Chapter 26 Anton
ANTON
“Nikolai’s estate is well fortified,” I say to the roomful of my brigadiers. “But it’s not impossible to breach. We’re going to have to move quietly in order to take him by surprise.”
Agreements all around the table. After I told them about the break in, there was no questioning what had to be done. Nikolai, for whatever reason, broke this truce. Now, I’m going to break him in half.
“Also,” I add, “there is one element to this that I think everyone should be aware of. During his attack on me and Mikki, his men kidnapped a young woman who’s been staying with me.
” I hesitate. Part of me doesn’t want to tell them, but I have to.
If Natalya is hurt in the crossfire of this raid, I’ll never forgive myself.
“The woman is Natalya Petrov,” I tell them.
There’s an uneasy rustle among them. “Yes,” I add.
“That Natalya Petrov. For obvious reasons, she is to remain unharmed. If she comes out of this any other way than whole and any of you had to do with it, accidental or otherwise, you will answer to me. Am I understood?”
Everyone nods or speaks in the affirmative.
“Good. Questions? Ask them now. Anything you are not clear on, I will not repeat once we’re in the thick of it.”
No one speaks for a second or two, then Leonard, one of my younger brigadiers, asks, “Should we find Ms. Petrov, are we returning her to this house?”
“Yes.” I don’t elaborate. I know every single one of them wants to know how it is that the daughter of Vladimir Petrov is coming back to my house instead of back to her father, but that doesn’t matter right now. It’s none of their business. “Any questions about our strategy? Or what must be done?”
No one says a word. The door to the meeting room opens and Mikki sticks his head in. I was just wondering where he was. Shortly before the meeting started, his phone buzzed and he excused himself.
“Sorry, Anton, but I need a word.”
“This can’t wait?”
“I’m afraid not.”
I give everyone a quick glance, then, “I’ll be right back to go over weapons and positions with everyone.”
I leave the room and Mikki closes the door and walks me a few paces away so we won’t be overheard. “What’s going on?”
“Iggy just called me. He saw Kat a little while ago, drunk off her ass at the Firebird.”
I glare at him. “You seriously pulled me out to tell me about Kat? Now? Out of all times?”
“No, listen. Iggy says Kat was so drunk that she was getting into it with the girls there. According to him, it was getting crazy until one of the patrons stepped in and calmed her down.”
I roll my eyes. I sincerely hope this story is going somewhere. “So, she’s feeling remorse for attacking Natalya. I could give a shit.”
“You don’t understand. The patron was Vladimir Petrov. Iggy said that he was there asking questions about his daughter. So, Vladimir sits down and starts talking to Kat and she tells him that Natalya is staying here.”
I stare at him, trying to discern his meaning. “Okay. All the more reason to get Natalya back before he finds out.”
“Anton, she’s not with Nikolai. Iggy says that he ended up leaving with Kat. I’m willing to bet that she told him every detail about her staying here. I think he might be the one responsible for this.”
“Mikki—”
“Think about it. Why would Nikolai go back on his word less than two or three days after calling the truce? After telling you he wasn’t responsible for Maksim’s death? Vladimir Petrov finds out that his daughter is with you and a few hours later, she gets kidnapped? That cannot be a coincidence.”
It can’t. Damn Kat and her big fucking mouth. I need confirmation before I act. I need to hear what happened from her mouth. “Find Kat. Bring her here. Now.”
“On it.”
He turns and leaves. I watch him go, my mind spinning. If Vladimir’s the one behind this, he’s playing a dangerous game. I was about to break a truce and restart a war over Natalya. I still might. It’s all a matter of who gets it.
I sent everyone home and told them to wait for my instruction. That was an hour ago. Now I’m pacing the floors, waiting for Mikki’s return. Night’s fallen and Natalya’s been gone for hours now. Who knows what’s happening to her?
I don’t want to think about the possibilities, so I start to theorize about Vladimir’s intentions. On the surface, it seems like a father launching what he thinks is a rescue mission, something I could understand completely. If only Natalya hadn’t been so adamant about not returning to him.
Her resistance to going back to her father wasn’t about childish pleas for independence. She was already living on her own. If she thought it was safe to return to her father in the face of someone possibly hurting her, she would have done it. She might even have had me bring her to him.
But that’s not what she did. She opted to stay with me for protection instead of the man she’s known her whole life.
It’s the thing that’s been bugging me this whole time. The pieces that are missing about their relationship. All I do know is that Vladimir doesn’t have the best intentions in mind for her. If I know nothing about any of this, I know Natalya is afraid of her father.
I also know the rules about sleeping with the daughter of another Pakhan… who’s also twenty years my junior. Is this just about honor, what he’s done? I had to kill two of his men. That incident is enough to spark war with me, but wouldn’t I start a war for someone I loved?
