Page 126 of Deadly Knight
“Maybe it’s good you didn’t. She was really surprised to hear from me. Lev tracked your phone—by the way, he says you better get well soon because he feels bad he didn’t come, and instead stayed behind for Serafina. Anyway, when I gave her the address, she said it’s her building.” She smirks, shaking herhead. “You really bought this place? You took stalking to the next level.”
“I needed to be close to her. Hovering outside a building on the ground floor wasn’t useful when she’s a homebody.” My eyes flick to the ceiling, recalling how many nights I’ve heard her treading around above me, the ache to see her again a physical gut punch. Because I never did, instead existing below her. It was a repetitive pain that gutted me from the inside over and over.
Vanessa laughs. “Sounds like something you’d do. Well, it was actually her idea to check the nearby apartments out, and Lev quickly discovered your name on the lease for this particular one. She checked it out for us, only to find your door cracked open and the living room a mess. Then the note stabbed into your couch, explaining what happened, though not where. That would have been mighty useful.”
A note? They must have drugged me before writing it because I don’t have any recollection of one.
“Once we figured out who was behind your kidnapping, we flew from Moscow. Katya…she insisted on helping. Wouldn’t stay behind.”
As angry as I was to have her there, Vanessa’s explanation makes my lips tug at a grin. After this entire time of saying she wants nothing to do with me, she helped save me.
“There was a moment—and I take full responsibility for it—when scouring the upper levels where the cells were; I didn’t check inside them all. When realizing that’s not where they were keeping you, we turned back, but he must have been hiding. He grabbed her, but by the time I had a clear shot that wouldn’t hit her, she’d fought back. Quite wisely too. Sliced his arm to break his hold, and managed to get a good hit before I killed him.”
If every inch of my body didn’t throb and it wasn’t my cousin sitting here, I might be hard. Again, while I despise hearing shewas placed in that situation, Katya did the one thing she claimed she wasn’t suited for. Fought in that perfect way I’ve always known my girl could.
“I’ve never seen anyone look so thrilled. In some ways, I think she faced her past right then.”
My smile falters, the memories of that very past bombarding me at once.
Vanessa reaches for my nightstand’s drawer, sliding it open to reveal the USB stick, tucked safely away until it can be destroyed.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “I hate not knowing—that I never realized all this time. Not until you told me some weeks ago after finding Papa’s journal, butseeingit…” She shivers, her eyes filling with sadness and ghosts. “Whatsheendured… I’m so sorry for you both. There are no words, and I’ll never understand everything. Hell, I thinkI’vebeen traumatized by the ten seconds I witnessed of it. I shudder to think how many of my father’s people watched that out of some sick entertainment.” Her eyes shift flintily. “I’d like to hunt the lot of them down and be done with all of this.”
“I’ll be with you if you do. Lev and Ana too, I imagine. As for what you saw, as strange as it is to say, I think reliving the memories that vividly was important.”
Vanessa rears back, staring at me like I’ve lost it. Which, maybe I have.
“I realized why she ran—why she continues to run. I was a dick for pushing myself onto her. No wonder she fuckin’ hates me.”
“Hateis a bit of a strong word.” She ticks her head to the side. “Based on that conclusion, what will you do?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know.” I rub my jaw, feeling it tight with irritation and answers unknown. “If I was smart, I’d leave.Retake my place in the Bratva…provided it’s available? But I don’t know if I can leave her for good, like she wants.”
My cousin rolls her eyes. “Your pathetic resignation was never accepted; your place remained yours even when you walked away, no matter how much bullshit you spewed. Did us saving your ass not prove that? If you were truly out, we would have abandoned you. Hell, before you made it out of the country, you would have been marked as a deserter. So before you make any crazy decisions, because apparently one set of injuries has you undoing a decades’ worth of feelings and obsession,talkto her. You may find she isn’t the same woman who ran from the mansion.” She slides off the bed and offers me her hand. “Need help up? Doc said it’d be good for you to move around. Perhaps the bathroom? Besides, the sooner you’re up and moving, the sooner we can get out of Canada before Corsetti gets more pissed. He’s already antsy having us here this long. His enforcer and a small army are sitting outside, stalking the building until we leave.”
Corsetti. Vaguely, I recall his voice recently.
“Details?”
“The price of your life was another favour from you to him. I don’t know what the fuck he’s going to ask of you one day, but hopefully it won’t jeopardize us. Either way, you needed serious medical assistance, and dragging you into Emerge wasn’t possible, not with how you looked. Couldn’t risk paying them off in case word got out. You wouldn’t have made it back to Russia in your state. Besides, Corsetti already knew we were here because I phoned him before leaving Moscow. You may have gone undetected for years, but a group of us showing up, so soon after the recent events with Ivan, wouldn’t have slipped past him. The last thing we needed was word getting back to him and him initiating an attack while saving you. It was the best I could do on short notice.”
“It’s fine. We’ll see what the future brings.”
She nods once, gaze drifting out the window. “He has a decent force on this half of the country. One of my goals for the next little while is to build alliances where needed. With Zeno, we’re tied to the Cosa Nostra. In the future, I’d like to work with theFamiglia.”
Considering her rough history with Erico Rossi, these words surprise me. For so long, Vanessa’s been focused on the here and now; her takeover and growing stability amongst our territory, businesses, deals, and the soldiers. Anything regarding the future hasn’t been important.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m not really,” she muses. “Future plans, perhaps. And then there’s the Corsettis. They’re close with theFamigliatoo, through marriage, so if we found a connection to both of them, we’d have strong North American allies.”
“Ana,” I suggest, partly as a joke. Vanessa would never force one of us to marry, especially Anastasia.
“Good one. Maybe if I wanted to be strangled to death by ballet shoe ribbons. Besides, there’s no one left in the Corsetti family who’s the right age for her. No…once again, future planning.” She shakes her head and returns to my bedside, offering her hand again, and this time, I take it.
“Thanks for finding me.”
“Anytime. You think I’d lose my favourite person?”
