Chapter 10
ten
I wring my hands nervously as the phone on the table taunts me.
Coward, it seems to say. Pussy. It isn’t wrong. The plan I’ve come up with and refined with Liam to perfection hinges on his cooperations. His willingness to help take down Christian and his puppeteer.
What if he doesn’t want to?
He thinks I betrayed him. That is why hasn’t come for me. The man I’ve fallen for who can never love me back. He is a fortress of darkness with an ice-cold heart.
“You’re going to have to do it sooner or later, lass.” Liam leans against the bar on the opposite side, arms crossed against his chest as he fixes me with a knowing look. “Might as well get it over with.”
“You don’t sound too thrilled about it.” I pick up the shiny black iPhone, running my fingers along the edges, marveling at how light it is.
I’ve never had a phone of my own before.
Not even Matthias gave me one. I thought it was because he didn’t trust me, even after everything I did to show him my loyalty.
It was never about trust, however. It was about control.
Like everything else when it comes to him.
Liam snorts. “Am I thrilled at the fact that my daughter, who, for the last twenty-four years, I didn’t know existed, was forcibly married to one of the strongest Bratva Pakhans in the nation?
” he chuckled mirthlessly. “No. but I learned a long time ago there is no changing things that happened in the past that were out of my control. The only thing you can do is be in the present and control the things you can. Like making that phone call.”
Without another word, he withdraws, leaving me stunned as I watch him walk away. My biological father is the fucking Irish version of Ghandi.
Christ.
But he is right. I am running scared. Afraid I’ll fall back on old habits. It is too easy to slide into the docile submissive I’ve mostly always been. Too easy to let him take control.
It is my turn to captain my life.
Sighing, I unlock the phone, dialing the one number I know by heart.
It rings. Once. Twice. Then the telltale sign of someone picking up pitches through the speaker.
“You have a lot of nerve calling here, Avaleigh.”
The use of my full name causes me to wince. He rarely used it unless he was upset.
“Some people call it initiative, Matthias,” I snark. “And why give me a number you never wanted me to call?”
“That was before you betrayed me,” he growls into the phone The conviction his words hold shatter my heart. He honestly believes that I sold him out.
“I never betrayed you,” I whisper sadly. “Not intentionally.”
Matthias’s laugh might as well be a stake of ice through my chest, it is that cold.
“You honestly expect me to believe that?” he questions. “In what world do you think I am that na?ve, Avaleigh, that I’d believe anything you’d say. You want to tell me that you weren’t working with that FBI agent?”
“I was—” I hesitate. “At first. But he never asked for anything other than an SD drive. I never told him anything about your operations or the training center. I didn’t even tell him about us.”
“There is no us.” I can hear the sound of ice clinking against crystal. He’s drinking. “Tell me, little traitor, if you weren’t working with that agent, how did he have my brothers name? Because he knew it, Avaleigh. He whispered it in my ear and you’re the only one who could have told him.”
What is he talking about? I never gave Archer any information on his brother. I only met with him once, before I was taken, and even after, I never gave up anything. I wouldn’t.
“Fuck you, Matthias,” I whisper brokenly. “You know I would never do that.”
“Well, darling wife,” he spits out the word like it disgusts him. My chest tightens painfully, tears gathering in the corner of my eyes at his darkened tone. “I don’t believe you. Now, if this is all you called for, I have better things to do.”
Better things to do.
Fuck him.
“Christian is moving to containers of ammunition in one week,” I tell him, forcing my tone to flatten. Let him think I am unaffected by his words. That I no longer care, even if every word he utters is like a small death to my heart.
“And I care why?”
I never wanted to punch someone as badly as I want to punch him.
Okay, not quite true, but it is a close call.
Twatwaffle.
“Kavanaugh wants to form an alliance against him,” I keep going. “If we can start taking out his convoys and find out who is supplying him, we can start taking down whatever he is building.”
“He shouldn’t be building anything,” Matthias growls. “The DEA froze every asset Ward had. There is nothing left for him to build.”
I bark a laugh. “Wow,” I breathe. “The great Matthias Daskov doesn’t know everything. How cute.”
“Ava.” His tone is a warning I choose to ignore. I no longer have to obey him. The great Bratva Pakhan has no control over me. Not anymore.
