Page 94 of Deadly Knight
Dimitri cares for me. Still loves me, and I believe him, but maybe that’s the issue. Ten years of stalking and murderingproves his devotion to me, but maybe there’s such a thing as love not being enough because there’stoo muchof it. If Ivan’s people target me or Dimitri, he’ll do anything to protect me and I, despite the pathetic self-defence classes, will never be able to keep him safe in return. He needs a woman he doesn’t love as much. Who won’t be a target to get to him, puttinghimin danger.
Ivan places a hand on the wall and, on shaky legs, begins to stand. It’s a full pitiful minute before he’s upright, though weak, using the stones at his back to stabilize him.
“Dimitri is concerned you’ll turn on him, but I do implore you to listen to what I’m saying. People will come for my son and niece. If you hang around them, you will be in danger, exactly how I made it so years ago. It’ll happen again, only it won’t be me controlling the pawns. Dimitri vowed himself to the Bratva, and with that comes a life of crime and death. He’ll never be the man who works a nine-to-five job and will settle into a civilian life. It’s not in his blood, and?—”
Dimitri hauls me away before Ivan finishes speaking, the metal door slamming shut between us. He pushes me in front of him, backing me into the adjacent wall while ignoring the guard who pretends not to watch.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s lying. He’s desperate.” I’m quickly yanked into a desperate kiss—the plea of a man seeking the past he believed, or at the very least hoped, he’d gotten back.
I turn my head to break it, my lips numb. All of me is numb.
Ivan didn’t tell me anything I wasn’t aware of; every word was true. When I was a teenager and Dimitri’s job was to deal drugs to our classmates, his role within the Bratva seemed like a small thing. Maybe because I didn’t understand it as well back then. Didn’t see everything he’d be capable of.
But we’re no longer kids. I work with children. I have parents. Nora. None of them deserve to be in potential dangerbecause I’mdating someone from this world. I’m not right, nor good enough for him, to handle all this.
Dimitri hoped bringing me here would change my mind about him, even if he didn’t outright state it. He didn’t need to; he asked for twenty-four hours, and he’s using every available second to draw me back to his side.
This trip only reaffirmed why I don’t belong here.
Dimitri makes an irritated sound before pulling me farther down the hall. His hand is tight around mine, his steps so quick I’m practically jogging. He can be pissed all he wants, but it only proves one thing: He, too, believes his father’s warning.
Logically, it makes sense. Vanessa mentioned her takeover wasn’t an easy one, so of course Ivan wouldn’t be the only old Bratva member pissed. It’s like bullies in elementary school when they have the same target; they team up to get the job accomplished. Ivan probably connected with anyone not following Vanessa to maintain his own force of soldiers.
At some point, word will get out that Dimitri captured Ivan, a prominent member of the organization they all once revered, to old traditionalists who want to follow the way things “should be” rather than the direction Vanessa brought it by targeting them.
Once we’re inside the vehicle, Dimitri hikes the heat and turns the vents onto me. “Twenty-four hours, remember? You’ve agreed. We have one more place to go.”
I’m not sure I can handle a second, but wordlessly, I sit back and settle in for the long drive.
Damn Ivanto the deepest depths ofAd. Just when I thought I’d gotten through to Katya, he went and ruined everythingagainby putting that shit in her head.
I saw the moment the realization hit her, when all my progress got shut down by the thick wall separating us. The wall I’m about to take a motherfucking nuclear bomb to.
Halfway through yet another silent drive from the prison to Moscow, my phone rings, the sound filling the car over Bluetooth. It’s Vanessa, and I tap the screen to answer.
“Chto?”I bark.
“What?” she repeats, her greeting in English echoing through the car’s speakers. “Hello to you, too. No wonder Katya’s done with your ass. You’re moody.”
My hands tighten around the steering wheel, ignoring the little snicker Katya lets out beside me.
“What can I help you with, Vanessa?”
“Better,” she chimes, every cheerful syllable grating my nerves. “Never know where you are these days, so I figured I hadto catch you as soon as I was able to. Get in your calendar and all that.”
My teeth slide painfully together. What the hell is with Vanessa right now? She’s purposely getting on my nerves.
“Anyway,” she continues, “I need you around next week, so be here. Zeno is meeting with the other Cosa Nostra Capos to discuss our alliance, forged around an eventual union. He wants to make it known to the rest of them that they’ll be fighting against a fellow Five Family, should any of them get the idea to strike against us or target our territory. He wants me in the meeting, at least for his part, as a visualization of the alliance. His second, Nero, will also be there as a show of unity, and he thinks it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to be there as well.”
This required a call?
“Sure. Will do. Text me the details when you have them. Anything else?”
“Nope. Hope you and Katya are playing nice with one another. Gotta go.” She hangs up, leaving Katya and I sitting in silence once more.
Upon reaching Moscow,I drive towards the neighbourhood I visit frequently, but she hasn’t been to in a decade. The moment she realizes where we are, she gasps and presses closer to the window.
We turn down her old road and stop by the curb of the house she once called home, parking where I have countless times before.
