Page 82 of The Enemy's Defector
He shook his head. “We have crews still going through and looking. We’ll check every body, but one of Saul’s soldiers said they heard a Kozlov talk about Anton staying away tonight. We’re looking into it. We’ve got men on it.”
I shut my mouth so sharply that my teeth clacked.
The doctor told me to avoid strenuous activity, and I bet she also would advise me to keep my blood pressure under control. Being pissed about my uncle surviving or escaping this attack wouldn’t help that matter.
As anger streamed through my veins, making my heart race and my thoughts jumbled, I held on to his hand and tried to have faith that he was right. The Ivanov Syndicate would find him.
And then, they would eliminate him.
I wanted Anton dead more than anything else, but I would have to learn a lesson of patience.
“He won’t get away,” Nik said, holding my hand tightly and squeezing my fingers in reassurance.
I tipped my chin up high, determined to keep a brave face about it.
I was overdue for a lesson in patience—and a lesson in trusting that my husband would deliver on that promise.
34
NIKOLAI
Icounted on Katerina to be upset.
She’d been so worked up about paying Anton back for killing her father that she seemed addicted to the fact that he’d be killed tonight.
So when the men started to give me a clearer indication that Anton’s corpse wasn’t among the other Kozlovs at the warehouse we blew up and then burned, I knew she wouldn’t be appeased.
Violence was a major element of our lives, but she wasn’t a bloodthirsty woman for the hell of it. Because she did have that big of a heart and she was a good, loving person, it made disappointing her like that sting even more.
After telling her that Anton might have escaped or avoided being there tonight despite our sources indicating that he would be there, Anastasia, Joann, and I tried to distract her and comfort her at this residence.
It seemed imperative to relocate her after the attack at our building. Maxim had moved Sloane to a backup apartment and Damon had taken Lucy to another guesthouse. Splitting up the women—then having more soldiers with them—was one way for us to be confident they’d be safe while we attacked the Kozlovs.
And it worked. No one tried to break in or get them.
Still, I wished we were at home where I could comfort Katerina more and make sure she was as relaxed as possible. No matter how many times she insisted that she was okay and taking this news in stride, I worried.
My grandmother did too.
I’d just seen Katerina to bed, waiting until she closed her eyes and rested. Joann retired to another guest room. But when I came out to check again with the guards on the clock, I saw my grandmother still sitting in the lounge.
“Is she resting?” she asked.
I sat next to her and nodded. “Finally.”
“You didn’t fail her,” she said, picking up on my mood.
“I won’t,” I promised. “I owe her too much to fail her.”
“Hmm.” She nodded. “I’ll assume that means she told you about being the one who tipped off your father when your brothers were taken?”
“She did. She told you?”
She shook her head. “Grigory did. And I believe he’s planning to speak with Maxim about it too.” Shifting a little as if she’d get up to go to the other guest room, she patted my knee and looked me in the eye. “Give her time and space, Nikolai. She’s defected from her family because it was no longer the family Thomas once stood for. She’s lost a lot, and it’s up to us to make sure she can count on us. But she’s also aware of the challenges against her in fitting in with us. She may have been a Kozlov by name, but in her heart, she’s always been your Katerina.”
I nodded, getting up to hug her before seeing her off.
I returned to Katerina after checking in with the guards, and as I hugged her, holding her close, I vowed again that I would be the man she needed me to be. If she wanted me to give her space and time to adjust to the end of the Kozlov name, then I would. Ifshe needed me to dote on her and distract her or even preoccupy her by letting her work on her laptop, then I would.
