26. Sierra
TWENTY-SIX
Sierra
I don’t slow down until I’m on the verge of entering the party proper, too afraid of what Yuri might do if he catches me.
If I’d thought he’d listen to reason, I might’ve stuck around. I might’ve pleaded with him.
But the three of them have never listened to a word I had to say, and they’re not going to start now.
Guilt gnaws at me as I start to slip through the crowd, glad my mask hides my red face and the fact that I’m panting, but I’m not changing my mind. I’ve been preparing for this every chance I could get — every moment I could send a message to Silvano and Kyran, every time I could plan my escape.
Why don’t I feel better? Triumphant, even?
Maybe it’s because this could start a war.
Maybe it’s because I’m already regretting it.
But they want everything from me. They want my body, they want my mind, they want me to be trapped with them forever. They’re so fucking obsessed with me that I can’t make a move without one of them right there to make sure I obey.
Now my mother is at risk. My brother. My niece and nephew and their mother .
Even Sean, who’s behind bars.
Everyone is at risk because I decided to put myself above their well-being. It doesn’t matter that Silvano had agreed to help me even knowing what the cost might be. The gravity of the situation is almost more than I can stand… but it’s too late now.
I spot a discarded mask next to a chair, and I trade the one I’m wearing for that. There’s a simple white cardigan there too, and I grab it, not feeling at all guilty about taking some poor woman’s clothes. If she wanted it, she shouldn’t have left it lying around.
Now that I’m slightly disguised, I scan the crowd. You’d think that Kyran, being over six feet tall, would be easy to spot here, but apparently the mafia just breeds big men. At least I can rule out anyone with a beard.
I finally spot him, wearing a suit that I know he didn’t pick out. He’s standing next to a lithe, blonde man who makes Kyran look downright thuggish with how elegant he is.
I pull on the sweater and run a hand through my hair to tousle it and try to work out some of the elaborate curls, approaching them as quickly as I can without being in an all-out run.
“Kyran,” I say, tears springing to my eyes as I throw myself against him in a hug.
He grunts in surprise, but he wraps his arms around me. “Fuck. Are you okay? What happened?”
I take a moment to enjoy the small sense of safety he offers. He’s my big brother, and no matter our differences, I know he’s always going to be there to protect me.
“Not here,” Silvano murmurs. “Too many ears.” He places a hand on Kyran’s shoulder and nods towards one of the doors to the ballroom—thankfully not the one I’d just come through.
Kyran grabs my hand like he’s afraid I’m going to disappear, and all of the mixed feelings I’ve had about my brother over the past several weeks vanish. They’ll come back later, of course. Right now, though, I don’t have the time to be wishy-washy about him or Silvano.
I follow them to the room, fighting the urge to look over my shoulder and look actively suspicious, and it’s only once we’re inside with the door closed behind us that I take in a real breath.
“I’m fine,” I tell Kyran, even though I’m far from fine.
He removes his mask and snorts, not looking at all like he believes me, but he glances at Silvano instead of challenging me.
It makes my unease return, just a bit, because he’s so reliant on a man who had been an enemy of our family for so long.
Silvano removes his mask, revealing his handsome features. His blue eyes pierce into me, the way they had the first time I’d properly met him.
“It’s good to see you again,” Silvano says with a strained smile. “Though I do wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Yeah,” I say, removing my own mask. “I… Thanks for helping. I know it’s a big risk and all. Konstantin doesn’t really see you as a threat, so I don’t really know what’s going to happen.”
“Konstantin,” Kyran scoffs. “You mean Voronkov?”
Something in my stomach twists, and I say quietly, “Yeah.”
I catch Silvano staring at my breasts. And here I thought he was a gentleman—and gay. I’m about to tell him off, when I realize he isn’t staring at my breasts. He’s staring at the brand, where the cardigan has fluttered loose.
Kyran follows his gaze, and his eyes go wide with first disbelief, then rage. Even as I try to cover it back up, he grabs my wrist, pulling the cloth back.
“You’re hurting me,” I say for the second time that evening — first with Konstantin, and now with my own brother.
He relaxes his grip slightly, but his voice is sharp as he demands, “What the fuck is this, Sierra?”
“What the fuck does it look like?” I retort.
Silvano places his hand over Kyran’s. “Calm down. This isn’t the time or place. If you want to take it out on somebody, save it for Voronkov.”
Kyran’s nostrils flare, but he lets me go when I jerk back away from him.
