When I’m alone my thoughts whirl. About the new tension in the house. About my sudden show. What was Max thinking, arranging it without my permission? I feel betrayed. I feel trapped. As I feel all these thoughts and feelings come down on me hard, I close my eyes, and almost instantly fall into a heavy sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kirill
“Tolya, Eva, hello,” I greet, walking through the quiet, five-star restaurant.
ThePakhanof Chicago and his wife rise from their chairs as Edik and I approach them. As usual I shake Tolya’s hand and place a quick kiss on Eva’s cheek. Edik follows my movements and the four of us sit down.
I take a quick look around the restaurant. It’s ran by one of the members of my organization, and I know the people surrounding us are no mere hungry customers. They’re my guards. Tolya’s guards. All of them ready to leap up and attack if something goes wrong.
“We were already in the air when I got Edik’s call,” Tolya tells me, taking his wife’s hand. “Eva misses the shopping in New York, so you know I had to make her happy.”
My lips curve into a quick smile as I watch Tolya bring his wife's hand to his lips and kiss it. They make a good couple. A powerful one too. Eva may look like a normal wife, but her brother is the head of one of Chicago’s most powerful branches. Her mind is razor sharp, and her fighting and shooting skills are sharper.
She reminds me of Annika, and after the long day I’ve had, I just want to go home and be with her. I’m trying to keep my guard around her as we sort through this investigation, but the truth is, I can’t help myself. Any time I’m around her I can’t see her as my enemy. I want to protect her. Care for her. And God knows, fuck the ever-living daylights out of her.
“I’m glad you made time for me on this trip then,” I say, and they pick up on my teasing and laugh.
We all know they didn’t have a choice. Just as I wouldn’t have had the choice if it was them who had called on me. We all have a duty to one another.
Our plates of dry-aged steak and roasted vegetables arrive, and I wait until the waiter’s gone before I pick up my knife and fork and continue.
“We need your help,” I say, getting right down to it. “A few months ago I was supposed to be signing an alliance with the Rivgony family and I was attacked.”
“Specs?” Tolya asks, cutting into his steak.
I nod to Edik.
“The hit-men were beginners,” he explains. “No work previously done for the Russian families in New York. We found one and interrogated him, and it seems as if they were hired through a friend of a friend of a friend. We have no real leads.”
I don’t add anything. I don’t want anyone knowing that Annika’s father was thus far our leading suspect.
“And it wasn’t Rivgony himself who set it up?” Eva asks, then takes a delicate bite of carrot.
I shake my head.
“He’s dead,” Edik answers. “At first we were sure it was him, seeing how he’d disappeared right after the attack. We found him and his family deceased on his yacht off the coast of Florida.”
“Poor Rivgony,” Eva mutters, then takes a bite of mashed potatoes.
We’re all used to death. It doesn’t shock us anymore, so I’m not disturbed by Eva’s dismissive nature of it.
“We need fresh eyes and ears on the matter,” I say, keeping to the subject at hand. “That’s why you’re here.”
“You’ll have them,” Tolya answers. “Eva and I will stay, and I can have a dozen other men here by tonight.”
He puts down his knife and fork, then folds his hands before him as he sets his eyes on me.
“I want you to know something, though, Kirill. This happened to me before. Several years ago. The chase led me away from my family but when we got to the truth, we discovered that it was one of my own that was behind it,” he tells me. “You keep going on your leads, but we’ll take the closer look at those surrounding you.”
I nod. I’ve already accepted this possibility. Even if it’s not Yulian after all, I haven’t ruled out that it isn’t someone else I’m trusting.
“Edik will give you a full list of our people and tomorrow you can-” I pause as my phone starts to chirp. The sound immediately makes me stiffen. There are only a few numbers that will ring through my phone while it's on do not disturb and they all have their own ringtone. This one was Annika’s.
“Excuse me,” I say, getting up from the table. “I have to take this.”
“Annika?” I answer after the third ring. Even just saying her name has my heart racing.
