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My father had been shot at his home.
Was anywhere on the East Coast safe?
I thought about the rough tenor of Nyx’s voice the last time I’d spoken to him on the phone. When he’d answered, my heart had soared, only to hear his lack of interest, to recognize that it was a token call.
He didn’t give a shit about me.
Nobody did.
That was why I had to protect myself. Do what no one else would—have my back.
With the engine idling as I waited for my cell to connect with the dashboard, I watched as, unbidden, a guard settled beside me in the seat, and I left.
We didn’t speak.
I didn’t even know his name.
We ignored one another as I drove toward the Belt Parkway, my end destination, Forest Park.
A few minutes into my thirty-minute ride, my playlist paused with an incoming call. Seeing Inessa’s name, I answered and immediately spoke in French.
“Bonjour, ma soeur.”
She hesitated for a fraction of a second, before replying in that language too. “Who’s there?”
“God only knows. I haven’t bothered learning their names. They’ll all be dead before this crap is over with the Italians.”
French, as always, was our secret language. The only means of having any privacy in our godforsaken lives.
“Cammie,” Inessa chided with a small laugh. “Since when are you so gloomy?”
“Since Father tried to force another engagement ring on my finger.” I shuddered at the thought of Abramovicz’s hands on me. It was bad enough whenever he kissed my cheek in greeting before we sat down to break bread, but for him to have outright access to me whenever he so chose?
No.
Nope.
Niet.
Just wasn’t going to happen.
That was why I had a plan, and it was going to work.
There was no alternative. It worked or I slit my wrists.
Simple.
“Not that again,” Inessa replied, but her tone contained every shred of revulsion that I felt.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d had to face that horrendous prospect before Father had shoved her onto the Irish to make an alliance with them.
“Yes. Unfortunately. Abramovicz graced us with his presence at dinner last night, which was where Father made the announcement.
“Seems that Svetlana doesn’t like me lounging around the place, and Abramovicz is still willing to take me off Father's hands even though he won’t bloody the sheets with my virginity. And yes, thatisa direct quote from him. He told us that as he picked salmon out of his teeth."
Inessa growled under her breath. “I hate that bitch, and I hate that bastard too. Why won’t he just die already? He’s ancient.”
“Maybe I’ll be lucky and he’ll have a heart attack soon. As for Svetlana, I fantasized about drowning her in a bowl of borscht, but what can you do? I don’t want to end up with a bullet from Father’s gun between my eyebrows.”
