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Vito holds up a hand. “The Lanzzare will mobilize all our manpower and resources to get my daughter back.” He glares at Nikolai. “Manpower I should have used the day you refused to give her back.”
“I didn’t plan this, Vito,” replies Nikolai, holding his temper.
Vito glares at him. “But your men did.”
“Uncle Vito.” I try to intervene despite the raw hostility. “We’re going to help. Dad and I want Mercy back home. Nikolai wants her back too.” I want to convince him of our genuine sincerity, but my uncle has heard enough.
“Our honor demands it,” he says to Nikolai. “It’s an order from high up. It’s a black mark for this to have happened to us.” He wipes the sweat off his forehead. “But I will go talk to the don. We’ll need intel to get her back.”
Nikolai motions toward the couch while he sits back down in a chair by the fire.
“I can give you intel,” Nikolai replies. “But if it’s known that I’m helping directly …” He pauses as Vito sprawls heavily across the couch, taking up the whole seat.
“I understand,” replies Vito. “If you were to seek the help of the Lanzzare … Things for you could go from bad to worse. How unfortunate for you.”
I don’t dare look over at Nikolai as I think about last night. I thought I had convinced Nikolai, but nothing I said or did convinced him to ask for help. I recall his expression as we rodeaway from the other safe house and his own men had turned against him because of vicious lies.
Nikolai stares into the fire and then sighs. But in that sigh, I hear hope. “What happens next, Vito?” he asks.
Vito replies, matter of factly, “Because of the kidnapping, you cannot enter Lanzzare territory without being killed.”
Nikolai scowls. “Even if I’m offering to help?” He presses the point. “So, I’m a target even though we want the same goal.”
“Your men are the cause of this,” Vito scoffs. “You claim it wasn’t your order, but it happened under your leadership. Do you have so little control over your men?” Pausing, he eyes me hard and then Nikolai. “Or was this the plan all along?”
Nikolai’s low growl reveals he’s losing control. “This is not what I wanted, Vito.”
Uncle Vito leaps up from the couch as Nikolai stands from his chair. This time, I’m quicker than the guards and stand between them, hoping it will be enough to stop a fistfight.
“Not now!” I say through clenched teeth. “We don’t have time for a macho bullshit pissing contest when Mercy needs both of you to help her.” I lower my arms. “Mercy should be your only concern. It’s your honor and stubbornness keeping her hostage.”
They stare at each other with bold aggression, and like two heavyweight contenders, they eventually retreat to opposite sides of the room. They’re backing down for now, but there’s no denying that bad blood festers between them. I glance at the front door, wishing my dad would return before something happens.
But Uncle Vito won’t let it go. He kept Mercy out of it and protected her so something like this would never happen to her. I feel guilty for just being here and not tied up somewhere awful and cold beside her. I don’t dare tell Uncle Vito it’ll be okay because I don’t know that. And right now, I don’t even know if I’ll have a happy ending, either.
“I trusted you with my daughter,” Vito growls, fidgeting as he paces the room. “And now my daughter might be gone for good.”
“There is still time, Uncle Vito.”
“Time?” he shouts at me. “What have they done to my baby already?” His voice cracks as my eyes widen, not daring to answer him. “The Russians treat women like chattel. What are they doing to her now?” he sobs. “Even if I get her back, she won’t be the same. Damn you, Starukhin!”
Vito storms out of the inn with his men trailing behind but doesn’t head toward the SUV. He stands in the driveway, backing away from the house.
“Where are you going?” I call out.
Vito doesn’t answer me. He stares at the open doorway where Nikolai and I stand. As I make a move to follow, Nikolai grabs my arm, pulling me back. He turns away from me and strides through the door after Vito. My feet are rooted in place as I watch them go, unable to do anything but helplessly stare as Nikolai advances.
With no choice left, I hurry inside and call my dad.
“Nikolai and Uncle Vito are about to do something stupid,” I tell him.
35
NIKOLAI
The cold airbites through my clothing, sending shivers down my spine. The tension between Vito and me is tangible, like the storm overhead waiting to break. Edie has pleaded with us to work together, but I can see in Vito’s dirty looks that he is not ready to let go of his anger. Neither am I.
The closer I move toward Vito, standing in the drive defiantly, the sharper my glare becomes.
