“But it would’ve been hard for you too.” She frowns. “Carrying around that guilt all these years…”
I look away and bite my tongue. Defensiveness flares again, but it isn’t for my benefit. What happened to Sophie is my fault. She never wanted to have sex with me in the first place. I’m the villain in this story, not the victim.
I try to fight the emotions that claw their way up my chest and steer the conversation toward the point of this story. The thing she really wanted to know.
“Yes, it’s been hard. It’s nothing compared to what it did to her brother, though, having to stand by while his twin was mutilated and thrown to the curb. They were close.Areclose, now that she’s back, although I’m sure they kept in touch the years she was gone. He wanted to punish me more than anything, but his father prevented him. I have a feeling he’s going to try to get his revenge, now that our fathers are dead and there’s no one standing in his way.”
My jaw tightens, and I sit up straight, a reflex I’ve developed over the years when being challenged.
I stare into Alex’s eyes and watch as the puzzle pieces begin to fit into place and she begins to understand what I’m trying to tell her. Her eyes widen, and I finish before she can ask.
“Nikita Petrov is a vengeful son of a bitch.”
16
ALEX
My hands shake as I nod to a guard outside of the warehouse. Most of what the Russians have is stored here, so the place is surrounded by men with guns tucked into their waistbands. Inside the concrete fortress, there are several other men with machine guns, ready and waiting as backup if they should need it.
I’ve been here only a handful of times to pick up packages for my father. I’ve never opened them, but I assume the brown thick paper was wrapped around a bag of drugs. Those times weren’t so bad. I kept my head down and was in and out within a few minutes, but this time is different. I wasn’t invited, and I won’t be picking anything up.
The guard steps in front of me at the door, and when he goes to grab my arm, I jump back a step.
“Name?” he asks.
“Alexa Volkov. I’m here to see Mr. Petrov.”
“Is he expecting you?”
He already knows the answer to that. I’ve never had a problem walking through this door before, so they must be briefed on who to expect that day.
“No.”
The guy narrows his eyes and gestures behind me. “I’m going to need you to step back.”
I backpedal a few feet until the guy looks satisfied, and he pulls his phone out and makes a call. It’s quick and to the point.Alexa Volkov here to see Mr. Petrov.And then silence while he stares me down like he expects me to pull a gun from under my summer dress and start shooting.
I break eye contact and smooth my shaky hands over my dress. I focus on my breathing and fight the urge to turn around and head back to my car.
Please don’t let me in.
Please. Just tell me to get lost, and I’ll leave having known I did what I could for Settimo. I could tell him Nikita refused to see me, and he’d probably never ask me to do something this stupid again. I’m just some low-level girl Nikita doesn’t have the time or patience to deal with, and I’m not the one capable of helping Settimo.
I honestly don’t knowwhyI’m helping him. I’m here of my own free will, my own stupidity. Last night, after he explained to me why Nikita hates him and how volatile the situation is, he told me not to go through with what he asked if I thought it was too dangerous. He apologized for ever putting me in this position, and he retracted the subtle threats he made. This, of course, was after he told me the dire situation and all the lives at stake, so who the fuck knows if it was all a manipulation?
It worked, though. Here I am, ready to do his bidding and potentially get myself killed in the process.
I move my eyes to the guard, and without another word to the other person on the line, he taps his phone, puts it back in his pocket, and nods toward the door.
Shit.
I take a deep breath and walk that way. When I push open the door and step into the warehouse, I'm hit with the stench of sweaty men and cigarettes. The door bangs shut behind me, and a few of the men glance my way. I feel eyes linger on me for too long, and I swallow and search the large space. I don’t see Nikita anywhere, and the outside guard didn’t come in with me.
I’m lucky Nikita is even here. Correction, that makes meunlucky. I know a lot goes on in this warehouse, but I have no idea where Nikita spends his day. Settimo has told me more about Nikita than I’ve learned in the four years of him being Pakhan. He’s dangerous. That’s all I’ve known.
I wonder if Settimo knew I would come here today. If the whole time he was telling me not to do this if I thought it was too dangerous—as ifhedoesn’t know it’s too dangerous—he knew I would anyway.
If he did, that’s it for me. I won’t talk to him again, and I certainly won’t have sex with him again.