Chapter Two
“I’m not a man who likes to repeat himself. Sit.” Anatoli gestured to the two innocent-looking chairs at the table closest to him.
Larry sat, tugging her arm along with him. She shifted on the uncomfortable chair, the hairs on her back rising as Anatoli inched closer and pressed a heavy hand to her left shoulder. Narrowing her eyes, Yasmin flung it away. To her shock, he laughed, and so did the two suits accompanying them.
“Feisty, isn’t she? Tell you what, Larry. Give her to me and I’ll cut your debt in half,” Anatoli drawled. He didn’t touch her again, but instead shoved his inked hands into the pockets of his trousers.
Shock reverberated through her entire body. Paralysis kept Yasmin in place. She couldn’t believe how easily Anatoli uttered those words, talking about her as if she were some object her father could part with. Yasmin whipped her head back to her father. Larry sweated more profusely, and he bit his lower lip.
A second passed, then another. A decent father wouldn’t have hesitated, would have told Anatoli his own daughter wasn’t for sale. Her heart hammered against her chest. It hurt to breathe, as if Larry had shoved icicles in her chest.
“You don’t understand. She’s my only family,” Larry muttered.
Hope flared in her. The good bits of her childhood leaped to the surface of her mind, Larry taking her to the local park, buying her an ice cream cone while they waited for her mom to get off from work. For a moment, guilt replaced her initial shock and anger. Maybe after all this time, she’d judged her father too quickly. They could get through this hurdle together. Yasmin could find two jobs—
“I get that,” Anatoli interrupted.
“Yasmin’s the most important thing to me, so you better cut more than half of my debt,” her father finished.
Bleak resignation tore a hole in her heart and made a home there. Of course. Why did she get her hopes up? Why did she even bother coming along? Did Larry want her with him knowing Anatoli would make that offer? The thought chilled her bones, but she was no longer surprised by what Larry was capable of. All the men she’d known in her life, including her father and ex, only wanted to use her as a free meal ticket. She should have known better.
Anatoli and Larry continued arguing over her like a piece of fish at the marketplace while the two suits with Anatoli hungrily eyed her like wolves from the sidelines. She felt incredibly vulnerable, exposed. She’d taken some self-defense lessons when she moved back to her old neighborhood to stay with her dad, but she knew she’d stand no chance against these hard-eyed men who were probably used to getting what they wanted. The designer suits they wore couldn’t disguise the fact they were monsters underneath.
Yasmin clenched her fists. Tears flickered at the corner of her eyes,but the last time she’d cried, she swore she’d never let anyone see her in this weak state again. A growl, more animal than human, interrupted Anatoli and her father’s bargaining voices. Anatoli stopped talking, and even the two other mobsters grew still, their gazes uncertain.
Larry must have gotten the cue, because he shut his mouth. Soft footsteps made her look up, and, stunned, Yasmin only stared.
The largest titan of a man she’d ever seen strode towards their table, his movements reminding her of a predator. Instinct told her he was probably the biggest threat in the room. He wore a charcoal gray suit, one that fitted the hard lines and ridges of a body that could easily break a normal man in half.
He had black hair, cut almost military short, and blazing dark blue eyes that reminded her of an angry storm. He clenched his square jaw, and under the lights, Yasmin could make out the black ink that wrapped across his neck, along with old scars she had the strange urge to run her fingers across.
Yasmin sat up straighter. The dingy strip club ceased to exist in her line of sight. Only him. In her head, she could hear the patter of rain on dirty concrete, masking the smell of garbage. She remembered coming across a broken man in an alley years ago. His searching, intense gaze had made her body react in strange ways. Her skin felt suddenly hot, the dress plastered too close to her skin.
Carver.
She’d never forgotten him and hoped to see him again someday, absurd as that sounded. Even back then, she’d understood they came from two different worlds, that their paths would be unlikely to cross again.
“Boss? We interrupting you? I can take this elsewhere,” Anatoli said. Even the mobster’s tone had changed from cocky to respectful.
Carver ignored Anatoli. He stood right in front of her and pressed his fingers to her chin, tilting her head. A teardrop rolled down her left cheek, and he thumbed it away, looking more pissed than ever.
“What did he say to make you cry, angel?” he asked, voice harsher, deeper than she remembered.
The whole situation felt so surreal that she couldn’t give him an answer. His fingers were big, callused, yet so gentle. His gaze searched hers, and while she knew without a doubt he might be the biggest monster in this room, she didn’t feel threatened by him. Yasmin didn’t know why she didn’t fear him, couldn’t understand why she didn’t push him away or bolt for the room’s nearest exit.
A moment ago, her father had offered her to these mobsters like a bargaining chip, but now, things had changed.
“Boss, you know this bitch?” Anatoli asked.
Boss.Yes, Anatoli called Carver that earlier. She couldn’t forget the fire in Carver’s eyes ten years ago when he said that someday, he’d repay his debt to her. It didn’t shock her that he was no longer the desperate and bloody man who looked like he had nothing to lose years ago. A man like Carver wouldn’t take defeat lying down like a dog. Of course he’d rise to the very top. Now, everyone feared him, politicians and reputable businessmen alike.
Carver’s other hand looked like a blur. She didn’t even see the knife he pulled out until he slammed the blade into the center of the wood table.
“Call her that again and I won’t hesitate to cut off your tongue,” Carver said simply, releasing his hold on her.
Her heart hammered painfully against her chest. Did Yasmin seriously think for a moment that she would be safe with the kingpin?
Anatoli cleared his throat. “I had no idea.”