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Then I put Gleb’s name on the front.
Mishka snatches it from my hand as soon as I hold it out to him. He reads it over carefully.
“You intend to leave your girl behind?” His frown is almost condemning as he eyes me.
“Vinny intended to put her up for adoption in the first place. This way, I know my daughter will be with a man I trust.” I’m pleasantly surprised to hear how calm and rational I sound—even if my insides are in utter chaos.
“Good enough?” Leon asks Mishka.
Mishka nods, propping the letter on the table so Gleb’s name faces the door.
Leon grips my upper arm with bruising force and hauls me from the chair. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, don’t I get to say bye to Gabby first?” Panic swells inside my chest. My heart races like a rabbit’s when I think of leaving without seeing her one more time.
But Leon seems to have reached his limit on patience. “Either we go now, or we’re staying to put Gleb down. But I’m not going to tiptoe around this fucking condominium trying to spare his life.”
Tears trickle down my cheeks as I look back over my shoulder. I stumble across the threshold of entry as Leon continues to drag me unceremoniously. It feels as though my heart’s being ripped right out of my chest.
Leaving my baby behind.
It’s the worst torture I could fathom.
Please, Gleb, take care of our little girl. Gabby needs you.
The muffled sound of buzzing wrenches my eyes from the condo, and I look at Leon. My phone is in his hand once more, the screen flashing with an incoming call.
“Huh,” he chuckles humorously and turns my phone to show me Gleb’s name. “What do you think? Should we answer?”
“No, don’t!” I choke, tears constricting my throat.
Unbearable helplessness washes through me. I want more than anything to hear Gleb’s reassuring voice.
But he would know something’s wrong as soon as I tried to speak.
And the only way to keep him alive is to convince him that I ran away.
Heart shattering, I look up into Leon’s cruel eyes and plead, “Please, let’s just go.”
“For fuck’s sake, Leon. Come on,” Mishka snaps.
Leon releases a dark chuckle and silences my phone. Then he shoves it back into his pocket. “Remind me to ditch the phone as soon as we’re out of town,” he says. “Don’t want baby brother getting any ideas about tracking us down.”
Tears blur my vision as I trip along beside him, lost in the pain of walking away from everything I love.
26
GLEB
The elevator doors ding open, and the almost eerie quiet in the hallway leading to my condo draws me from my thoughts. There’s no sign of Lev or Denka—no sign of anybody. Just the cool, harsh glow of the recessed lights that cast down on the dark carpet.
That probably means my men are inside or monitoring the building’s perimeter.
Still, my gut instinct has my senses on high alert.
Something’s off.
I’m peeved when I cautiously turn the cool metal knob of my front door and find it opens without resistance.
