AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good. Then I am glad that I’ve brought Alek here as extra motivation to move faster!” He moves to the ledge above the small fireplace and pulls a silver flask from his pocket. He pours what looks like vodka into two small shot glasses and holds one out to me. When I don’t take it right away, he downs the first one.
I’m trying to sort out what his comment is supposed to mean. I have to assume that he means I’m going to get Alek once this is all over as a prize for a job well done. It’s a little patronizing—but given how much I’m going to enjoy killing that bastard, I’ll allow it.
My silence isn’t the reaction that Nikolai wants. He reaches into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulls out a folded picture. “Here’s further proof that you can’t trust a single thing that viper says. I figured this would help keep a clear head.”
He holds the picture out for me, and I take it. It shows three people sitting together. Alek with his arm around Helena… and Lilian sitting right beside them. My sister is there, smiling brightly and leaning into Helena like they are the best of friends.
The air in the room starts to feel thin. I show nothing on my face as I take in all of the details of the picture in my hands. She lied to me. She lied and I believed it.Again. She played me for a fool another time. How the hell can I keep falling for her bullshit? She looked me in the eye and lied. She sobbed and cried as she denied knowing anything about my sister.
I press my tongue against the roof of my mouth firmly to keep from saying anything.
“You can keep that, Daniel. Think of it as another gift. From what I understand, Alek here met Lilian through Helena. She’s the one who introduced them and started the whole thing. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What else could she know and be lying about? What’s she withholding? Even if she starts spouting secrets like a fountain… can you really believe any of them? Her word isn’t worth much… is it?” Nikolai shrugs and accepts a shot of vodka from his tall, stoic underboss.
He holds one out for me, and I politely decline.
“Suit yourself, but I think that you’re going to need it very soon.”
How could I have been so naive? My mind is racing, going over every word she's said to me and piecing it all together. She lied, there's no doubt about it. Does she knowwhat happened to Lilian? I'll tie her up and carve the truth out of her if necessary, but I really,reallyhoped it wouldn't come to that.
My mouth feels like sandpaper.
Nikolai downs the second shot meant for me and throws the glass into the fire slowly dying in the hearth. The flames flare for a moment. “I look forward to our continued partnership, Colombo. But if you want to have the pleasure of killing Alek yourself and securing this alliance with my family, I want Helena’s head by tomorrow.”
Nikolai snaps his fingers and two men come up and roughly grab Alek under his arms and start to half-guide, half-carry the nearly unconscious man out of the room. The rest of Nikolai’s men follow suit. Volkovich stays to leave last.
“Tomorrow, Colombo,” he says again in an openly threatening tone. “Or the whole deal’s off.”
He leaves without another word, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Michael and I sand in the cabin and listen as their cars pull away and leave. I grab the first item closest to me and hurl it against the far wall with all of the strength I can muster.
“Fuck!” I shout as I throw a second thing. It doesn’t make me feel much better.
I can’t believe I let her fool me. I wanted to believe that I was getting through to her. Sure enough, she made me think that I was falling for her. That we were becoming closer. I was almost ready to call this whole thing off because I didn’t think I could hurt her!
Oh, but I could hurt her now.
I was going to give up everything. No fixing my family’s name or reputation. I was going to ruin a powerful alliance because I was going to let herlive. I was going to let her near Henry! How could I have been so stupid?
She’s going to pay for this mistake.
I storm out the front door and take the driver’s seat of one of my Range Rovers and tear off down the road. She’s going to explain herself right now, or she’s going to pay for her lies in blood.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Helena
The music flowing through my fingers is a strange combination of notes. I’ve taken bits and pieces of my favorite pieces and somehow mashed them together. The result isn’t the prettiest of tunes, but it feels good to keep playing. The conclusions that I’ve come to certainly aren’t going to bring me any comfort, so I might as well enjoy this while I can.
At the very least, they are enjoyable roles to play as time goes on. The acoustics in the bedroomaren't too bad. The sound is absorbed by the thin, flat quality to the far side of the room where there is less furniture. But it's fine over here by the bed. I almost miss my dusty music studio. I really miss the auditorium. I'm wondering if there will ever be another chance for me to teach there. I don't think Daniel will be persuaded that I can behave well enough to be left alone anytime soon, let alone return to the school.
He probably thinks that the moment there’s a neutral adult in sight, I’m going to go screaming my head off for help. Until he makes up his own mind otherwise, there’s no point in attempting to convince him to trust me. I wouldn’t just take somebody else’s word on that front either. I’m not going to try running away again. Not now.
If he was Nikolai, that’s exactly what I would do… but Daniel is gentle.
Naturally, he’s going to make me regret that assumption.
The bedroom door slams open with such force that I jump and jerk my arm across the cello. The bow slashes through my hand, leaving a red mark on my opposite arm where I hit myself. Despite this, I greet Daniel with a fleeting smile. He appears angrier than I've ever seen him.
The smile isslapped right off my face. His eyes have a feral quality to them that makes my blood run cold. I blink, and I'm back in my Moscow bedroom for a split second. The entire room appears to shift as I recall the terrible night Nikolai attempted to murder me.