“I need to get out of here,” I say. “I got caught.” It hurts my pride to say, but if Konstantin, Nikolai, and Yuri have a chance to track me down… “Please tell me everyone’s safe?” My voice cracks. “Ma, and Carol and Amanda and Tom?”
Kyran nods immediately. “Yeah. Carol and Amanda and Tom moved to live with Carol’s parents out of state. Ma…” He grimaces. “She’s being stubborn.”
“We’ve got constant security on her,” Silvano interjects. “Even if she won’t accept our help, we’re keeping her safe.”
“I don’t understand why she won’t accept your help at all,” I say irritably. “I know, I know, everything with Neil, but she doesn’t have Pa or Sean to keep her safe anymore..”
Something I don’t understand crosses Kyran’s face.
Well. Something I don’t understand at first.
But I know my big brother, and even though the expression is almost immediately gone, I still caught the flash of guilt . “Wait,” I say, watching Kyran closely even though my question is directed to Silvano. “What am I missing?”
“An entire conversation,” Silvano says with a long sigh. “We did try reaching out over Christmas, you know. Your mother was… well, unpleasant.” He gives me a rueful smile. “And your brother didn’t mince his words either.”
“I’m aware,” I say harshly. “Ma was a mess afterward.”
“Yeah, well, so was I,” Kyran shoots back.
The admission startles me into silence. It’s not like Kyran has ever been big about feelings .
“You could have been nicer to her,” I mumble, but I regret the words almost instantly.
Silvano’s expression hardens, too, losing some of the elegant charm. “I don’t think we need to rehash that mess. Why don’t we discuss what we’re doing now?”
“Getting the fuck out of here before Kon—” I catch myself this time. “Before Voronkov finds us. He’s not above starting a fight here to…” I swallow hard. “They’re gonna want me back.”
Kyran snarls at that, his eyes going back to where the brand is beneath the cardigan. “Too fucking bad. He doesn’t get to have you.”
“This is going to cause a lot of trouble.” Silvano rubs his brow .
“It doesn’t matter. We’re not letting her go back to that fucking asshole. If you even suggest it—” Kyran stops when Silvano holds up his hand.
“I wasn’t going to. I was just thinking of our best play. Obviously, we can leave with Sierra now. But we don’t want a messy war.” Silvano sighs and glances at the door. “I almost wish Pavone were here, so I could provoke him into doing something. He’s always good when you need a flashy show.”
“Just let Fox handle it,” Kyran suggests darkly.
I have no idea who any of these people are.
“Fox isn’t here, and anyway, if we murder Konstantin Voronkov, we’re inviting his father to suddenly care about the American operations. Jail time would be ideal, of course, but I’m not sure I could pull that off on short notice.” He taps his lips. “Don Marino would have incentive to lash out. He ranted to me for quite a while about your father and how unreliable he was, after his death. I can suggest the Voronkovs as having had a larger part in that.”
I listen to Silvano brainstorm, and something about the whole situation strikes me as familiar.
Send Konstantin to jail. Provoke somebody else into doing his dirty work.
That’s how Silvano does things, isn’t it. My father and brother always complained that Silvano Cresci was a little bitch who didn’t get his hands dirty. The notes I’d deciphered talked about a shipment they’d stolen back from the Crescis.
The same shipment that ended with Sean in jail and my father dead, somehow.
My mind flits back to what Victor Corvi’s man had said, about convenient changes in power.
Everything that happened resulted in Silvano Cresci getting exactly what he wanted. Sean out of the way. Kyran in his arms, and the entire Winters operation under his control.
And all of it only possible because Pa died.
There hadn’t been a corpse for us to mourn, because Silvano and Kyran had disposed of it.
Maybe that guilty look hadn’t been about Ma at all .
My fingers tighten around the small electronic device I have in my hand — the one full of information about Marino, about Pa’s shipments, about everything I’ve been able to discover so far on one single drive.
I’d made sure there would be enough to at least give Silvano a shot at keeping Konstantin at bay without the entire Cresci Family going under. But now…
“You killed him,” I whisper, wanting to crush the device before anyone else can get their hands on it. “You’re the reason Pa is dead, aren’t you?”
Kyran’s expression gives him away, and I take a step away from him.
“No. No, you don’t get to come near me,” I say, barely able to get the words out. “You…” I look between Kyran and Silvano. “Who did it, Kyran? Who killed him? Was it you ? For your fucking lover ? Our enemy?”
