Chapter 17
17
Malik
“ Y ou’re quieter than I thought you’d be,” Anatoly commented as his driver slowly navigated the evening traffic. I just grunted. I knew it was disrespectful to not verbally answer him, but I was in a mood. I’d been woken up from the best bit of sleep after the most earth-shattering orgasm I’d ever had, and now, I was being forced away from the one person in the world who could make my head go silent, just so Anatoly could have fucking dinner with me.
“You can speak openly with me,” Anatoly tried again.
I snorted. “Trust me, you don’t want that,” I muttered.
Anatoly hummed. “I used to wonder what Rurik’s obsession with you was. You nearly killed one of my soldiers who was gathering intel for me. I was ready to have someone take you out, but the moment Rurik laid his eyes on you on that security feed, he ordered protection on you. Made you untouchable, even to me. But now…” He cocked his head to the side as he regarded me.
“Now?” I grated, becoming increasingly annoyed.
“I think I see it. You’ve got a nasty temper, Mr. Carter. But if controlled properly, you’d make a damn good weapon, I think.”
I sneered at him, my temper spiking. “I’m not a fucking weapon ,” I growled. “I’m a goddamn person .”
He arched a brow at me. “No? We’re all weapons, Shadow. Even Rurik is a weapon. I’m a weapon. My own daughter was a weapon I was able to utilize to solidify an alliance with the Ghost Born MC.”
My upper lip curled in disgust. “Think so low of your own blood?”
He shook his head. “I love my daughter. Amaliya has never wanted for anything in her life, and now that she is married to Shaw, she is happy . They are so blissfully happy, it is kind of sickening to watch, if I am honest. But it does not change the fact that we are all weapons. And I am sure Rurik will have you filling your role soon enough.”
I was so tense, it fucking made my muscles ache. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I snapped.
Anatoly shrugged. “Take it to mean however you want.” We pulled into a parking lot, and his driver pulled up to the front door of a restaurant that I would one hundred percent feel uncomfortable in. It was clearly fancy, complete with a valet and two people ready to open the restaurant doors. Familiar fury crackled beneath my skin, and my hair stood on end. I didn’t want to fucking be here, and I didn’t want to be in Anatoly’s presence a second fucking longer.
But I knew I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Rurik might think he had me protected and that no one could touch me, but I knew if Anatoly truly wanted me to bend to his will, he’d make me—consequences be damned.
Anatoly’s door opened first, and he slid out. My door opened next, and I narrowed my eyes at the Men In Black mother fucker who opened my door. I stepped out and made my way around to where Anatoly was standing, waiting on me. “Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the hotel door.
The glint of the sun reflecting off steel caught my eye right before a red laser landed on Anatoly’s chest. “Move!” I barked, shoving him to the side. As soon as I moved into the laser’s path, pain exploded through my chest, and another shot landed in my shoulder. The force of the bullets slammed me back against the side of the SUV, and immediately, warmth spilled from the wounds, and crimson stained my skin and shirt.
People were screaming. Chaos was ensuing. But I couldn’t think past the pain searing through my chest and shoulder, and my breaths were too shallow. The world was spinning around me as I slumped to the ground, so much liquid warmth sliding down my body. Too much.
Anatoly appeared in front of me, and he ripped open his dark button-down shirt, yanking it off, leaving him bare and exposed. I grunted when he applied pressure to my chest. One of his men pressed their shirt to my shoulder. “Stay with me, Shadow,” Anatoly snapped, fury lining his face. “Why the fuck did you do that, you idiot?”
“Because of Rurik,” I rasped, my eyelids drooping. He was Rurik’s best friend, and I didn’t want to witness Rurik’s pain if something happened to Anatoly.
Anatoly slapped me—hard. My head whipped to the side, and my eyes snapped back open. I slowly turned my head to look back at him as sirens wailed in the distance, drawing closer and closer. “Yeah, well, you should have let me take the fucking bullets,” he growled. “Because now my second is going to lose his goddamn mind, and I will not be able to stop him, Shadow. You are the only thing in this world he truly cares about, and he is going to burn everything to the ground to get revenge.”
A stupid smile tilted my lips as I sagged, the world going dark around me. “Fucking good,” I whispered.
“Malik!” Anatoly barked, but the world faded to nothing.