Chapter 21
“What do you think they’re talking about back there?” Megan, Alexander’s wife, leans out into the hall.
Kaz has left me in the living room with his sisters-in-law while he and his brothers have locked themselves away in his office. Other than a few raised curses being thrown, we haven’t heard a word from them in an hour.
“Well, they probably started with an argument about Alexander and Ivan forcing their way in here today,” Vee, Ivan’s wife, says. “And he’s right. We shouldn’t have just bombarded them.”
“Yeah, but if we hadn’t, Kaz would have just kept dodging us.” Megan folds her arms over her chest and plops down on the couch.
Vee turns to me. “Did something happen? He wasn’t trying to hide you from us, was he?”
“Me?” I point to myself like a fool.
I’ve been so engrossed in listening to them, I almost forgot I was even in the room with them. They fit together so easily, like they’ve weathered the same storm and come out stronger. I’m the outsider, pretending not to drown.
Vee laughs. “Yes, you. I’m sorry, we let you hide in that corner for too long. Come sit over here with us.” She pats the cushion beside her on the couch. “I promise we’re not scary.”
“Well, maybe Vee isn’t, but I can be if I try.” Megan laughs.
“Don’t listen to her.” Vee waves a hand at her sister-in-law.
Aside from their looks being complete opposites—Vee with her soft blonde hair and classic beauty, and Megan with her effortless prettiness and her jet-black hair, broken only by a rebellious white streak—they’re far more alike than I would have expected.
There’s a quiet strength within them, the sort that blooms from survival.
On the surface, they’re sweet and unassuming, but beneath it there’s a strong loyalty—to their husbands and each other—that’s fierce enough to draw blood if needed.
“But seriously, Kaz isn’t locking you away on purpose, is he?” Vee’s already drawn me into her circle. She sees me as one of them.
“No. He’s just been really busy with work.”
They exchange a glance that immediately tells me my words are bullshit.
“I’m sorry, it’s just Kaz isn’t usually so focused on work.” Megan kicks off her shoes and tucks her feet beneath her.
“Well, he’s been really at it lately. He’s gone before I wake up in the morning, if he came home at all. Some nights he sleeps at the club. Whatever club that is, he hasn’t said.”
They exchange another glance.
“He’s up before you in the morning?” Megan scrunches her mouth to the side like the idea doesn’t taste right. “Sorry, but he’s never done that before. Alexander can’t get him to show up anywhere before noon.”
“Oh.” My shoulders drop. “I guess getting away from me is just the motivation he needed to take his work more seriously.”
“No.” Vee sighs. “It’s the Volkov blood. It makes him more stubborn than most.”
“He’s not thrilled with having to marry me, I get it. It’s not like I was dancing with excitement when I was told, either. But it’s okay. He’s not a complete asshole.”
Megan laughs. “Not a complete asshole? After what he did at that ceremony, I wanted to kick his ass.”
“So why didn’t you guys come over for dinner the other night?” Vee changes the subject.
“I don’t know. He never mentioned that we were supposed to.” I shrug. “But like I said, he’s been working a lot on getting the casino resort through the zoning phase.”
It’s the only thing I’ve heard him talk about when he’s been around on his phone.
Megan reaches for her glass of water on the side table and knocks over a frame. Quickly grabbing it, she checks it.
“Shit, the glass cracked.” She runs her finger over the glass.
“That’s okay, I’ll take it to get fixed tomorrow.” I take the frame from her, glancing at the photo. “Oh. Is this him and his sister?”
“Elana? Yeah.” Megan’s gaze flicks to Vee. “She’s sort of a sore spot for him right now.”
“She’s not living here in town anymore, right? She moved away?”
Vee nods silently. “Yeah, after what happened she needed space from everyone.”
From the way they’re looking at me, it’s apparent that I’m supposed to know what they’re talking about. Normally, I would go along and just move away from the subject, but living in the shadows hasn’t gotten me anywhere so far.
“What happened, exactly?”
“You don’t know?”
I shake my head.
“No,” I say, and every instinct in me warns I shouldn’t be asking.
But my whole world has been turned upside down because of the actions of everyone around me. I need to know. “How was Elana involved?”
“She was seeing Tony,” Vee says quietly.
“You weren’t close with your brothers, then?” Megan asks.
