Page 30 of Vitaly

The scars on his hand—thick slices of raised tissue crisscrossing below his knuckles—momentarily catch my eye before he turns and wanders.

“How are you?” Nikita asks Vitaly while I pour two glasses of vodka. “I can’t believe how long it’s been. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“No, I don’t imagine you would.” Vitaly slips his hands in his pockets as he strolls around the room, taking everything in.

“Which is why I wish you would’ve called.” Nikita sighs. “We could’ve avoided the drama with the guards… I apologize if my excitement didn’t show when I saw you, I was just so …surprised.”

I stand with the glasses in my hands, making no move until they both sit. Nikita won’t until Vitaly does.

Vitaly’s lips curve up. “I was surprised too.” He glances at me before sitting in one of the velvet chairs, Nikita following his lead. “Vegas wasn’t my first choice when I got out, to tell you the truth. A buddy of mine in the joint has some projects going on in Moscow he promised me a share of, and I had every intention of sticking it out there. But…” He sighs, giving me a nod of thanks when I hand him his drink. Nikita doesn’t acknowledge me when I hand him his.

Vitaly shrugs. “Vegas is home.”

“Not quite the home you remember.” Nikita snaps his fingers and points to the floor by his feet when I try to quietly leave. Teeth sinking into my lip, I walk to Nikita and kneel, feeling my cheeks burn with humiliation.

Vitaly should be the last man on the planet I want to impress. I don’t need his approval. I shouldn’t care what he thinks.

But my words from just this morning reverberate in my head. I told him I was Nikita’s wife. He knew it was a lie then, we both knew it. But now… Now this is just pathetic.

“No, I don’t suppose it is,” Vitaly replies. “New leadership always brings change, but still… I’m happy to be back. I’m at your service in whatever way I can be of use.”

Nikita snorts. “You say that like you’re a soldier.”

Vitaly lifts a shoulder. “How foolish it would be for me to expect to pick back up where I left off. Even then, I wasn’t a lieutenant. Just a Petrov.”

“Right.”

Vitaly leans back in the chair and drums his fingers over the armrest as he looks around. “I wonder…” Vitaly begins, pointing his eyes at Nikita. “Did you paint the walls in here?” He looks around again. “That’s what’s different.”

“Did you really come back to be a soldier?” Nikita asks, the skepticism clear in his tone.

Vitaly smiles. “Of course not, Uncle. I understand if that’s where I must start, but I have bigger aspirations than that.”

“Such as?”

Vitaly steeples his fingers, his head tilting like he’s considering the question. “I would love to say underboss, but it appears the position has been filled by a worthy-enough man. So perhaps one day…” He raises his palms. “A lieutenant?”

Nikita says nothing. I don’t dare look up to read his expression, don’t dare call attention to myself, but I can feelhis skepticism in every exhale of his lungs. Vitaly is playing a dangerous, dangerous game, and he’s fooling no one.

He wants power. Notlieutenantpower. Nikita power.

I lower my eyes to the white, fur rug when I realize this. My ears heat with angry betrayal, betrayal that hardly makes sense.

He said he came back to free me, and Iactually believed him.

Wow. This is an all-time low for me.

He didn’t want to help me. He probably wanted to lower my guard so I’d give him information on Nikita. I can just see him now, laughing at his own attempts at treating me like I’m somehow worth remembering, let alone worth redemption.

What a fool he tried to make me. That hedidmake me. He almost got me killed.

Nikita was right… I never should’ve left Vitaly alive. He’s too dangerous, too slimy. His intentions are never pure. His mind games are too convincing.

He is the devil. Chaos incarnate.

And Nikita was right to be angry with me.

“Well…” Nikita’s reply jerks me from my thoughts. “I don’t have anything substantial open yet, but if you’re truly willing to accept whatever work needs to be done…”

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