Silent Heart (The Vlasov Bratva #5)

Chapter 32 – Harley

T here were three unanswered calls when I came home last night. I ignored the teen who wanted to be my suitemate, instead taking a bottle of beer to my room and spending a late night with the science textbooks. When we came back to class on Tuesday, I wanted to be ahead on the material.

Saturday morning spent helping my grandmother with the weekly baking was cathartic. Not needling me with questions, grandma packed the moments full the sights, sounds, and smells of home. Nostalgia soothed my soul. Mind cleared, I was prepared to eat a sandwich bundled in a blanket on the lower deck with some more studying. As I pushed out the front door to walk around the path instead of accessing the lower deck via my cousin’s sliding door in the basement, a truck came to a stop.

I pursed my lips as the pixie cut the engine and hopped down. “I didn’t know you could drive.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Cami Joe protested, slamming the door behind her. “We need to talk.”

I sighed. “Do you want some lunch?”

Cami peered at my paper plate. “That looks good, sure.”

“When we go inside, don’t say anything about last night,” I warned. I wasn’t able to process the connection between Cami and the family staying at the McTavish place, but I sure as hell didn’t need my grandma poking her nose into the tangled mess.

Cami gave me a short nod and followed me into the kitchen.

“Gran?” I called out softly.

My grandmother turned her Barcalounger to look and yelped in surprise. “Oh, hello! Welcome.”

“This is my friend from school. She’s up in the Lake Geneva area with family but stopped over to compare notes for the next module,” I explained as I pulled out the sandwich items.

Cami assembled the meal and exchanged pleasantries with my grandma. A small seed of jealousy sprouted in my gut over the fact that Gran seemed impressed with Cami’s course of study to become a trauma surgeon—like on the TV shows. We’d baked all morning, and Grandma didn’t find becoming a vet as fascinating as this. Granted, we’d talked a lot about school, more than I’d expected, but there wasn’t this note of fascination in her voice.

I grabbed the bag of potato chips, a can of soda, and led Cami back outside.

“Why do I get the sense you’re upset?” she pressed, once the door was shut.

I sighed. “It’s a long, twisted family history. I don’t want to bother you with it.”

Cami Joe barked a laugh. “Can’t be any more fucked up than mine.”

My eyeballs felt like they were going to fall out as I did a second take. “Cami Joe, did you just swear?”

“Yeah, don’t tell my grandmother. She’s not afraid to wash my mouth out with soap for that kind of language.” From the dead serious tone, I knew Cami wasn’t joking.

“Strict.” I folded into a chair, settled my food on my lap, and then pinned her with a look.

“So…you’re probably wondering how I know the guys from last night?” She fidgeted with her sandwich.

The nervousness in her voice had me sitting up straighter. “Are you okay, Cami?” I asked in a hushed tone.

She snapped her gaze to mine. “Oh, yeah! Nothing bad. They’re my family.”

The air left my lungs. Family. Lucas and Kash…Kole.

“Luka didn’t say we were going away this weekend, I swear!” She threw up her hand as if she were taking an oath. “I thought we were going to nonna’s cabin, like we always do. But Luka wanted to close up the big house for the season, and I realized we’d be in the neighborhood. That was why I planned to stay inside, in case you were running errands. I didn’t think you’d be boating at night—which is really cool by the way! Do you think you can take me out on the water? Teach me to drive the boat.”

“Hold up.” I swallowed hard. “Let’s rewind for a second. Luka? Who the hell is that?”

“Oh, shit.” Cami caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “What is the name he goes by? Luke? Lucius?”

“Lucas?” I drew the name out.

Cami gave me a sheepish look. “Yeah, his real name is Luka.”

Real name. Why the hell would someone need to give out fake names? My stomach suddenly protested the idea of food. I set the paper plate on the side table and clasped my hands.

“The others? You?” I kept the shake from my voice.

“I am Cami Joe, but it’s short for Camilla Giuseppina, like yours is short for Hariet.” She gave me one of her bright, genuine smiles. “I live with my grandma, her husband, and my sister Brittany, who I facetime with.”

I nodded, knowing that part.

“And…a whole lot of older cousins live with us. That was why Laurel picked me up, leaving Dani in the car, because Dani knew you would recognize her from up here.”

“And Dani is?” I prompted.

“She came up in May with her husband Kazimir.”

Kash and Elle Johnson, the couple who’d rescued the farm mutt and named her Pepper. This family was full of secrets and deception.

“What are you hiding?” I insisted.

“We’re not! And I swear, I didn’t know you lived across the hall when I moved into the dorm. I recognized you that first night in the cafeteria from a picture Luka took when you were up here with Kolya over the summer.”

There—that name. I hadn’t wanted to ask, knowing it would come up.

Not Kole, but Kolya .

I whispered the name, letting my tongue play with the sounds. Warmth, unwanted and impossibly strong, spread through my veins at the sound. Damn me, but I liked it.

“How are you related to Kolya?” I murmured.

“He’s Luka’s older brother. He’s the son of the man my grandma married. He’s the cousin to the man my cousin married.” Cami Joe gave me a small shrug. “We’re a close-knit group.”

I squeezed my eyelids tight, blocking out the brilliant fall day. My words came out with more of a bite than I wanted, but I couldn’t hold the next question back. “You knew who I was, this whole time.”

It wasn’t a question, but Cami responded. “Yes, you’re Kolya’s girl.”

A harsh breath left my lungs, and I shot to my feet. “I’m not his anything, Cami.”

The deck boards were hot under my feet, a harsh contrast to the cool north breeze. I walked the length of the deck, turned, and stormed back. I paced for several moments before Cami interrupted me.

“I didn’t want you to find out this way, Har.”

“I bet it was really funny to you!” I rounded on her, hands planted on my hips.

In that moment, I didn’t see the friend from school, the keen mind who was as studious as I was. The girl before me was exactly that—a young thing not even twenty.

Sighing, I marched back to my seat and began to tear into my food.

Cami Joe followed my example but kept her head bowed. Each movement of my jaw grinding the food between my molars was an internal stab.

You’re being unfair. The accusation rang through my mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me,” I asked after swallowing.

Cami cleared her throat. “I wasn’t allowed, Harley. You have to believe me, I would have found a way to bring it up these last eight weeks. But when I mentioned it to Luka, he strictly forbade me bringing it up. In fact, I’m probably not supposed to be here.”

I stilled. “What?”

Cami chewed, and while I waited for her polite response, a strange thought popped into my head. Cami never seemed like a normal girl. It wasn’t her age and smarts. It was her cautious nature, the lack of interest in things that drove normal girls her age. And…some of the comments she made.

“My family isn’t kosher, if you catch my drift. That’s all I can say, Harley. But you have to believe me, everything I did was to keep you safe, to keep me safe, not to hurt you.”

“Are you going to be in trouble for coming here?” I asked kindly, knowing she’d already been gone long enough to be missed. The drive itself around the lake took a bit of time with the back country roads.

Cami waved her hands. “Luka owed me. I’ll be fine.”

We continued to eat in a comfortable silence. Thoughts swirled in my mind.

“So…you really have a horse of your own?” she finally asked, and it was the same Cami come back.

I took the olive branch she offered. “I do. Want to meet her?”

“Absolutely!”