“No. I wasn’t useful to them, and in my family that’s the same as being invisible.”
Megan’s mouth softens. “So complete bastards?”
“All of them,” I say quietly. “When Marco finally moved here, my friends and I had a party.”
“It wasn’t like that with Elana. They adore her. Kaz more than the other two, probably because they’re closer in age. I think he’s taking it harder because of that. Her having a secret relationship with Tony probably feels like a betrayal to him.”
“How long was she seeing Tony?” These women, this family, seems to know more about my brothers than I ever did.
“Almost a year,” Megan answers, her brows knit.
“We think he was using her to get to the guys. After everything ended, she went through his phone and found a lot of messages between him and your other brothers about information he was trying to get. She never gave him anything, and he was getting frustrated.” Vee explains.
“He wanted my sister to turn against us,” Kaz’s dark voice surprises me from behind.
The frame slips from my hands and hits the floor as I twist toward the doorway. He stands there with his brothers looming behind him.
The air thickens with his presence—heavy, magnetic. My heartbeat runs wild with each step he takes toward me.
He crouches to pick up the broken frame, his thumb brushing over the cracked glass as he turns it over. Anguish flickers across his face before his expression hardens.
“After Tony was killed, she blamed herself. She’d been a pawn. She thought we blamed her too and wouldn’t listen when we tried to tell her otherwise. She left to get away from us.”
“You didn’t know about any of that.” Ivan comes forward, standing beside Kaz. “You had no idea what your brothers were doing out here?”
I keep my eyes steady on Kaz, because somehow it feels like our entire future depends on him believing me.
“No. I was nothing to them. When their bodies were brought home for the funeral, all I was told was they were killed by some Russians in Chicago.” I pause a moment, recounting how little I felt that morning when I was told.
My uncle gave me the news of my brothers’ deaths like it was a headline in the paper. He didn’t offer any details, and I didn’t ask.
“None of my brothers had the capacity to love anything more than themselves. The only decent thing Tony ever did was bring Tommy into the world. And even then, he wasn’t even a father to him.
Tony was most likely using your sister, and there’s nothing I can do or say that will make up for the hurt he caused her. ”
“Their guilt is not yours to carry.” Megan stands from the couch. “You aren’t them. Isn’t that right, Kaz?”
Before he can answer me, my phone pings. Once, twice, three times. With Tommy at school, I check immediately. A photo fills the screen. Tommy on the swings, another of him running across the playground.
And icy chill runs down my back. My mouth dries.
“Kaz.” My voice cracks. “He’s watching Tommy.”
Kaz takes my phone and swipes through the rest of the photos. All of Tommy at recess this morning.
“What’s wrong?” Alexander comes forward. Everyone huddles around us, wanting to know the problem.
“They’re from Dante,” I say, pointing to the sender at the top of the screen.
Kaz’s fingers tighten around my phone.
“He said I had a week. He must have found out I moved Tommy here.” I grab my phone. “I need to get him. He needs to come home, right now.”
Before I can rush out, Kaz grabs my hand.
“He’s not safe there, Kaz.” Urgency makes me stronger than usual, and I yank free of his grip.
“Sienna.” But the harshness of his tone is still enough to stop me. “I’ll go with you.”
“What’s going on? I’m more confused now than before.” Megan throws her hands up.
“Dante is my cousin.” I explain on my way to the front closet to get my coat. “He’s here in Chicago, threatening to hurt my nephew if I don’t get him information on Kaz.”
Megan stops short in the hallway. “I thought we were done with the DeAngelos.”
“Dante’s reopening the pleasure houses. ” Kaz holds my coat out for me to put my arms in.
“Please, Kaz. We have to go.” I yank open the front door.
“I’ll call you later.” He says to his brothers, then ushers me down the steps and around to the driveway where his car sits.
Kaz doesn’t bother waiting for a driver, he helps me into the passenger seat then circles to his side.
Once we’re on the road, I text Melody to let her know we’re getting Tommy from school. She’ll need to meet us there to get the administrators to let him out since I’m not an emergency contact.
She responds immediately that she’s only a block away from the school and will be there before us.
The city rushes by in a blur of gray and light. My hands won’t stop shaking.
“Kaz?”
“Yeah?” He checks the rearview to be sure we’re not being followed, then glances at the sideview.
“What’s a pleasure house?”