Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Ryan
I didn’t sleep. I lay in a pit of self-loathing for being stupid enough to believe it would be different this time. That I could be different.
In the morning, Dimitri walks into my hospital room seconds after my nurse leaves. I spent the night asking myself questions with no answers and slept like shit. Today he looks tired, circles under his eyes, but he’s in a polo shirt and slacks. It’s weird seeing him so … wholesome.
“Are you meeting someone’s grandma today?”
He pulls at his shirt and frowns.
“It’s family day at my nephew’s school and I’m going to watch him be a Mongolian warrior.”
Okay—I didn’t know Dimitri had a family, or that he was close enough to his nephew to go to a school play. And what sort of play has kids dressed as Mongolian warriors? His statement adds more items to my ever-growing list of questions.
Dimitri tilts his head. “How are you feeling?”
I blink at him a few times like he’s fucking insane. “Been better. How’s Amber?”
He crosses the room and towers over me. “She’s been medically cleared and is being moved to a new location, and is working for one of my friends now.” He crosses his arms and I feel like I’m about to be yelled at. “It’s time to talk about payment.”
My stomach drops and vomit crawls up my throat. I nod.
“Alana owns you.”
“What?” I don’t understand that statement at all. “How? Why?”
“You work for her, exclusively. The Four Families have ended their contract with you. According to the paperwork submitted by Alana’s assistant this morning, you’ve been working for Mastodon and Fiercely Loyal Inc. for two weeks.”
“But that’s not true.”
Dimitri rolls his eyes. “Truth and reality have very little to do with Alana. She’s who John Wick calls when he’s scared.
She has allies all over the world and is a walking billboard for ‘fuck around and find out.’ You’ll be overseeing her bookkeeping, which, according to her assistant, has a shocking amount of girl math for someone who is as detail-oriented as Alana is. ”
Girl math… ugh. That’s as bad as mob math—just less logical.
Dimitri continues, “As one of her employees, it means you have Chiron Insurance, which covers ninety-eight percent of all medical claims.” He motions around the room. “All of this should be a twenty-dollar co-pay.”
A weight lifts off my chest and the room starts to spin. “It’s too good to be true.”
He slips his hands into his pockets. “It is. The cost is you’re now her employee, and you can’t see Amber.”
“What? WHAT? No deal.” What’s the point of trying to fix myself if she’s not there? How can I make this up to her?
Dimitri throws his massive hands up in the air. “Oh my God, shut the fuck up and listen. Alana told you yesterday—there needs to be time. Both of you have a lot of healing to do. You are clearly a fucking mess, and Amber needs to break the cycle of abuse she’s been in for years.”
I can’t look at him. The tree outside my window has a few birds hopping on branches between orange leaves.
Amber’s reality hits me and my guilt sucker-punches my gut. All the unknowns, the things I never asked and she didn’t provide, only innuendos and hints about her life. Years of abuse.
Not twelve months of mourning and guilt.
Years.
Dimitri’s voice pulls me out of my head. “Do the work, fix the problems, and get your shit together. When you’re ready, and if the timing works, Alana will do what she can to give you and Amber a future.”
“Why?”
Dimitri laughs. “Hell if I know. But Alana rescued me and my family from Russia and gave us a new life. She’s saved my friends from countless dangers and is single-handedly trying to take down an international drug cartel. For some fucking reason she thinks you and Amber are worth protecting.”
He pats my shoulder like he’s about to give me even worse news. “Now it’s time for your punishment.”
“Never seeing Amber again isn’t the punishment?”
“God, you never fucking listen, do you. No, that’s payment. The punishment is worse. You need to do a deep dive on Phantom of the Opera, the musical, the movies, and read the book. Alana expects a ten-page critique by the end of the month.”
She wants me to do homework. “That’s the punishment?”
Dimitri nods solemnly. “No. That’s the prep work for the real punishment.
You will sit in a theater, by yourself, and watch a full production of Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom.
They will sing and act directly at you.” He leans in closer and I can see the fear in his eyes.
“It is the worst play I’ve ever seen. It single-handedly destroys the Phantom’s proud legacy. ”
He pulls away and shakes his massive head. “I told her shooting you would be kinder, but she’s really pissed at you.” He checks his watch and sighs. “I’ve got to go.” He turns toward the doorway and calls back, “Do the fucking work and don’t be a stain on Alana’s perfect record.”