Page 93 of Luka

I nod and drop my hand. “She’s inside. She’ll be out any minute.”

“Has she been hurt?” His eyes lower to my shoulder where blood has soaked my shirt. It hurts like a bitch, but I’m careful not to show it. Careful not to appear weak in front of this man.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“You don’t know?” His eyebrow raises. “Over the phone, you proclaimed yourlovefor her, but you didn’t bother to see if she was okay?”

“She didn’t answer when I asked if she was okay, and I didn’t press. I noticed her cheek is bruised, but she’s standing fine, sir.”

“Hm.” His lips pucker as he looks me up and down. I can read his thoughts, feel the disdain seeping from him. He doesn’t think I’m good enough. He’s right.

“Luka!”

I unwind at the sound of Lucia’s voice but don’t turn my back on her father. When she reaches us, she throws her arms around me. I hug her back, but as seconds pass, it feels like she’s shielding me more than she is embracing me.

Ricardo clears his throat.

Lucia pulls back and turns toward him, standing squarely between us. “Papá,” she exclaims, not stepping an inch away from me. I wonder if it’s as obvious to him what she’s doing as it is to me. She presses a hand over her mouth and shakes her head as she cries.

He steps forward and wraps his arms around her while she clings to his chest. “I was so scared.”

He speaks back to her in Spanish, rubbing her back.

“They had planned to kill me just before Luka arrived. If he’d been a few minutes later, I’d be dead.” She pulls back to look up at her father. “He saved my life, Papá.”

Footsteps sound behind me, and a glance shows Vitaly leading Mendoza our way.

Ricardo’s face reddens as his hands slide from Lucia. “Where is the other one?” he growls at Vitaly. “I wanted my daughter’s kidnapperalive. That was our deal. Two lives for one.Where is he?”

Vitaly shoves Mendoza to the ground where several men form a semi-circle around him, their guns keeping him locked in place while he spits and mutters.

I watch Vitaly hoping the question is obvious in my expression, but he doesn’t look at me anyways.

Two lives for one?

Vitaly made a deal? Forme?

“Sorry,” he says, stepping up to us. “I couldn’t make it happen. He’s dead.”

“What?!”

“I killed Mario, Papá,” Lucia says, raising her chin as she speaks. I just blink at her.

Shekilled him?

Bullshit.

“He was my enemy, therefore, my kill.” She waves her hand toward Mendoza. “Here is yours. Justice has been served, now can we please gohome?”

He scoffs before glaring at me. Several moments pass while he seems to make up his mind. “I should kill you,” he says with so much disgust I think he might spit his bitterness at my feet. “I’m a family man, Mr. Alekseev. My daughters mean everything to me, and you ruined one of my best. I should hang your entire family by your toes for what you’ve done.” He glances at Vitaly before letting out a heavy breath. “But I do not want another war.”

I turn to Vitaly, my jaw loosening.

Did he threaten a war with the cartel for me?

Once the question forms, I know the answer. It’s even clearer when he meets my eyes, his blank face softening for just a moment as he gives the slightest nod of recognition.

My chest tightens. My lungs constrict.

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