Chapter 20 Grace #2
Since Katarina hasn’t asked a question, I don’t answer. I don’t like this game. And I don’t like how Katarina doesn’t seem capable of showing even the slightest hint of compassion for the man who’s made sacrifice after sacrifice to help her.
“Duke has a very close-knit family,” Katarina continues. “I don’t think he knows how lucky he is. Your father wasn’t around much, was he?” Her mouth pulls down in feigned sympathy. “It sounds like you didn’t have any good male role models in your life.”
“I had some,” I counter, but I don’t feel it necessary to expand. I was fortunate to have my grandma’s network of friends and neighbors who looked out for me. Good men and women. “And at least none of them were crime lords.”
Katarina’s crimson lips form into scowl. “You don’t like me.”
“And you don’t like anyone.”
She keeps her surly expression, but her tone is playful.
Cat and mouse come to mind. “Not true. There are people I tolerate, and I’ve been known to do a good deed for them now and again.
Just ask the Griffins.” The tension twisting her features disappears in an instant.
She sits back against the cushioned bench seat “And if you stop being so defensive, I could tolerate you too.”
When Katarina smiles softly, it’s completely and utterly disarming.
My pulse shows no sign of slowing. Is she asking me to be her friend? “And how exactly would that work?”
“Answer me truthfully,” she says. “Are you fucking my fiancé?” Thankfully, she doesn’t wait for an answer, but carries on talking while I try to dislodge my heart from my throat.
“Let’s not pretend you two don’t have a history.
Was Duke the reason you came to Chicago?
I know he recommended you to Noah. Your new boss is a lovely man, by the way.
Very chatty.” Her brow furrows. “Or is Duke your boss now? My beloved does seem to be taking a very hands-on approach with you. Which brings me back to my original question.”
Shit. I look longingly at my glass of water, but I know I’d spill it before I had a chance to quench my thirst. I slide my hands beneath my thighs.
“No, I’m not fucking Duke,” I say. “And I don’t know what threat you think I pose, but I can assure you our relationship will be strictly professional. ”
“Will be?” Katarina asks, leaping immediately on my slip up. “So it wasn’t at some point?”
Her face shimmers in my vision. I won’t cry. And I won’t answer.
“Grace, my interest in Duke’s sex life isn’t personal,” Katarina says as she reaches into her purse and takes out a small silver flask. Without asking, she pours clear liquid into my coffee then adds some to her own. “It’s vodka. You look like you need it.”
I’ve seen enough spy thrillers to know not to fall for that trap. I nod to her cup. “You first.”
Katarina tips her head back and laughs. It’s both beautiful and chilling. She pats away the tears in the corners of her eyes then slurps her coffee noisily. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already,” she says, still smiling. “Please, you’re not making it easy to be nice to you.”
As I reach for my coffee, I lean forward to meet the cup so my shaking hands are faced with less of a challenge.
It tastes like vodka. Strong vodka. I down half the drink.
“For future reference, if you want to be nice to someone, maybe don’t suggest how easy it would be to kill them in the same breath. ”
“Noted. Now, where were we?” she says, tapping a talon on the table.
“Ah, yes. You and Duke. Duke and me. I think what I was trying to say is that he and I are not a couple. He might look like a god, but kissing him is like taking a dip in an ice bath. We have no obligations to be faithful to each other, and neither of us would consider it cheating if we did have sex with other people. Unfortunately, it’s optics that count. ”
“As I’m beginning to appreciate,” I say as a knot loosens at the back of my neck.
Thank you, vodka. “I know your engagement was to placate your uncle, and I also know that the Griffins plan to help you disappear before you can exchange vows. Or should I say, I know that’s what Duke expects to happen. ”
“You think I’m going to make him go through with it?”
“Will you?”
Katarina thinks on it for a moment. “I can’t lie, I would like to stay here, but it’s not because I have any designs on Duke.”
I eye her over my almost drained coffee cup. “Katarina, from what I know about you, you could very easily lie.”
“True,” she says, reaching across with her flask to refill my cup. There’s no coffee left to mix it with, but that works for me. “Some people are raised to be honest and honorable. Barkovs are reared to be devious and deadly. But we’re not blind to love. And Duke loves you. He told me.”
I almost choke on my vodka. “When?”
“Yesterday lunchtime. He showed up at my apartment, beat up one of my bodyguards, grabbed me by the throat and held me at gun point.”
I check the vodka in my cup. How fucking strong is this stuff? “He did what?” From her expression alone, I known I didn’t mishear. “But why?”
