19. Skye
SKYE
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom, my heart heavy with disappointment. Dessert would be hitting the table soon and Nikola still hadn’t shown up.
No matter , I thought to myself.
I’d spent an hour listening to Kostya’s tales about his recent hiking adventure. I didn’t even know he liked hiking, but apparently hiking the Appalachian and Crest Trails was his passion. It was fun listening to his stories, and even made me forget about Nikola for a little while.
Maybe I should give hiking a try, I thought to myself as I dried my hands, but even as the thought materialized, I knew that I wouldn’t. Sweating and climbing weren’t my thing.
The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed a commotion in the restaurant. I rushed through the hallway and toward the table when I froze.
What I saw hit me like a lightning strike—sharp, unexpected, and paralyzing. My heart clenched and a cold wave of shock crashed over me, leaving my thoughts tangled and disjointed. Two men I cared about were locked in a violent, desperate struggle.
Their bodies collided with brutal force, the fists meeting flesh the only thing I saw. My breath caught in my throat as I watched them grapple, each move more ferocious than the last. It was surreal, like a nightmare unfolding in slow motion.
Nikola had Kostya shoved against the wall, his forearm pushed against his cousin’s throat, while Kostya’s knife pressed against Nikola’s ribs.
Their gazes cut to me; Kostya’s calculating and cold, Nikola’s heated with blue infernos as they slid over my strapless dress that barely reached my mid-thighs.
In the next breath, Nikola’s expression turned into one of pure rage as he shoved his shoulder against Kostya, then threw him on the floor. Tables and chairs clattered to the floor and people scattered, but I spotted a few recording the scene like it was an entertainment show.
I rushed forward and gripped Nikola's arm, yanking him back. But it was fruitless, Nikola was a six-foot-five wall of pure muscle.
Nikola pulled his own knife from his holster and pressed it against Kostya’s throat.
They spat words at each other, the tension palpable. I couldn’t read their lips or process the meaning of this with the amount of panic rushing through my bloodstream.
Kostya shoved his elbow into Nikola’s side with his other hand, keeping his knife pressed against his ribs all the while. Their expressions were terrifying, those signature pale blue eyes staring at each other with cold fury.
A sound tore from my throat, unpracticed and foreign. “Nikola!”
They both froze, and so did I. Then, as if in slow motion, their profiles turned to face me.
My hands wrapped around my throat, the shock vibrating through me.
I never let anyone hear my voice aside from my parents.
I’d always been far too self-conscious. Deaf people struggled to pronounce words smoothly due to the auditory feedback.
That meant our voices were usually distorted, words hard to understand, and the pitch, volume, and intonation presented differently to hearing people.
Nikola shot to his feet, releasing Kostya, and was by my side in the next breath.
My heart raced in my chest, terror still clogging my throat as I stared wide-eyed at him. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Kostya was on his feet too, pressing his palm to his throat where Nikola must have cut him.
Swallowing hard, I signed, “ You okay, Kostya ?”
He nodded and I watched his lips move. “Want me to take you home?”
“I’m taking her,” Nikola growled, his anger vibrating through me.
“I was asking her, not you,” Kostya deadpanned, his body tense, knife still clutched between his fingers.
The restaurant staff was plowing through the crowd, the Nikolaevs’ guards taking everyone’s phones and shoving a stack of hundred-dollar bills in their hands.
The people slowly dwindled down until there was nobody left and the windows to the restaurant were firmly shut to stop onlookers.
But as the three of us stared at each other, I wasn’t sure whether it was for the best. An audience might keep them from properly murdering each other.
Nikola turned to him and I took a step forward, positioning myself between them. Barely reaching their jaws, I was sandwiched between them, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as I read their lips.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because you’re family. Leave.”
“Fuck. You. She came with me.”
Nikola’s jaw tensed and he took a threatening step forward. I shifted, putting both of my palms on his hard chest.
Nikola didn’t spare me a glance, instead slanting his cousin a dark look. “Last warning.”
“I’m not leaving her alone with you when you’re in this state,” Kostya snarled, anger that was rarely seen on his face twisting so it was almost unrecognizable.
I whipped my head back and forth between them, struggling to read their lips.
“Don’t fucking push me,” Nikola growled, his nostrils flaring. “I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
My mouth parted in shock at the fiercely possessive claim in Nikola’s eyes. His behavior made no sense. He had been pretty much ignoring me. But now, he was acting like I was his property.
