“So take a deep breath. You hurt them badly, even if you didn’t kill Maksim. Everything’s okay.”
I nodded and looked away. “I hope you’re right.”
A short silence fell between us. I felt my heart beating hard in my chest and could almost taste it in my throat. I wanted to get up and do something but I knew there was nothing to do but wait.
“I heard from Ursula a couple hours ago.”
“Your source?”
“My friend.” She inched closer. “Maksim’s angry about what you did.”
“I bet he is.”
“He’s not nice when he’s angry. Apparently, he’s been taking it out on the girls. Thinks one of them ratted on him, and they’ve been pretty aggressive with all the girls working that night.”
I tilted my head. “That’s not good.”
“She’s afraid, Leo. She’s really afraid.”
“What can I do?”
“I want to help them.”
I took a breath and shook my head. “Too dangerous.”
“But she’s my friend.”
“I know. I hear you. But I’m sorry. He’s going to be watching every one of those girls close, just waiting for you or me to show up. He wants them to fuck up. He wants us to fuck up.”
“I can’t just abandon her.” She pulled her hand away, anger lighting up her face.
“Robin—”
“No, don’t try and make some excuses.” She stood up, paced away. I could see the tension all around her, like it wanted to warp the air. “You talk such a big game about how important the crew is to you, how they’re like family, how traitors are the worst thing in the world. And now you want me to leave a woman that tried to help us in a horrible situation. She might end up dead, or worse.”
I grunted and spread out my hands. “I understand that. But this is his play. He wants to draw us out. You can see that, right?”
“It doesn’t change anything. He’s still hurting them. Ursula says it’s not too bad so far but she’s afraid it’s going to get worst. Just this morning Maksim burned a girl named Katya with a cigarette and gave her a black eye.”
I grimaced. “How many girls were working?”
“I don’t know. At least five, that’s how many I’d put on shift.”
“Damn.” I leaned my head back. “If it were more, it’d be easier.”
“We can’t just let them get hurt.” She walked toward me, hands extended. “Please, Leo. Don’t just leave her there.”
“Fuck.” I stared up at the ceiling then looked at her. “You’re going to get us killed. You know that, right?”
“Killed for a good reason then. We put her in this situation.”
I patted the cushion next to me. “Sit down. Tell me how masculine and impressive I am.”
She smiled a little and drifted back over. “Does this mean you’ll help?”
“Of course I’ll fucking help.”
She sat down next to me and kissed my neck. “You’re a joy and a delight. And did I mention just how masculine you are?”
He tilted my head back and kissed me. “You didn’t mention that yet.”
“Very masculine.” She leaned forward and bit my lip. “Very. Masculine.”
I laughed, kissed her again.
“Find out where she’s staying. Find out where they’re all at, if you can.”
“I will. The bosses keep them in the same house. Easier to watch them that way.”
“Easier to get them all out at once, too.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “Now, little birdie. I want you to pay me back for my generosity.”
“You haven’t done anything yet.”
“I haven’t, but I will.” I tilted her head back and kissed her neck. “Go ahead, whisper my name. That’s all I really want to hear.”
She sighed. “Leo, you asshole.”
“That’s music to my ears.” I grabbed her hair tighter, kissed her deeper, and let my hands drift over her body.20RobinI followed Leo down a street dripping with rain. I had a black sweatshirt on with the hood pulled up to cover my hair. Leo’s eyes swept around him like Volkov men with rifles might jump out from behind cars or from inside of row homes at any moment.
He slowed and half turned, offering his hand. I took it and pulled close against his side.
“I think I should warn you,” he said, his voice gentle over the rain. “Hedeon hasn’t been in a good space since that shit went down.”
“Really?” I took a deep breath. I wasn’t confident about this trip to begin with, and if Hedeon was in pain or in a bad mood, that was only going to make it so much harder.
“The wound’s been bothering him. It’s healing and shit but I don’t know.”
“He almost lost it. I mean, I saw what happened.”
He grunted. “Hedeon’s strong. He’s been through a lot and he’ll get through this. But you should be aware that he might not be the same guy you met.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
He shrugged and slowed his pace. I looked up as he stopped in front of a nondescript row home with a black door and bars on the windows. He rang the bell, waited a few seconds, then rang it again.