Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
KOSTYA
M arina looked content curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a plush Ritz-Carlton robe, with a large plate of French fries on her lap.
It was a stark contrast to the shabby townhouse where I had found her. And yet, she fit in both settings just as easily.
After seeing her in that hole-in-the-wall restaurant, then in her cluttered townhouse, surrounded by secondhand furniture and worn clothes, then crammed into an economy seat on the train, it was easy to forget that this—wealth, comfort, luxury—was the life she had been born into.
I tried not to compare Marina to her sister too much, but the thought of Veronika working in a restaurant or living without staff was laughable.
Marina’s eyes were heavy-lidded, exhaustion finally creeping in. After the pleasure I had wrung from her body, combined with the stress of the last twenty-four hours, I knew she was done .
She needed to eat before I put her to bed. Her safety and comfort were my responsibilities now, and I intended to see to them frequently.
Nothing in the world sounded better than stretching out beside her in that massive bed, her body warm against mine, knowing she was safe while we both got a few hours of sleep. Okay, maybe a few days of sleep. God knew I could use it.
“So, what happens now?” she asked, glancing at me before popping another fry into her mouth.
“Now, I make a few calls to my associates. They’ll scout the area near the locker facility by Penn Station to make sure it’s not being watched. Once we know it’s safe, we’ll retrieve your bag. After that, I’ll deal with Solovyov so he stops trying to kill you.”
Her lips parted slightly. “I’m still not sure he’s actually after me. I mean, you were the one that chased me out of New York.”
I leveled a look at her. “I told you. That wasn’t me.”
I discarded the last of my burger onto the plate. “I didn’t find your place until after it had already been ransacked. I don’t think Solovyov found you in Chicago—yet. But his men are everywhere here. Someone would have seen us come in. We weren’t exactly discreet.”
Her eyes went wide for a second.
Maybe now she was finally realizing exactly how much danger she was in.
“So,” she said carefully, “we get the bag, you deal with Solovyov, and then I’m free to go?”
She still wanted to leave me .
I wasn’t about to start this relationship with a lie, but that didn’t mean I had to tell her the whole truth.
“We’re going to deal with Solovyov,” I said smoothly. “And then we’ll see where we stand.”
I leaned back against the armrest of the sofa and studied her reaction. “I don’t know why he’s really after you, but I know it can’t be the money. There has to be something we’re missing.”
Her fingers curled around the belt of her robe, twisting it. “But you’re going to handle it?”
“Whatever it is, I’ll handle it,” I assured her.
“And once you handle it,” she pressed, “I’m free to live my life as I see fit? Without you hunting me down?”
I didn’t even blink.
“Let’s take this one step at a time,” I hedged.
Her lips parted, but I could see the exhaustion weighing on her, dulling the sharpness in her eyes.
Rising to my feet, I grabbed my phone from where it had been plugged into the charger, another thing I’d had room service bring up with our food.
“I’m going to be in the other room making a call. If you leave this suite, it will not end well for you.”
Marina huffed a tired sigh, sinking deeper into the sofa.
“Honestly, Kostya, I’m too tired to run,” she muttered as she picked up the remote. “I’m going to be good and just watch TV. I promise I won’t go anywhere until all of this is settled.”
I narrowed my eyes, wanting to believe her.
Settled wasn’t going to mean what she thought it did.
But I had also believed she wouldn’t run on the train .
And we both knew how that turned out.
Marina’s relationship with common sense was…fluid.
Something I didn’t understand well enough to trust yet.
Walking into the bedroom, I left the door cracked, just enough to keep her in my line of sight. With a deep breath, I dialed the number I should have called before I even set foot on American soil.
The line rang once before Gregor answered. “ Ob'yasnis'. Seychas. ” Explain yourself. Now.
His tone was flat, but there was weight behind it.
I clenched my jaw. “This was personal, not business,” I said. “But I apologize for not informing you the moment I landed.”
“That is no excuse. I want an answer. Why didn’t you?”
“Like I said, it was personal. It didn’t involve the family business.”
I hadn’t meant for my irritation to bleed into my voice. I needed to tread carefully. I needed his help. Gregor was usually willing to assist his cousins. Usually. But if he decided I was more trouble than I was worth…
His annoyance was palpable. “I decide what does and doesn’t involve the family business, not you.”
Ignoring Gregor had been a bad fucking idea.
Other Russians whispered that his wife had made him soft.
I knew better.
Gregor hadn’t lost his edge. He waited. He watched. He learned.
Then, when you least expected it, he struck with a ferocity that could make the devil himself take a step back.
