9. Mila
9
MILA
T he sinking feeling in my gut that came over me when we pulled up to the vacant cabin never left. It’s stayed with me, reminding me that every moment could be my last.
But more than that, I get this feeling that something terribly awful is about to happen that goes beyond my puny existence. The feeling that everything is about to change. For those left alive, today will be known as before , and tomorrow after .
Vitaly Petrov is not a man. He is chaos incarnate.
The grounds of the Petrov mansion are ghostly, not a single guard or soldier in sight despite the line of vehicles in the circle drive. If he killed everyone, he moved the bodies. If they managed to kill him first… Well, we would’ve heard about it.
Nikita and Alik draw their guns, and we reenact our skit at the manor—me taking up the lead through the mansion, unarmed and vulnerable.
I hear nothing. See nothing. And this time, I don’t call Vitaly’s name. There isn’t any question that he’s here.
“What is that?” Alik whispers, stopping me in my tracks. I look back to see him staring off, perked up like he’s a dog with an extra sense.
Then I hear it too.
A voice.
Maybe more than one.
I whip back to the hall and creep ahead, listening for the noise. I feel like a greyhound on the hunt with my head poked forward as if that can help my hearing. Soon, the noise grows louder, and soon it becomes obvious where it’s coming from.
The conference room.
My pace quickens as my heart does. When I reach the doors, I have no idea what outcome I’m hoping for. I don’t stop to think. I throw open the door with a burst of adrenaline, expecting bullets to fly from behind me, but when Vitaly—leaned back in Nikita’s chair with his feet kicked up on the table—smiles at me, I know he’s won. I don’t know how, but he’s won.
Eight or so lieutenants are slouched in their chairs with residual smiles on their faces, like they were talking anything but business in here. But as soon as they spot Nikita, most sit up straight and lower their lips.
Nikita steps around me, his gun lowered. Rage comes off him in waves, but he doesn’t shoot. Doesn’t even aim his gun although Vitaly is right there , smug as hell in Nikita’s chair.
What is Nikita doing?
“Uncle,” Vitaly greets warmly, his arms spreading as he smiles. “At last. I thought you’d never show.”
Nikita waves a hand around at the lieutenants. “What is this?”
Vitaly slides his boots off the table and stands so smoothly, it looks like one movement. He’s all smiles as he struts over to us. “Forgive me, Uncle. One of the girl’s upstairs lent me her phone. I’ve been away so long, I wanted to meet some of the new faces of the Bratva, but perhaps I should’ve cleared it with you first?”
Nikita looks between his men and Vitaly, his eyes narrowed. “Where are my guards?”
“Ah.” Vitaly clicks his tongue. “We had a slight miscommunication. They thought I was dangerous , if you can believe it.” He laughs and looks at a lieutenant who chuckles cautiously. “They’re in the basement,” Vitaly says, returning his attention to Nikita.
Nikita nods his head slowly. “Alik?”
Vitaly’s smile falls as he glances at Alik, but he quickly recovers when he comes back to Nikita. Nikita’s gaze never wavers.
“Sir?”
“Take care of the useless guards,” he says, rage slipping into his tone. When he grins at Vitaly, it’s so horribly forced. “Which girl lent you her phone?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t ask for her name.”
“Mmm. What did she look like?”
Vitaly hikes up a shoulder again, a challenge in his eyes I don’t like. Nikita may be his uncle, he may have grown up with the man, but Vitaly has no idea who Nikita is. No idea of the bear he’s poking. “They all look the same.”
“I see.” Nikita clasps his hands in front of him. “Well, in that case,” he turns to Alik, “Dispose of all the girls too. Grab a new batch from the warehouse this evening.”
“Yes, sir.” Alik dips his chin. He sounds pleased. Eager . It’s telling for Alik. He isn’t a sadist, but he’ll kill innocent people just to tell Vitaly to go fuck himself.
Vitaly’s smirk falls off his face as he watches Alik take a step toward the door. He rolls his neck, and just when Alik is at the door, he clears his throat.
“Now that I think about it,” he starts, causing Nikita’s lips to pull. You can feel the power shift in the room like it’s a physical force, tugging us bystanders one way or the other like gravity. “Felicity was her name.”
“Ah.” Nikita nods. He turns his head to the side. “Just Felicity, then.”
