Chapter 34
NIKOLAI
Song- Shame On Me, Catch Your Breath
Fresh blood seeps past the crust rimming the bullet hole.
We didn’t bother calling the doc down to fix him. He isn’t leaving this room alive.
It’s fitting to see Knox hanging by his wrists in the bowels of my brother’s casino. We’ve been chasing this asshole for too long.
“Please, let me kill him,” Jax growls. His fingers open and close into tight fists. “He and his brat made my life hell.”
I pat him on the shoulder and gently steer him away. “I don’t have a problem with it. But, there’s just a couple of things he needs to tell us, first.”
Jax nods with his jaw clenched before crossing his arms and leaning against the cold cinder block wall.
Mikhail takes his place in front of the wounded man.
He doesn’t often come down here or participate, but Knox has been a high-profile target for a very long time.
Mikhail reaches and grabs a hold of Knox’s beard, jerking his chin up. “That woman that shot you. You’ve seen her before?”
Knox’s eyes drag open. A fever has already set in, glassing them over. “Yeah. If I knew she was gonna do this, I’d have killed her on day one,” he croaks.
I can’t hold back. “What’s her name?”
Knox sighs and looks around the room. “She came to us as Mila. I don’t know much else. Kirill is her handler.”
“Where is he?” Mikhail growls.
Knox lets out a rueful chuckle. “Who the hell knows. If he’s smart, he’s back in Russia.”
“Why was she here?” My question comes out softer than I intended.
Knox’s chapped and broken lips turn up in a sneer. “Ah, she fucked you good, huh? I bet she was looking for those diamonds while you were buried deep. Kirill said she was a ‘special weapon’.” He laughs, but it turns into a choking cough before he spits up a string of blood. “Musta been a powerful pussy to get the drop on you.”
With raw fury, my fist lashes out, pummeling his mouth until his teeth shatter against my knuckles.
Mikhail drops one of his broad palms on my arm, making me stop.
Knox groans, not quite covering the whine coming out of Jax behind me.
I know he’s itching to have his turn. But he hits hard enough, and he’d kill Knox with one blow.
“Was she sent by Ivan?” Mikhail’s face lowers toward Knox.
Knox squeezes his eyes shut before looking at him. “You think you’re going to win this game? I know who you are, Volkov. You’re too little, too late. Do you think we don’t hear about how you weren’t able to save the people that mattered? How you ran like a dog to America?” He pushes a broken tooth out between his bleeding lips. “You’re a fraud and a coward. Show everyone your face. Reveal the scars of your failure?—”
There’s a heavy thunk as Mikhail sinks a long blade up through Knox’s neck until it sticks out the top of his skull.
The biker slumps, his open, glassy eyes staring down at the floor.
“He knows nothing of what we went through.” I pat Mikhail on the shoulder. “Let’s go talk to Enzo.”
I give Jax a nod. “Time to move forward. Call the cleanup crew.”
Mikhail follows me back to his office, but I stop him before we go in the door. “You did everything possible. Lara is here because of you.”
His dark eyes squint at me.
I can’t see his face past his balaclava, but I can hear him gritting his teeth.
“This is the life that chose us.”
Enzo is already waiting inside, his laptop is open and he’s furiously typing on it. He had a feed into the room with Knox. I bet he’s already knee deep in her history.
“So, that name he gave up? Nothing. She’s a ghost.” He leans back and runs his fingers through his short, black hair.
“I do have some bad news.” He grimaces as he flips the screen around.
I bend over to get a better view. “Is that inside my house?”
He nods. “It gets better.”
Melissa comes into view. This is the feed overlooking my own office. I put the camera there to make sure Svetlana wasn’t snooping.
I forgot it existed.
Melissa ducks into my space.
Then Svetlana is standing outside of it.
“What the fuck?” I blurt as I watch Melissa kill my daughter’s babysitter.
Enzo reaches forward and hits the skip button. “Check out act two.”
A man in black riding leathers shows up and drags the body of the nanny out of range.
I stand up and fight the urge to throw his computer across the room.
“That man was in my home? With my little girl?” I’ll kill Melissa. Mila. Whatever the hell her name is.
“I do have good news.” Enzo pulls the device away from me and flips it back to face him. “We’ve tracked her. I know where she is. Her partner has a signature, and I found it. I can tell you everywhere he is by it.”
“Mikhail. I have to go.” I’ll call Lara to watch Elena. “I’ll get the diamonds back.”
Mikhail sits in his leather chair and fixes me with a cold stare. “Revenge is a sour prize, brother.”
I don’t care.
That woman wanted to get a rise out of me. Well, she’s woken the bear.
“We can’t let those diamonds get back to Ivan. Killing her will be icing on the cake.”
Mikhail tilts back and scratches his jaw through his mask. “It would be a solid blow and a sign of force if we can get the diamonds back from beneath his nose.” His thick fingers knot on his desk. “But, you know why I can’t go with you.”
“I do.” Russia doesn’t need any more of his blood spilled on it.
“Take Alexei. I don’t think Jax will do well that far from home for that long.” Mikhail rocks in his chair. “I can’t say I blame him. With having another child on the way, it would mess him up.”
Sometimes my brother surprises me. I don’t think he sees some of those things, but I think he knows much more than he lets on.
Maybe that’s why he was pushing me to guard myself with Melissa from the beginning?
It doesn’t matter now. The damage is done, and I need to fix it.
Tossing my luggage next to the front door, I can hear Lara speaking in hushed tones in Russian on the phone.
“Yes. Alexei. I will call you if I need anything. I’m fine.”
The way she pauses before she says the last two words causes me to doubt her. I need to speak to Mikhail about her when I get home if she hasn’t improved.
“Daddy!” Elena calls out and rushes toward me, stopping in her tracks when she sees the suitcase.
Fuck. There are tears in her eyes.
I clench my fists, this is Mila’s fault. She’s making me leave my daughter.
“Are you going to get Melissa?”
I’m taken aback.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you love her.”
Running a hand over my jaw, I’m lost for words. It’s like another stab through the heart. My daughter is right, I did love her.
I’m not going to bring her here though, quite the opposite.
“She won’t be coming back here, baby,” I say softly, trying to lessen the blow. I know she loved having her around.
“Why? She was happy here, with us, wasn’t she?” She pouts and looks to the ground.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, resting my face in her curls.
It makes me hate Mila more than I already do.
She deserves every ounce of pain I am about to inflict on her. I warned her. Hurt my daughter I hurt you.
I don’t make empty threats.
“It’s just me and you against the world, princess. We don’t need anyone else when we have each other, right?” I whisper.
She sniffles and I hug her tighter. She’s the only thing keeping the fire inside me at bay.
“Love you, daddy. Will you be home soon?”
I pull away and cup her face, pressing a kiss on her cheek.
“I will. I will always come home to you. I love you too much. Now be good for Auntie Lara, she needs cheering up, okay?”
I tap her nose and she giggles.
“I always make Lar-Lar smile. She loves me,” she says proudly.
“She does. We all do. Because you are the most special girl in the world to all of us.”
And because of that, I need to right my recent wrongs and ensure no one ever harms her again.
Even Mila.