Page 55 of Vitaly

Maybe she isn’t so stubborn after all.

When footsteps sound down the hall, I sigh and stand, ready to meet Nikita as he turns the corner. But it isn’t Nikita.

It’s Maksim’s wife, Elira.

I raise a brow at her when she stops and stares at me.

“Well?” is all she asks.

I shuffle back a step and rub my forehead. Mila really got me. “Well what?”

“Are you taking Nikita down or not?”

More footsteps sound, but Elira doesn’t seem concerned by them. Her eyes don’t leave me.

“There are people who are taking huge risks for you, and all you’ve done so far is collect money like a bagman, so I need toknow… Are you here to be Pakhan, or are you here to be Nikita’s bitch? Which one? Hurry, we don’t have much time.”

“Elira,” Maksim hisses as he comes around the corner. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”

“You said we need to know,” she argues without turning to him. “How are we ever going to know if no oneaskshim?”

Maksim looks down the hall as he nervously runs his hand through his short, blond hair. “Go,now,” he growls at Elira.

She flicks a glare at him but then gives a tiny smile like she accomplished what she set out to. When it’s just Maksim and me, he looks down the hall again and sighs.

“She’s right,” he says, standing up straight. “I have plenty of people ready to back you, but we need to know you’re reliable enough to be worth it… What the hell is your plan?”

After tonight, I shouldn’t be surprised that not everyone is thrilled with Nikita’s leadership. He really is a psychopath.

But still, I couldn’t have predicted this.

They wantme? The kid who fucked everything up? They thinkIcould do a better job?

Well, that’s just sad.

I shake my head. “I’m not here for leadership… I just came back home, that’s all. Whatever militia you have formed, break it up.”

“You’re not here for leadership,” Maksim parrots, sounding unconvinced. “You just came back home…” He gestures down the hall. “Forthis.”

I follow his hand and shift my weight.

Point taken.

“All right, look…” He shows his palms. “There’s a Catholic church on 71st with a park behind it. Meet me there by the bathrooms at one o’clock tonight.”

More footsteps. This time Nikita’s.

Maksim tucks his hands in his pockets as Nikita appears and nods a greeting that isn’t returned.

Nikita looks him up and down, his lip curling as he sneers. “Why am I not surprised?”

Maksim looks like he badly wants to roll his eyes, but instead, he starts to backstep. “Thank you for dinner, Pakhan.”

When he’s gone, Nikita puts a hand on my shoulder. “How is she? I wasn’t too hard on her, was I?”

There’s humor to his tone that makes my fists clench. So badly, I want to swing, stab, do all the things he’s waiting for me to do. I picture his face hitting tile, painting it with his blood.

And for the very first time, it occurs to me that I may have to kill my uncle. That I maywantto.

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