Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
I t had only been a few weeks since I last saw my sister, but somehow in that short amount of time, she’d already changed so much.
Illayana had always been strong. Confident. A force to be reckoned with. She’d been raised to be just as cutthroat and ruthless as my brothers and I, and it showed in everything she did. The way she held herself.
Her time away in New York had somehow made her even stronger, more lethal. Even the way she’d walked into the room, the air surrounding her had changed to something darker, fearful.
It was powerful. Purposeful. The kind of walk that demanded every person’s attention and respect.
Her whole demeanour had gone from light and carefree, to hard and stoic. More determined. The fun, energetic, crazy Illayana I knew wasn’t here. She was replaced with this mature, no-nonsense woman.
“She looks good,” Nik commented, eyeing the closed door in front of us, Rayna’s screams from inside so loud they echoed out into the hallway. “Different, but good. Happy.”
I grunted, crossing my arms over my chest. Illayana had wanted the room to herself while she tortured Rayna. No idea why. Maybe she just didn’t want an audience while she had her fun.
Her guards, Christian, Luca, Lorenzo and Adrian were inside with her, having refused to leave her side. After her kidnapping they’d grown a backbone and stopped crumbling to her every whim (which I’m sure she hated).
Nik and I didn’t care and moved out into the hall to give her her space. Based on the pain-filled screams reaching my ears, she was enjoying herself a hell of a lot more than Rayna was.
“She looks…older somehow, don’t you think? More polished. Refined.”
“Yes,” I agreed. I didn’t think it was Arturo who brought out this change in her. Illayana wasn’t the type to bend to someone else’s will. And based on what I witnessed, he seemed to like her just the way she was.
No. This change was brought on by her new position as Queen of La Cosa Nostra.
There was a certain level of seriousness and professionalism required of someone in an authoritative position like the one she was in, and it was clear Illayana had adopted that to a tee.
“What do you think about what Rayna said?” Nik asked.
“I think Dominik is a bigger threat than we first anticipated.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. I never would have thought he’d do something like this. Shit, I knew he wanted Father’s position, but I didn’t realise he was that desperate for it.”
“I think Dominik is a lot like Rayna,” I said, glancing at him. “Both desperate to gain the approval of their parent, but always coming up short, no matter what they did. In the meeting with Sergei yesterday, Father told him to replace him with Dominik.”
Nik’s brows slammed down into a frown. “Why the fuck would he do that?”
I hadn’t told him about the arranged marriage with Anya Tarasov yet, and I wasn’t planning to until it was too late for him to do anything about it. He’d try to play the ‘selfless brother’ card and take my place.
I wasn’t going to let that happen. I ignored his question by continuing on with what I was saying.
“Sergei had the opportunity to put Dominik in charge, and he didn’t take it.
Why? Because he doesn’t think Dominik is capable of handling it.
Sergei has no problem voicing his thoughts.
I’m sure he’s told Dominik time and time again that he isn’t good enough—”
“And Dominik would have gotten sick of hearing it,” Nik said, finishing my train of thought.
“Exactly,” I nodded. “If Sergei wasn’t going to give him what he wanted, he was going to take it himself and by doing so, prove to Sergei he was smart enough, strong enough, ruthless enough to be Pakhan all along.”
“Grandfather would have been fine with that?” he asked sceptically.
“Sergei values strength over anything else. You know that. He would have bought Dominik a drink and toasted to his victory if he’d won.”
Nik scowled. “He’s a real fucking asshole. I have no idea how Father managed to survive with him for so long.”
“If Sergei didn’t need him to continue on with his legacy, I highly doubted he would have even had children.”
“True.” He wiped a hand down his face. “What about the whole MC thing? Are you thinking what I’m thinking about that?”
“That Dominik is in league with The Dirty Vultures? Yes.” It was the only thing that made sense. “We need to interrogate the prospect in the next room.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t already.” He gave me the side eye.
“I’ve been busy,” I grunted.
“Getting busy, more like it. Does Father know?”
“Know what?” I asked, playing dumb. I should have known better though. Nik was incredibly perceptive.
“Come on, are you seriously going to deny it? Anyone who knows you can see you’re hot for the Zeta woman. I’ve watched you with her.”
