Chapter Thirty-Nine
In which all Liria wanted to do was make waffles.
Liria…
When I come down the next morning, Danyl is sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee, going through his phone.
"Good morning," I say, looking around. "Where is Roan?"
Danyl stands up and nods respectfully, putting his phone down. "Mr. Morozov asked for his assistance, something to do with the Albanian community, so Matvey will be taking his place in your protection unit."
"Oh?" I frown slightly, checking my phone, "Alexsey didn't mention anything about it to me."
"I believe it was very last minute," Danyl says. He's busying himself in the kitchen, focused on making more coffee.
I'm surprised Roan didn't message me, at least to vaguely insult me so I can start my day with a smile. Hopefully, it's not too serious.
Matvey comes up from the guard's quarters downstairs by the gym, greeting me with a huge grin. He's young, he still has a spring in his step, and hasn't been beaten down yet by the never-ending parade of horrors that the rest of these poor men have seen.
"Good morning, Miss Liria!" he says cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to spending the day with you." There's a little growl emitting from Danyl's chest. From his chest, like a tiger.
Matvey seems clear on what it means. "I just, uh," he stammers, "that it is my honor to attend to your safety today."
"Yeah, you're good," I laugh. "Don't worry about Danyl.
He's just cranky until he gets breakfast. Danyl, I'm making waffles and sausage today.
I picked up some raspberries from the farmer's market yesterday, too.
Does that sound good?" Of course, if Roan was here, he'd tell Matvey my cooking was nothing to look forward to.
"I still do not think that you should be cooking meals for us," he protests.
I laugh, shaking my head. "What did you eat every morning before I started making breakfast?"
He shifts his feet uncomfortably. "Protein bars."
"Oh, that sounds delightful. What a perfect way to begin your day when you need all your energy to be looking after someone as high maintenance as I am." I mix up the waffle batter.
It's turned into a nice little ritual, I feed Alexsey if he's here in the morning. When he's not, my bodyguards on staff for the day join me. Roan often offers his assistance after criticizing the crispiness of my bacon or my poached egg technique and takes over the stove.
Just as I'm about to pour the batter into the waffle iron, my phone goes off, it’s the ringtone I have for my cousins, Bobby and Mikal. "Hey, good morning. Is this Bobby or –"
"Liria, you have to help us!" It's Bobby.
"Mikal, he got shot in the shoulder and another one in the leg.
He's hurt bad but they wouldn't take him to the clinic.
He's losing a lot of blood. I don't know why they wouldn’t help us!
I got him in the car and we're a block away from you. The clinic's too far!"
"Wait, hold up," I say, speed-walking toward the front door. "Why wouldn't they take him to the clinic?"
"I don't know!" he says bitterly. "They don't trust us, maybe they think we deserve to die because we're not Morozov."
"It doesn't matter Bobby, I've got you. Where are you now?" I grip my phone with my suddenly sweaty hand, searching the street from the window. There's a screech of tires as a Dodge Charger pulls up, halfway on and off the sidewalk.
"We're right outside," Bobby says, his voice raw. I can hear moaning in the back. "I didn't know where else to go."
"You did the right thing," I say, hurrying to the front door, ready to slap my hand on the biometric scanner.
Danyl charges across the room, his big, blocky hand holding the door shut. "Miss Liria, we don't know what is really happening here. Your cousins aren't cleared to be in the loft."
"What? They've been here before, twice! These are my cousins," I say, trying to push him away. "Open the door, Danyl!"
He pulls out his gun, holding it up as he opens the door. Bobby is there, trying to pull a bloody Mikal out of the front seat of his car.
"Matvey," Danyl barks, "go help them." He keeps his gun out, scanning up and down the street as they drag in my groaning cousin, who leaves a trail of blood behind him.
"Bring him over here, on the couch," I say, shoving up my sleeves with shaking hands. "Where did you get shot?" I'm leaning over to pull his shirt open when I feel it. The cold metal of a gun pressed to my chest.
"There's no need for that," Mikal says, almost gently.
I look down, dazed. Yes. My cousin has a gun pointing right at my heart. "What are you doing?" I ask stupidly. Because… not them. My cousins. Caroline's brothers.
I'm shocked at how much this hurts. Of all the people who want to kill me, I never thought it would include my own family.
Of course it would.
Bobby turns and shoots poor Matvey in the shoulder. He falls hard from the force of the bullet, his head hits the exposed brick wall with a bang and he's out cold, blood streaming onto the wood floor.
"Hey Danyl," Bobby calls out. "Open the door or we're gonna blow Liria's head off."
"You do that and you'll be next," Danyl's voice is harsh and guttural.
"But you'll be begging for death long before it comes for you.
" He's still holding his gun, the muzzle pointing at Bobby, he wavers, moving toward us and I realize he can't shoot at Mikal because I'm leaning over him, blocking him from Danyl's line of sight.
Great, I think bitterly. I'm the perfect body armor.
"Don't you dare shoot him, Bobby! He's the only one who can open that fucking door." I'm lying. I can, too but it'll make them less likely to kill my bodyguard.
He looks down at me and in my corner of my eye, I see Danyl tap behind his ear. That means he's already got his security comm device in. Hopefully, he set off an alarm. Slowly, he disengages the lock and opens the door.
Bobby marches over, holding his gun out sideways like a wannabe gangster. "Give me your gun, asshole." Danyl's arm is still out straight in a perfect shooting stance. I know what he's thinking, giving up his gun means we both die.
"Drop your fucking weapon!" Mikal grabs my hair, ripping my head backwards and jamming the muzzle of his gun under my chin. There's a muscle ticking violently in Danyl's jaw, but he puts his gun down on the table. Bobby scoops it up, tucking it in his belt in the back.
