Page 23 of Love Bleeds Red
I don’t know what propels me to step in. Maybe it’s that I’ve seen how Cat gets under Yuri’s skin. Or that I’ve seen him show the smallest modicum of kindness my way. Whatever it is, I’d rather be the one putting myself out there than see Cat get hurt.
She raises a brow. “You sure? After everything that happened, you’re not in the best shape either.” Her expression drops, and I know she’s thinking about Jasmine just like I am. I straighten my spine.
“I’m sure. Just keep an eye on her.” I gesture to a quickly fading Elise.
My feet carry me into the hallway before my brain catches up. The pizza churns in my gut, but that feeling has been almost constant anyway. Yuri’s voice carries from the kitchen. He’s speaking in Russian, but whoever he’s talking to, it doesn’t seem like a heated conversation. It’s… softer. More familiar.
You’ve got this. It’s just a question. Like Cat said, what’s the worst that can happen?
The floor squeaks, alerting him to my presence, and he spins around, looking me up and down with narrow eyes. He speaks low to whoever he’s talking to on the phone before ending the call, slipping his phone into his back pocket and crossing his arms around his chest.
“What are you doing in here?”
My mind goes blank for a moment under his sharp gaze, but I quickly remember Elise and her shaking hands. “It’s Elise. She’s not feeling well.” He lifts his chin to look past me. “She’s in the living room. I’m the only one who came to tell you.”
He nods slowly. “What would you like me to do about this?”
“She needs a dose… Whatever drugs you all got her hooked on.” My voice comes out sharper than I intended it to. “And water… Ice cold water.”
Yuri pulls a hand through his thinning hair and laughs low. “Wegot her hooked on?”
I nod. “What else would it be?”
“She brought that problem with her,” he says, turning to the sink. He fills a cup with water and starts to hand it to me, then pauses and adds ice from the freezer.
I take the cup, forcing my cold, shaking fingers around the chilled glass. “And the drugs?”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “You’ve got balls on you. I’ll see what I can do. Anything else,lvitsa?”
“That’s all,” I say, having no idea what he just called me. I’m not pressing my luck by asking for anything else.
“Well then, I suggest you get back where you belong before I lose my patience.” All hint of amusement is gone from his voice. I nod and hurry back down the hallway to give Elise the water and when Yuri comes in ten m`inutes later with a full syringe for her, I can’t help but smile through the fucked up situation. Whether Elise was an addict before she got here or they got her hooked, I don’t care. No one deserves to suffer that way. Plus,I’m sure the drugs are one of the ways King keeps her. That and the armed fucking brutes that watch over us night and day.
“Get your rest,” Yuri says, monotone. “You all have a busy night tonight.”
My face falls and the words slip out. “But I thought?—”
“You thought what,lvitsa?” I scramble back from the sharpness of his tone. “At least you won’t have to travel.” He bends and tilts Elise’s flopped over head up. “This one’s in no state to go anywhere.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Cat reaches for my arm and shakes her head. Yuri clears his throat and leaves again, not bothering to look over his shoulder.
“It’s not worth it,” Cat says. I’m taken aback by how much she’s changed since Jasmine’s disappearance. That fight, that spark of life, it’s dimmed.
Lydia wipes at her eyes. “I can’t fight it. Fuckers have my kids.”
My mouth drops open. “They have your kids? Where are they?”
“They don’t actually have them, thank God. No. But my sister has them, I think. Still, they’ll kill them all if I toe an inch out of line. I’d never risk their lives.”
Cat clears her throat. “My abuela and baby brother… they’ll kill them too. And Jasmine...”
Her voice catches as she says Jasmine’s name. Lydia and I reach for her at the same time, offering whatever comfort we can. With both women in my arms, the thought hits me. What do they know about my family? About Layne… Leon? What if they’re watching them too?
CHAPTER NINE
LEON - PRESENT DAY
After givingmy old bike a well-needed tune up, I fly down the street, the hum of the engine and wind whipping against my skin temporarily drowning out my exhaustion. I couldn’t have rested even if I wanted to, not with Mum badgering me to eat and to get a bit of sun. I’d get more rest on a bench at the tube station than being at home with her. And then there’s the message I woke up to from my father’s assistant.