My eyes cut to him. “You spying on me, mladshiy brat?” Little brother?
He lifted one shoulder carelessly. “More like looking out for you. If she turns around and fucks you over, I need to know so I can cover your ass.”
“She wouldn’t do that.” Even I was surprised with the amount of confidence I sunk into those words. I didn’t realise I trusted her that much.
“Zander.” Nik’s voice held a mountain of seriousness. “Have as much fun with her as you want, but don’t forget who she is. She’s the Don of the Los Zeta cartel. She’s not an ally, she’s the enemy.”
My fists clenched, anger shooting through me.
“Besides, a woman like that would never be satisfied with being your Queen. She has her own empire. One I’m sure she wouldn’t give up for you.” His phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket. A dark cloud of anger crossed his face.
There was only one person in the world capable of bringing out such a reaction from my usually calm and collected brother.
“Tatiana?”
Nik grunted, putting the phone away.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” He answered a little too quickly for me to believe that.
I punched him playfully in the arm, making him wince. “Out with it. You think you can pry into my life without giving me something from yours. No way.”
He rubbed his bicep, staring off into space with an expression on his face I couldn’t place. “She’s leaving.”
My brows raised in surprise. “Really? Ivan is going to allow that?” Tatiana’s father, Ivan, was one of my father’s many advisors. I’d known him for so many years, I’d actually lost track.
He was incredibly protective of Tatiana. So protective, in fact, he made my father look tame and relaxed in comparison.
“She got into some fancy college in New York and she’s going to study fashion. She’ll be leaving in a few weeks.”
Ah. That explained the look on his face then. It was sadness. Despair. Hurt.
“She can’t find a college here to go to?” I asked, trying to find a solution to help take that depressing look off his face.
“That’s not the problem. She wants to leave Vegas. She wants a fresh start, away from—” his words cut off abruptly, agony in his eyes.
“You,” I finished softly, sympathy squeezing my chest. “Alright, I’ve had enough. No more stalling. No more avoiding my questions or telling me to ‘mind my own business’. What the fuck happened between the two of you, Nikolai?”
He released a ragged breath. “I fucked up, Zander. Big time. And there’s nothing I can do to fix it. I’ve tried. I can’t—”
“What did you do?” I’d seen the glances Tatiana slid his way when he wasn’t looking.
They were filled with longing, desire. Whatever he’d done couldn’t be that bad if she still felt that way about him.
Unless— “did you cheat on her?” I wasn’t aware of them ever dating, but that was something most women would never tolerate.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “What I did was worse.” A stricken look crossed his face, filled with heartbreak. “Zander, I—”
The door in front of us opened and Nik clamped his mouth shut, his whole face shutting down and suddenly void of all emotion.
Illayana walked out covered head to toe in blood.
It dripped down her face. Soaked into her hair.
Drenched her clothes so much her white pantsuit was now stained red.
Christian, Luca, Lorenzo and Adrian were at her back, the La Cosa Nostra men looking sickened and pale while Adrian seemed no worse for wear.
Adrian was used to the brutality with which we tortured our enemies. I suspected Christian, Luca and Lorenzo were not, based on the nervous and skittish glances they kept throwing Illayana’s way, like they were terrified of what she might do to them. What she was capable of.
I looked back at Nik. There was no way I was going to get anything more out of him right now. He’d completely shut down. The look on his face made it perfectly clear he wasn’t going to say another word.
I tamped down the flicker of irritation shooting through me. I’d been trying for months to get him to open up and talk to me about what happened. This was the first time he’d been willing to share.
“I gotta go,” Nik said gruffly, looking at Illayana. “I’ll catch up with you before you go.”
“Actually—” Nik walked away, his footsteps thudding in the small space. “—I’m not staying,” Illayana finished, frowning at his retreating back. She glanced my way. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” I answered, covering for him. “How did it go in there?”
Satisfaction glimmered in her eyes. “Very, very well.” She looked at her guards. “Wouldn’t you say so, guys?”
Christian blanched. “Sure,” he said hesitantly, avoiding her eyes.
Luca cleared his throat. “Was definitely something we’ve never seen before, that’s for sure.”