddox grinned and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the blender. “Good choice. Can’t go wrong with the classics.”

“Unless you’re Dimitri, who thinks adding an entire sleeve of Oreos is a good idea,” Pike muttered, rolling his eyes.

Dimitri smirked. “Just trying to make it interesting, man.”

“Interesting? More like a heart attack in a cup,” I teased, stepping up beside Dimitri to grab a handful of crushed cookies. “But hey, I’m not complaining.”

Pike chuckled, the sound low and comforting. “Guess we could all use a little sugar rush after tonight.”

Eli remained quiet, his eyes flicking to the door every few seconds. His unease was palpable.

“Come on, Natty, you have to message Maxim,” Dimitri whined.

“Who’s Maxim?” Eli asked, his eyes narrowed. This was good. Curious was good.

“That’s my cousin and Dimitri’s brother,” I answered, then decided to give him a little more, coaxing him from the darkened hallway. “Maxim is like the big brother Ronnie and I needed,” I offered.

“Ronnie?” Eli took a step. “The girl with the blonde hair?” I could practically feel Diimitri tense next to me at the question, coming alert as he slipped my phone into my hand.

“Right. My sister Veronica,” I said lightly. “We call her Ronnie for short. Maxim stepped up and helped give us a home when we had nowhere to go. He paid for things when she was sick.”

“Sick?” He paled and looked like he might throw up. “Is she sick?”

I frowned. “Well, when she was young, she had leukemia. She was very sick. She still gets sick sometimes now. There are some things that we are watching carefully. Her lungs and heart.” I shrugged. Ronnie’s health problems were tied to some aggressive treatment, but we were thankful for every day that she got to be with us. Eli was still as he looked at me.

“She could die?” he asked. Everyone had turned to him.

“Everyone dies,” I said softly. “You know that. We are lucky for every day we have. We have to live it with love and joy,” I told him gently, but the anguish in his eyes was unnatural as he glared at me.

“No, I won’t let her.” The words spit out furiously, angrily, like bullets. I took a step backward and ran straight into Pike, who wrapped a protective arm around my waist, his hand splaying around my belly as Eli disappeared into the darkness.

“What the hell?” Maddox mumbled. “Your brother is a little whacked.” Pike was silent, but we were all pondering the implications of what had just happened. None of them were good.

“Let him go,” Dimitri said furiously. “Speaking of Ronnie? Where the fuck is she? She should have hot-footed it up here,” Dimitri dialed a number and started to head out of the kitchen, giving the hallway the evil eye. I was sure he wasn’t down with the whole vibe of Eli being into Ronnie.

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