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“Have you been to his penthouse?”
“We didn’t make it inside.” Stacy swallows. “I was feeling sick, so I stayed in the car, and Lev parked in front of the building. He was just going to go up and speak to Andrey. Lev had entered the foyer of the building when Andrey came down. I didn’t hear what was going on, when Andrey and Lev walked back outside.”
Stacy’s voice started to wobble, and she sucked in a shaky breath.
“You don’t have to do this.” My voice is soft. “I can see how it’s hurting you.”
“No, I want to.” Stacy rubs her nose. “No more secrets, remember?”
“Okay.” I nod.
“These men with balaclavas came from nowhere.” Stacy leans back and looks up at the ceiling. “Two of them grabbed Andrey and pinned him down—another two attacked Lev. I grabbed the spray Genevra had given me. She told me if Harry ever came near me and Gunner wasn’t around, this stuff would stop him.”
“Was it in a flat gold spray bottle?”
“Yeah.” Stacy nods, but I can see she is lost in the story. “I rushed out of the car and tried to spray the men holding Andrey so he could help Lev but a man came out of nowhere. He ran straight at Lev and kicked him so hard in the spine he buckled, and then pulled out a knife to stab him.”
“Oh no, Stacy!” Tears drip down my cheeks.
“But I got such a fright when I saw what was happening to Lev. I accidentally sprayed Andrey, and he dropped straight away.” She starts to sob. “If I hadn’t sprayed Andrey…”
“Lev still would’ve been hurt,” I say softly. “There was nothing you or Andrey could’ve done by the sounds of things.”
“I managed to spray the two men who had Andrey but before I could run to Lev I was grabbed and they turned on me.” She hiccuped. “The one man punched me, and I fell to the ground, then another man kicked me again and again in the stomach.”
“No!” My hand instinctively goes to my stomach, cradling the life growing inside it.
I feel sick from what my friend has gone through. Sick that she had to go through it on her own, and never have I ever hated my father or Andrey’s father more.
“The last thing I saw was the two brutes being plowed down by an angel—Konstantin. We had met a few weeks after I’d moved in with Lev. Konstantin comes over to America every year to visit your mother’s grave and stops by to visit Lev.” She sniffs. “After the beating I woke up in the hospital. I had lost the baby, and possibly my chance to ever have babies again. But that didn’t matter because the man I wanted to have them with was gone.”
I pull her to me, and we sob quietly together when I hear a sniff. I turn to see Pavel quickly wipe his eyes and look away, but not before I see a look in them that mirrors what I’m feeling inside. Whoever’s responsible for this must pay.
This is a vile world Stacy and I have been born into. It is a world where parents have no qualms about using their children as currency or pawns in their sick game of power, and they don’t think twice about having them killed, either.
I may not have been there for Stacy while she went through the worst time of her life, but I’m going to be here for her now. And I’ll be damned if I let my kids grow up in this world. I see Davey with my dogs outside, and I know what I must do—take my friends and dogs and leave.
I still have secret stashes of cash and passports hidden all over the country. I’m so glad to see my brother again, and I hope he meant what he said that I was free to go at any time. This is not where the three of us, the new life I’m carrying, or even my dogs should be. We need a normal life. One away from the darkness and treachery of this world.
I’m about to tell Stacy we should go for a walk so I can tell her my plan when I hear cars pull up. Zeus and Hera start barking excitedly. Stacy and I look at each other.
“It must be Konstantin.”
Stacy’s up and moving to the front door in a flash. I follow her with Pavel right behind me. We get to her as she’s stepping onto the front porch, and I see her freeze when a tall man, no older than my brother and about a foot shorter, who looks so familiar to me, follows Konstantin out of the car.
I hear Stacy gasp and notice how the man walks with difficulty. Konstantin tries to help him, but he slaps my brother’s hands away. I step beside Stacy when the men get to the bottom of the stairs and look up at us. The first thing I notice is the man’s unusual colored eyes. My stomach knots and my head shoots around to Stacy.
“Stacy.” The man says her name breathlessly.
“No,” Stacy whispers. “It can’t be.”
Before the man can say another word, Stacy starts to crumple. Pavel catches her before she hits the ground.
“For fuck sake!” Pavel growls at the newcomer and Konstantin. “Could you not have eased her into this shock?”
My mind is reeling with confusion, but my attention is caught by the gentle way Pavel takes Stacy inside. Konstantin ignores the man’s complaints and helps him up the stairs.
“Just fucking let me help you. You need to get to Stacy,” Konstantin growls at him. “Or so help me, I’ll throw you over my shoulder.”
