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Fourteen
Cami
NOW
It seemed impossible to me,but Father hadn’t changed the safe combination since I’d left.
Maybe if he’d known I knew it by heart, then he’d have changed it, but as it was, I figured there was no better time than now to grab the necklace that Inessa coveted from Mama’s collection, one that her husband, Eoghan, had requested I steal for him.
Objects meant nothing to me. I’d given everything up the first time I’d run away from home, heading for New Jersey where I’d heard chatter of a biker who killed men who abused children.
In my father’s line of work, as the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva, violent chatter like that was constant, but gossip about such a killer had stayed with me.
When Father had hit me for the last time as I argued about the marriage he was arranging between me and his ancientSovietnik, I’d decided enough was enough and though it seemed crazy and stupid now—because it most definitely was, especially as I was coming home with a broken heart—I’d run to the Satan’s Sinners’ MC compound and had found the man I’d thought was my soulmate.
But he wasn’t.
And here I was, home once more. My father was in the hospital, his knees shattered from aFamigliasniper’s bullet. My stepmother was wandering around the house like the queen bee of Slutsville. My youngest sister was afraid to say boo to a goose. My middle sister was married to a Five Pointer.
My heart was broken because Nyx had chosen another. I’d done everything I possibly could to be perfect for him. To fit his particular mold. I’d gone to him a virgin, and that hadn’t mattered worth a damn.
Nothing had mattered to Nyx apart from reaping vengeance on his sister’s behalf. Apart from the killing of sick pedophiles who deserved to die.
Until Giulia.
Until she’d come along and wrecked my hopes of becoming his woman on a permanent basis.
The only consolation about returning home was seeing how happy Inessa was with her man. That was why I was here, sneaking into my father’s safe even though it might mean him chopping off one of my hands for thieving, but it was worth it.
Inessa wanted this. My stepmother didn’t deserve to have a piece that belonged to our mother. And my father, as always, was a bastard.
So steal her necklace I would.
I retrieved Mama’s jewelry box and pulled it from the safe. Knowing no one would barge in, because this was Father’s office and there was no reason, on pain of death, for being here, I took my time.
As I separated the tangled necklaces that were proof my bitch of a stepmother didn’t appreciate the fine pieces here, I happened to see a long, thin necklace that didn’t belong among the heavily set emeralds and rubies, the fine diamonds and sapphires that had once belonged to a Tsarina.
It was delicate. The chain frail. But I peered at it and recognized it was platinum, so it was expensive in its own small way. Suspended from the center was a tiny star. Each of the five points were dotted with an emerald as green as Mama’s eyes.
I rubbed my fingers over it, feeling a connection with the woman I’d lost too many years ago, too soon, and too violently. Tears pricked my eyes, because Mama and I shared the similar fate of falling for the wrong man…
Knowing Father would never remember buying such a simple chain for his Mariska, who was nothing more than a distant memory for him now, I draped it around my neck and tightened the clasp so it hung between my breasts. I realized that it was too long for anything else, which meant it was supposed to be hidden.
The thought had my brows drawing in, but before I could ponder it, I heard a noise in this side of the house. Though most of the men should be in bed, it wasn’t like the foot soldiers worked nine-to-five jobs. Gathering the chain Inessa coveted, I tucked it in my pocket, quickly replaced all the chains back into the jewelry box, and shoved it inside the safe.
Closing it up, I moved the painting that covered it back into place and quickly dashed over to the other side of the room.
Moving behind the door, I waited, my heart in my ears, my fingers nervously fingering the star pendant, for someone to come inside, but no one did. The sound of footsteps faded away, and with it, my panic.
I waited another five minutes, staring at an office that had been the headquarters for far too much bloodshed, and slipped out into the hall.
No one caught me.
But then, no one ever did…
* * *
DECLAN
