AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You okay?” Petro murmurs as I slip on my sneakers after being picked out of line for a secondary check. Hadeon and Daniela wander over to one of the duty-free shops in search of snacks, leaving us alone.
I fall forward into my hands, sucking back the sob that’s been threatening to explode from my chest since Danil left the hospital room. “Not okay at all. But I will be.”
“You know Hades and I will protect you and Daniela.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him. “Yes, in about four weeks. That’s what the doctor said, right? That’s when you can resume normal activities, like fending off mass murderers?”
He grins, his bruised face lighting up. “Something to look forward to.”
“And poor Bohdan. He lost his life over all of this, too. God only knows what they did to him.”
“He was in way worse shape than me when they dumped him off. I couldn’t do anything to help him. They had about five guns on me.” Petro’s jaw tightens.
“It’s not your fault. What were you supposed to do? Besides, he was supposed to be the one trained to protect us, right?” I shake my head, standing up from the cold metal bench. “Sometimes I wish I’d known what Tato was into when he was still alive so I could tell him what a horrible mistake he made when he became boss.”
“It’s not something you can just walk away from,” Petro says. “Look at the Malikov family. Battling enemies because of things their dad and brother did when they were alive. You inherit a legacy — good or bad. And then you deal with the consequences of other peoples’ actions.”
“All I wanted to do was play piano.” I sling my bag over my shoulder. “And now I’ll always have to be looking over my shoulder, wondering when, not if, someone will come back for us. Because this isn’t over. It never will be.”
Petro shakes his head. “It’s the life Tato chose, one we’re stuck with.”
“What about the safety deposit box in the Bahamas? Tato said there were things in it that could protect us from the people who paid Uncle Isai to betray us.” The scent of deep-fried food wafts into the air as we pass by the crowded food court. My mouth waters. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and my stomach rumbles with a laundry list of requests.
Maybe French fries will make me feel better. Or a Cuban sandwich. Or both.
“You said we couldn’t get into it with only your key.”
“Yeah. That’s true.” I tug on my ponytail, a deep sigh expelling from my lips. “Tato said there were other codes I’d need, that someone would show up with them when the time was right. But who the heck knows where these elusive codes are?”
“Maybe the Malikovs know. Tato was working with Viktor Malikov behind the backs of his so-called business partners.”
I roll my eyes. “The last thing I want is to be tethered to that family any more than I already have to be because of Daniela.”
“You say that, but we both know you’re full of crap.” Petro groans as he picks up his duffel bag. “That motherfucker Isai should rot in hell for putting us through all this.”
“Danil isn’t capable of what I want or need.”
“He’s Daniela’s father.”
I let out a snort. “I can be both for her.” The second I say the words, my mind is wallpapered by images — Danil playing with her in the ocean, Danil cuddling her when she cried, and holding her tight against his chest for hours so she could sleep, Danil holding her in his arms at the funeral home before the attackers shot the place up. All memories I’d like to bury in the deep, dark recesses of my mind.
I drop my bag in front of a seat at our gate. “Dammit, why can’t I just forget about him?”
“Because you know we have a connection, and as much as you hate to admit it, you can’t let it go. Which is why I won’t let you go.”
With a loud gasp, I twist around in the direction of the intruding voice.
“What are you doing here?”
Danil holds up a plane ticket. “I’m going to New York.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where you and Daniela are going. And wherever you go is where I want to be.”
“Well, I don’t want you there.”
Danil’s dark eyes smolder, melting me from the inside out but dammit, I can’t just melt into a puddle under his heated stare. I can’t be that girl. What the hell kind of example will that set for my daughter? “So you can just go home.”
