Chapter 62 Petyr
PETYR
“Why?”
Kira doesn’t speak. Only keeps staring at her feet like she isn’t even here.
I turn sharply to Mikhael. “Explain what happened here.”
Mikhael’s jaw flexes. His frustrated gaze darts from Kira to the body.. “She followed us,” he admits. “From the hospital.”
“And you let her?”
“We didn’t realize until she was already here,” Ivan cuts in. “We were focused on the assassin. Didn’t think…”
That we had to watch our backs from one of our own, his face says, but he keeps that part quiet. For Kira’s sake, I assume. He must think she’s shocked enough as it is.
“What happened then?” I ask, back to Mikhael.
“She had a gun.” He flicks his head to the weapon lying on the floor by Kira’s feet. “We couldn’t stop her in time.”
My gaze returns to her. She’s still slouched in her chair, her cheeks streaked with tears, eyes swollen. For a second, Sima’s face overlaps with hers in my mind.
I kick that thought away and walk up to Kira. “Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head once.
“Good. Now, tell me why you did it.”
Ever since I walked into the warehouse, she hasn’t looked anyone in the eye. Not Mikhael cleaning up her mess, and not Ivan whispering comfort in her ear. She didn’t even look at me as I entered.
But now, she drags her gaze up to mine.
“I had to do it,” she hisses. Her hands twist in her lap, white-knuckled, but her chin lifts stubbornly. “He tried to kill my husband.”
“Yes.” I channel all my patience into my voice. If it had been anyone else, they would be bleeding right now. “That’s why I wanted him alive.”
“What if you couldn’t hold him?” she says. “The doctors spoke to me yesterday, Petyr. They said Dimitri is getting stronger, responding better to treatment. I couldn’t risk him being killed. Not when he’s finally fighting.”
“You really think I wanted to risk my brother’s life?” I’m almost yelling. “I had a plan, Kira. We had him. He wasn’t going anywhere.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I could have, if you’d just fucking trusted me!”
She killed him. The assassin, my only lead. He was the last man who could give me answers, and now, he’s fucking dead.
Kira’s throat bobs, but she doesn’t look away. “He almost got him, Petyr. Why should I have trusted you to protect my husband when you’d already failed once? You let a hired gun come within inches of killing him!”
“I saved him. I was there for him.”
“No, you weren’t. It was dumb luck. When you’re not working, you’re off prancing around with Sima, playing house like—”
“Easy,” Ivan warns, but Kira doesn’t relent.
“She’s the reason Dimitri almost died!” Her cracked wail whips off the walls. “We all know it! She visited him once, and then that happened!”
“You’re not thinking clearly right now.” Ivan rubs her shoulders. “You’re in shock, Kira.”
“I know what I’m saying.” Her tone turns defensive. “And he knows it, too,” she adds, gaze fixed on me.
Fuck this. I want to shake her by the shoulders until she wakes the fuck up. She needs to understand the damage she’s done. She shouldn’t have been here. And she sure as shit shouldn’t have picked up that gun. There was no reason for her to involve herself.
But I can’t ignore how hard her shoulders are shaking.
Or the fact that she’s telling the truth.
I have been distracted. I’ve been played by Sima in ways I never thought I could be.
All this time, she’s been pulling the strings, and I had no clue. Thought I was the puppeteer when I was just dancing to her tune.
At least Kira saw that. I didn’t.
Is it really such a fucking shocker if she didn’t trust me after that?
Frustration floods me. Mixes with the rage I’ve been pushing down since I left the penthouse. My knuckles are white, my breathing hard.
It’s Ivan who catches it first. How close I am to completely flipping my shit.
“Petyr…” he murmurs as he stands. “She messed up. None of us doubts that. But this isn’t the time to pin the blame. What’s done is done.”
I drag a hand over my face. Fuck me, he’s right. There’s no use arguing over this. The man is dead, and my answers died with him.
What if Sima was innocent? Part of me wonders despite myself. What if now we’ll never know?
But I push it down. Sima is guilty. I got tricked. There’s no other way this makes sense.
I turn back to Kira. Her stare pins me into place, hard and scared at the same time. “I had to do it,” she whispers again. “For him.”
For once, I have nothing to say back to her.
What a fucking mess.
I turn away and go back where Mikhael is waiting for my next order. Everyone is holding their breath.
“Clean this up,” I order. “Nothing leads back to her. Understood?”
He dips his chin once, then turns to bark more orders at his men.
