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“Am I wrong? Don’t you realize what a crazy bastard he is?” He glares at me. “I know about the fake marriage and everything else. I also know my sister is too smart to get involved with someone like you.”
I grab her by the shoulders. “You know me, Val. You know I’d do anything for you. If I didn’t show up tonight, you’d have been by yourself with those fucking thugs.”
Her eyes darken. “If you hadn’t shown up, Mandee wouldn’t have tipped off security, either.”
I recoil. “They knew you were coming. Stepanov was ready for you.”
She shakes her head. “You didn’t want to save the girl. She may have given us information that can help us find Branko. You being there might have tipped him off, and now who the hell can stop him? What if none of us can? What if tonight put the final nail in the coffin?”
“You can’t seriously believe that.”
She twists out of my grip.
“We don’t need this kind of guy working with us,” Taras says, leveling me with a glare.
Val won’t look at me. Does she actually agree with these asshats?
“Because I’m crazy, yeah? So crazy I risked my damn life to go back and find you after you and your sister were snatched from that arena, right? So crazy I fucking bulldozed you out of that warehouse before someone bought you and shipped you to some fucking place where nobody would ever hear from you again?”
That gets her attention.
“You did what?” Her voice is barely a whisper, shock settling into her features.
A hot flush creeps up the sides of my neck, spilling into my face. “That’s right. Such a loose cannon, yeah?” I turn to Luka and Taras. “The only reason she’s even here right now is because I saved her. Me. The crazy bastard.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? I told you the whole story and you never said anything.”
“I knew how hard it was for you to hear. I didn’t want to bring up all those memories again.” My jaw tenses. “And I shouldn’t have had to tell you. I’ve proved it plenty of times to you since the day we met. I should have known it’d never be enough. That I’d never be enough.”
I twist away from her and walk toward the door.
“Quinn, where are you going?”
I throw her a look over my shoulder. “I’m bowing out. Clearing the path for you to find your guy without the inconvenience of my crazy getting in the way.”
But Val doesn’t respond when I grasp the door handle.
Doesn’t say a word as I twist it.
Lets me walk right out of the fucking door once it opens.
With my stomach in knots and my heart split in two, I storm into the hallway, letting the door slam shut behind me.
And she never comes after me.
Chapter36
Valentina
Ifall face-first into my hand, a frustrated sigh shaking my shoulders.
“You did everything you could.” Boris pats me on the arm and passes me the coffee creamer the next morning.
“Did I? Because it sure feels like I did absolutely nothing last night except fuck things up even worse for myself.” I trace my finger over the edge of the tabletop. “For so freaking long, I believed that Alek was leading me down the right path. And only now do I find out that he hasn’t even been honest with me about why he’s been so invested in Branko’s takedown.”
“You have to understand that certain information has to remain classified. It’s meant to protect you all.”
I roll my eyes and pour the creamer into the steaming mug in front of me. “I get that, but with everything at stake, ‘protect Alek’ is probably more accurate. I mean, he obviously has lots of incentives to find Branko, right? Gianna and Ava and his empire are what’s most important to him. And with all three of them at risk, he’s got a lot riding on me taking out Branko.”