“No, just let me soak in this moment for a second.” Letting out a long, happy sigh, I count to ten before finally moving on. I don’t need to Matthias on the end of the line to know his jaw is clenched, eye twitching, no doubt ready to paddle my ass.
His loss.
“Christian mentioned that there is someone backing him.” My breath hitches as I push back the dark memories to the far reaches of my mind.
I can still feel the pain from his beating ghosting along my face and body.
The punches. The whip. The fucking cattle prod.
“Not only that, but the FBI agent who tried to blackmail me, is in on it too. But…” I pause as I search for the right wording. “He’s playing Christian, too. I think.”
“You think?” It irks me to know that the man no doubt has his eyebrow raised in disbelief, mocking me, even through the phone. I resist the urge to send him a scathing remark.
I am the bigger person.
Or so I tell myself as I hold the phone away from my ear and stick my tongue out like a petulant child denies her ice cream.
It’s not like he can see me.
“Mark confirmed that Agent Jonathon Archer was real,” I continue like I didn’t just act like a toddler. “But Christian is adamant that it has all been nothing but a facade. A trick to lure me in.”
“He’s definitely a real FBI agent,” Matthias puts in.”
“Christian is also the one who killed Elias.” I wonder if Matthias knows that. “And Libby…”
Matthias is silent on the other end for a moment before he lets out a long sigh.
“Vas told me Libby didn’t make it,” Matthias murmurs, not unkindly. “I didn’t know about him Elias. Did he tell you why?”
“Because he gave me to you.”
“Makes sense,” Matthias sighs tiredly. “Christian is obsessed with you and Elias just fed on that obsession to control him.”
Wasn’t that the truth.
“Whoever is supporting Elias behind the curtain and assisted in stealing your shipments is behind it all.” It makes me wonder if it is the mysterious person who also put it in Christian’s head to murder his own father.
After Matthias took the port, Elias’s donor would have been furious and looking for the next best thing.
“You think the same person is backing Christian?” Matthias doesn’t sound convinced. “Why? What is the motivation?”
“You.”
Crickets.
More crickets.
Maybe I short circuited his wiring.
“Whoever is pulling Christian strings is connected.” I don’t wait for him to respond, plus, the silence is making make me uncomfortable. “And has enough money to fund the operation without any of the Ward assets.”
“You sure it isn’t Dante?”
Fair question, but Matthias doesn’t know about the tension between the uncle and his nephew.
“Definitely not,” I assure him, leaning forward on my elbows and rubbing the bridge of my nose.
The conversation is giving me a headache.
Too much remembering. “At the funeral, Dante was ready to pull support from Christian. The only reason he hasn’t is because he thinks someone under your command is the one who killed Libby. ”
“And you didn’t think to tell him otherwise while you were at the funeral?”
I smile. So, he did check in on me.
“I hinted that it was someone in his own organization.” I grun smugly. “But without solid evidence, he isn’t going to my word that his own nephew had his brother and niece killed.”
Matthias huffs out a frustrated breath.
“So, what do you need from me?” he asks. “I assume that’s the reason why Kavanaugh had you call. Thought you’d relay his plan better?”
Anger bubbles in my veins. It isn’t my biological father’s plan. It is mine.
My findings.
My plans.
My idea to bring this stupid asshole in on it.
“No,” I grit my teeth. “He wanted me to call because it is my plan, and it unfortunately needs you.”
“Oh really?”
Smug bastard is smiling. I just know it.
“Yep,” I smack the ‘p’. “So, feel free to come on down to McDonough’s tomorrow night and have a chat with us. Might even get some free drinks while you’re at it. Might throw in some free food, too.”
Matthias chuckles. Actually chuckles. Not a fake one or one void of humor.
My heart aches to hear it again.
“You think I am dumb enough to walk into an Irish bar unarmed?”
“Did I say anything about weapons?” I ask him as I stand from my stool and walk around the opposite side of the bar.
A drink is definitely needed after this conversation.
“If you’re really that scared, bring a hoard of weapons for all I care.
Just be here at seven. And Matthias…” I pause for a moment, letting the silence hang between us.
“I’d deflate that ego of yours just a tad bit before you come.
Doorway is a little narrow so you might not fit if you don’t. ”
Then I hang up.
A small, triumphant smile graces my lips before my thoughts turn sour, causing it slip. Sighing, I take a sip of my beer and wonder if he’ll actually show.
One thing I know for sure—everything is about to change.