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Chapter18
I should have been tired after the long drive and marathon sex with Becks, but if anything, being with her had energized me more. I felt like I could take on the world.
Which was probably a good thing, because I might need to.
But for now, I was going to let her rest and feel safe in my arms. I would allow myself to bask in the glow of having her here, alone with me and naked in my arms. Exactly where she belonged.
In her sleep, she’d tucked her head into the crook of my arm as tight as it would go. It was damn hot and uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t move her for the world. If my kitten subconsciously sought me out for comfort, I wasn’t going to turn her away.
The sun was just about to come up over the horizon from the sliver of sky I could see through the curtains.
A new day meant new decisions would have to be made—decisions that Becks would have to be okay with no matter what.
Because she was going to be coming with me one way or another.
The watch on my wrist started to vibrate, signaling that I was getting a call. At this point, I was carrying three different phones with me, but only one of them was hooked up to my watch.
And it wasn’t the good one.
I disentangled myself from Becks, careful not to wake her as I pulled the old-fashioned black flip phone from the bag that I’d brought in sometime between our third and fourth rounds.
There was no voicemail set up on the phone, so it was still ringing. It was the first time they’d called me since I’d taken Becks into that panic room, which meant they had to be getting desperate.
And that meant they might be willing to make a deal.
Would I be willing to make a deal with the devil? A few days ago, I would’ve laughed in the face of anyone from Black Thorn offering me a deal. But that was before Becks. A lot of things had changed since meeting Becks.
I snatched the key off the dresser and swung the door open as silently as the rusty hinges would allow. Luckily, Becks slept like the dead and didn’t even stir as I made my way outside where the lights were drawing swarms of bugs and the humidity had only just died down.
Once the door clicked shut behind me, I hit the green accept button and brought the phone to my ear. I said nothing.
“Borya,” said the familiar voice on the other end.
Artem. Of course it was Artem. He was the one who had made me. He would be the one they sent to rein me back in. “I didn’t need to answer the phone. This had better be worth my time.”
Things had changed. I wasn’t some powerless inductee Artem was in charge of breaking down and brainwashing anymore. I was in charge of this conversation, and it was on my terms. Artem was going to recognize that right now, or this conversation was going to be over before it could begin.
“Silly, silly boy,” he said, his Russian accent so strong, his words were barely understandable. Why even bother speaking English? Because someone English speaking was listening in, that’s why. “You think you have power now?”
“Power? Where does your power come from? You took me from everything I knew and broke me down until there was nothing left but fear. You rule through fear. I’m not afraid of you. So, you have no power over me. It’s not what power I have. It’s what power you lack.”
Booming laughter came over the other line. “You have the steel balls to tell me you have no fear? In that roach-infested place that could fall apart with small breeze, you think we can’t reach your woman? You have more to fear now than ever before.”
Did they know where we were, or was it a blind guess that we were at a shitty motel? No, they had to know. Blind guesses weren’t Black Thorn’s style. They couldn’t track this phone. I’d made sure of that. The other two were burners provided by Alek. Brand new as of yesterday. The only options were that they were tracking the cars or Becks’ sister.
The cars were easy enough. Becks’ sister was harder. If she was a true agoraphobe, she wasn’t going to go easy.
“You already know that your mind control doesn’t work on me. I’m no use to you anymore.”
The words were bullshit. Black Thorn killed for many reasons: for fun, to prove their power, but most importantly, they’d want to study me to figure out how I’d broken free.
They wouldn’t have a chance in hell of getting me back if it were just me. But if they knew about Becks, that meant they knew they could use her as leverage.
“Make this easy on yourself, Borya. I’m going to send over a location and time. You show up there and turn yourself in, and this will be over.”
I chuckled and shook my head. He probably couldn’t see me, but knowing Black Thorn, there was a chance there was a drone watching my every move. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Think about it. You know what we’re capable of. And personally, I don’t like to be angry. Think of all the ways I could take that out on your little Rebecca. Oh, the ways I could make her scream. I remember that you didn’t want to scream for me. You fought it for so long. But I got to you eventually. It wasn’t the electroshock. It was the knife that got to you. I have different toys I break out for the girls, though. Rebecca will scream faster. I promise you that.”
My hand shook as I hung up the phone. My heart was beating so fast that I could hear the blood rushing through my head. This was what Artem wanted. To make me panic. To throw me off my game.
And the motherfucker knew exactly what to do. I’d never felt a panic like this before. The only other person I’d ever cared about was Alek, and he’d always been able to take care of himself when it came down to it.
Becks was smart and she was strong, but she was out of her league when it came to assholes like this. Assholes like me.
I dialed the number for Alek that I knew by heart. It wasn’t his latest cell number, which meant that it rang far too long for my liking. Didn’t he know that if I was calling, it was a fucking emergency?
“What?” His voice was drowsy as though I’d woken him up, not that I gave a damn. I could hear the higher pitch tone of Daisy speaking in the background, but I couldn’t make out the words.
“Black Thorn knows where I am.”
“How the fuck do they know that?” He was sure as hell awake now.
“Way I figure, either the cars we took or the sister. I can take care of the cars. I’ll need your help with the sister.”
“Hold on.” There was a pause, and I assumed he was moving away from Daisy so we could have some privacy. Neither of the women would want to hear what we were about to discuss.
It wasn’t like we wanted to force Layla to do anything, but serious times called for serious measures. “You there?”
“Where the fuck would I go?”
“Call me asking for help and give me a fucking attitude,” he grumbled. “Why do you think the sister gave you up?”
“I don’t think she did it on purpose. Becks mentioned that she’s deeper into computers than she realized. She might’ve tripped off a trapdoor online, or talked to someone she shouldn’t have. Who knows? Either way, she’s a liability.”
“If we move her, the girls are going to be pissed.”
“The girls will get over it.”
“They don’t have to. I’ll send Raphael.”
“Raphael Carrio? Why would he help?”
“I made a deal with him when you were all turncoat. He’s the one who held Black Thorn back. This way we’ll have a degree of separation when shit hits the fan. I’ll send him in to pull out Layla. Make sure she’s safe and isn’t spilling any of our secrets. You take care of Becks, so Daisy doesn’t kill me.”
Yeah. Like I was doing it as a favor to Alek. “I want to be updated on Layla. If she’s hurt at all, I need to know. If she’s in trouble, I need to know. If she’s in danger-”
“I fucking get it. I’m not a moron. You have Becks with you now?”
“What do you think?”
“I forgot how much of a dick you are.”
“You got complacent in my absence.”
“What’s your plan now? Are you leaving?”
That was a good fucking question. Before, everything seemed a lot more obvious. I would have to leave. After working with Black Thorn, there was no way I could stay. Alek would never allow it. Not after what I’d done to Daisy. But with Becks, things were different. Daisy wouldn’t want her best friend gone.
And Alek wanted what Daisy wanted. Where did that stack up next to his desire to protect her from me? And how much of a danger did he think I was?
“I have Becks. There is no other plan.”
“What do you want your plan to be?”
What the hell did he want from me? Did he want me to ask to come back? To beg? “Where do we stand, brother? Last time I saw you, we weren’t a happy family.”
“You are the one who left us. We built this empire together, brother. And we’re going to keep it running together. With Daisy and Becks, we’re going to be stronger than ever. The only thing keeping you from coming home is you.”
And fuck me, I hung up the phone.
