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Across the room I see Niko lean forward in his chair, hands clasped, in his best negotiating posture. “We know thePakhanmeans nothing to you, Charleigh. But we need you to do this for us? Will you? For us?”
What can I say? The man has skills.
She looks around the room, obviously not happy. “I guess,” she says with a drawn-out sigh. “Yeah, I’ll meet with him. I mean, what choice do I have?”
She’s starting to get it
Vadik slaps his thigh and gets to his feet. “You’re right, baby. You really do have no choice,” he says, signaling the meeting is over.
* * *
CHAPTERELEVEN
Kir
“You can’t blame yourselves,” Charleigh says, picking at her salad.
Does she really mean that? Or is she just blowing smoke up our asses? I can tell my brothers are thinking the same thing.
She sets her fork aside after eating half a tomato. Jesus, if her appetite doesn’t come back soon, she won’t live long enough to see Dimitri taken out. I want to ask her how many pounds she’s lost but I know better than to bring up a woman’s weight. Talk about kicking a hornet’s nest.
It’s clear she’s put a lot of thought into this. I’m glad she’s talking responsibility. She may not know it yet, but she’s going to be part of our lives for a long, long time. She has to know how her actions have consequences.
She rubs her neck. “You didn’t expect me to go to the arcade that day. In fact, I had to talk Frank into it, something I regret terribly. We didn’t know Dimitri was setting a trap. Neither did you guys. I had an awesome bodyguard and they still got me. Bottom line, no one can protect me, except me.”
Not sure I like the way that sounds, but there is a lot of truth to it. Staying safe starts with making smart decisions. Keep out of the line of fire, so to speak. If she keeps doing crazy-ass, impetuous things, well, that won’t end well. Not at all.
This makes my stomach churn, and I set my coffee down. I couldn’t protect Clara. And now, Charleigh. What good are all the precautions in the world if we can’t do something that simple?
She continues. “I… I don’t mean to hurt you by saying that. You are powerful men, but not everything is in your control. I have free will, at least to an extent, and the decision I made put me in danger. The most important thing I’ve learned in my self-defense course is to not take a stupid risk to begin with. Staying out of dangerous situations is seventy-five percent of protecting yourself. The other twenty-five, well, we’ll see if I can physically defend myself if I ever need to. Still working on that.” She laughs sadly.
That’s huge progress. Our girl is learning. And she’s right. If she can follow what she’s been learning, it’s unlikely anything like this will happen to her again. There is no guarantee, but smart thinking reduces the chances.
Vadik joins us at the table, late. “Okay,” he says, settling in, “just talked to thePakhan’s second. What a miserable son of a bitch. Anyway, we’re all set for our meeting, but the bastard wouldn’t give me a read on what to expect.”
So typical of that power-hungry loser. He loves nothing more than lording the little bit of power he has over people. Why thePakhankeeps him on is beyond me, but someday he’ll get his due. People like him always do.
“You didn’t get to speak directly to thePakhan?” Charleigh asks.
Vadik shakes his head. “Nope. Are you kidding, with that boot-licking gatekeeper in the way? But don’t worry, darlin’, we’ll protect you. We’ll make sure you’re okay every step of the way.”
Charleigh grimaces, no doubt the thought of having to protect herself running through her mind. She doesn’t trust us guys anymore.
That kills me.
She was hurt on my watch. I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself. While I haven’t discussed it with my brothers, my guess is they feel the same. Were I to ask him, Niko would readily admit his regrets. Vadik, not so much. Not that he doesn’t have any, it’s just harder for him to talk about some things.
“You know, guys, when I was being held by Dimitri, I don’t remember much, but I do recall there being a room he went in and out of a bunch of times. He had a key and I didn’t see anyone else going in there. It must be something super confidential. Like, maybe there’s info about what he did to your parents in there?” she says matter-of-factly.
That’s our new Charleigh. Everything is matter-of-fact. No real emotion. Like the wonderment has been completely beaten out of her.
At least we still have her, though. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance, something I never had with Clara.
Vadik sucks in a deep breath. “Who the fuck knows what he’s up to. But I can tell you one thing. He’s so fucking dead…” he says, gritting his teeth.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“You know, Charleigh, I feel like you should know that when you first went missing, we assumed you’d run away again,” Niko says with regret in his eyes. “We quickly figured out there was foul play. But that was our first thought.”
