He looks at me, his gaze hard. “I suspected your loyalties might be a little tangled up, so here’s the plan.”
“My loyalties are just fine. So shove your plan up your ass!”
Conor raises a hand the slightest bit and two guys appear from out of nowhere, flanking me on either side.
“Sit,” one of them seethes. “And don’t get up again until you’re told.”
My eyes skirt around the restaurant. Exactly how much of a scene do I want to cause right now?
My blood simmers as it courses through my veins, my very limited options looping through my mind.
“What do you want from them? Everything is under lock and key,” I blurt.
“Not everything.” His eyes glitter murderously with repressed hatred.
“What the hell do you want, then?”
“You’ll find out in the morning,” he says. “But know this. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I will expose you. I will play the part of the concerned brother who tells them that it’s their ‘trusted’ Russian au pair who has been plotting against them this whole time under orders from the Volkov Bratva. Revenge for that infamous night in Manhattan. They will kill you before morning. You, not me.”
“You’re insane!” I yelp. “I’ll tell them the truth! They’ll believe me over you!”
“Why?” he asks in a sharp voice. “Because you’ve been so honest with them up till now?” He pulls something out of his pocket…an envelope with pictures. They fall onto the table, one by one, and my stomach sinks further and further into my shoes. Me, walking into Tatiana the night I killed Vigo. Me with Dante and the other guy who looks just like this sociopath Conor. Me, hopping out the window of Velvet Lounge in my sports bra, glasses, and shorts.
With a pounding pulse, I slowly raise my eyes to his.
“Now tell me again what I need to convince them of?” He leans forward. “You feeling a little conflicted right now? Well, let me give you a little more food for thought. Right about now, one of my other guys has your uncle tied up and in the trunk of his car. See, I heard all you said about wanting to get out of this life and wanting respect and blah blah blah. All that bullshit. And deep down, what you really want is for someone to give a damn about you. He does, in his own twisted way, I’m sure. Like you said, you’re his only family. And now you have the power to determine whether he lives or dies. Do what I ask, walk away a rich woman, save your uncle, and live your dreams.” He shrugs. “Or, ignore my threats and you both die. It’s that simple.”
“I can’t…”
“But you will,” he finishes for me. “Tomorrow, Anya. I’ll be waiting. And watching.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dante
I pace in front of the windows of my apartment, fisting my hair when I hear the key card slide into the lock. Matteo flings open the door, making the walls shake from the impact.
“How the fuck could you leave the restaurant without throwing her into the trunk of your car?” he thunders.
“First, my trunk ain’t that big.” I level him with a glare, stalking over to him. “Second, I don’t cause scenes,” I say through clenched teeth. “We both know she’s coming back here tonight. If I tipped off Conor and Boris, we could have had an army of thugs all over us. They could be, and probably are, here right now!”
“So you let them have their little meeting,” he snarls. “While we’re back here, sitting fucking ducks!” He looks around. “Where the hell is Patty? Did you leave him there, too?”
“No, ass. He’s out looking for Maura. She took the baby before, remember? I told him to find her and bring her back here. We need everyone in the same place, and that place is not gonna be yours.”
The door lock clicks again and Sergio walks in. “What the hell is going on?” he says, a look of alarm on his face.
“Anya, the au pair, is in bed with Conor!” Matteo roars, pushing back his hair.
Sergio’s brows knit together. “Wait — I thought Anya was in bed with Dante.”
“No, she was up against a window with Dante,” Matteo mutters darkly before stomping back over to me. “I told you she was snooping around! That should have tipped you off. How the fuck didn’t you know?”
“I’m not a mind reader, Matty!” I yell.
“You didn’t pick up on anything funny? Huh? Things about Anya, things about the girl at Tatiana, the fucking ‘lead’ that got away from you?”
“I’m very fucking confused right now,” Sergio mutters. “You got any vodka?”
“Paying homage to the Russians, yeah?” Matteo snarls.
Sergio holds up both his hands. “Okay, okay! Forget the vodka. Scotch, it is.” He pulls open a cabinet and grabs the bottle and a glass.
While he guzzles the amber-colored liquid, Matteo circles me like a caged lion. “How could you miss the signs?”
“Are you kidding me?” I bellow. “What signs? She’s been watching your kid for a few days! Changing diapers, giving baths, feeding her. It’s not like we’ve caught her polishing her knife and gun collection, for fuck’s sake!”
“I brought you here to sniff out threats and keep us safe from them,” he growls. “And meanwhile, we’ve been living under the same roof as a Russian assassin!”
“Hey!” I stab him in the chest with a finger. “Your wife didn’t seem too swift on the uptake either. She was all like, ‘Anya, I love you! You saved us! You’re an angel!’” I roll my eyes. “So who’s really the one who snoozed on this shit? Seems like there’s plenty of blame to go around. None of us are perfect, Matty. That’s why there are four of us! We pick up the slack for each other!”
“Right now, there’s a lot of slack, and we need way more than four people to pick it the hell up!”
“When does Romo fly in?” Sergio asks. “’Cause then we’ll have another—”
“Shut the hell up, Serge!” Matteo yells.
“Sure, alienate everyone,” I scoff. “Then you’ll really be fucked when shit hits the fan and you’re here all by yourself to clean up the mess!”
A loud knock on the door makes me jump. “This might be her,” I grumble. “What’s the fucking plan?”
“It’s not Anya,” Matteo says, pushing past me and opening the door. Alek Severinov, the boss of the Severinov Bratva and our partner in the Red Ladro Syndicate, stands in the doorway. His hulking body takes up all available space, and when he walks into the foyer, I can feel the tension his presence brings. His younger brother Kaz follows, equally massive and one-hundred percent more menacing. He’s the muscle of the family.
“So Volkov is making a play,” Alek says in a deep voice, folding his massive arms over his chest. “Is that why you dragged me over here?”
“They’re out here,” Matteo says in a choked voice. “Planning something. We were duped by our new au pair. She’s one of them, and over the past few days, she’s gotten…” His glower points in my direction. “Close.”
Alek nods. “We’ve had a few run-ins with them back East,” he says, looking at Kaz. “We ready for their retaliation against our syndicate partners?”
Kaz’s blue eyes glitter and the guy practically foams at the mouth at the thought of destroying them. “Fuck, yeah.”
“They’re after something,” Matteo says. “We thought Conor crossed them, that he needed money to pay a debt. But Dante found out tonight that he’s working with them…and against us.”
Alek and Kaz exchange a look. “You know, I’m just gonna say that ever since you guys took our offer and joined the syndicate, we spend a lot of time cleaning up your crap.”
Kaz shrugs. “Eh, it’s an excuse to fuck shit up. Besides, we knew it when we let them in.”
Alex rolls his eyes at Kaz. “With you around, I’m sure there will be plenty of times they’ll have to return the favor.