It still tastes bad to me and I can’t quite put my finger on why. It’s clear to me that I would do the same for Natalya. I almost have done the same.
When I get the truth out of Kat, I’ll go to him and we’ll talk man to man about this situation.
It’s not expected or even acceptable in our circles, but the bottom line is that I love Natalya and like it or not, she is an adult and can make her own choices.
If she chooses to be with me, then we will leave his home together.
Hopefully, Vladimir will see sense and leave us in peace.
Headlights flash through the living room windows and I stop my pacing. Mikki’s back.
I go to the door and open it as he parks his car in front of the house. He gets out and I hear Kat yelling at him. He gives me a look of exasperation as he walks around to her side of the car and opens the door.
Kat gets out, or rather, stumbles out. Still drunk.
“This is bullshit,” she slurs. “You think you can just come to my house and pull me out into the night and not catch hell for it? Wait until I tell Vlad…” She turns slightly, realizing where she is.
Her head whips around to Mikki and she starts babbling.
“Please, Mikki. Take me home. Don’t bring me to Anton. Please.”
He grabs her by the back of the neck. “Come on, Kat. Time to pay the piper.” He leads her around the car toward the front door, pushing her toward the steps. She stumbles but catches herself on the railing. The moment she sees me, tears form.
“Anton,” she says. “I haven’t done anything. I stayed away just like you told me—”
I’m down the stairs and on her, grabbing her by the arm and wrenching her the rest of the way up the steps. “Just need a little information from you, my dear.”
I push her inside. She stumbles, tripping over her feet and falling to the floor. I squat down next to her, meeting her terrified glare.
“I’m going to ask you something,” I say. “And you’re going to tell me everything you know. Give me the answers that I want and maybe I’ll let you live.”
“You can’t kill me, Anton,” she says desperately. “Please. I did what you told me—”
I grab her by the hair and say, “Just answer the questions and everything will be fine. All right?”
She stares up at me, her eyes shaking.
“Do you understand?”
“Y–Yes.”
I let her go. She sits up, rubbing the back of her head.
“You were at the Firebird recently, yes?”
“Y–Yes. Yes, I was.” Her eyes drift past me to Mikki, who’s standing in the doorway, blocking her path if she decides to run. “I was depressed so I decided to have a few drinks.”
“You got shitfaced,” I tell her, “and you started trouble there with the girls. Correct?”
She nods. “But I didn’t mean—”
“Just answer the fucking questions, Kat. I don’t need your color commentary.”
She purses her lips and gives me a shaky nod.
“You were about to be thrown out and someone stepped in. Who was it?”
She swallows hard. “I can talk to whoever I wan— Ow!”
I yank her head back by her hair and pull the knife out of the holster in my belt. “Wrong answer.”
She sees the blade and says, “Okay, okay. It was Vladimir Petrov. H–He was asking questions about his daughter. He showed me a photo and I told him where he could find her.”
I stare at her. She’s afraid… but she isn’t lying. I let her head go. Shit.
“Mikki,” I say as I holster my knife and stand up, “clean this up and take it home. I’m done.”
Mikki takes two steps toward her as she looks over at me.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Suddenly and strangely out of the blue, she starts laughing.
“God, you are so weak,” she says. She’s got a broad smile on her face, despite her blonde hair being mussed and the blouse she’s got on hanging off one shoulder.
“I should have known you wouldn’t hurt me,” she says, her voice shaking. “You started fucking that girl and all of a sudden, a fat bastard like Vladimir Petrov can just walk all over you. No wonder he’s got it out for you. He’s trying to stomp out the weak links.”
I tilt my head. That bad taste is back. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She stands up, straightening her blouse and running her hands over her hair.
“When I told Vladimir about his daughter, he drove me home… then he fucked my brains out. Fucked me really, really good. Better than you ever have. And you know what he told me after? He told me that when he’s the last one standing, I’ll have a place at his side.
My reward for giving him his daughter back. ”
My heart is pounding. Her jeers are pressing every button I have, but I need to know what she’s talking about. “What do you mean, ‘last one standing’?”
“What do you think I mean?” she asks. “All that strategic bullshit training and you can’t even see who would benefit the most if the Amur and the Astrakhan were wiped out. You poor, weak bastard—”
I grab her by the neck and squeeze. She gags. Her nails dig into my wrists. I could snap her neck easily. It wouldn’t even take much effort…
Her face turns red… then it deepens to purple and her lips start to turn blue. I’ve never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life.
But I don’t. As vile as she is, this anger isn’t for her. I let her go. She drops to the floor, gasping for air.
“You are alive right now because of me,” I growl at her. “Remember that the next time you decide to get in my fucking way.”
Mikki steps in, grabbing her off the floor and dragging her out. When he gets to the door, I tell him, “Come right back when you’re done. We’ve got work to do.”