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“You can’t go to Russia. You won’t even get close to him, and even if you do, you’d have an army to go against compared to the few they have here.”
“Do you think I enjoy this waiting game?” I bite back. “Do you think I find pleasure in dangling you like a piece of fruit or using your sister for the same?! I’m so powerless right now. Do you know how hard it is for me not to just take you anyway for me to instead respect your wishes and let you remain in that cage? I’m so fucking close to ending our promise, Elanee, just to get you the fuck out of there.”
My blood is boiling. I want to burn the city down. How can I be so useless? I’d barely made it in time. Everything I was putting into place felt like it was falling apart, or maybe that was me. I had to get a fucking grip on myself and the situation.
Layla’s voice quietly pushes through the tension. “Elanee, please trust us. We’re in this together. We have to swap clothes and give me your bracelet, necklace, and phone.”
Defiance mares Elanee’s features as she says, “I feel no less trapped.”
I don’t let it show how it fractures pieces of me. I’d give anything to give her the world, and instead, she now sees me as the enemy. I’d promised her freedom; instead, I took her choices away.
But I won’t apologize for it or even feel an ounce of remorse. If it keeps her safe, I don’t care if she hates me. But that’s what cuts me; it’s the fact that she sees me as my father—a self-serving monster. And I am in some ways. But where he would destroy her, I will set her free.
I take her straight to the protection of my apartment. I point her in the direction of my bedroom when Luca calls me.
After this call, I have every intention of inspecting every inch of her to make sure she’s all right.
Too fucking close.
She looks as if she wants to argue, but when she sees my unwavering expression, she does as she’s told. I lick my lips, feeling like a madman, as I answer his call.
“Did you find out anything?” I ask as I walk into my office. The moment the incident occurred, I contacted him. I was pulling on all the resources I had, and this especially involved our camaraderie in both objectively wanting my father dead.
“The pink-haired lunatic wasn’t anyone influential in their club,” he says. “But we’ve stirred enough on our end that it should bring The Lion’s attention at the very least.”
I lick my lips again, and another jolt of adrenaline pumps through me, and I realize I’m anxious. I haven’t felt this in years, not since being a child and when my mother spiraled into her episodes.
“I don’t know how much longer I can let her dangle,” I grit out, honestly. It had been my plan, and up until this point, I’d executed everything perfectly and put all the places on the board. Usually, I wouldn’t have an issue with the pawns that are at play, but this is different.
Has always been different the moment it involved her.
“That was part of our agreement. You want your revenge and woman still, don’t you?” he says, sounding almost bored with the conversation. “I didn’t take you as someone who gets cold feet.” My jaw tics in irritation. He’s not intentionally pushing my buttons, but I need to release this furious rage somewhere. But Luca Armani is not it right now.
I want there to be another way. Anything. But I can feel it in myself as well.
There’s only so much the Bratva will take until they send him. And this last spectacle we’ve organized will definitely get their attention.
“Stick to the plan,” I grit out and hang up.
41
ELANEE
Tonight, we’d been careless, and in truth, I only had myself to blame since I was the one who called Dmitri. I’d been scared and fallen into the habit of depending on him. And then I had the audacity to blame them, momentarily wishing I’d never agreed to all of this. That Dmitri hadn’t intercepted me on that flight to Texas. Had I not, I would’ve eventually just faded out, but at least they would be safe.
I listen in on Dmitri’s phone conversation as I hide behind the bedroom door. I’m assuming he’s updating Luca, most likely because this might impact their plan if we’d been spotted together. I realize I’m rubbing my stomach with sickening unease. Dmitri had told me to shower in his ensuite, but I still haven’t been able to leave the edge of the bed where I sit.
Why don’t you just kill yourself?
Tears prick at my eyes as I push the thought away. It’s a massive demon to fight. One that’s become more prominent in recent months. But I can’t give that monster the satisfaction that he broke me to the point where I’d finish myself off for him. It didn’t make me feel any braver.
Dmitri walks in, and his gaze is a wild raging storm. I know he won’t hurt me, but it doesn’t make it any less unsettling.
“I didn’t mean to say you were like your father.” I quietly say as he leans against the wall. For all of his faults and perhaps slight similarity in outbursts, they were not the same person. Dmitri was breaking apart at the seams to protect me. And when we were hurt and felt powerless, we took it out on each other. Tears well in my eyes, and I wish they didn’t. I didn’t want him to see this version of me when I tried so hard to put on a front for them that I was okay.
“That’s the least of my concerns, Cricket,” he says earnestly.
I take a sharp breath at the stupid nickname; the endearment nestles deeply in my heart. “I’m sorry for all of this.” Uncontrollable emotions break free, and I burst into tears. I loathe myself for not being strong enough to fight my battles. To rely on them when it jeopardizes them. To put him in such a situation where he has to kill, yet again, someone for me.
