Chapter 16
Benedikt
I don’t move or speak.
I just stare at the scratched linoleum floor of this foul trailer and let her voice settle in my head. Sienna sounded terrified, confused, and desperate.
Good.
I might not have disciplined her actions in L.A. by locking her up in a dark space to think about it, but this will do.
Artem stands behind me, his arms crossed and his mouth pressed into a line that says he’s two seconds away from sharing his opinion, whether or not I asked for it.
He waits for me to say something, and I don’t. But it doesn’t stop him.
It never does.
Silence stretches between us before he finally breaks a few seconds later. “You told me to put her on a plane.”
“I did.”
“And that we were done with her.”
“We were.”
“And now you’re on the phone with her?” He gestures toward the cracked burner phone in my hand. “What are we doing, Benedikt?”
I turn to him. His expression is a mixture of irritation and concern.
He knows better than anyone that I don’t explain myself. That’s one of the perks of being who I am.
I didn’t call her; she was already on the phone. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like hearing her voice.
It’s been two days since we parted company, and less than forty-eight hours since I knew I was coming here to kill John Graves, her father.
That was the plan.
But then she fucked it up again.
I toss the phone to the floor and head for the exit of this rickety hellhole John calls a home. It smells like stale smoke, rotten food, and cat piss. The carpet is riddled with the filth it’s absorbed over the years. This trailer is a fucking hazard.
“Get him out of here,” I say quietly, passing Artem. “And burn this place down.”
The association can thank me later.
He steps in front of me. “You want to tell me what’s going on with you and the girl?”
I meet his stare with indifference, even though I’m tempted to punish him for standing between me and the fresh air I desperately need. Artem works for me, but he’s been like a brother to me in ways my own hasn’t been.
However, this is where lines get blurred, and business gets messy. When I tell him to do something, I will not be forced to explain.
“No.”
“Benedikt…”
“Get John.” My words are laced with a warning. “And burn this fucking place down. I’ll be in the car.”
I’m only two more steps in when Artem speaks again. “We killin’ this fucker?”
Not yet.
I’m curious to see what Sienna will do and how far she’s willing to go to save her piece of shit father.
Artem scowls and mutters something in Russian before turning on his heels and walking toward John’s unconscious body on the floor. This place is too narrow for his body. His shoulder bumps into a coat rack, and it crashes to the floor with a thud.
I don’t flinch. Sienna’s voice plays on a loop in my head instead as I step outside into the cool night air.
I’ll do anything.
I don’t know if she meant it, but it sounded real enough to stir something in me that I’ve been trying to kill off since I met her.
She’s a liability. Letting her go was the logical choice.
Clean.
Smart.
And yet…
I’m in a trailer that should’ve been condemned years ago, waiting for Artem to drag her deadbeat father out by the collar. The man owes me money he’ll never be able to pay. He burned every bridge, sold out everyone he knew to repay his debt, and still crawled back into the same gutter.
But this is no longer about John.
It’s about Sienna not taking her second chance. What were the odds that she’d be on that phone when I walked in here?
If Sienna sacrifices herself this time, she doesn’t get to walk away again. There won’t be another plane ticket, another soft exit, or any other generous out. She will not claw her way out of this again.
Artem reappears with some of my men, dragging John behind him. The bastard is barely conscious, with sweat slicking his forehead and blood on his lip. He reeks of rot, and my stomach coils in disgust.
“He’s still high,” Artem grunts, “and he pissed himself.”
“Put him in one of the warehouses. Then burn the fucking car. I doubt we’ll be able to get that scent out.”
Artem jerks his head for the men to follow the order, but he continues to stare at me. “You’re gonna bring her back, aren’t you?”
“I’m not bringing her to anything.”
“She doesn’t belong in this. You already gave her an out. We cleaned it up. Paid for her flight. She walked. She’s not our issue.”
“She never was the issue,” I say simply. “So, what’s yours?”
“She’s a distraction.”
“She was a debt.”
Artem gives me an exasperated look. “You wanted to fuck her.”
“So?”
That shuts him up, but not for long. He lights a cigarette even though I know he doesn’t want it. It’s how I know he is stressed.
“She’s just a woman, Art,” I vouch with furrowed brows. “I’ve handled worse.”
“You like this one. I saw the way you looked at her.”
“Like I wanted to fuck her.”
“Like you wanted to keep her.” He shakes his head as though I disappointed him. “This won’t end well, Benedikt. We have shit to do.”
“I’m handling it.”
“No, you’re thinking with your dick,” he snaps, a rare crack in his forever-composed demeanor. “First, you bring her in and hold her for days. Then you send her away. Now you’re back here, knee-deep in bullshit that should’ve already been handled. All because she cried into a fucking phone?”
My jaw ticks.
She did cry.
Her voice shook.
Her desperation was real.
And I felt it.
“You let emotion get in the way of business once, Benedikt, and it’ll kill everything we’ve built.
” Artem steps closer now. “You start choosing women over principles and plans, and this whole damn thing falls apart. The only way this ends is with bodies in the ground and your brother putting us out as targets.”
He’s not telling me anything I don’t know.
If Nikolai inherits my father’s kingdom, I’m dead. I’m a threat he won’t want around. Too many men are loyal to me, and I move this town with one finger.
Then I’ll be a fucking liability.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not choosing her.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Artem mutters.
I know what I’m doing. Sienna will just be something that keeps my dick hard and me satisfied for a little while. She will also help me persuade my father that I’m better suited to inherit his legacy.
He wants kids. My brother doesn’t have any. He thinks they’re too messy and too permanent. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try to do what I think he will.
Children might be messy and slow you down, but they also hold power. And my father has made it clear that he wants blood to replace blood.
A son would be enough to tip the scales.
For Sienna, I’d want a life for a life. Either I kill her father, or she gives me what I want.
It’s a fair trade. And if she agrees, she’ll no longer be just a debt.
She’ll be leverage.
The future.
Mine.
I glance at Artem, who’s eyeing me warily.
“She’s a useful tool,” I say flatly. “If she gives me a child, I’ve already got one up on Nikoli.”
Artem scowls. “Now you want to impregnate her?”
“Think about it.”
Sienna won’t allow her father to die.
It’s mutually beneficial.
I get more out of this deal than she does, but I can make her stay comfortable. She doesn’t have to fall in love with me. She doesn’t even really need to like me.
This is a business deal.
And I will win.
I always do.