“Sierra, it’s not like that,” Kyran says.
But it is like that. Everything is finally crystal clear.
“I pulled the trigger,” Silvano says evenly. “I’m sorry I did. I didn’t want to. But your father gave me no choice.”
“No choice?” I ask in disbelief. “No fucking choice ? I’m sure the fact that everything would fall into place with your little plan had nothing to do with it, too, right?” Tears stream down my face, blurring my vision. “God. And I thought Konstantin was bad. At least he’s fucking honest about being terrible.”
Not just terrible. Gentle, sometimes. Protective. Not kind, no, but… something.
“Sierra, we’ll talk about this later, all right?” Kyran says, trying to reach for my arm again.
I jerk away. “No. No, we fucking won’t. You—” I can’t even get the words out, my voice strangled as tears well up in my eyes. “I’ll go back to Konstantin. Fuck you. Fuck both of you.”
I’d rather take Konstantin’s punishment than be near my father’s killers.
“Don’t be stupid,” Silvano says with more dominance than before. “You can hate me all you want, but it’s clear Konstantin Voronkov is abusing you. Come with us, and we’ll get you on a plane to wherever you fucking want, safely out of harm’s way.”
I wonder if that voice makes people bow down to him.
“Do you really think that’s what would happen?” I scoff. “You have no idea what his plans are for me, Cresci.” The name tastes bad in my mouth. “He’d chase me down, because, you know what? Unlike the two of you, he’s not afraid to start a war over me.”
I laugh.
“But that’s fine. Because I don’t need either of you. I can get out of this on my own.”
I don’t want Silvano’s help.
I don’t want Kyran’s help.
Ma has plenty of money tucked away. All I have to do is get to her before Konstantin, and we can go on that European vacation she’s always wanted — hopping from one country to the next before we can be easily traced.
Yeah.
I can take care of my fucking self.
Kyran tries to grab me, but he isn’t faster than Yuri had been. I duck away and run to the door, not daring to look back.
The ballroom is a lot emptier now than before. I rush along the wall, until I get to the service door I’d seen before. Through a stroke of luck, the guard is distracted with one of the caterers, so I slip inside.
Let Kyran try to follow me in here.
The room leads to a large kitchen, and I duck into the pantry before one of the caterers spots me. I slide to the floor and bury my face in my knees.
Fuck. Fuck .
I’d been planning this escape for weeks. All my secret messages to Kyran and Silvano. All the small misdirections, all the stalling. All the lies, and enduring Konstantin and Yuri and Nikolai’s hands on me.
Their attempts to get me pregnant.
Reminding myself that the pleasure is temporary, and not to fall for their charms .
This is pointless. They won’t want to deal with me anymore anyway. Yuri already half hated me before all this. Nikolai clearly resents my presence. And Konstantin can easily find himself some other woman to carry his child.
I clutch the small storage device tighter and shuffle closer to the pantry door so I can listen for an opening.
There are muffled voices on the other side, but they’re deep men’s voices, getting heated with each other. I can’t make out what they’re saying.
The smart play is to stay perfectly still and wait until they’re gone.
I’ve never been particularly smart when it comes to my curiosity.
I bite my lip and very carefully turn the door handle so I can open the pantry just a fraction.
“ —didn’t plan for an extra person to be there! And he’s fucking huge!”
“Just fucking take care of it. Everybody in that room gets a glass, Don’s orders.” The man lets out a disgruntled sound. “Aren’t you a fucking professional?”
“Yes, which means I know how important the dose is.” This second man lets out a long sigh. “Whatever. I’ll do it, but if it fails, it’s on you, not me.”
“No way. You’re the professional?—”
“Jesus fucking Christ, shut up, Dan. It’s like you want the catering staff to hear you.”
The two get closer to the pantry. I swallow hard and scoot away from the small opening in the pantry door.
I don’t dare breathe.
I can hear my heart pounding in my ears as I wait for them to walk on.
One heartbeat.
Two.
I count off five heartbeats before the footsteps pass by the door. I hear another door swing shut.
I wait another thirty seconds before I relax.
I heard something important, I realize. I have to sit there a moment and really think about it. Extra person. Fucking huge. Everyone in that room.
What room? What person?
The only people I know that weren’t accounted for were Konstantin, Nikolai, and Yuri.
My stomach twists because I don’t need to be told that they were talking about Konstantin . They somehow have him alone somewhere, or else, they’d be worried about three extra guests instead of one.