Alik leaves without another word while Vitaly stands with none of the smugness he wore before. His eyes are hard staring into Nikita’s, his shoulders square.
“So.” Nikita’s arms extend. “Should we have a drink? They won’t miss you.” He waves to dismiss the other men in the room then turns his body to beckon Vitaly toward the door. Vitaly looks hesitant, but he walks that way, taking the lead.
As soon as he’s out of my sight, a weight lifts from my chest, and I feel like I can suck in the tiniest of breaths.
Something occurs to me.
I’m not on the list of people Nikita wants Alik to kill.
He does want me alive. He still thinks he needs me.
“Mila?” I startle at Nikita’s call, his voice somehow both threatening and affectionate. Or, more likely, he wants it to sound affectionate. “Aren’t you coming?”
I blink and turn to look at him, my eyes wide, my lips parted. I just stand like an idiot until I see his jaw flex, then I scurry after Vitaly.
“My office,” Nikita says, taking up the rear. “I believe you remember where it is.”
My nose is nearly pressed to Vitaly’s back, so when he tenses, I see the muscles wind underneath his dark gray shirt. He’s bigger than when we first met. Much bigger, which is surprising to me. I was young when I came to America, but I’ve heard the rumors of malnourishment within Russia’s prison system. Obviously, Vitaly didn’t have that problem.
Bastard . Even in the worst of situations, he’s the lucky one. The spoiled one.
When we reach Nikita’s office, Vitaly heads for the drink cart like an idiot, like he remembers nothing from his youth. He picks up a tumbler, but before he can do anything with it, I wrap my hand around his. Bumps rub against my palm that my mind instantly identifies as scar tissue. The urge to peer down at his hand is only overpowered by the pull of his golden eyes that lock me in place.
His smell, it’s the smell of arrogance, but also… Something woodsy. The tree in my backyard I climbed as a girl but subtler. And honey. And something … Vitaly. Something just Vitaly.
Only a couple seconds pass with our gazes locked, but it feels too long. Too awkward. Too … intimate.
I clear my throat. “Please, sir.” The glass feels slippery beneath my fingers as I take it from him. “Allow me.”
The scars on his hand—thick slices of raised tissue crisscrossing below his knuckles—momentarily catch my eye before he turns and wanders.
“How are you?” Nikita asks Vitaly while I pour two glasses of vodka. “I can’t believe how long it’s been. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“No, I don’t imagine you would.” Vitaly slips his hands in his pockets as he strolls around the room, taking everything in.
“Which is why I wish you would’ve called.” Nikita sighs. “We could’ve avoided the drama with the guards… I apologize if my excitement didn’t show when I saw you, I was just so … surprised .”
I stand with the glasses in my hands, making no move until they both sit. Nikita won’t until Vitaly does.
Vitaly’s lips curve up. “I was surprised too.” He glances at me before sitting in one of the velvet chairs, Nikita following his lead. “Vegas wasn’t my first choice when I got out, to tell you the truth. A buddy of mine in the joint has some projects going on in Moscow he promised me a share of, and I had every intention of sticking it out there. But…” He sighs, giving me a nod of thanks when I hand him his drink. Nikita doesn’t acknowledge me when I hand him his.
Vitaly shrugs. “Vegas is home.”
“Not quite the home you remember.” Nikita snaps his fingers and points to the floor by his feet when I try to quietly leave. Teeth sinking into my lip, I walk to Nikita and kneel, feeling my cheeks burn with humiliation.
Vitaly should be the last man on the planet I want to impress. I don’t need his approval. I shouldn’t care what he thinks.
But my words from just this morning reverberate in my head. I told him I was Nikita’s wife. He knew it was a lie then, we both knew it. But now… Now this is just pathetic.
“No, I don’t suppose it is,” Vitaly replies. “New leadership always brings change, but still… I’m happy to be back. I’m at your service in whatever way I can be of use.”
Nikita snorts. “You say that like you’re a soldier.”
Vitaly lifts a shoulder. “How foolish it would be for me to expect to pick back up where I left off. Even then, I wasn’t a lieutenant. Just a Petrov.”
“Right.”
Vitaly leans back in the chair and drums his fingers over the armrest as he looks around. “I wonder…” Vitaly begins, pointing his eyes at Nikita. “Did you paint the walls in here?” He looks around again. “That’s what’s different.”
