Chapter 14 Andrej
ANDREJ
My heart fucking soars when Cartier gets off the bus with me.
When I found out that Yuri Asimov had gotten to her, I expected the worst. It’s how we live. Expect the worst and plan accordingly. But traffic cameras showed her taking a Lyft to the bus station, and the rest was easy.
But when we’re standing on the roadside, I see it in her eyes.
Fear.
He said enough to make her see me through wary eyes. The damage is done. And it’s going to take an atomic fucking bomb to tear those barriers back down.
She trusted me. Now, she thinks that I broke that trust to finish what our families started generations ago.
While I was chasing a bus to Charlotte, North Carolina, my sister emailed me everything she could find about Cartier’s background, including what happened to her birth parents. Although the details are vague.
There was a baby involved.
I can’t believe that this feud played out with a baby in the fucking midst.
But I won’t let my family’s past define me as a fucking monster too. Sure, I take people out, but only those who deserve it. The scum who prey on the weak, who don’t give a shit about anyone or anything but their own fucking greed. Scum that the world is better off without.
I would never harm a baby.
I would never harm Cartier Black.
And I’m going to prove it to her one way or another.
“I should’ve told you that my family is Bratva.” I kickstart this conversation. No holding back. Cartier is more precious to me than my own life. “I thought you knew.”
She holds my gaze. “Yeah, Gianna failed to mention that tiny piece of information.”
The innocence in her eyes smashes through me like a bowling ball. I’d bet that she knows zilch about her best friend’s mafia background too.
Not my secret to share.
“I’m sorry, Cartier. I didn’t speak about my work because I wanted you to get to know me. The real me.”
“Who are you really, Andrej?” Her eyes are huge with tears. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“This is who I am.” I close the distance between us and hold her hands. “The man I am when I’m with you is the best version of me. It’s the person I was always meant to be, but it took meeting you to show me.”
A tear trickles from the corner of her eye, and I catch it on my fingertip, marveling at its fragile beauty.
“Do you kill people?”
“Yes.” No more secrets. “Bad people.”
She doesn’t pull her hands away from me. I’m taking all the wins I can get.
“People with families?” she whispers.
I’m vaguely aware of the bus passengers watching us through the windows, the audience rooting for the couple everyone knows is destined to be together.
Richard is waiting in the car. My foot soldiers are inside a second vehicle.
I can’t let Cartier slip through my fingers again, but I’ll stand here talking all night if I must.
“People who destroy anyone who gets in their way. Cartier there are people out there who—”
“Is that what happened to my parents? Did they get in your family’s way?”
“No.” I breathe deeply, keeping my pulse regulated. Cartier is too vulnerable right now. If I say the wrong thing, she’ll board that bus, and she might never come back. “I’m trying to find out what happened, but I swear to you, I had no idea about your past.”
She watches me intently, her expression unfathomable. “So, that man, Yuri Asimov, was telling the truth.”
“If he told you that our families are enemies, then yes. He was telling the truth. But if he told you that I was using you to get to him, then that was an outright fucking lie, and I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you.”
A faint smile plays on her lips, and my heart starts singing. I haven’t lost her yet. She’s still hanging on in there, even if it’s only by a thread.
“Why were you seeing me, Andrej?”
“Were?” Past tense? I blurt it out before I can stop myself, my pulse spiking.
“I want to spend every spare moment of every day with you, Cartier. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, don’t you get it?
I fucking worship you. You’re beautiful, and kind, and sexy, and you taste like fucking honey. ”
A blush creeps across her cheeks.
“I don’t care where you came from. I didn’t expect you to get under my skin the way you have, and now, all I care about is protecting you and making you happy.”
“But I don’t want to be protected. I was happy when I had nothing to be protected from.”
I lower my face so that our noses are almost touching. “You always needed protecting, Cartier. The only difference now is that you’re aware of it.”
“I…” She blinks, processing what I just said. “Protecting from who?”
“If your uncle was watching you, then it stands to reason that his enemies would’ve been watching you too.”
Her eyes dart back and forth between my vehicles and the idling bus. “His enemies? You mean your family?”
“Leonid and I have no feud with Yuri Asimov. I didn’t even know that he was in the country until a few hours ago.”
“And now?”
“He dragged you into a situation that I’d have moved planets to protect you from. Now, he has made it my problem because my enemies will be aware of you too.”
“What are you saying?” Her voice has shrunk.
“I’m saying that you’re in danger because of your association with me.”
She shakes her head. “Why didn’t you let me stay on the bus? No one would’ve found me in North Carolina. I could’ve kept on moving.”
“Cartier.” I’m desperate to kiss her, but I need her to understand the severity of this situation first. I need her to want to come with me.
“I found you. Yuri Asimov found you. Do you think that my enemies don’t have access to the internet?
And I don’t want you to live your life on the run. You have a life in Chicago.”
“Ha!” The sound cracks the air around us. “I’m not sure that I do anymore.”
“You do. I promise to keep you safe, but you must trust me.”
“How can I?” She turns away, but I tilt her chin towards me.
“Because I would take a bullet for you, Cartier.” I brush her fingers with my lips.
“I will put your life before mine, always.” I slide my arms around her waist and pull her against me.
“You are precious to me. You have made me feel again. My life is in your hands, but you must trust me to keep you safe.”
“Sounds like my life is in your hands.” Her huge hazel eyes lock onto mine, and I’m powerless to resist.
“I don’t trust any other hands to keep you safe.” Our lips meet. Gently, to begin with, but then she slides her arms around my neck and kisses me back. “Do you?” I press.
“Do I what?”
“Trust me to keep you safe?”
“Yes.” A whisper.
It’s all I need.
I gesture to the bus driver to move on and guide her to my waiting vehicle. Cartier leans against me as if the weight of our discussion is too heavy for her to carry.
In the back of the car, I pull her onto my lap and cradle her in my arms until her breathing regulates, and her eyes close. I feel her warm breath on my neck. Smell my shampoo in her hair. Feel her fingers curled around my neck.
What I’m about to do will break her trust in me all over again, but it’s the only way.
She can’t stay in Chicago. Now that her location is known to Yuri Asimov, she isn’t safe. I wasn’t lying when I said that I don’t have the details of what happened to her parents, I just didn’t tell her the whole truth.
Yuri Asimov isn’t who she thinks he is.
But I need time to prove it, and time isn’t on our side in Chicago.
When we pull into the private aircraft hangar, Cartier is in a deep slumber. I kiss her forehead and carry her aboard our private jet.