Page 46 of Demitri

“All night long.”

“Let’s go to bed then,Krasotka.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DEMITRI

It seemswe’ve fallen into this alternate life pattern. I’m living with Mia. Sleeping in her bed every night. We’ve had sex. Not frequently, and not always with an ending we’d both like, but she’s becoming more comfortable with me every day. She’s opening up to me, letting me see the side of her she doesn’t let out very often. What we haven’t done? Addressed I’m still here. Or what she and Aunt Linda are up to with their hushed phone calls and secret texts. Oh, I didn’t forget that she pulled Mia aside at the last meeting in Briar Mountain. Haven’t forgotten at all. Was hopeful that Mia would bring it up on her own, but she’s been quiet about it.

We also haven’t talked about how long this is supposed to go on. How long are we going to play pretend? Is it even still pretend? I don’t know anymore. And as much as I try to see past all of this, I think there’s only two ways this ends, and both of them are bad. Either my mystery sister finds me and kills me to take my money and take over, or Mia wakes up and realizes she can’t be with someone who has my history.

One thing that’s happened in the last couple of weeks of this waiting game we’re calling life? The friendship between Aiden and me has grown stronger. Out of everyone around me, he’s theonly one who really knows what it feels like to walk away from The Family. Mine might have been Russian and his Irish, but the demands are the same. He’s on duty tonight, sitting in the corner of the bar, which we’ve dubbed the Anonymous Booth, and I’ve joined him. The downside is he’s facing the room and I’m facing away. Being seen, but not too much, just as requested.

“How did you do it?” I ask once we’ve settled in. “How did you walk away?”

“I didn’t give them a choice.” He shrugs. “I signed up for the Army. Even my family isn’t stupid enough to piss off Uncle Sam and the federal government.”

“They didn’t try to influence you to stay or make it difficult once you were in?”

“Nah. I mean, they treated me like shit after I swore in. It was too late to talk me out of it when I had to report to MEPS and ship out to boot camp pretty much immediately, but when I came home on leave, I almost think my father was proud of me for following my own road. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t tried to get me back a time or two.” He laughs, a smirk on his face. “Of course, I left the family that kills for fun and joined a team of elite weapons experts.”

“Killers with formal training?” I grin back at him.

“That’s when he really wanted me back. When he could use my skills to train the other men. I made sure I stayed in until I couldn’t anymore. And then I wasn’t worth shit to my father. I was just old, damaged goods.”

“Injured?”

“Yeah, took out my right side. At the time, I could barely lift a spoon to my mouth. Dear OldDaiddeclared me officially out. Guess it’s a good thing he never paid enough attention to know I was a better shot with my left.”

“Daid?”

“Da? Dad? Whatever the English word is.”

“You stay in touch?”

“I have a cousin who lets me know if what they’re doing is going to impact what I’m doing here. He calls with weddings, babies, and deaths. We don’t talk about the job. He’s next in line since I stepped away.Daidhad six kids. I’m the oldest, and a son. Have a brother, but he’s basically useless.”

“I bet he hates that.”

“So much. What about you? What else have you learned?”

“I know Uncle Stanislav and my sister, Sonya, are both still in jail. No one has gone to visit them, everyone lying low. We know my uncle is back and working with my mystery half-sister, Katya. According to Aunt Linda, there’re more kids out there, but I haven’t started looking into them. Is it wrong that I don’t want to?”

“No. But I think you have to ask yourself why.”

“I don’t want anything to do with this name and family. I never did.”

“Demitri, did you take the money when your father died?”

His question takes me aback, but I nod.

“Then you’re still a part of it. You think there isn’t anyone in your family or in The Family that hasn’t already had an accountant look into you? To see if you’ve spent the money and where? They probably have alerts set up to notify them when a quarter goes out of the accounts.”

“Is that why they can’t find me and kill me? Because I haven’t touched the money?”

“Probably. Easier to follow what they really want than it is to have a manhunt in the hopes you’ll hand it over without a fight.”

I stare at him, my thoughts running wild. It’s been weeks of waiting for something to happen. Is this how to kick-start it? So I can finally put it all behind me and move on?

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