6. Six
Six
Amara
I was afraid. Afraid if I let myself fall apart now; I’d never stop. I didn’t have that kind of luxury, not with Enzo missing. Possibly being tortured. Threatened. I closed my eyes, reacting to Luka’s arms holding me steady and safe. He made it hard to resist, but I still couldn’t give in to the unraveling that was just beneath my skin. Behind my next breath.
“We should go to my compound. The security is excellent. It’s a fortress.” All I could think of was getting behind the gates. It was my sanctuary. Ciro had spent years perfecting the systems and the cameras. I had finally admitted to him how easy it had been for me to avoid certain angles as a twenty-one year old and he doubled the camera count at the compound.
“Speaking of, where is your excellent security when you were nearly abducted?” he tested.
I gave him a warning glance. “Ciro is working on a project for me.”
“He seems to miss the excitement when it matters the most.” I saw the way his jaw tightened.
“I’ll call him, and he’ll be here by morning.” I said it as if I could snap my fingers and he’d appear. It was mostly true. Ciro always operated on scales of danger. He would prioritize my safety over any errand to discredit Luka.
“Until then, you’re going into hiding,” Luka countered. “Immediately. It’s the best plan right now.”
We wound through a back staircase of the office building and Luka kicked open another door. We descended into a parking garage.
“Hide in my own city?” I shook my head. “No. Then they’ll know I’m scared. They’ll know I can be intimidated. That is the wrong message to send. I’m not about to show fear. To let them think they won any part of this battle. They won’t get that kind of satisfaction from me.”
“And who is they?” he asked. The question sounded more like a test.
“The kidnappers.”
He exhaled. “Amara, it could be any family. You can’t wander New Orleans. Not tonight. We have no idea who did this, or who is coming back to finish it. Until you know who is behind the attack, you have to go underground.”
“I’m not going to wander anywhere.” I made a gesture to the way he held me. I was unable to walk. Wasn’t that enough for him?
“You do know it’s okay if you are scared. It would be normal considering what happened today.”
“No,” I snapped. “It’s not okay.” Didn’t he realize I had to work twice as hard, think twice as quickly? Maneuver twice as fast as any man in this town? I didn’t have extra seconds to be weak or vulnerable. Because they were watching, looking for the moments when my armor was down, when there was a sliver of exposed flesh and bone. As soon as they saw it, they would strike.
“Good. It’s decided. I know somewhere no one will look for you.”
He stopped walking when we reached his car. I realized one of the Bratva soldiers was standing guard nearby. I hadn’t noticed him before. His presence wouldn’t keep me from speaking my mind.
“You don’t make my decisions.” I was almost too exhausted to argue with him, but I hadn’t ceded my power.
“We aren’t going to argue about this.” He paused, unlocking the car. “Kotyonok, can you let me take care of you for tonight? I need to know you’re safe.”
My throat tightened. I saw the pain in his eyes. I doubted he wanted me to see it there in plain sight. He rarely wore his emotions on the surface, but this one was too big hide. The impulse to fall apart was still there, but I couldn’t. I would not let him see me falter.
I cleared my throat and focused on a spot on the car below his shoulder. He lowered me into the seat.
“Amara?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I’m ready to go to my house.”
“I’m not sure how to keep you safe there. It’s not possible.”
“Please. I want to take a hot shower. I want clean clothes.” I looked down at my bare arms. One of the thugs had my jacket. Maybe my designer shoes to go with it.
“You are going into hiding.” He stared straight into my eyes. “But we will stop to get some of your things.”
I pinched my lips together. “I don’t remember asking what I should do.”
“You didn’t have to.” He winked, closing the door securely.
I groaned, waiting for him to enter the car. He was stubborn and overly-protective.
“I told Bratva security to meet at your compound. We need to be prepared for any scenario.”
Luka started the engine and we peeled out of the bottom level of the garage and into the street level.
“Enzo,” I urged. “How are we going to get him back?”
“My men will handle it.”
I turned toward him.
“I can put out some feelers,” I announced. “Ciro will be back. He will find him.”
“I can use my resources. Why not focus on you?” he offered.
“He’s my person. My right-hand. I’m responsible for what happened to him. It happened because of me.”
“You don’t know that. No one knows that. Have you forgotten Katya? My sister is going to need every reassurance I can give her that I will bring him back to her. I have a stake in finding him. Maybe even a bigger one.”
“Of course you do.” Luka and Katya were close. They had a sibling bond that was admirable and enviable in this world. “We need to call Katya now. She should know what’s happened,” I suggested.
Luka whipped the car onto a side street I didn’t recognize. I realized he was trying to take a back route so that we didn’t travel on main roads.
“Maybe she knows something, or she’s heard something,” I added. “What if the Petrovs know about the baby? What if this is their way to punish him? To take him out because someone knows they’ve been having an affair and lying about the baby’s paternity?”
Luka slowed at a stop sign. “Then why would they try to grab you?” His lips pinched together.
I shivered. “I don’t know.” I looked at him. He was sorting through it too.
“I don’t think the Petrovs would take you out because of what Enzo did to Andrey. It doesn’t follow the rules.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I admitted.
He pressed his foot on the gas, and we sped through the city again.
“Then, we combine our resources. We’ll use everything we have to bring him back to your sister.”
“Amara?”
“Yes?” His hand slid to my thigh. His thumb brushed the line just beneath the hem of my skirt.
“I don’t know how I’m going to tell my sister he’s gone.”