Page 29 of Vitaly

Vitaly slides his boots off the table and stands so smoothly, it looks like one movement. He’s all smiles as he struts over to us. “Forgive me, Uncle. One of the girl’s upstairs lent me her phone. I’ve been away so long, I wanted to meet some of the new faces of the Bratva, but perhaps I should’ve cleared it with you first?”

Nikita looks between his men and Vitaly, his eyes narrowed. “Where are my guards?”

“Ah.” Vitaly clicks his tongue. “We had a slight miscommunication. They thought I wasdangerous, if you can believe it.” He laughs and looks at a lieutenant who chuckles cautiously. “They’re in the basement,” Vitaly says, returning his attention to Nikita.

Nikita nods his head slowly. “Alik?”

Vitaly’s smile falls as he glances at Alik, but he quickly recovers when he comes back to Nikita. Nikita’s gaze never wavers.

“Sir?”

“Take care of the useless guards,” he says, rage slipping into his tone. When he grins at Vitaly, it’s so horribly forced. “Which girl lent you her phone?”

He shrugs. “I didn’t ask for her name.”

“Mmm. What did she look like?”

Vitaly hikes up a shoulder again, a challenge in his eyes I don’t like. Nikita may be his uncle, he may have grown up with the man, but Vitaly has no idea who Nikita is. No idea of the bear he’s poking. “They all look the same.”

“I see.” Nikita clasps his hands in front of him. “Well, in that case,” he turns to Alik, “Dispose of all the girls too. Grab a new batch from the warehouse this evening.”

“Yes, sir.” Alik dips his chin. He sounds pleased.Eager. It’s telling for Alik. He isn’t a sadist, but he’ll kill innocent people just to tell Vitaly to go fuck himself.

Vitaly’s smirk falls off his face as he watches Alik take a step toward the door. He rolls his neck, and just when Alik is at the door, he clears his throat.

“Now that I think about it,” he starts, causing Nikita’s lips to pull. You can feel the power shift in the room like it’s a physical force, tugging us bystanders one way or the other like gravity. “Felicity was her name.”

“Ah.” Nikita nods. He turns his head to the side. “Just Felicity, then.”

Alik leaves without another word while Vitaly stands with none of the smugness he wore before. His eyes are hard staring into Nikita’s, his shoulders square.

“So.” Nikita’s arms extend. “Should we have a drink? They won’t miss you.” He waves to dismiss the other men in the room then turns his body to beckon Vitaly toward the door. Vitaly looks hesitant, but he walks that way, taking the lead.

As soon as he’s out of my sight, a weight lifts from my chest, and I feel like I can suck in the tiniest of breaths.

Something occurs to me.

I’m not on the list of people Nikita wants Alik to kill.

Hedoeswant me alive. He still thinks he needs me.

“Mila?” I startle at Nikita’s call, his voice somehow both threatening and affectionate. Or, more likely, hewantsit to sound affectionate. “Aren’t you coming?”

I blink and turn to look at him, my eyes wide, my lips parted. I just stand like an idiot until I see his jaw flex, then I scurry after Vitaly.

“My office,” Nikita says, taking up the rear. “I believe you remember where it is.”

My nose is nearly pressed to Vitaly’s back, so when he tenses, I see the muscles wind underneath his dark gray shirt. He’s bigger than when we first met. Much bigger, which is surprising to me. I was young when I came to America, but I’ve heard the rumors of malnourishment within Russia’s prison system. Obviously, Vitaly didn’t have that problem.

Bastard. Even in the worst of situations, he’s the lucky one. The spoiled one.

When we reach Nikita’s office, Vitaly heads for the drink cart like an idiot, like he remembers nothing from his youth. He picks up a tumbler, but before he can do anything with it, I wrapmy hand around his. Bumps rub against my palm that my mind instantly identifies as scar tissue. The urge to peer down at his hand is only overpowered by the pull of his golden eyes that lock me in place.

His smell, it’s the smell of arrogance, but also… Something woodsy. The tree in my backyard I climbed as a girl but subtler. And honey. And something … Vitaly. Something just Vitaly.

Only a couple seconds pass with our gazes locked, but it feels too long. Too awkward. Too … intimate.

I clear my throat. “Please, sir.” The glass feels slippery beneath my fingers as I take it from him. “Allow me.”

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