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“She’ll be fine,” Tori says in a soft voice. “Trust me. This place is Fort Knox. She couldn’t be safer if she was with you.”
I nod, brushing Daniela’s cheek with my finger. “Love you,” I murmur, grazing her forehead with my lips.
“Is that what you’re wearing tonight?” Tori eyes my t-shirt and shorts.
“No, I called my brother and asked him to bring my dress and shoes to the concert hall.” I cast a glare at Danil where he stands next to the Range Rover. “I didn’t have time to grab it the night I was snatched from my house.”
Tori smirks. “Sounds like my brother.” She reaches for my arm and gives it a little squeeze. “Good luck. I can’t wait to see you on YouTube.”
I give them a final wave before backing toward the truck, a swirl of angst snaking through my gut. I pull open the door and slide inside, barely getting the door closed before Danil peels out of the driveway.
“You don’t get to make decisions without consulting me first.”
“I think I’m gonna do whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want.” He makes a sharp turn out of the private gated road and presses his foot on the gas. I gasp, my body pressing against the seat as inertia takes over.
“You’re a lunatic. I’d like to get to my show alive, thank you very much.”
“You know what’s ironic?” he says without slowing down even though the main road is packed with cars. “People who get so pissed off when you omit the truth, and then turn around and fuck you with their own lies.”
An icy cold hand squeezes my heart.
“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” He weaves in and out of cars, ignoring the honking horns. The Range Rover picks up speed as we near the exit for the concert hall. He swings the truck to the right, the tires skidding slightly along the pavement as he careens around the exit ramp. “Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
My stomach free falls into my flip flops, followed by the splintered pieces of my heart. I part my lips to respond, my voice small and completely unconvincing if I was an objective bystander eavesdropping on our exchange.
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“Don’t you, though?” He cuts me off, careening around a corner next to the concert hall before speeding into the underground garage. “You heard me tell Luka what happened that night in Kiev and attacked me for being a lying bastard, yeah? And all along, you were doing the same thing. Lying through your damn teeth, to my face.”
He swings the truck into an empty spot. The tires squeal against the pavement. I lurch forward when he slams on the brakes just in time to avoid crashing into a metal column separating the spaces. I brace my fall forward with my hands, slamming them against the dashboard.
“Not smart. Gotta take care of those hands, right?” Danil sneers. “Make sure you’re still your family’s cash cow? Even though in a little while, you might be brought to slaughter.”
I jerk my head in his direction. “If you have something to say, say it. I’m done with your games, you asshole.”
He reaches behind me and grabs a fistful of my hair. Hair I spent an hour curling. He tugs my head closer, his dark eyes glazing over with a hatred I haven’t seen since that first night he showed up at the house and held a knife to my throat.
“We have a big problem. See, I installed a listening device on my phone after I caught you calling your brothers that first time, just to be on the safe side. It’s a good thing I didn’t believe the bullshit you fed me about your last call with Petro because I’d never know that Hadeon was involved with my mother’s death if I did.”
I yelp when he tugs my hair tighter, his lips twisting like he’s just tasted something foul and rotten.
“You asked him if he was there for the wedding attack,” he seethes, glowering at me. I recoil from the sparks of rage spitting from his eyes and lancing my soul with scorching fury. “And he said he was, but that he needs to tell you something in person. You watched us put my mother in the ground and all along you knew your brother was involved.”
My heart launches into my throat, choking me. “H-he didn’t say he pulled the trigger. He just said he was there.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. So now, we’re going into your dressing room to wait for him to show up with your clothes, the other thing you asked while you were on the phone.”
“I’m not going in there with you.” I try to pull away, and he closes his other hand around my neck, squeezing until I sputter a plea for help. He loosens his grip enough so I can breathe, but not so much that I don’t know for sure who can kill who with just a little exertion of force.
A dry laugh shatters the pained silence. “Nobody can help you, Larysa. If you try anything stupid, I’ll make sure you never see Daniela again.”
“You bastard. That’s why you brought her to your sister.” My jaw aches from being clenched so tight. “And here I was, thinking the safety of your kid was what you were so focused on. I should have known it was a totally self-serving move because you’re an egotistical, manipulative prick.”
“I brought her to my sister because I didn’t want your half-wit brothers getting any ideas about using her as leverage. They’re in the middle of a very dangerous game if they’re on the enemy team and stupid enough to put her in the line of fire. I wasn’t taking any chances with her safety.”
“As if you could care about anything but yourself.” My voice catches on the sob I am desperately trying to choke down.
“Be careful.” His voice sounds syrupy smooth, but his hardened gaze gives away the presence of the beast inside. “Remember who you’re talking to, Larysa. If you don’t keep that mouth shut, I won’t wait for Hadeon to show up here. I’ll make a call and have my guys grab him, gut him, skewer his ass, and dump him in the fucking Bay.” He leans closer, his pupils so large, his eyes are a sea of never-ending blackness.
