Page 10 of Cruel Russian Monster
I already wired the money. The right palms were greased, their silence was bought.
“You can't do that!” she shrieked, her defiance fading.
I lifted a brow. “Oh? Are you daring me, Vera? Have you somehow forgotten who I am?”
She pressed herself into the wall like she could disappear into it.
“What are you going to do with me?” she whispered.
“Anything I want,” I growled. “Anything I fucking want, to fix the shitstorm you left behind.”
“Artyom isn't going to like this.”
“Artyom?” I laughed again. “Artyom is tearing through our faction like he owns the goddamn place. Do you think I give a fuck about what Artyom likes or not?”
I placed both palms on either side of her head. She froze, her blue eyes pinned on my stormy ones.
“What I give a fuck about,” I bit out, “are the innocent people in my faction whose blood is being spilled. What I give a fuck about are my sisters…my sisters, who almost died in the bomb that ripped through the Hearth. What I give a fuck about is Katya, who deserves peace, who deserves the joy of being a new mother without jumping at every goddamn sound she hears.”
Tears ran down her cheeks, but I didn’t stop. I needed her to understand—to truly understand. To drive it in so deeply, she would feel it in her bones. I wasn't the man she once loved. She killed him years ago. What had risen from those circumstances was a monster she created. A monster she thought she could outrun. And he wasn’t here for closure; he was here for fucking vengeance.
“You want to know what else I don’t give a fuck about, Vera?” My voice dropped to a low snarl. “I don’t give a fuck about you. I don’t give a fuck about your family. I don’t give a fuck about feeling sorry for you right now. So save your tears for someone else.”
I leaned in, close enough for her to feel every ounce of rage vibrating off me.
“So I’ll say it again. Go. Pack. Your. Bags. We're leaving. Now.”
“Fine,” she whispered, defeated. “Can I at least use the bathroom before I pack?”
I stepped aside and followed her down the hallway. Just before she entered, I held out my hand. “Bag.”
She hesitated for half a second, then handed it over without a word. I wasn’t about to let her sneak off a text or make a call.
She disappeared inside and closed the door behind her.
I gave her space, leaning against the wall with my hands shoved in my pockets. Once we were back in Philly, phase two of my plan would begin.
Two minutes passed, and Vera was still in the bathroom. I knocked on the door.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” she called.
I returned to my position, leaning against the wall, but just as I settled, my phone rang. It was Lev. My pulse kicked up a notch. Shit. Had something happened?
“Is everything okay back home?” I asked.
“Everything here is fine,” he replied. “But I hadn’t heard from you since yesterday, and Katya wanted to make sure you were okay. I needed to call so I wouldn’t have to go home and lie to my wife.”
A dry smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. That was Lev now, newly domesticated and trying not to fuck it up. I loved that for him, though, and loved Katya for caring. In a worldwhere blood was our code, love from the right woman kept us…human.
“I’m fine. The deal I came to Vegas for just needs wrapping up. I should be back later tonight or by tomorrow.”
That wasn’t a full lie. I had told Lev I was heading to Vegas to secure an alliance that could help rein Artyom in. And I was. I just hadn’t told him the alliance involved Vera.
“Good. Be safe. See you soon.”
“Will do.”
The call ended. And just like that, the quiet stretched.
