Chapter 30
NIKOLAI
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined walking through this house, holding hands with a girl, and feeling giddy about it like a fucking teenager.
Adrianne’s hand fit in mine like they’d been made as a pair, and my chest swelled with the little bounce in her step, even though hell was about to break loose.
Her legs were still unsteady and shaky from the force of that orgasm not even ten minutes ago, and yet the taste of her on my lips started to feel like it was vanishing. I needed more. This was a hunger that never satiated, a fever that never wavered, a madness without control.
She wasn’t buried under my skin. She was every living and breathing cell in me. The lucky strike I never thought my cruel life could hand me.
When we turned the corner to the hallway leading to my office, busy voices drifted out. The planning session was wrapping up, the house’s floor plan being rolled up while Kiril distributed weapons like candy on Halloween.
Matteo felt us as we came in, his eyes sweeping over Adrianne, taking in her flushed cheeks, tousled hair, the oversized hoodie that clearly belonged to a man my size. Then his assessing gaze turned to me, and whatever he saw on my face made his jaw clench and his fist ball.
Jimmy stood near the back, his face a map of anger, deliberately not looking our way.
Before Matt could speak, I did.
“Battaglia. A word. Privately.”
Surprise flickered across his face, but he nodded. “Liam, stay with Adrianne.”
“Nikolai…” Adrianne started, and I knew she thought I was about to break the promise I made her, but I squeezed her hand once before releasing it towards her other sibling.
“Stay with your brother. I’ll be right back. Everything’s fine.”
I led Matt down the hallway to a small study, closing the door behind us. The room was dark except for the moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating shelves of books my father had never read.
I hadn’t been in this room since I was old enough to flick Vladimir my middle finger. This was where he enjoyed lecturing me and Adrik about our fuck-ups, even if we’d handle whatever task he’d given us with excellent results.
It was never good enough for him. And even when it was, he found other ways to torture us and make us pay for the mistakes of others.
“If you’re planning to threaten me, I’d save your breath. I–”
“I need you to make me a promise.” I cut Matteo off, turning to face him.
That was enough to stop him. He stood straighter, trying to hide the fact that this wasn’t the conversation he was expecting. “What?”
I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from the desk’s drawer and started scribbling.
“Am I supposed to rate your drawing skills?” He peeked over me and what I was doing, “I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re a piss poor artist, Volkov. I’ve seen second graders do better with a tipless pencil. Better stick to being a criminal, even though it might not be your forte, either.”
I ignored his jabs, finished up, and handed him the sheet.
“If I die tonight, or if Vladimir catches me, you take her.” The words came out rough, but there was no hiding the bitterness they left behind. “You get Adrianne out of Russia and back to New York.”
Matt stared at me, and then the piece of paper, and back at me like I’d grown a second head. “Are you planning on dying?”
“I’m planning for every outcome.” I moved to the window, looking out at the snow-covered grounds.
“Vladimir’s coming for me. He’s been waiting years for this very moment.
And if he catches me, if he kills me, the deal between us is off.
Your alliance was with me, not with Adrik or anyone else who survives. ”
“So you want me to just pick up and leave.”
“Exactly. Drop your weapons, find Adrianne, and take her.” I turned back to face him. “I don’t care what she says. I don’t care if she fights you. You drag her out of this house, you get her on a plane, and you protect her with your life. Promise me that.”
The silence stretched between us, heavy and tense.
“You really love her,” Matt said finally, and it wasn’t a question.
“More than anything.”
“Why are you so sure you’re going to die?”
“Because I know my father.” I pulled out a cigarette, offering him one, lighting them both with that silver memory in my pocket.
“Killing me won’t be enough for him. He’s coming to destroy me.
To make me watch everyone I care about suffer before he finally puts a bullet in my head.
And Adrianne… by now he knows she’s the most effective weapon he could use against me. ”
“I don’t think I need to promise to save my own sister.”
“She lives, Battaglia. No matter what happens or what you have to do, she lives. She gets out of this frozen hell. She goes back to her life, to her family, to everything she had before I destroyed it by taking her.”
Matt was quiet for a long moment, studying me in the darkness. “And if she doesn’t want to leave your corpse behind?”
“Then you make her.” I took a long drag, the smoke burning my lungs. “You drag her kicking and screaming if you have to. I don’t care if she hates you for it. I don’t care if she never forgives you. She survives. That’s all that matters.”
“And this?” He shook the paper I’d given him.
“If shit hits the fan, that’s where you’ll find her.
That’s a map of the maze in the garden at the back.
I will teach her how to get to the center.
That’s the only place in this house she’ll ever be safe from him.