I hope he shoots his own ass off.
"Mikal," I say, my jaw is clenched because of the gun pressing against it, the words are hard to get out. "Why are you doing this? Why would you betray us?"
"They're doing it for me."
I recognize the smell before I do the voice. Sour sweat, vodka and cheap cologne, that smell of being sixteen again and powerless. "Oh, you are Idiots One and Two," I say numbly. "You have no fucking idea who you just got into bed with."
Bujar sits down next to me, close, so his thigh rubs against mine. I shudder, trying to pull away from him. "Oh, kurve e vogel, little bitch, you'll be the one in bed with me soon."
"Pull your gun back," he snaps at Mikal, who does, then reluctantly lets go of the fistful of my hair. There are at least ten men pushing through the front door, the last one carrying a submachine gun and looking like he very much wants to spray the loft with bullets.
"Hello cousin," Bujar says with a nauseatingly fond smile. "There's so much to talk about."
I turn, my fist mindlessly going up, ready to smash into Mikal’s face. "Are you insane?" I shriek at him. "How could you do this? How could you work with this psychotic fucker!"
Mikal pulls off his shirt coated with fake blood, stretching. "That went well," he grins stupidly. The grin fades as he looks at me. "You need to shut up and listen. Your life isn't as valuable as you think it is. Bobby and I are the only reason you're still alive."
My scalp is burning where he'd been yanking on my hair and my hands cover my stomach. The babies. I can't fight. Maybe I can run.
Bobby joins us, slapping Mikal on the back like he just scored a goal in a neighborhood soccer game. "Do we send out the demand for the money now?"
"There's been a change of plans," Bujar says pleasantly. Bobby's gun is still in his hand but dangling by his side, so it takes nothing for Bujar to pull his gun and shoot my cousin.
Something splatters against my neck and my shirt and I know that it's part of Bobby. Mikal's face is white with shock, he drops his gun, putting his hands up. "Wait. Wait. Wait," he chants mindlessly. "Hey, we-"
Bujar shoots him next.
"Why did you do that?" I scream, watching Mikal drop to his knees, the look of shock on his face, the two perfectly placed holes in his chest, and then he falls face forward onto the floor. "Why did you kill them?" I go to my knees, trying to touch his face, but he's gone.
Oh God, Caroline. This is going to kill her.
I see Bobby's gun, the handle wedged under his thigh and I lunge for it. Unfortunately, one of Bujar's people has the same idea, he snatches the gun out from under the body before I can, stomping on my hand with his boot.
Rising to my feet, I hold my bloody hand to my chest. I'm shaking, every part of me vibrating with the need to tear Bujar's face to shreds.
"The only way you're getting out of this with all of your body parts still attached is to leave me here and leave New York.
The Morozovs will never stop hunting you.
" He's ignoring me, checking his ammo clip before putting his gun back in his shoulder hostler.
"Your father's been very busy giving orders," he says, stepping closer and my skin crawls.
"Did you know your father told those fuckwits, Bobby and Mikal, that whichever one of them caused the most damage in the Morozov empire would get his remaining wealth?
You didn't think Dritan turned over everything, did you?
" He grins. "There's millions upon millions more stashed in hidden bank accounts, there are properties in five different countries that the Morozovs, those pigs, will never find. "
My lips are numb. I should say something, right? Something that will keep him from killing Danyl and me? My hands keep creeping toward my stomach as if I can protect my babies from hearing this monster's voice.
"Do you really think that our people are happy to follow those Russian cocksuckers?
" Bujar laughs at me and his men join in, a bizarre echo that's making me dizzy.
"Dritan may have married you off to one, but that doesn't mean our people will stay once I am next in succession for the title of Krye. They will follow me."
"You've got it wrong and you know you do," I say. "Father will never allow you as next in line for the head of the Fare, and they're all terrified of him, even now."
"I followed your father for years, fucking years.
" Bujar's face twists into something less than human, mouth stretched wide.
The sour stench of his breath wafts in my face, making my stomach heave.
"I stood by, watching him make one idiotic, destructive decision after another.
Watching him give Luan a role that he was not remotely capable of.
Right down to the suicidal idea of attacking the Morozovs in their home base. "
Bujar is vibrating with rage, his fists are clenched and he looks down at Bobby's body and kicks him. I hear bones snap as his boot comes down on Bobby's chest.
"Dritan would take my advice, make millions more, take more power and never once did he give any of it to me.
No praise. No position," he says. "This is my time now, and our people will follow me.
" His rubbery, wet mouth twists into a horrible smile.
"This is where you're going to die. I'm setting the scene to make it look like the Morozovs killed you and your poor cousins.
The outrage, it's the perfect push to get our people to come to me. "
Why I find this hilarious, I do not know.
Maybe my sanity has snapped after seeing so much death in less than five minutes.
"Who doesn't want to kill me?" I'm laughing so hard I wheeze.
"All of Father's enemies, and now his own people.
Here's something you're missing, though.
" I look over his shoulder to see Danyl, a gun pointed at his head.
He's watching me and very carefully brings his fingers together, tapping his thumb.
The international sign of 'keep talking. '
"Our people are actually happy here. The Morozov Bratva has been fair with them.
They're not charging through, killing everyone who looks like a threat the way Father would.
The way you would. I've heard Alexsey talk with his brothers.
Even our people in Durres are turning over everything without a struggle. "
Oh, he doesn't like that. His grip tightens on his gun, knuckles white. The men surrounding us shift, just a foot, or a twitch of a shoulder. This is making them uneasy, too.
Hopefully, not uneasy enough to make Bujar speed up his timeline.
I glance at Danyl, frozen with a pistol pressed to his head. Time. We need time for Alexsey to come.
Please, please let him have gotten the alarm.