Page 67 of Sexting the Silverfox

“That’s not how this works.”

“Then how am I to trust you?” my father asks. “What stops you from killing us both once I sign this paper of yours, Arkady? Do I look like I was born yesterday? Don’t insult this old wolf.”

To my surprise, this gets on Arkady’s nerves. He takes out his gun and waves it around, having lost most of his patience. “Listen to me carefully, Grigori. I don’t have the time or the patience for your bullshit. Sign the fucking contract and take your daughter away. I have no intention of killing you or her. How will the other Bratva families of New York respect me if I’m the one breaking his own bond?”

“You did say you buy people’s loyalty,” I mutter, quick to pick up on my father’s game. He wants Arkady to get mad, to lose control, to let his ego take the lead. “It’s how you got me out of the hotel, isn’t it? You paid our people off.”

Arkady gives me a sour look. “like I said, I am a man of my word. I need this contract signed, and as much as I hate to admit it, I need you alive in order for those New Yorkers you praise to take me seriously. You said it yourself: I’ll have a hard time with them. I’ll have an even harder time if I off both of you right here right now.”

“You sound like you mean it, but you have a tell,” my father says with a chuckle. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, old man?” Arkady snaps.

“Your voice gets just a little bit higher when you lie,” he says. “It’s almost indistinguishable, but I’ve heard it enough to pick up on it. See, that’s the difference between you and me. Yes, I am old; yes, I am a traditionalist, and yes, I’m a dying breed. However, I have experience. I’m a couple of decades ahead of you, which means I’ve met my fair share of liars and charlatans, many of them better dressed and decidedly smarter than you.”

Arkady stares at him for a few seconds, and it’s as if the whole world has stopped spinning on its axis. Even his men are quiet, motionless, as they look at us. My breath is stuck in my throat, the air thickening in the room. I can almost feel the electricity crackling in the atmosphere, lightning licking at my skin, and pricking the hairs on the back of my neck.

Unpredictable people like Arkady are exceptionally dangerous when they’re thrown for a loop. They get reckless, and I can tell from the tone of his voice that he is extremely close to losing it.

“Grigori, you’re a piece of work,” Arkady says with a forced laugh, a strained cackle that speaks volumes. “Here I am, offering to give your daughter and your unborn grandchild back in exchange for a signature, and here you are, making everything way more difficult than it’s supposed to be. Just take the offer, man. I’ll make sure to tell the New York families that you fought hard to keep your empire intact, I promise. Just don’t make me do something I’ve never done until now. I don’t kill pregnant women, Grigori. Don’t push me.”

My stomach sinks.

My father’s eyes dart around us, then somewhere farther up. They linger there for a brief second, and I’m tempted to follow his gaze, but he smiles and looks at me next. “Everything will be okay, my little zaika, I promise,” he says.

“That’s funny, coming from the man who sent hitmen after his daughter so he could swoop in and save her,” Arkady cuts in, gun still waving around.

“What are you talking about, Arkady?” I ask him, my mind suddenly blocked, unable to process anything. But as I look at my father, as I see the color drain from his cheeks, I manage to put two and two together, and nausea rushes up to my throat. “Oh, no …. You …. sent those hitmen to come after me. Anton’s bodyguards, you … killed them …”

“He didn’t, actually. Andrei and Yuri are currently watching over your brothers’ hospital rooms,” Arkady replies with a contemptuous smirk. “Anton will be pissed off when he wakes up, of course. I’m told he had absolutely no idea.”

“Oh my God,” I shudder to my core. “Papa, what the fuck did you do?”

“I needed to bring you back into the fold. You had to see precisely how dangerous Chicago could be for you,” my father calmly replies.

“So, you sent people with guns to shoot at me after the Abramovic goons had already tried to kidnap me? That’s a whole new level of deceit and depravity, even for you.”

I think I’m going to be sick.

I’m lightheaded, wobbling sideways as I put a bit of distance between Arkady and me. He shakes his head in sour amusement while my father folds the contract back. “I did what I had to do to put my family back together, and I will never apologize for that,” he says.

“Dad, seriously,” I gasp, unable to believe what I am hearing. Yet, to my own astonishment, I am not as shocked as I could be. I know the man too well. It’s not that preposterous when I consider how far I know he would go to make his point and get what he wants.

“Audrey let’s talk about it another time,” my father says.

For the first time in ages, I note a tinge of nervousness in his voice. He keeps looking around, and I’m starting to think there’s something else going on here, something no one has any clue about except my father.

“What’s happening?” I ask him, but he doesn’t answer. He just keeps looking around.

Arkady frowns and glances over his shoulder, following my father’s lead.

Chapter 27

Jason

Audrey is carrying my child.

Grigori clearly knew about it, yet he chose to push through with his evil plan. Did he know she was pregnant when he orchestrated his so-called assassination attempt? Did he knowingly put Audrey in harm’s way just to manipulate her? My blood has reached its boiling point, and a muted rage takes over.

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