“Did you really come back to be a soldier?” Nikita asks, the skepticism clear in his tone.
Vitaly smiles. “Of course not, Uncle. I understand if that’s where I must start, but I have bigger aspirations than that.”
“Such as?”
Vitaly steeples his fingers, his head tilting like he’s considering the question. “I would love to say underboss, but it appears the position has been filled by a worthy-enough man. So perhaps one day…” He raises his palms. “A lieutenant?”
Nikita says nothing. I don’t dare look up to read his expression, don’t dare call attention to myself, but I can feel his skepticism in every exhale of his lungs. Vitaly is playing a dangerous, dangerous game, and he’s fooling no one.
He wants power. Not lieutenant power. Nikita power.
I lower my eyes to the white, fur rug when I realize this. My ears heat with angry betrayal, betrayal that hardly makes sense.
He said he came back to free me, and I actually believed him .
Wow. This is an all-time low for me.
He didn’t want to help me. He probably wanted to lower my guard so I’d give him information on Nikita. I can just see him now, laughing at his own attempts at treating me like I’m somehow worth remembering, let alone worth redemption.
What a fool he tried to make me. That he did make me. He almost got me killed.
Nikita was right… I never should’ve left Vitaly alive. He’s too dangerous, too slimy. His intentions are never pure. His mind games are too convincing.
He is the devil. Chaos incarnate.
And Nikita was right to be angry with me.
“Well…” Nikita’s reply jerks me from my thoughts. “I don’t have anything substantial open yet, but if you’re truly willing to accept whatever work needs to be done…”
Vitaly nods. “Absolutely. Whatever responsibility you’ll give me, I’ll be grateful for, Pakhan.”
“Please, we’re family . Call me Nikita.” I can hear the smile in Nikita’s voice. “I know you learned your lesson from your last little … mess up. I trust when more opportunity opens up, you’ll be able to handle it.”
Vitaly’s relaxed composure hardens at the mention of his ‘mess up,’ but he doesn’t comment on it.
“Thank you … Nikita .” His lips form a smile, but I can tell it’s forced.
Nikita stands in an obvious signal that their conversation is over, and Vitaly stands next. “I’ll let you get back to the men. We’ll arrange a dinner tomorrow evening for you to meet the rest. I know you’re so eager to acquaint yourself.”
Vitaly nods. “That sounds nice.”
“While you’re here, you’ll stay in the house. You can have your old room—you’ll just have to throw out Mila’s shit.”
Vitaly looks at me, his mouth opening before he goes back to Nikita. “Oh, that isn’t necessary. I’m sure there’s a free room somewhere around here for me to crash?”
Nikita huffs. “She’s a whore, Vitaly.”
He just stares at Nikita for a few moments, as if there’s more that needs to be said. Eventually, he nods, tossing me a brief glance before heading for the exit.
The moment he’s gone, Nikita falls into his chair, stretching out his legs and bringing his glass to his lips.
Whore.
I’m a whore .
Yesterday, I might’ve said something. Now I’m just grateful to be alive.
Still… It stings.
“He’s full of shit, don’t you think?” Nikita asks.
I keep my eyes on the rug. “Yes, Pakhan.”
“Fucking snake ,” he spews, like Vitaly left a foul taste in his mouth. “Everything he did was carefully planned. He knew you’d lure me away. And those useless guards…” Nikita’s low growl is followed by glass shattering at the wall opposite us. I flinch but don’t make a sound.
Nikita pants, not from exertion but anger. “But you …”
I grit my teeth together and hold my breath, bracing for his wrath.
“Come here.”
My pulse jumps, but I do as I’m told and crawl between his thighs, looking up at him when he gently takes my chin and lifts. He runs his knuckles over my bruised, tender jaw, my eyes closing at the touch.
“He took you for information, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know, Pakhan,” I respond immediately. “When I woke up and saw who he was, I attacked. He fended me off, and I ran. I didn’t?—”
“ Relax , Киса. I believe you,” he coos, caressing my cheek. “If you had given him what he was after, he wouldn’t have needed that other bitch.”
That other bitch.
Felicity.
