Kaz chuckles and I press my fingertips to my temple. Matteo still paces, staring at his watch every few seconds.
I walk over to Matteo while Sergio gets Kaz and Alek a drink. I text Patty and Heaven but neither one responds. Tiny hairs on my arms stand at attention. I don’t like this radio silence at all.
“They’re gonna help us, thank fuck. But it doesn’t change the fact that I did miss things. Hell, I missed everything. I blame myself entirely,” I say to Matteo in a hushed voice.
Matteo sighs. “Look, I’m sorry for leveling you like that. We all missed things. We knew there was a threat, and we should have worked harder to uncover it. We snoozed on the Conor thing for too long, and that’s where we messed up. I was too preoccupied about keeping it from Heaven to really turn this situation on its ear.”
I grimace. “What the hell does that sicko want, Matty? Why is he here? And how the hell does the bratva fit in? We didn’t want to start a war months ago, and we don’t need one now. Are they still out for blood because of that standoff we had at Roman’s? Did they use Conor to get close to us? And now that they’re inside, what are they after?”
“I don’t know,” Matteo grunts. “But I would really like for Patty to get back here with the girls. You’re sure they looked like they were staying at the restaurant once you left, right?”
“Yeah, but who the hell knows where those crews are lurking? I’m gonna go look for Patty and the girls.”
“What about Anya? Will she come here looking for you?”
I nod. “And when she does, we’ll handle her. She’s about to become our leverage.”
I storm over to the door and pull it open, stalking down the hallway as it slams shut behind me.
Anya, her words, her expressions — it was all bullshit. Lies!
It meant nothing.
She never gave a damn about me.
I was just part of a job.
A pawn in her insidious little game.
I grit my teeth.
But she doesn’t know that now, I control the board. And her strategy is about to go up in smoke.
Because we all know one thing.
Nobody who tries to hurt us survives long enough to tell their tale of victory.
Victory will be fucking ours.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Anya
Conor puts his hand on my arm just as I’m about to pull the door handle and let myself out of his car. I can’t get away from his toxic cloud fast enough, and the longer I sit here, the more it chokes me.
“Remember what I told you, Anya. You’ll get my call tomorrow morning. If you pull a fast one before that, your uncle is dead.” His lips curl up into an evil smile. “Eyes and ears. Don’t forget.”
I pull my arm away from him, my throat so tight I can barely breathe. “I heard what you said, you fucking lunatic,” I hiss. “Don’t ever touch me again or you’ll lose that hand.”
He chuckles. “Such a badass. I like that fire in you. I’m gonna have to figure out a way for us to work together again. I need someone like you on my crew. Face of an angel and tongue of a viper.” His hand grazes the top of my thigh. “I’d like to see what else you can do with that tongue, too.”
His touch scorches my skin and not in the good way. “I said take your fucking hands off!” I grab his hand and sink my teeth into the flesh as hard as I can until he yelps and yanks it away from me.
“You stupid bitch!” His blue eyes darken. “I’ll kill you if you ever try something like that again.”
I narrow my eyes. “Bring it on, asshole. I’m good at one thing. Killing. So try me.” I shove the car door open and stomp into the hotel, not looking back once. I keep my teeth gritted because the gravity of the situation I’ve stepped into is dragging me into the pits of hell.
I’ve always teetered on the brink, but always managed to steady myself before plunging into the fiery depths.
Tonight, though, I’m consumed in flames, and there’s no lifeline dangling over me.
I’m on my own.
Either I figure out how to pull myself out or I perish.
Those are the alternatives.
My shoulders quake as I hurry through the casino and I hear someone call my name.
Dammit.
This is not a good time at all for a little girl talk!
“Anya!” Dottie says, waving me over. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Are you okay, dear?”
I gasp for breath and shake my head. “No,” I whisper. “I’m not.”
“You’re so pale. Do you need anything?” She takes a tentative step forward as if she’s contemplating her next move, and then she wraps her arms around me.
And it feels so nice and warm and comforting.
My life is none of those things, so I bask in the novelty of it all, knowing that I need to have a very difficult conversation in the next few minutes.
I can use all of the comfort I can get since I am on the verge of being alone again.
More loss.
More devastation.
I honestly don’t know how much more I can take.
The lies, deceit, and misery — my God, it’s killing me, slowly and tormentingly.
I breathe Dottie in, the scent of her flowery perfume filling my lungs. She rubs a hand down my back and I hug her.
The last real hug I had was the day Maks was killed.
I’d had a bad day and I remember him gathering me in for a big bear hug.
My brother always watched over me and made me feel protected.
I haven’t had that in so long.
But somehow Dottie knew exactly what I needed before going to find Dante.
I pull away, a smile on my face. “Thank you,” I murmur, giving her hands a squeeze. “I needed that.”
“Of course, dear,” she says with a smile. “I’ll be around if you need another. I’m a grandma. It’s our specialty.”
I blink back tears and give her a little wave as I hurry toward the private elevator bank. I stab his number onto my phone screen and let out a relieved breath when he answers. “Dante, thank God. Are you upstairs? I really need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I’m at my apartment.”
I furrow my brow. “You sound tense.”
“You could say that.”
I bite down on my lower lip. Weird. “Okay, well, I’ll be right up.”
He hangs up without another word and I run a hand through my hair. After a few agonizing minutes, I knock on his door. When he opens it, I’m not prepared for the scene in front of me.
Lots of glaring, accusatory eyes.
Deadly looking men I’ve never seen before.
A shudder runs through me and I stare at Dante.
My heart sinks into my gut when I see the same threatening look in his eyes. He grabs me, slams the door closed, and then backs me against the wall. His hand is around my throat, but I can see the conflict in his heavy gaze.
That may be the lifeline I’ve been looking for.
“Who the fuck are you?” he growls, tightening his grip on me.
“You k-know who I a-am,’ I sputter. “You know better than anyone.”
His fingers graze the Band-Aid and he tears it off as everyone watches. I wince, the pain nothing compared to the fear of what he’s about to do with his new discovery, my five-pointed star tattoo. “I knew it,” he hisses. “It is you. You’re the woman who killed Vigo at Tatiana. I tried to deny it to myself, but then I saw you tonight at Artiste with Boris and Conor and I knew it was the truth. I tried to ignore it and missed the signs,” he says in a choked voice. “You betrayed me. You betrayed all of us!”
I nod. “I did. And I’m so sorry. But I didn’t know the full story, I swear!”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Matteo yells, stomping toward her. “We brought you into our home, let you take care of our baby, and all along, you were plotting against us with one of our biggest enemies!”
“Dante, Matteo, please, I know it looks bad, but you have to believe me when I tell you they duped me! They sent me out here to work as your brother’s au pair so that I could get information for them. They told me you had a hand in killing my brother to get me out here. They knew I’d do anything to avenge his murder. But it was bullshit,” I whisper. “I found out tonight it was just a lie to get me to do their dirty work. I know now that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”