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What the fuck was I going to do now? Part of me wanted to drive to Axel’s fancy-ass rehab and beat the ever-loving shit out of him. The other part wanted me to pack up the kids and make a run for it. Realistically, neither of those options would pan out well for me. Beating Axel wouldn’t get me out of this mess, and there was no way I could go on the lam with two kids. I’d managed to save a couple thousand for the mold problem in the kids’ rooms, but that was nowhere close to the twenty-five grand Alonzo was demanding.
The only way this ended with everyone still alive and in one piece was by getting that fucker his money. All of it. One way or the other.
30
MISHA
Marek hadn’t respondedto any of my texts all day and then out of the blue he showed up at Delirium, still without replying. I only knew he was there because I saw Bogdan moving through the crowd quickly and followed his line of sight to Marek, just in front of him.
I made my way to the manager’s office and knocked, a sickening sense of déjà vu creeping over me.
“Come in,” Marek answered, barely audible over the pulsing music.
Relieved that he was still there, I let myself in and closed the door behind me. He didn’t turn around to face me because he was too busy reading a letter while a citation lay on the desk next to him. Rather than interrupt him, I helped myself to it.
“Noise ordinance? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I sighed, letting the citation drift back to the desk. “I’ll take care of it.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t answer. With his elbows propped on the desk, he’d buried his face in his hands. His back rose and fell quickly with each silent breath.
“Marek?” I moved closer to him, running my fingers through his hair. “What’s on your mind?”
He looked up, blinking, and cleared his throat quickly. “Nothing. Sorry. Just tired.”
His lids weren’t heavy with sleep and his movements weren’t sluggish. They were twitchy, like a spring coiled too tightly. He was distracted but not by fatigue. But I knew the more I pushed, the quicker he’d shut down.
“If you’re tired, you should go home,” I said, watching him carefully, waiting for him to argue that he’d only just arrived.
Instead, he nodded, offering nothing else as he got to his feet and took a step toward the door.
I caught him by the arm, gently, trying to meet his gaze even though he was staring at some point behind me, his face blank. “I know something is bothering you. I wish you’d tell me.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he finally looked up at me, as haunted as he’d been the night his brother overdosed. He was there, physically, but his mind was gone, lost in some dark place I could never hope to reach. “It’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”
“At least let Anton drive you? That way I know you’re safe. Please, I insist.” The last thing I wanted to do was to leave him alone when he looked like that but I had a meeting I couldn’t miss. As long as he was at home, I knew he’d be safe, and, hopefully, in the morning he’d tell me what was going on.
He conceded to my request with a nod and a small, forced smile. “Yeah.”
I texted Anton to get the car and walked Marek to the back door. With how distant he was, he might as well have been on the moon instead of right beside me. He didn’t speak nor did he look at me, even when my fingers traced the edge of his hand.
As soon as the Escalade pulled up, Marek climbed into the backseat without a backward glance and immediately slumped against the armrest, holding his head again.
“Everything ok?” Anton asked in Russian, his brows quirked.
“No, it’s not but he won’t tell me anything.”
“What do you want me to do?”
I shrugged, helpless as always when it came to convincing Marek to trust me. “Take him home. Make sure he gets inside. Call me if there’s a problem.”
“Yes, boss.”
I watched them drive away until the taillights faded from view, unable to pinpoint what it was about that look in Marek’s eyes that left me feeling so on edge.
31
MAREK
There wasno way I could ask Misha for any more money. No. Fucking. Way. He’d already done so much for me, for Axel—too much, as far as I was concerned. Between covering the hospital expenses, getting Axel’s dumb ass into rehab, the free apartment, the free car, the job. My God… And then on top of all of that, he made sure Sergei never did find out about all the fines from the city. He’d done more than I could ever repay him for.
