Page 191 of Toxic Salvation
“Not so fast. You and I need to have a conversation first.”
“Please. I need to see my son.”
“Yourson?”
That familiar, nasally, nails-on-a-chalkboard whine comes from inside the bedroom beforesheemerges like a spider crawling out of its web. Yana steps into the living room behind Ihor, her lips twisted into a sneer I’d love to slap off her face.
“He’s not yours,” she spits. “He never was.”
I square my shoulders and lift my chin. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”
Yana lunges forward, but Ihor catches her around the waist before she can reach me and hurls her backward. Her spine connects with the wall hard enough to rattle the windows, but she barely seems to notice the impact.
“The bitch is mine!” she shrieks at him, spittle flying from her mouth. “She’s taken everything from me!”
“We’re handling this my way, Yana,” intones Ihor.
She glares at him. “She’s useless to us. We don’t need her, baby. Let me kill her so we can be done with this.”
Ihor approaches her with deliberate slowness. For a moment, his movements seem almost tender—his hand rising toward herface like he might stroke her cheek or tuck her hair behind her ear.
Then his fingers wrap around her throat and he pins her back against the wall.
“You will follow orders, you useless bitch. I am your master, and you will do as I say. Is that understood?”
Yana’s eyes bulge as she claws at his wrist. Her perfectly manicured nails leave angry red scratches on his skin. Despite everything she’s done—to Luka, to Kovan, to me—watching someone choke her triggers an instinctive wave of sympathy.
“Stop! Let her go!”
With a surprised glance in my direction, Ihor releases his grip. Yana collapses against the wall. She slides down it to a seat on the floor, sucking in desperate gulps of air.
“I d-don’t need you to f-fight my battles for me, bitch,” she gasps between ragged breaths.
“Fine,” I answer. “Next time, I’ll just let him kill you.”
Ihor turns back to me and straightens his suit jacket like nothing happened. “Luka belongs to us now. If you want him kept safe and treated well, I suggest you do exactly what I tell you to do.”
Yana’s gaze never leaves my face. Despite backing down, she hasn’t abandoned her murder plans. I can see it written in her expression—she’s just waiting for the right moment to finish what she started.
I turn my eyes to Ihor. “I’m here, aren’t I? I followed your instructions exactly.”
He arches a brow. “So Kovan doesn’t know where you are?”
“No one does. I ditched my guards like you demanded, stole a car, and drove here alone. My phone is turned off and sitting in the passenger seat where you told me to leave it.”
Ihor nods approvingly. “Impressive. I can see why Kovan fell for you.”
Yana lets out a derisive snort.
“Thanks to you,” Ihor continues, circling me, “I’ve lost everything. My business, my men, my income. Everything I worked for decades to build is gone.”
I stand my ground. “Kovan was planning to end the organ ring long before I appeared.”
“Keep telling yourself that, stupid little girl.” His laugh makes my skin crawl. “You think you changed him? You think your pussy has some magical power that transformed a killer into a saint?”
I refuse to take the bait. “I want to see Luka. Now.”
“You will see Luka—as long as you agree to follow my rules.”
