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NATASHA
“If you go over there, just know you’re walking into a trap,” Taras growls. “It’s a bad move.”
“Boris is a friend. He was always there for Dad. I’m not gonna leave him to get gutted like a fish because I didn’t show up when he needed me. Besides, I’m not afraid of traps.” Luka paces the length of the kitchen.
“Oh, that’s right. Badass assassin isn’t afraid of anything or anyone. How many lives do you think you have left?”
Luka’s lips curl upward in a tight smile. “All of them. I’m fucking invincible. Haven’t you heard?”
Taras rolls his eyes. “All it takes is one bullet.”
“No.” Luka turns to glare at Taras. “It takes a fuck of a lot more than that. And trust me, nobody can make that shot.”
“Or maybe you’ve just been lucky,” Taras scoffs.
“Luck may have kept your ass alive over the years. Skill is what’s kept me out of the ground.”
“So what happens now?” I can’t keep my mouth closed for a second longer, even though I’m afraid to ask the question. I already know the answer and I don’t like it. At all.
“Nik and I are going to find Boris.” Luka nods at Taras. “You stay here with the girls.”
“Fuck that. I’m coming with you.”
“Why? Because you wanna see how a real boss works? Maybe pick up a few tricks?”
“No. I’m going because, even though I think you’re a fucking lunatic with a death wish, you’re still my brother and I have your back.”
“You can’t leave us here alone,” I say, my eyebrows flying up in alarm. “I mean, Tori thinks she’s fucking Black Widow with that knife, but seriously? With the world declaring open season on your family? You really think it’s smart to leave us here alone?”
“The threat is with Boris,” Luka says, rubbing his hands down the sides of my arms. “Whoever it is, whatever they want, they’re trying to lure us to him. Besides, once this place is locked down, it’s like a fortress. Anyone coming onto Indian Creek Island needs clearance. It’s probably the safest place for you to be right now.”
Tori spins the knife around her fingers and drives it cleanly into the center of an orange on the kitchen island. “Don’t panic. I’ll take care of you. You’ll be fine, princess.”
I eye the impaled orange and lift an eyebrow.
Yeah, that’s very freaking questionable.
Luka laces his fingers with mine and pulls me out of the room. “You’re going to be safe here. There is security patrolling the place, and Tori is damn good with a knife.” He winks at me. “I taught her myself.”
“Stop joking around.” My pulse stabs the side of my throat. “What if you go there and find out it’s my father who has Boris? What will you do?”
Luka’s smile fades, his eyes darkening by the second. But he doesn’t answer. And I know exactly why.
“I can’t tell you what you want to hear, Natasha,” he finally says. “I know you want me to tell you that I’ll spare him. But if your father has Boris, if he’s the one instigating this whole threat against us, either on his own or with Dmitri, he won’t survive an attack against me. That I can promise you.”
A knot of fear tugs tight in my chest. “But my family…”
Luka squares his shoulders. “He should have thought about his family before he started this war.”
I clench my fingers tight around his, the tips losing feeling as the seconds tick past. I know there isn’t anything I can do to stop the inevitable if my dad really is behind all of this.
Jesus, it’s still so hard for me to accept that he’d be so calculating and vengeful. A shudder jars my shoulders when I think about his impassive expression on the day of the wedding attack.
It was like he wasn’t shocked at all. And he sure as hell didn’t care about my safety.
Could it be because he knew I’d have been saved?
I swallow hard against the bile rising in the back of my throat.