“ Go ahead, Kostya ,” I signed with shaky fingers.
Kostya’s eyes locked on me.
“You sure?” I nodded. He shot a threatening look at Nikola. “Hurt her, make her cry… and there’s nowhere you can hide.”
Nikola’s expression darkened. “Touch what’s mine again and you won’t have to worry about anyone’s tears.”
I swallowed as Nikola’s eyes narrowed on his cousin, seeing a flicker of viciousness that promised retaliation.
Kostya slowly backed away, leaving me alone with Nikola. Our eyes met, mine full of shock and his swimming in blinding jealousy and something else I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Silence stretched as we stared at each other.
“ Are you crazy ?” I asked finally.
“Apparently I am crazy about something. Or rather for someone,” he said wryly, his gaze traveling down my body. “You shouldn’t have gotten all dolled up for him, Skye. You’ve unleashed a monster in me.”
I frowned, focusing on the first part of his statement. “ What are you saying exactly ?”
He cupped my neck and asked slowly, “Why did you come here today?”
I swallowed before my shameful admission. “ To make you jealous .”
“It sure worked.” His smile held no humor. “All I think about is you, Skye. You don’t need to make me jealous. I already am. I’m jealous of every smile you give someone else, of everything you touch, including your beloved piano.”
I froze, my lips twitching.
“ You’re jealous of my piano ?” He watched me for a heartbeat before reaching for his tie and loosening it with a hard tug. When it became clear he wasn’t going to answer, I asked, “ Why are you wearing a suit ?”
“I came here with a woman.”
I sucked in a breath and closed the small distance between us. “ Who is she ?”
He waved his hand. “Nobody important.”
“ Clearly not true ,” I signed, irritated, the little green monster eating at me. “ You put a suit on for her .”
Tension lingered in his body. “No, zayka . I put the suit on for you, but you were already gone. So, in a fit of jealous rage, I dragged a woman here.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “ What’s her name ?”
I wasn’t even sure why I asked, except that I wanted to lash out at that unknown woman and warn her away from Nikola.
“No fucking idea,” he signed. “Helena. Or was it Elena? No, maybe Lena… Fuck if I know . ”
I forced myself to release a heavy breath and calm the storm inside me.
My mama always said I possessed her calm temperament and that it took a lot to piss me off.
But then I turned into my papa. At this moment, I feared she might be right, because the itch to find that woman—whatever her name was—and unleash violence on her was so real I could almost taste it.
But Nikola clearly didn’t care for her if he couldn’t even remember her name.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, his eyes trailing over my body before locking on my face.
“ And go where ?” I asked, deciding to let it go. Only, that was when something occurred to me and I narrowed my eyes on him. “ By the way, how did you know where I was ?”
“You’re sharing your location with me,” he reminded me, and I rolled my eyes.
How could I have forgotten that the Nikolaevs had my location for “safety purposes.” I was glad he’d come—that was my intention with this whole thing in the first place—but I’d need to speak with Sasha and Branka about boundaries moving forward.
“ See, that’s just not fair. You have me under your thumb, yet you ignore my texts. Ignore me . ” Silence tightened around us as I waited for his answer, standing in the empty, disheveled restaurant. “ I deserve better .”
“You do.” Well, at least we agreed on something.
“ Then why do you only want me now? ” I questioned, unable to hide my hurt. “ You should have realized you wanted me before I went out with Kostya. ”
Of course I was wrong to go out with Kostya for the reasons I did. We were both in the wrong, but it felt too vulnerable to admit it.
“I want to do right by you, Skye. I wanted you to have a normal life, outside the mob world. Even if it meant being away from me.” His admission sent a shockwave through me while turmoil stirred inside my chest. “You deserve so much more than… me and the shackles of this criminal life, regardless of how much I want you.”
That was when I decided there would never be anyone else for me. I would never— could never—love another man because this man was it for me. He had always been the one for me.
“ Is that the reason you’ve been ignoring me? ” My expression softened as I signed the next words, “ Because you want me too much? ”
“In the beginning, I ignored you because I wanted better for you, but now… Now I’m scheming…”
My brow furrowed, not quite following what he was trying to say. “ Scheming about what? ”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I can’t multitask when you’re involved.”