Plastic sheets unfurl. Buckets slam down. The room fills with the quick shuffle of boots across the floor. Efficient. Controlled. Exactly as it should be.
Then I turn back to Ivan.
“Take her back to the house,” I tell him flatly. “Straight there. Have Anya look after her until I get back. No one goes in or out, you understand?”
Ivan nods immediately. “I’ll do that.”
Then he helps Kira to her feet. She sways, hands on his arm, eyes still red and glassy. Her gaze meets mine once again, a quick look filled with something sharp.
Then Ivan leads her out. The warehouse door creaks shut behind them. Only the stink of blood and the bustle of the cleaners linger behind them.
Aside from that, silence.
I stand there a moment longer. My hands curl into fists.
This never should have happened. I should have been here. If I’d come straight here from the hospital with them, started punching answers out of that guy before Kira could show up to finish the job, I could have prevented this.
But I didn’t. I was too wrapped up in Sima. She’s been twisting me up inside since the day she walked into my fucking life.
Now my brother’s wife is sitting at home in shock because I wasn’t there for her. Dimitri can’t protect her now—that responsibility falls to me.
Tonight, I failed her.
Never again.
“Petyr.”
I barely get two steps towards the door before Lev pulls me aside. I hadn’t even noticed him in all the chaos.
His hand clamps down on my arm. His eyes are sharp, mouth set into a tight line. “Anatoli wants to meet.”
I freeze. “What?”
“Just the two of you. Says he’s ready to talk truce.”
For a beat, I just stare at him.
Suddenly, Sima’s words flash back into my mind.
“Anatoli wants to kill you. He has Lev under his thumb.”
I clench my fists out of sight. What Lev just told me, the way he said it—it’s exactly what Sima warned me would happen. To the last fucking detail.
I narrow my eyes, careful to keep my tone even. “A truce? Since when does Anatoli negotiate?”
Lev shrugs and his grip on my arm loosens. “Maybe he’s tired of bleeding men. God knows we are, too.”
His explanation makes sense. Anatoli doesn’t back down, let alone play nice, but his father could have easily pressured him into a ceasefire. If Sima hadn’t warned me, I would have believed it in a heartbeat.
But she did warn me. And I don’t buy this truce. Not for a fucking second.
Still, I can’t show suspicion. If Lev is what Sima says he is, then he can’t know I’m onto him.
“How did he get in touch?” I ask, carefully neutral. “I doubt Anatoli picked up the phone himself.”
Lev glances over his shoulder and drops his voice low. “One of his men came to me. Said his boss wanted me to pass the message along. Asked me to get you.”
I tilt my head and study Lev. He’s my second-in-command. My right arm. If I didn’t have to play it smart right now, I would cave his fucking face in.
“And you’re sure this messenger can be believed?”
Lev meets my gaze steadily. “Trust me. It’s real.”
Trust me.
My jaw grinds as I think it through. It’s too fucking easy. I hold his stare, keep my face unreadable. But inside, my mind is racing. If Sima was telling the truth, then Anatoli is moving exactly the way she said he would. And if she wasn’t, then Lev is either compromised or already being played.
Either way, I can’t afford to let him sense any hesitation.
I nod once. Slow, measured. “Fine. Let me wrap this up here, and I’ll come with you.”
“Don’t take too long,” Lev warns. “Offers like these don’t come every day. We don’t want to test Anatoli’s patience.”
I don’t say anything to that.
As soon as Lev walks away, I cross back into the warehouse. Mikhael is still directing cleanup. The scene already looks much less bloody than five minutes ago.
“Mikh.”
My cousin’s gaze lifts. He must sense that something is amiss, because he comes over right away. “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s up.”
I keep my voice low so only he can hear. On the surface, I make it look like I’m giving him more instructions about tonight’s crisis. But my words are for him alone.
“Anatoli’s moving. Bring our best shooters and follow us discreetly.”
Mikhael’s eyes flick back to mine, understanding sharp in them. “Should I tell them what this is about?”
“No. Tell no one.”
“Understood.” He gives me the barest nod, then turns back to bark more orders, like he’s just gotten them from me.
I straighten, jaw tight, and glance once more at the dark smear of blood on the concrete.
It seems not all the answers died here tonight after all.
I turn and exit the warehouse. Whatever game Anatoli thinks he’s playing, I’ll be ready. I’m not falling for his traps.
And if Sima’s part in this mess turns out to be more than she admitted, I’ll know soon enough.