He holds my gaze, then nods. It is enough.
“This meeting is adjourned.” I announce as David appears at my shoulder. Phone in hand, his expression concerned.
“Victor,” he says. Low enough that only I can hear him. “It’s Alex, and Evie.”
“What happened?”
“They wanted to leave. Vera and Boris were taking them to the penthouse,” he keeps his voice even. “The car was hit a block from the building. Twenty minutes ago.” He meets my gaze then. “Boris is dead, killed on impact. Vera is hurt but alive. Koshkin’s men were waiting for them. They took Alex and Evie.”
I go very still then, my shoulder bleeding through my shirt, and my jacket forgotten momentarily. “David, I want everyone. Every man we have. Armed and ready to move in twenty minutes. We meet here,” I take my hand from my shoulder and look at the blood on my palm, then decide to put it back. “We are going to the Koshkin estate.”
“Victor, your shoulder–”
“You’ve got twenty minutes to patch me up,” I tell him.
I look around the room, and no one has moved through the entire exchange, despite my announcement that the meeting was adjourned. And right now, I’m thankful for the lack of urgency in those gathered to return to their normal responsibilities. I let them see exactly what I am feeling, which is the thing I almost never allow to be seen.
“The Koshkins have taken my wife.” The wordwifecauses a murmur to run across the table, and I wait for them to digest it. It brings their attention to the moment exactly as I intended, sharp and clean. “As well as her daughter.” I look at David. “We are going to get them back.”
Chapter Twenty
Alex
The room they put me in is the one off the east corridor, a small storage space full of files, excess furniture, and anything else Nikita wanted out of sight. I know it by the smell of the hallway, the creak of the floorboard two steps from the door. I spent nine years learning every corner of this house, and my body hasn’t forgotten any of it.
It smells like cigarettes and old wood. Cold, with no ventilation, a single chair has been placed in the center, and I refuse to sit in it. Standing is the last form of control available to me, and I’m not ready to give it up.
My head is still ringing from the accident. There’s a cut above my left eyebrow that is drying, and my ribs on the right side ache. I do a full inventory of my body, aches, pains, but shockingly, nothing feels broken.
Evie isn’t here. They separated us in the hallway outside, her hand pulled from mine with inconsiderate force. She hadn’tcried, and I was proud of her for that. But the fear in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder at me with those dark eyes haunted me.
I’ll burn this house down before I leave without her.
The door opens, and Nikita Koshkin appears in the doorway. Sixty-one years old, and he looks exactly the way I remember him — well-dressed, and cold inside. His eyes assess me, calculating the value of an asset, nothing more.
He takes a seat in the chair I refused to occupy, and I’m thankful there’s a small table between us.
“Yarina,” he says as a greeting. Like the last three years have been nothing more than a minor interruption in a conversation.
I say nothing.
“You look well,” he says. “Better than I expected, in fact. I thought three years of running would have worn you down more.” He tilts his head slightly. “It seems I underestimated you. More than once in fact. An error I have since made adjustments for.”
“Where is Evie?” I ask.
“Safe,” he says. “She is my daughter, and will be treated accordingly.” A displeased expression casts across his face as he continues, “You left without my permission. Made the decisionto take my daughter with you, who was not yours to make. You were a resident of my house, under my protection, and you repaid me by taking what belonged to me.”
“She is a child,” I say with distaste. “Not your property.”
“She ismychild. My blood,” he hisses. “Which in our world amounts to the same thing as property.” He folds his hands on the table, leaning toward me. “I let you, you know? Get away.” He smiles that cruel smile that had haunted my dreams for the last three years. “Initially at least. You weren’t worth much to me at the time and Evie was – complicated. Her presence in this house was a liability at the time if I’m honest. So your removing her resolved two problems that I hadn’t found solutions for yet.”
He pauses, tipping his head. “But things change.”
“Your deal is dead,” I say. “Whatever he offered you, whatever you agreed to, it’s over. Victor knows the truth.”
Nikita looks at me for a long moment, and I see the internal debate going on behind his eyes. Then he smiles, which makes my heart clench harder than anything else has since he walked through the door.
“Victor Rozovsky,” he says with amusement. “My, my, you have been busy, Yarina. Smart girl, making new, and powerful friends. I’ll give you that.” He leans back in the chair. “But it doesn't matter. Pavel’s proposal was the mechanism, not the end game. The fact is that you are here, and Evie is here. You're both back where you belong, in Koshkin territory, regardlessof any other arrangements that have or have not been made elsewhere.”
