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No idea what’s going on or whether Lucian has caught up to them, we race to intercept the women at the next subway stop. Anton weaves through traffic like a madman. We abandon the car on the corner of Sixty-eighth Street, tear down a flight of stairs, and jump the turnstiles. The station master runs out of the booth shouting us down, but we’re long gone before she can catch up.
Anton and I sprint down the platform. He yanks on my sleeve. “Make sure they’re on the subway car before you jump on. They usually sit in the middle. If we stand over there,” he says as he points to a specific spot, “we might catch a glimpse of them.”
My thoughts are racing a mile a minute, and I would’ve jumped on the instant the train stopped. How he knows so much about their habits is beyond me, but his plan makes a lot of sense.
We settle in halfway down the platform, about five feet apart, to get a better chance of catching sight of them. My heart pounds like a jackhammer inside my chest. My entire body is on high alert, my muscles tense and ready to pounce. The fists at my sides clench and unclench, clench and unclench. I compulsively check my app and see the dot moving through the tunnel, nearing the station.
“They’re coming.”
We wait in anticipation, me staring intently down at my phone, riveted on the moving dot. The grip around my phone gets slippery with sweat. I have this fear that if I blink an eye, I’ll miss her or she’ll disappear. It’s irrational, but then again, I’ve already failed Cristian. That night, I saw the threat and couldn’t reach him in time. And here I am, in the same situation. Trying to cope with the same agonizing sense of powerlessness. And while this is supposedly a threat to Star, Alexei has shown no great love for Crina. What if he’s the one behind this or if this is a ruse to hurt Crina? The same man who slaughtered my brother bare-handed might be after my wife. My breathing stops, caught in my chest. Cold sweat trickles down my spine.
The rumble of the incoming train shudders through the station, getting louder by the second. The train roars through and blasts past us. Squinting my eyes, I glare through the blur of cars as they stream past.
Eventually, the train slows down. Riders crowd around us. Anton and I push through the throng, striving to get to the middle car because our calculations were off. Peering in through the grimy windows, I wave Anton past me to search the next car.
A moment later, I hear him shout, “They’re in here!”
I break into a run, catching up to him as he jogs alongside the car, keeping pace with it to be the first in front of the doors when it stops. I follow, elbowing people left and right, and happen to be at the doors as they slide open with a familiar chime.
A Russian is sprawled on the floor of the subway, bleeding from a direct gunshot wound to the head. Crina is lying near him on the dirty ground. Terror grips me by the throat.
I surge forward. She rolls over onto her back and throws her arms at her sides, unharmed. I clutch the side of the sliding doors, eating her up with my eyes. No blood. No wounds. She probably fell to the ground when she heard the gunshot, smart girl. Lucian is holding Star in his arms, who’s bleeding from a nasty slash across her chest. Anton moves swiftly past me and grabs Gabby, scooping her up without a word.
I jam my shoulder against the door to keep it open. Contradicting emotions swam me. Relief that the women are alive and uninjured, for the most part. Fury at Lucian for not keeping that low-life scum alive for me to torture until kingdom come. Agony that my baby had a brush with death, that I had been powerless to protect her. I’d never have survived her death. Fuck, I want to punch a wall or tear something apart.
Instead, I maintain an air of calm, cracking my signature smirk to reassure her that everything’s okay. Unable to move from my spot, I crook my finger at her.
She blinks up at me in stunned silence. “How did you know?”
With my eyes I respond,Baby girl, for as long as I’m alive, I’ll always know where you are.With my mouth, I say, “The tracking device on your phone. Now come here, you pain in my ass.”
She clambers to her feet and jumps into my arms. I crush her to me, burying my face in her hair, greedily dragging in the sweet, spicy scent of her. She squeezes me back with desperation. And then, my strong girl bursts into tears.
Lucian moves past me with Star, murmuring a soft thanks.
A woman shrieks, “Oh, my God!” as she catches sight of the dead Russian. Anton stomps out of the subway car and I gently move with Crina in my arms, finally letting the doors shut behind me.
People throng around us in all directions. A unit of cops fans out onto the station platform and the crowd surges in response to their presence. I need to get her out fast. I wave Anton on and we split up in different directions. Half Covering Crina’s head with my hand, I shelter her from the panicking horde as we plunge into the melee to blend in and hide from the onslaught of policemen.
We move as one unit as I guide us away from the track and toward the wall, letting the crush of people collide against one another. Hugging the wall, we inch our way toward the nearest exit and up to the street. Policemen are swarming around Anton’s abandoned car. Turning Crina away from them, I maneuver us down the street to Third Avenue, where I wave down the first yellow cab I see.
The taxi screeches to a halt by my feet. I swing the door open and Crina tumbles into the back seat. I jump in behind her, slam the door closed, and give the cabbie directions. With so much police activity, the traffic has slowed to a standstill, but I’m fine waiting them out in the cab. At least we’re sealed off from the madness of the subway station. The police will check the surveillance cameras. Even if there aren’t any in the subway car, there will be footage from the two stations. By the time they come looking for us, we’ll be safely surrounded by our clans with lawyers ready to intercede.
Unable to stop myself, I pull Crina close to me, caressing her hair with one hand, her thigh with the other. Tears have left wet tracks down her cheeks and my heart squeezes in pain.
“He said, ‘Not today, princess. Today you live.’ What about a knife to my best friend’s throat?” Crina rambles. It takes me a moment to follow along. “I was trying to distract him while Gabby crept toward the emergency brake to stop the train. He knew me,” she says between her chattering teeth.
Her eyes are wide, showing the whites around the irises. Adrenaline continues to rush through her system.
“That asshole had instructions. Kill Star and any other meddling bystanders but leave me alive, for today at least.” She shudders. “Those kinds of instructions could only have come from one person.”
I watch the pain twisting her features. “Your father.”
“That’s right.” Her eyes flash with rage. “If I didn’t hate him before, I sure as hell do now.”
A whooshing sound floods my eardrums. My head jerks slightly.Did I hear right?“Come again.”
She tosses me an impatient look and snaps, “Keep up, will you, Marku? God, you can be so infuriating sometimes.”