Katarina examines her nails. “He was a little upset that I’d threatened another of his brothers. You’ve heard about Rory’s little bump?”
“Noah mentioned it earlier. The accident was deliberate?”
Her eyes narrow. “You haven’t spoken to Duke?”
The alcohol in my blood stream means my blush is almost instantaneous. “Not really.”
Katarina sighs in exasperation. “Fine, don’t tell me. But be warned, you’re only allowed your secrets if I can keep mine.”
She waggles her eyebrows as if she’s dying for me to ask what secrets she’s keeping, but I’m still processing the fact that someone crashed into Rory on purpose. Then my brain snags on what else she’d said. “Why did you say threatening another brother? Who else has been threatened?”
Katarina look of shock isn’t feigned. “He didn’t tell you about Fitz?”
My stomach churns and I put down my coffee cup. Duke had offered to tell me everything last night, but I’d left without giving him the chance. I’m a horrible, horrible person. His family was getting attacked and I was having a hissy fit about a kiss. “What happened to Fitz?”
“My uncle has taken him hostage,” she says simply.
“He’s promised Duke he’ll return his brother on the day of our wedding.
He’s calling it his wedding gift. I have asked Uncle Vasili to deliver Fitz a day early so he can attend my birthday party and he’s said he’ll consider it.
If I behave.” She tips her head. “If we all behave.”
My mind spins too fast to register the warning. “Fitz is the reason why Duke’s refused to break your engagement.”
“Correct,” Katarina replies. “I had no part in the kidnap, that was all my uncle’s doing. He’s determined that I marry before I turn twenty-one and he’ll go to any lengths to ensure it happens.”
“And that’s why Rory got hurt too?”
“No,” says Katarina. She pulls an ‘oops’ face. “That was me. I can get pissy as well.”
She gives me time to recover from the shock and I swallow more vodka before she continues.
“Finding out that you weren’t the recent fling I thought you were was upsetting.
And when I’m upset, bad things can happen.
” She shrugs, like it’s no big deal. “In hindsight, the situation should have been handled differently. I hadn’t appreciated how deeply Duke’s feelings ran, especially for you.
” All playfulness, however inappropriate, vanishes from her expression when she adds, “It’s not often I get scared, but Duke scared me yesterday. ”
“You thought he’d shoot you?”
“No, Grace. I thought he’d shoot himself.”
I blink a couple of times. I understand the words that have just been spoken, but I can’t make them make sense.
I don’t want to… “No, he wouldn’t,” I say because surely I know Duke better than Katarina.
He’d been depressed after the accident, but he’d got past that.
She must be mistaken. “Why would you even think that?”
“Putting a gun to his head was a big fucking clue.”
“Yesterday lunchtime? He was going to… He was…”
I’d spoken to Duke later in the afternoon. I’d hung up on him then planned my date with Olly. Duke had practically locked down a major hotel so he could talk to me and I’d walked away. I’d done all of that within hours of him threatening to kill himself.
“It wasn’t performative,” Katarina continues, quashing any hope that she’d misunderstood his intentions. “According to Duke’s rationale, I couldn’t marry a corpse so the wedding would be null and void. Fitz would be freed and his family would be safe.”
“He told me he’d had a trying day. Oh, my god. If I’d known…”
“Then you have spoken,” Katarina deduces. “Good.”
I reach for my empty coffee cup, then switch to grab my water. The glass knocks against my teeth. “No, not good,” I’m forced to confess. “We met and he wanted to talk, but I told him to go to hell, not knowing he was already there.”
I must surely be in shock because I’ve forgotten who I’m talking to. And I’m still in shock because I keep talking.
“Duke told me he loved me. And… Damn it!” I hiss. “He said he’d thought he’d never get the chance to say it. I didn’t know… I could never have imagined… He was talking about almost killing himself to save his family.”
Katarina rests her elbows on the table as she leans forward and softly adds, “And to save you.”
The stabbing pain through my cruel heart is unbearable, but completely deserved. “But who saves Duke?”
“We do,” she says, resting her chin on her upturned palm. “We need to take care of the big durak.” Idiot. There’s a hint of affection in her tone.
“How?” My eyes bounce between hers. I could almost believe I was tucked away with a friend as we put the world to rights. “Why are you here, Katarina?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she says, straightening up. “To see if I could tolerate you, Grace Hamel.” A crease forms between her brows. “Why do you keep your married name?”