Joy #3
“You haven’t once apologized to me, by the way.”
“I’m sorry.”
I sniff a laugh. “Little too late for that now, sunshine.” I drop my arms, standing up. “Thanks for wasting my time. Now please, stay away.”
Valerian will regret not giving me a phone. Knowing him, he’s suit shopping somewhere. And doesn’t know his son has killed four of his guards.
Where are the rest of his guards?
Change over time isn’t for another three hours. Igor and his men chose the perfect time to strike. And they did it very quietly.
If the shoe was on the other foot, Valerian would be sending the whole place up in flames, being as loud as physically possible.
I think he likes to hear his enemies burn.
“We’re not done here, Joy.”
“Yes. We are.” I turn back around to him. “If you spent more time getting to know your own father, less time trying to undermine him, we wouldn’t even be in this situation.”
Igor takes one look at me and pulls on my wrist, forcing me to sit back down.
“What are you talking about? What did my father say to you?”
I shrug. “Not much. But by the sounds of it, when he was your age, he had nothing. He didn’t even have a father.”
“How do you know this?”
“Why do you think?” I scoff. “Because he told me.”
Igor shifts on the lounger, screwing up his lips. “He had nothing, did he?” He starts laughing, shaking his head in disbelief.
He’s really starting to creep me out. This isn’t funny.
Igor never had a fucked sense of humor like this when we were together.
“If that was the case, then he should know better.”
“What do you mean?”
The sun disappears behind a cloud. And Igor’s smile goes with it. His face is cold, nothing at all like I remember him looking. There was always a spark in his eye. Color to his cheeks.
Of course, now I know it was all fake.
Igor’s mouth twitches. “The annoying part about all of this, Joy, is that I really did have feelings for you.”
“Bullshit.”
“No. Not bullshit.” He nets his hands together.
Swings them between his legs. “My relationship with females has always been… complicated. I never had a stable female figure growing up. I didn’t think relationships were for me.
And then I found you and I could feel myself falling. Which I wasn’t meant to do.”
“Right. Because your plan was to use me.”
Igor spaces out. “I felt something. And I liked what we had. But it could never last. Females never stick around long in the Bratva.”
I shuffle closer, searching Igor’s eyes. “Your father’s still hung up on what happened to your mother, isn’t he?”
Igor stares at me for a moment. And then cracks a smile. “You really think my father is a good person, don’t you?”
“I think we all are at our cores. Your father has been through a lot. And that changes people.”
Igor goes back to shaking his head in disbelief. His eyes never leave mine. “Wake up, Joy. The last person my father married, he killed.”
I gasp. The air gets stuck in my throat.
The sun is back out. But I’m stone cold.
Igor keeps watching me. He doesn’t look cruel anymore. Just hurt.
Valerian killed his mom.
“What?” My breath is shaky. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s a monster, Joy.” Igor keeps watching me. “I believe most people are good. But my father was born evil. Which is why I have to take his Bratva down. It’s the only way I can stop him.”
Igor’s voice is leveled, which tells me he’s been living with resentment for years. He must be tired. But he can’t rest. I see the determination in his eyes. He won’t stop until his father has paid the price.
I sit on my hands to stop them from shaking. “Why did he do it?”
Igor shrugs. “This is just what he does.”
My heart beats rapidly in my throat. I stare at the pool. I need a minute to gather my thoughts.
Surely this can’t be.
Then again, Igor wouldn’t lie. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be trying to take down his own father.
It’s happening all over again. I want to believe he’s a good person, just like I wanted to believe with Igor that I was in love.
When I want something, I convince myself it’s true.
I wanted Valerian to be a good person. But I wanted it so much that I started to lie to myself.
I remember the way he snapped that man’s neck. I watched it all from his bedroom window. He killed a man with his bare hands, and he was just… standing over him.
Most people see a dead body and run.
Valerian kneels beside them and runs his finger over their face. Like he’s admiring his work.
“I leave the property most nights to take care of… some things.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. Tears begin forming in my eyes from how disturbed I feel about all of this.
“You already know the truth deep down, Joy,” says Igor. He rises from the lounger, looking down at me. “I don’t have to go into detail. But you do need to get out of here.”
I glance up at my ex-fiancé with teary eyes. I feel my heart splitting in two. It’s like Igor sliced right down the middle with his knife.
He probably wouldn’t go that far. But Valerian would.
Igor offers me his hand. “Valerian and Nikolai are in Rodeo Drive. His guards out here in the courtyard are all down. Now’s the time to escape. Before the other guards find out I’m here.”
I’m about to take that escape. And then a bullet explodes.
Igor ducks as it sails overhead. It ricochets off one of the palm trees, causing sparks to fly.
I gasp. Throw my arms over my head, in the brace position. Terror fills my chest. I look between the gap in my hands and see a long pair of legs make their way over.
I sniffle. Tears are streaming down my cheeks. I even have snot on my hands as I stay crouched. It’s disgusting.
But my heart is pounding way too much for me to care about the rest.
“Congratulations on your four kills,” begins Valerian. “Where are your other puppets?”
“They have busy schedules,” says Igor. His shoes scrape on the ground as he walks over to Valerian. “They left ages ago. They’re in high demand.”
I peek between the gap in my hands.
Valerian stops in front of his son, takes one look at him and rips the mask dangling from his neck. “What’s this?” He takes one look at the mask and throws it away. “Fancy dress?”
“No,” says Igor. He tips his chin. “It’s the end of your dynasty.”
Valerian laughs. “Chilling.” He slots the gun back into his suit jacket. I can see his biceps flexing under his clothes. “You’re lucky you ducked.”
“You wouldn’t have shot me,” says Igor. “And it wouldn’t have made a difference.” He takes one last look at his father and walks away, heading for the side gate.
I watch, terrorized, as Igor steps over the two dead guards, leaving via the gate.
Nikolai enters the courtyard, jogging to a stop. “What the fuck happened here?”
“My son.” Valerian sighs, exhausted. “Apparently, a man can’t shop for suits in peace anymore.
” He rakes a hand through his hair, addressing the other guards that are filtering out of the stone cloister, joining them in the courtyard.
“Someone give the cleanup team a call before the vultures get here. We don’t want to cause even more of a scene. ”
I remove my hands a little, still watching Valerian between the palm trees.
“Four dead bodies,” counts Nikolai. “That’s a lot to get rid of at once.”
“Yeah,” says Valerian. “But we’ve dealt with much worse.” Valerian looks back at the guards. “Tell the team to collect the bodies and drive them out to the San Bernardino mountains. The vultures can have them up there.”
My heart freezes...
He said that to me when we first met. And I thought it was a joke.
I bring my hands back over my face. My teeth are chattering. Everything aches.
“Valerian,” I hear one of the guards say. “I’m sorry we didn’t—”
“Not to worry, gentleman. We have plenty more guards to go around…”
My blood is ice. I can’t move a muscle. I don’t even want to. I need the ground to swallow me up before Valerian sees me.
It’s a bit too late for that.
I look through the gap in my hands. He’s seen me.
And his eyes soften.
“Please return to your stations.”
The guards break. Valerian starts walking toward me. I stay where I am, afraid that if I move a muscle, he’ll shoot.
“Joy,” he says in a calm tone. His voice is deep. Raspy.
I always liked his voice. And I hate that I still do.
Valerian takes a seat next to me. He grabs my hands, prying them away from my face.
I shiver. I can’t look at him.
But he tilts my chin, making me.
“Sweetheart,” he says softly. “It’s okay. He’s gone.”
“Yeah,” I say. “But you’re not.”