Page 34 of Fractured Ties

A man.

Kolya.

“You,” Maya said.

Kolya nodded. “I am a Boykov man—like your father was, too.”

“The tattoos are a good indication.”

“The difference between the two of us is the fact I actually own the Boykov surname, and he only had the privilege of working under it, Maya.”

It took her a second.

And then two.

“Boykov.”

Kolya tipped his head subtly. “Keep going.”

“You’re a Boykov son.”

“The oldest, Maya. Favored. Context is important.”

How had she not realized that?

All of this suddenly made a lot more sense to her—why he had taken her like he could under his demand, and not to someone else; why his authority climbed higher than the others around him; why he had been there to do the job he had in the first damn place.

Funnily enough …

She still didn’t know what to do about it.

Or him, for that matter.

Kolya made the sign of a large cross on his chest, murmuring, “Besides, my father already put one mark on me that effectively placed me where he felt I should go—that’s enough without having to add more for him, yes?”

She had no idea what he was talking about.

None at all.

• • •

Maya only got a peek at the front of the brown Wicker Park townhouse before Kolya’s Hummer made a sharp right turn, and disappeared into the opening garage leading into a below-ground port. He said nothing as he parked the vehicle and turned the engine off. He scooped up Sumerki, and the sleepy dog blinked its big yellow eyes and took in his new surroundings while Kolya exited the truck.

“Do you need me to lift you down?” he asked.

Maya shook her head, amused. “I think I have it.”

“Your broken ankle.”

And there he went again. Like a fucking light switch flicking on or off, his moods and words were just as quick to be kind … or not.

Asshole.

“Don’t be rude,” Maya mumbled, climbing out of the Hummer. Jumping was more like it, really, but she wasn’t going to give Kolya that satisfaction. “You did take me tonight, and won’t even tell me what you’re going to do with me because, apparently, I don’t get the right to know. If you’re going to do those kinds of things, and not be an asshole all of the time, the least you could do is not give me whiplash, you know?”

Kolya rounded the back of the vehicle with a furrowed brow and a slightly more alert Sumerki hanging over his thick arm. “Was it?”

Maya brushed her hands on her blouse. “What?”