” I explained, “This is for your eyes only, Battaglia. Don’t gamble with her life by showing it to anyone else. ”
Another silence. Then Matt stepped forward, extending his hand to cement our agreement. “Alright. If you get caught, I’ll get her out. I promise.”
I shook his hand, feeling the weight of that promise settle between us.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Matt’s grip tightened, crushing my bones with more force than I was ready for.
“Because I’m also promising that if you survive this and hurt her, I’m coming back.
And next time, there won’t be an alliance, or a truce, or any of this diplomatic bullshit.
I will make you bleed and stain the snow that covers these grounds with your blood. Understood?”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
We stood there for a moment, finishing our cigarettes in silence, two men on opposite sides of the same war, bound together by one woman.
With a new understanding, we left the study and returned to my office.
Adrianne looked up immediately, her eyes searching mine for answers I couldn’t give.
“Everything okay?” She asked.
“Fine.” I pulled her against my side, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. “Just making sure we understand each other.”
Matt nodded once before heading back to where Liam waited. The brothers exchanged a look, probably signaling to each other that this fragile balance remained.
“What was that about?” Adrianne asked quietly.
“Insurance.” I kissed the tip of her nose as she tilted her head to look me in the eyes. “Come on. Let’s see what the damage assessment looks like.”
We joined the others around my desk, finding Adrik reviewing defensive positions with Max and James. Floor plans of the estate and maps of the surrounding area covered the table, weapon inventories spread across every surface.
“Everything set?” I asked.
“As much as it can be, given the circumstances.” Adrik’s voice was tight, his eyes trained on the papers in front of him. “We’ve got men at every entrance, weapons distributed, fallback positions established.”
“Good.” I moved to the window, watching the snow fall heavily over the front courtyard. Adrik was tense, and whenever that was the case, things tended to go to shit. He kept glancing at his phone, looking at the time, I gathered.
“Where’s Sasha? We could use her help with the explosives.
She’d always get excited whenever we brought on the heavy weaponry.
Adrik’s entire body went rigid. “What?”
“Your sister?” I turned to face him fully. “We’re about to be attacked by an army that wants us all dead, and I haven’t seen her since before the jet. She wasn’t even at the ball. Where is she?”
“She hasn’t been feeling well. Her leg’s been bothering her more than she wants to let on. Doc gave her some painkillers to help her rest earlier. Pain’s been bad since she got shot in New York.”
“Since New York,” I repeated slowly. “I thought she was healing well.”
“Yeah. The wound healed, but she still deals with crippling pain. She pushed herself too hard to get up and running, and we think she damaged her muscle and tendons with the strain.”
“Hmm.” I looked at him for a long minute.
Adrik wasn’t ever nervous before a fight, but this time.
I could sense his unease from across the room.
I got it. It was Vladimir, after all. The man who’d crushed us for half of our lives.
“Make sure she gets moved to a secure location. In case things take a turn for the worse, we have to make sure she’s protected. ”
“I will,” He replied, focusing on the computer ahead as he reviewed every camera around the estate.
“So, is everyone clear on their positions?”
“All clear,” Liam replied, while the other Italian men nodded in agreement.
“Kirill?”
“Yes, Boss. Let’s do this.”
Finally, the meeting dissolved. The Battaglias headed to their assigned positions. Adrik left to coordinate with the perimeter teams. Alexei appeared to discuss some issue with the northern gate, taking off after Kirill.
And I was left alone with Adrianne in my office, the weight of what was coming pressing down on both of us.
“How long do we have?” She asked after everyone was gone.
“I don’t know, Babochka.” I pulled her against me, needing to feel her body against mine. “Vladimir knows we’re expecting him now. He’ll want to make us wait. Let the fear build.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You should be.” I kissed the top of her head. “I am.”
She pulled back to look at me. “You? Afraid?”
“Terrified.” I cupped her face. “Of losing you. Of failing to protect you. Of watching another person I love die while I stand helpless.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Neither can you.” Her eyes searched mine. “But we’re going to try anyway, right? We’re going to fight like hell to make it through this.”
“Look at you, blooming from that scared little moth in the train tunnel to this beautiful queen, ready to take on the world.”
She laced her fingers with mine and brought our hands up. “This is why.”
I smiled at that. She was right. I felt stronger with her beside me, too, like nothing could beat me if the winner’s prize was her. I kissed her, this time differently than all the others. It was tender and slow, consuming of a soul I wanted to claim as mine.
I’d taken her body, her mind, but there was something more I needed.
“Come with me.” I said, reluctantly pulling back from those addicting lips, “There’s somewhere I want to take you.”