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I can’t tell if he’s serious or just chiding her. It doesn’t really matter, though. What he’s saying is true.
“What the fuck, Charleigh?” Kir asks, frowning.
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small knife, smugly showing it off like a kid in show-and-tell.
“Where the hell did you get that?” he asks.
She twirls it around between her fingers, admiring it. “Iborrowedit from my self-defense instructor.”
“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Vadik says. “And how did you come to pull a knife on the second. Did he do something to you?”
She presses her lips together, pausing. “You know that bloody nose he had? Well, when we were going into thePakhan’s office, Iaccidentallypushed the door into his face.”
Kir busts out laughing, but when he notices the serious look on Vadik’s and my faces, he reins it in.
“And then what?” I ask.
“As you can imagine, he was kind of mad. Then thePakhanmade him leave, which made him even more mad. When I got back to the waiting room and you guys left, I pointed out that the bleeding had stopped.”
Kir nods, still trying not to laugh. “Okay, so you were antagonizing the bastard. Not hard to do with a big-headed brute like him. But when did you pull the knife?”
“I guess I pissed him off,” she says with false innocence, “so he lunged at me. I pulled the knife and held it at his crotch.” She demonstrates with pride.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling a bit of pride, myself. Not a smart move on her part, but good for her for the excellent effort. Still, she could have ended up dead. And like she has observed, the penalty wouldn’t be much at all, since she’s ‘just’ a woman.
“Jesus Christ,” Vadik says, rubbing his bald head.
Charleigh nods proudly. “As you might imagine, that got him to back right off.”
She drops the knife back into her pocket before one of us can confiscate it.
I could tell her that her little knife might have slowed the second, but it wouldn’t have stopped him from snapping her neck. I could tell her she’s not the kind of badass she thinks she is, and that she needs to watch herself. Or, I could tell her to hand over the goddamn knife before she hurts herself.
But I don’t. I like how she stuck up for herself, no matter how clumsily she did it.
I change the subject. “ThePakhansaid Dimitri will be compensating you. I know that was hard for you to hear, but that’s typical in our world. What’snottypical is a woman seeking her own revenge. Keep in mind you’re bucking the trend here. And when you do something like that, you have to step carefully.”
She studies me as I speak, finally listening.
“I know you don’t want money.” I look at my brothers and decide to share my thoughts. Fuck anyone who doesn’t like it. “That’s a temporary fix. I know it is. We’ll see more action on thePakhan’s part at some point. When, I don’t know, but we will.”
She sighs impatiently. “Really? Is that what you think?”
Vadik throws me a warning look. I know he doesn’t want me getting her hopes up, but he can fuck right off.
I know I’m right.
“You’ll get your revenge, darlin’,” I say. “We all will, for all the wrongs that bastard has visited on us. You’ve got to believe that, Charleigh.”
Her eyes fill with tears and her voice cracks. “I hope you’re right, Niko, because right now I hate myself. I hate being in my skin. It’s like a thousand bugs are running over me all the time, taking tiny, painful bites of me, and soon there won’t be anything left.”
The tears begin to flow, and she reaches for my hand. “Please help me, Niko. I can’t live like this. It hurts too much and… sometimes I’m afraid I’ll do something crazy. I need to hang on for my sister. She has no one. No one cares about her but me, Niko,” she says, dissolving into the sobs I expect she’s been holding onto for too long.
I pull her to me. “I promise you, baby. I promise we’ll get this all taken care of. You’ll never forget what happened, but it won’t rule your life like it does now. Trust me.”
* * *
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
