Chapter 22 #2
The second I’m out of his view, I pick up my pace and head directly to the exit.
I know the car is circling the block for us, waiting for Antonio’s call.
The chance of the driver seeing me exit is small but not nonexistent.
But I make it onto the busy street and melt into the crowd, no black Lincoln in sight.
I don’t have a lot of time before Antonio realizes I’ve ditched him, so I start power walking to the nearest subway entrance.
While Enzo took my phone, he didn’t confiscate my personal credit card.
Thank God I’m able to tap at the turnstiles.
There’s a possibility he is tracking my financials and will be able to find me, but I’ll be on a train speeding out of here before he can do it.
I make it through with perfect timing. A train is coming in, and it’s the one I need.
For once, luck is on my side. I keep a close watch around me as I wait to board.
No sign of Antonio yet. Just when I’m about to get on, I see him striding through the crowd.
My adrenaline spikes, and I apologize as I push past a group of commuters to get onto the train before he sees me.
I’m in.
Thank God.
Antonio’s long strides are bringing him closer. I even find a seat, thanks to it no longer being rush hour. While I hold my breath, more people pile into the car. Finally, the door closes, and the train jolts into motion. Antonio never spotted me.
But how did he find me that quickly?
Shit. The phone Enzo gave me. I fish it out of my purse and instantly go to my privacy settings to turn off the location services. Then I turn the phone off. I’m going dark until I can figure this mess out.
I can’t be sure where to find Dmitri, but I do know he’s recently been keeping an office at a newly opened private sex club the Bratva owns, a place called Silk.
It’s going to be my first stop. Keeping my head down, I try to formulate a plan as the subway car glides on.
I’m going to have to persuade Dmitri to take my side and help me find Svetlana if he doesn’t already know where Misha’s keeping her.
Guilt tightens my chest as I think of how furious Enzo will be when he finds out I’ve given Antonio the slip and turned off my phone.
He’s probably going to assume the worst. I just hope he’ll be able to forgive me and that all the risks I’m taking will be worth it to get Svetlana to safety in the end.
Scorpion
“I’m sorry, boss. If I thought for a second that she was going to run, I wouldn’t have let her go to the restroom…”
Antonio’s apology trails off as he huffs a heavy sigh on the other end of the line.
“Is something wrong?” Lucky asks me, instantly on alert.
We’re driving back into the city together, while Priest and Saint work on other shit at the casino. I hold up a hand, signaling that he should wait while I handle this.
“Do you have any idea where she went?” I ask Antonio.
“I tracked her location to the subway, but I assume she hopped on a train before I could get to her. From there, she must have ended her location services before turning off the phone. There’s been no update, but I searched everywhere for her and she’s not there, and when I call, it goes straight to voice mail. ”
Fuck. My. Life.
I just spent the last few hours defending Katya to my brothers, and now she’s disappeared on me. What the hell is she up to, and why?
This has Mikhail Sidorov’s greasy fucking fingerprints all over it.
“Keep looking for her,” I direct Antonio. “If anything comes up, give me a call. I’m headed back into the city now.”
“You got it, boss.”
The call ends, and I quickly try tracing Katya myself to double-check Antonio. There’s no location update. A call to the phone I gave her dumps me right into an auto attendant.
“Cazzo.” I throw my phone to the floor of the G-Wagon Priest’s driver, Rocco, is navigating through the traffic-laden bridge into the city.
We’ve been stop-go, stop-go for the last hour, and there’s no sign of the stalemate breaking up any time soon. An accident has closed down two lanes of traffic, and we have no way to make a U-turn and retrace our steps.
I’ve never felt more helpless.
I need to get to Katya, to find her. To know she’s safe.
“You going to fill me in, fratello?” Lucky asks from the other side of the G-Wagon.
I don’t want to fill him in. I don’t even know what’s going on. But there’s no hiding the phone call I just had.
So I sigh, then run a hand through my hair.