I exhaled, bracing myself. “My wife died because of this bastard.”
A beat of silence. Then, flatly, Gregor said, “Ya znayu. Moi soboleznovaniya.” His condolences.
He didn’t mean it. We both knew it.
He was the one who had told me Veronika was making a fool of me, fucking other men behind my back. I had known she was cheating. I just hadn’t realized how blatantly obvious she had been about it.
“She was killed by Solovyov,” I finished.
“Of course she was,” Gregor said coldly. “She had been fucking him for months.”
His words sliced deep, but I didn’t react.
Gregor continued. “Why would a domestic issue between your wife and her lover warrant you coming into my territory without permission.”
In the background, a distinctly feminine voice murmured something teasing. “You’re kind of hot when you get all angry and demanding.”
Gregor must have covered the phone because the line went dead silent. Then, muffled laughter.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. For fuck’s sake.
Gregor was back. “ Govorí. ” Speak.
I didn’t hesitate. “Veronika stole money from Solovyov. She gave it to her sister. Marina took the money and ran to the States.”
Gregor exhaled sharply through his nose. “So then pay her fucking debt and end this bullshit with Solovyov.” His voice turned lethal .
Tension thrummed through my body.
I really should have called him sooner.
But now, it was too late to fix that mistake.
Now, I just had to survive it.
“It wasn’t about the fucking money,” I spit out, instantly regretting my tone. I may have been one of the biggest, baddest motherfuckers in Russia, and when it came to hand-to-hand combat, I could probably kick my cousin’s ass. This wasn’t about our strength; it was about our positions and the respect they demanded.
“The money was just over nine hundred thousand rubles, barely ten thousand US dollars. There has to be something else that Solovyov wants back. Badly enough to kill.”
Gregor cursed under his breath. “So now your problem is my problem, is that it?”
“I’m certain there’s something in the bag that Veronika gave to Marina. There’s no way for me to know what it is until I get my hands on it.”
“What do you need?” Gregor asked with a frustrated sigh.
My shoulders instantly relaxed. “The bag is in a locker at a storage company close to Penn Station. I need to make sure Solovyov’s men aren’t staking it out.”
“Consider it done,” Gregor said. “But there are stipulations.”
“I’m listening,” I said, regaining the respectful tone that Gregor’s position earned him.
“Whatever is in the bag is mine. I don’t give a shit about the money, but there is clearly some intel there that you will give me. I will decide how to handle it. ”
“Yes, boss,” I said. It was a completely reasonable term. Under different circumstances, I may have tried to argue, but that bag wasn’t the prize I was after.
All I wanted was the girl.
“Also—”
Fuck, here it came.
“Any negotiating with Solovyov will be handled by me. As far as you are concerned, your main objective now is just protecting the sister. I will call you when we have the locker facility secured.”
“Yes, boss.”
“And cousin,” Gregor said, before I could hang up the phone. “If you ever pull this shit again, I will put you down like a rabid fucking dog.”
“Understood.”
That could have gone so much worse.
I didn’t appreciate being threatened by my own cousin. It was exactly why I hadn’t brought him in on this sooner. It wasn’t just about Marina, though if I were being honest, it was mostly about Marina.
The rumors in Russia weren’t kind to Gregor. They said his wife had made him weak. His brother, too. And then there was their sister, who had married Mikhail, an honorable and loyal soldier for the Ivanovs, but a man with no family name or connections.
Gregor had become a liability. I hadn’t been willing to risk him fucking everything up.
And then there was Solovyov.
I didn’t know his plan, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was already moving in on Gregor’s territory. The Russian government was squeezing tighter, making business harder. The more they cracked down, the less profitable it became. And as profits dwindled, the idea of staying in the motherland grew less and less appealing.
The U.S. didn’t have that problem. Capitalism meant corruption was easy. Greed made men predictable. It was cheaper now to bribe a U.S. official than a Russian one.
More families were looking at expanding into the States.
The only thing stopping them had been Gregor. But if he had gone weak…
The sharks were circling, waiting for blood in the water.
I slid my phone back into my pocket and debated what to do next.
But when I turned around, Marina was already there, standing in the doorway.
Hands thrust into the pockets of the hotel robe drowning her small frame.
Her eyes met mine. Her stance was set, braced, as if she were preparing for impact.
“I need to ask you something,” she said.
Fuck. Whatever this was, I wasn’t going to like it.
“Okay,” I said carefully. I couldn’t lie to her. But I was already prepared to dodge the truth like it was a fucking bullet.
“Why did you marry my sister?”