Page 111 of Fractured Ties

Issues discussed.

Nothing new.

Kolya was only there to pay his dividends alongside his brother, watch Vadim make a show about tribute as he’d done for every single one before this, and then get the hell out as fast as he could. He would deal with his issues regarding Vadim another time.

Tonight was not the night.

It was the soft vibrating of Kolya’s phone in his pocket that had him moving away from the bookshelves, and a few steps from his father. Vadim didn’t seem to notice, considering he was attempting to calm the questions about the Albanians being thrown at him left and right.

That was the thing about being the boss—you were expected to have all the answers, even when you knew very little.

Kolya didn’t bother to check the caller ID as he slipped from the private board room his father rented just for the purpose of tribute. He put the phone to his ear with a gruff, “What?”

“Hey,” came a soft, familiar voice.

Soft, yes.

But fearful.

“Maya?” Kolya asked.

“Yeah, hey, sorry. I’m just trying to figure out where I am?”

Rustling sounded in the background of the call, but Kolya was already moving down the hall. He heard footsteps echoing behind him but didn’t pay it any mind.

“I need your help,” Maya said.

“Where are—”

“You know that bakery in Melrose? The one with the big cupcake painted on the window? That’s where I am. Come get me? Please.”

Kolya blinked.

That bakery—he knew which one she was talking about. It had been closed down for at least a couple of years. Why was she even in Melrose at this time of fucking night?

“Maya—”

The phone call clicked off.

Kolya pulled the device in front of him and stared at the screen. The number staring back at him wasn’t the one that belonged to Maya’s burner phone. Nothing felt right about that call, and yet, when Kolya tried to call Maya’s actual phone … no one picked up.

That switch he had—the one Maya controlled without knowing it? The one that went on or off depending on what the situation called for?

Yeah, it was all the way off.

“What’s up?” he heard Konstantin ask from behind.

“Something’s wrong,” Kolya muttered.

“With Maya?”

“I need to get to Melrose.”

Konstantin strolled ahead of his brother. “Well, fuck, I’ve got the faster car. Also, tribute is a bore.”

• • •

Kolya was quick to jump out of Konstantin’s car before his brother even cut the engine. He stayed on the passenger side of the car and stared at the bakery just on the other side of the vehicle. The rundown building looked like he suspected—as though the owner had given up on the place ages ago, and hadn’t gone back.