Page 86 of Happenstance
Luke simply lifted his gaze over Micha’s shoulder and smirked. “Slit your aunt’s throat myself. She bled like a stuck pig.”
It was a good thing Micha grabbed him and slammed Luke back against the wall, because none of us would’ve had the control to not kill him. This was the prick that had handed Junior and Finn over to Ryker. Because of him, the little boy that was pumped to take on the world, was now broken.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you?” Micha growled down at him.
“You want to find your precious Mouse, don’t you?”
Micha pushed his forearm deeper into Luke’s neck. “Why should I trust you?”
That was a fair question. I’d trusted Luke. A part of me still did, aching for the friendship I thought we had. Was any of it real?
“I don’t give a fuck if you trust me. I didn’t come here for you.” Luke’s eyes locked on mine. “I came for her.”
Lana. He came here to save my Lana.
“Let him go, Micha.”
Micha’s jaw clenched and his fists balled, but he took a step back. That was when Luke pulled a folder out of his jacket and passed it to me.
“Everything you need to know is in there.”
Mason and Silas took over guard duty, while Micha and I flipped through pages. Every single one was about my Lana, and not at all anything I would have expected. She wasn’t a scholarship kid, her tuition was paid for in full. From an unmarked account that deposited money into Greta Crawford’s account every year. Which happened to be the exact amount for tuition at Ashworth. I had to hand it to Luke, he’d marked every dot and crossed every T. Traced the money back to an account owned by Nikolai Ivanov. The head of the U.S. chapter of the Russian Bratva.
The last pages in the folder was a letter from Nikolai’s wife to Greta, and a copy of paternity papers. Lana wasn’t just a girl in a small town, she was a mafia princess. Her father was Nikolai Ivanov, and his wife had been paying her Nan to keep it a secret. Guess I knew what Greta was hiding now. Surprising information to have, but…
I looked at Luke, “What does this have to do with Lana being kidnapped?”
“I gave that same file to your mother three months ago. Last I heard, she was trying to get ahold of the Italians.”
My mother was involved? I should’ve known.‘She’s not outside.’Fucking cunt set this shit up. Played me like a fool. Just like Luke did.
“What would the Italians want with a mafia princess no one knows about?”
Micha had a good point.
“Nikolai doesn’t have any other kids,” Luke explained, “He can’t. Which makes your son…”
“Heir to the Russian throne,” I finished.
“Exactly. Kid like that is powerful to have.”
There was still one thing I didn’t get. “Why are you telling us this?”
If he didn’t say anything, Riley and Lana would be gone, and he’d win.
“I know you don’t believe me,” when Luke’s eyes met mine I could see the regret shining in their depths, “But I really do consider you and Lana my friends. I called it off months ago.”
I know his words shouldn’t mean anything to me, but they did. Yes, he lied to me, betrayed us both, but he also risked everything to come here and save her. For that, I wouldn’t kill him. My mother, on the other hand…
“You hear that?” Leaning over, I nodded at Preston, who’d been watching from out in the hall. “Our mother knows where she is.”
Preston cocked his brow back at me. “You know she won’t survive it, right?”
“I don’t care.”
That was all the answer my brother needed. He pushed off the wall and marched out the door, heading off to finally live out his matricide fantasy. Ten seconds, later Lou and Derek came into the room and slapped cuffs on Luke. My guess was that Preston let them know what was going on.
Luke gave me one last look, apologizing the only way he could, before Derek hauled him away. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Sebastian and Sandra Creswell.”