Fuck.
I rub my eyes with one hand, looking down at the little electronic device in my hand. It won’t be enough to give it to them, to trade it for my freedom. If I try to go find them, to warn them, that’s it. I’m thoroughly trapped.
Do I care enough about Konstantin’s well-being to give everything up for him? If he dies…
Fuck, if he dies, that threat is pretty much guaranteed to be over with. Nikolai and Yuri will be too busy trying to clean up the mess, and their war will be with Marino, not Silvano and Kyran. It would take all of the heat off of my family.
But I don’t want Konstantin Voronkov to die.
I slide my heels off, not wanting the subtle click of them to give me away, then get up to my feet. My hands are sweaty, my heart is thudding hard in my chest, and the fear is making me want to throw up.
I cautiously open the pantry door, but there’s no cry of alarm. I walk to a different door from the one I’d come from, and I note that it leads out into a hallway very similar to the one Yuri and I had snuck through earlier. They must connect somehow.
My instinct is to cower and hide, but I remember how Yuri had handled the guard all those weeks back, when we’d first infiltrated Don Marino’s warehouse.
Just pretend you belong, and people will believe you.
I hold my head high, but I can’t stop myself from wobbling as I half walk, half run through the hallway.
What if I don’t find them?
What if Kyran and Silvano find me first ?
I’m not going with them, no matter what they say — not without kicking and screaming and drawing all sorts of attention to them.
I’m not going anywhere with my father’s murderers.
I don’t care who pulled the trigger. I know Kyran had been there, and he’d been dodgy from the start. And no fucking wonder. His lover had perpetuated the cycle — Silvano’s father had killed my oldest brother, and now Silvano himself had killed my father.
I hear something as I turn the corner, and I freeze.
There, right in front of me, is Yuri.
He snarls and lunges for me. I instinctively try to dodge, but he anticipates it and snaps his hand around my wrist. I cry out as he pulls sharply and forces me into his arms.
“Not so clever after all, are you, little snake ?” Yuri growls.
“Konstantin’s in trouble,” I blurt out. “Punish me later, fuck me later, I don’t care, but Don Marino is planning something.” I think I’m still crying, but I can’t focus on that right now.
Yuri’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second. “What? Kotya is in a meeting right now to discuss local deals…” He scowls. “Is this another one of your ruses? You want me to go in there and destroy the negotiations?”
I shake my head. “No, Yuri! Think! You know Konstantin wasn’t invited to this party. We were caught messing with Don Marino’s affairs. Why would he then invite Konstantin to some secret after party?”
Yuri’s hold loosens, and I sigh in relief that he isn’t too obstinate to believe me. “There are other important players there, though. Victor fucking Corvi!”
“Two men were talking about dosing ‘everybody in the room,’ including someone who wasn’t invited, someone big,” I tell him. I wipe at my tears with the hand holding my heels, finding it awkward and making more of a mess. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But please, I don’t…” A wave of fresh tears spills down my cheeks, hot and frustrating. “I don’t want him to get hurt. I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”
Yuri runs a hand through his hair, which has come loose from its half ponytail. He lets out a curse in Russian, then grips my wrist tighter again. “You’d better not be lying,” he says.
“I had the chance to get out of here,” I say, and while I think I’ll sound bitter, I just sound pathetic instead. “I could be halfway out of Benton by now. Instead, I’m here. If I’m wrong, take it out of my ass, I don’t know. But I don’t think I am. I know what I heard.”
Yuri curses again, then tugs on my wrist. “This way. Nikolai is in the waiting room for the guards.”
“Then he’s probably in danger too,” I whisper. I shove the drive into his hand. “Put this in your pocket. Don’t lose it. There’s too much…” I hiccup. “Too much on it.”
Yuri takes it and leads me to a room just around the corner. There are two big burly men in front of it.
“I found entertainment for us,” Yuri says, pointing at me.
The guards look me over. Normally, I’d have some clever or biting remark, but right now, I’m just too wrung-out. I have to see this through, then I can collapse… and deal with the aftermath of my would-be betrayal.
“She’s crying,” one of the guards says.
Yuri shrugs. “Not my problem. She’d be crying after we get through with her anyway.”
The guards laugh and open the door for Yuri.
Of course, once we’re inside, I hear the door lock behind us.
My breath catches, and I wonder if he really believes me after all. But no. He wasn’t the one who locked the door. The door had been locked from the outside.
We’re trapped.