He continues to stroke my cheek while I lean into the touch, a small trickle of shame slipping into my full lungs. Small. Not a burst, a trickle. In this life, we do what we have to to survive, and we worry about one person and only one person. Felicity did not deserve to die, but if her mistake puts my actions into a more pleasant light… I can’t deny my relief.
Felicity was weak. Weakness is not tolerated.
“I was too hard on you, Киса,” Nikita murmurs, pushing my hair back before combing it with his fingers. It feels heavenly. Like little strands of safety drifting on top of me. “Will you forgive me?”
“Yes, Pakhan,” I whisper.
When he removes his hand, I stiffen, the safety net he cast being dragged back ever so slightly. I open my eyes to find him smiling.
“I have a job for you.”
A job.
After the one I so stellarly succeeded at.
I nod. “Anything.”
He sits back in his chair. “Tonight, I’d like you to acquaint yourself with my nephew. Find out what he wants.”
My lips part, but I don’t speak for several seconds.
Snake.
Chaos.
Evil intentions.
Remember, Nikita?
“Pakhan, I… Don’t you think he’ll lie to me? Why don’t you just kill him?”
His smile falls, but I don’t correct myself. I won’t say I’m capable of the impossible.
“The Bratva knows Vitaly is here now. I can’t just kill my nephew without him committing a crime, stupid girl. I would look weak and afraid… And yes, of course, he’ll lie to you. At first . That’s why I said acquaint yourself.”
I squint at him in confusion. “You think me sleeping with him will?—”
“You were given to him at one time, Mila. Now you are mine. Any man, any man would feel a sense of possession over you. He’ll want to make you his, and when he thinks it’s working, he’ll ask you to help him with his plan against me. You are to do whatever is necessary to earn his trust. All transgressions will be forgiven as long as you report everything he tells you back to me.”
I lower my head, afraid that if he looks into my eyes, he’ll see my lack of faith in my abilities. My hatred for Vitaly burns fiery hot, and it’s impossible to imagine myself convincingly playing the part of his accomplice. Of his… Just of his .
I would have to pretend to be Vitaly’s. Pretend to be wrapped around his scarred palm. I’d have to kiss his tattooed skin, breathe in that woodsy smell.
I can’t.
I won’t .
“Is that understood?” Nikita’s tone is light, as if there’s more than one acceptable answer.
There isn’t.
No. That isn’t understood .
Tell me to slit a man’s throat. Tell me to burn a village to the ground. I’ll stand tall like a soldier.
This is a mission I cannot complete.
“Yes, Pakhan,” I lie.
“Good girl.” He smooths back my hair.
I clench my jaw, trying to keep myself from spitting the words that enter my mind, but they’re out before I can fully grasp them.
“I have a question first.”
Nikita’s hand stills. “Yes?”
“If you were to die today, Vitaly Petrov would take over. Once he’s dead, there will be no Petrovs left to surpass you.”
“And?”
I swallow. “And if I accomplish what you want me to, I will have helped take down your greatest threat. I will have proven myself in every way I know how. I’ve shown you loyalty from the day you first called me yours, but Pakhan, I do not wish to be a whore, and I believe I can offer you something greater.”
“Greater…”
I nod.
His hand leaves me. “You mean an heir ?”
Again, I nod.
He runs his hand over his jaw and clucks his tongue. “You’re saying you’ll only do this if I agree to marry you?”
I shake my head. “Of course not, Pakhan. I’m only expressing my wishes.”
“I know your wishes, Mila. You don’t hide yourself from me.”
I lower my head and don’t respond to that.
“How ironic would it be if Vitaly were there to witness our marriage.” Nikita chuckles.
It’s one big joke to him, I know. He has no interest in marriage. But the idea of the Petrov legacy dying… One day, that will occur to him. I only need to be the woman he chooses.
Then I will be safe. I will be powerful. No more games, no more tests. As a servant, my existence is always at risk. But he wouldn’t kill me so easily as his wife.
“Do this for me, and I’ll consider it. It’ll certainly make you more desirable.”
I don’t know if he means it, but it’s the most he’s ever given me.
When he dismisses me, I get up and prepare myself for the evening ahead. The days ahead.
I have no idea how I’ll ever hide my fury while standing in the same room as Vitaly Petrov. But tonight, for the first time in nine years, I’ll try.