“That was Antonio. Katya asked him to take her to a home improvement store, and while he was waiting at the paint desk, she made a trip to the restroom and didn’t come back.
Turns out, she left the store and headed to the subway.
From there, she turned off her phone so she’s currently untraceable. ”
Lucky whistles. “Doesn’t look good for you. Is she running off to Sidorov, do you think?”
“Without the tracking, I have no clue.”
“Should have put an AirTag in her pussy instead of your dick,” Lucky tells me, smirking.
I’d punch him again if it weren’t for the fact that he’s just made me realize something. I did slip an AirTag into the zippered compartment of her purse. The call from Antonio and the shock of Katya going missing had my head so fucked up that I didn’t think about it.
“Wait a minute.” I undo my seat belt and retrieve my phone, which is wedged under the driver’s seat. “I linked one to her new phone and hid it in her purse.”
I unlock my phone and swipe through to the right screen. Sure enough, there it is. Or rather, there she is, and I know where she’s headed.
“Rocco,” I bark out, “there’s been a change of plans. Take us downtown when we get into the city instead.”
“You got it,” Rocco says.
It’s not as if he can do much to get us there yet. We’re still on pause, stuck in the same lane. But hopefully this shit starts moving soon.
“So, your Russian ballerina is playing runaway bride?” Lucky shakes his head. “Ouch.”
“She didn’t leave me, stronzo.”
At least, I don’t think she’s leaving me. But I’m not sure what she’s got up her sleeve. It’s possible that she’s meeting up with Mikhail. That it’s something the two of them prearranged before I confiscated that fucking burner phone.
But I’m not willing to believe that yet. Not without proof.
I want to believe there’s a good reason for her suddenly going dark. If I had to put my money on it, I’d bet that it has to do with her stepmother and that fucking picture.
“She’s probably meeting up with her brother,” I add, unable to shake the worry from my gut.
“Pakhan?” Lucky asks.
“I don’t know which one,” I admit, even though it kills me.
“Priest’s not going to like this.”
I shoot a glare at my brother. “That’s why we’re not going to fucking tell him until after I find Katya.”
Lucky gives me a look. “You sure about that, fratello?”
“Yup,” I respond succinctly.
As in, end of story. I outrank you, I’m older than you, and you need to sit the fuck down and let me lead.
But the truth is, I’m not sure about anything anymore.
“Whatever happens, this is on your head,” Lucky mutters.
That’s when something else hits me, a strange sensation deep in my gut like I’m missing something.
“Luck,” I say slowly, reloading the tracking app on my phone that shows me Katya’s location. “What’s the address of the Bratva sex club?”
He rattles off the street and numbers, and everything inside me turns to ice.
Because it matches what I’m seeing on my phone.
“Call it off!” I holler at him. “Call it the fuck off right now.”
“Jesus,” he snaps. “Call what off? You’re not making any sense.”
“The detonation,” I snap, desperate. I want to tear this fucking car apart with my bare hands. I want to kill everyone on this fucking road who’s keeping me from where I need to be. “Call it off right goddamn now.”
“I can’t call it off. My guys have already started the countdown. There’s no pause button.”
I grab Lucky by the shirt, shaking him, out of my mind. “Jesus fuck, Lucky. That’s where Katya is. She’s in the fucking club.”
“Calm the fuck down,” Lucky bites out, “and listen to me. My guys are going to call the front desk five minutes before it goes off, warning everyone to clear out. It’s going to be okay. She’ll get out of there in time.”
“Damn it!” I rage. “That’s not good enough.”
Traffic hasn’t budged an inch. I’ve never felt more helpless or trapped.
I open the car door.
“What the hell are you doing?” my brother demands.
I slide out onto the pavement. “I’m getting to her as fast as I can.”
“That’s fucking crazy,” Lucky argues. “You’ll never get there in time.”
“Watch me.”
Then I slam the door shut and take off running through the stopped cars.