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“We aren’t done yet,” I roar into his face. “We aren’t even fucking close. You think you’re checking out? Think again, motherfucker.”
My fist slams into his throat, and he chokes on the air that gets trapped in his lungs, wheezing and coughing, and then eventually gurgling. I draw my hand back to do it again, and that’s when I feel a hand on my shoulder. It’s Gleb.
“Lev.” His voice carries an undercurrent of sympathy. “Finish him. You’ve proven your point.”
Andrei’s head falls back against the bed as his hair slips from my grasp. And I look down at him, stunned by the violence still churning inside me. Violence and rage I didn’t even know the depths of until this moment. But one glance at Gleb, and I can tell it’s too much even for him.
“Finish him.” He hands me his pistol. “And be done with it.”
* * *
“You never mentioned he killed your mother too,” Gleb says.
“I know.” I finish wiping my face with the towel he gave me and sit down at the bar beside him, where he already has a large glass of vodka waiting for me.
“I’ve been in this business for a long time.” Gleb spins the glass around in his hand. “Let me tell you something. Revenge is necessary, but it can also be a poison. You have to make your peace when it’s done. Let it go. Move on. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand.”
My gaze drifts to the wall, and I think about Kat back at the hotel, completely unaware of what I’m capable of. Or maybe she is aware, but she chooses to see past it anyway. It fucking hurts, loving someone so much. Wanting the best for them, but being torn between two worlds, and I think if anyone can understand that, it’s Gleb.
“You don’t have your stars,” he notes. “You were never inducted?”
“No.” I shake my head. “My father wasn’t a Vor. Vasily just wanted me to do his bidding. He never asked me to swear an oath, and I never offered. It was what it was.”
Gleb seems to consider this for a moment, and I worry that he’s going to suggest I swear that oath now. For better or worse, we’re linked for life by the woman I love. The woman I promised I would give a better life to.
“Truth be told, I don’t know if I’d do it again,” Gleb admits. “And I don’t want this life for my daughter. She deserves better than a man she can’t be sure will come home every night.”
“I don’t want that for her either.” I meet his gaze. “And I promised her it wouldn’t be that way.”
“That’s a lofty promise to make,” he says. “But I want you to fulfill it. When this shit with Vasily is done, that’s it. You turn legit, and when we see each other, it will be at a family gathering. You understand?”
“Does that mean I have your approval?” I smirk.
“If Kat says she wants to marry you, then you have my approval.” He nods. “But first, let’s worry about finishing the job we started.”
“Any word on Vasily?” I ask.
“No.” He shrugs. “But I just had my guys send all of his contacts a text with a photo of Andrei. So I doubt it will be long now before he makes an appearance. When he does, I need to know if there are any more surprises, Lev. No more secrets. Not between family.”
I drain the rest of the vodka from my glass and allow the burn to soothe my raw throat before I turn to him. “I’ll give you everything I have on him. But I’m keeping copies for myself until this is over.”
Gleb nods and then reaches for the vodka. “Very well. I’ll come by the hotel tomorrow to pick it up. We can spend the day together. As a family.”
18
Kat
I wake to a tickle on my neck. Scratching the spot, I then settle back into sleep, but a moment later, it’s there again.
My eyelids flutter open to take in the lights peeking around the closed curtain, then close. I roll onto my back, and when the blanket slips from me, I reach to pull it back. When I meet with resistance, I open my eyes, thinking it slid to the floor.
That’s when I see him.
“Lev,” I say sleepily.
I move to sit up, but he bends down, splaying my thighs open as he takes hold of the crotch of my panties and pushes them over.
A moment later, his mouth closes on my sex, and I suck in a breath at the heat of it, the wet warmth of his mouth, his soft tongue. He’s hungry, and I fist the sheets as he works his tongue over me, devouring me. He lifts his head to scratch the scruff of his jaw against the hard nub of my clit and slides two fingers inside me, hooking them, finding…fuck…just that spot.
