Page 28 of Nikolai Petrov

In a strange way, it makes me feel safer. He would go to any length to protect me and his family. My hands wrap around my belly as the sound of my footsteps echo from the stone walls.

One of Nikolai’s bodyguards sits at a heavy table adjacent to a barred door.

“Boss said you’d be coming. If he gives you any flack, just yell.” A key appears in his large hand as he stands.

My father looks tiny in his shackles. I used to think he was larger than life, now, he’s just a frail old defeated man.

A scowl morphs his features when he sees me step into the small room.

“Why are you here?” The chains bind his wrists as he tries to cross his arms. They sink back to the bed with a curse under his breath.

“I just want to know why you wanted to trade me off to Tosya.” A vivid memory of his lifeless eyes meeting mine flickers through my mind causing a shudder to run through me. The things he said will be ingrained forever.

“It benefited me.” A point on the ceiling transfixes him while his white knuckled fingers dig into his knees.

Anger builds in my chest. I want to hit him, scream at him, shake him until I get some sort of response. “I don’t understand! Why? Am I so loathsome? I’m your daughter!” My foot stomps in fury on its own.

“No. You aren’t” His words are almost a whisper, but the force of them pierces my heart like a bullet.

Everything I’ve ever known comes crashing down around me. A hollow ache spreads through me with icy tendrils that close around my throat, stealing my voice. My knees give and I sink to the cold floor as silent tears blur my view of the man before me.

So many years of his subtle disdain makes sense now. The distance he always kept, the love he withheld, but I always told myself existed, was a charade.

“Your mother fucked around on me with her college professor. I nearly turned you out when she died, but realized you were an asset.” His cold eyes flick over me as he cocks one eyebrow. “You were going to buy me a new life. But, instead—” He rises to his feet, his hands trembling fists taut against the links binding him to the wall. “—you’re a whore just like your mother. Fucking away my investment and it’s going to cost me my life. I hope you’re happy. I took care of you after she died. I clothed you, fed you, even found you a replacement mother.” His face turns red as the words get louder until he’s screaming. “Ungrateful! You owed me!”

I fall backwards in surprise as the door opens behind me.

Nikolai squats beside me and pulls me against his chest. “Did he hurt you?” His words are soft near my ear as he picks me up.

All I can do is shake my head. Tears flow too rapidly to see and my throat is so tight, I worry I’ll suffocate if I try to talk.

Without another word, he carries me back to our room.

Chapter Eleven

Nikolai

ThemuggyJulynightmatches my mood. An oppressive weight of a storm sits on my chest as the humidity stagnates the sweat on my brow.

This shithole of a warehouse we’re in isn’t helping to brighten my day much either.

O’Connor threw his best investigative team on the properties near the docks to find this place. Owned by Yuri Kokotovich through a front company, it is the perfect place to hold our little soiree tonight.

It’s handy having the full force of the Chicago police department at my disposal. SWAT members are stationed around the perimeter to prevent any of Yuri’s men from arriving unannounced.

All under the guise of a training exercise.

Mobile floodlights bathe the packed warehouse in yellow light, illuminating the dismembered remains of Tosya elegantly nailed to some of the large wooden crates that are stacked nearly to the roof.

I don’t even care if some of this is my missing merch. It’s a worthwhile trade knowing Yuri will be getting the statement he deserves for undermining me.

One of my bodyguards stands behind the chair where Peter Ivanov sits with a dark hood covering his face.

Lightning flashes through the dirty windows, highlighting the throng of my men standing near the door. This is a lesson for all of them.

“I trusted you. You were the closest thing to a brother I’ve ever known.” When I pull the covering from his head and step back, he blinks against the weak light.

“Well, it’s because of you I lost both my brother and nephew in your quest for revenge. And why? Some of your sons don’t even look like you. Was your wife even faithful?” Ivanov spits the words out through his cracked lips. Two days in the cell without food or water hasn’t dampened his bitterness, it seems.

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