Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Nicholas
Ileave Sage at her engagement party in Freddie's reliable hands, my heart in my throat as I take the short walk across the mansion halls to get to Anton's office.
When I get there, I don't bother to knock. Instead, I just barge inside, where I find Anton already waiting and sitting in one of the armchairs, eyes vacant and a whiskey clutched in one hand.
I watched him escape the party about five minutes before me. I know he's seen everything as clearly as I have. But I bet his heart doesn't splinter because of it. I bet there are no tattooed Rushkoff hands reaching into his chest to rip his heart out.
"Nic," Anton greets, slurping down the last of his whiskey and gesturing for me to sit across from him.
"Anton," I say, resting down into the chair like the weight of everything that's resting on my shoulders right now.
"Couldn't stand it either?" Anton asks.
I nod. "Yeah. Freddie's covering her for now."
Anton shakes his head. "I'd say there's a lot more than just Freddie covering her."
I run a worried hand over my mouth and lean forward in my chair.
"You don't have to tell me that." Believe me, I already fucking know.
I watched her with him. The way she honed in on him when she came down those stairs.
How they pressed together when they danced, eyes glued together like they were the only sight worth seeing.
When she finally made her way to me, her eyes still shone with the admiration she's always given me.
Yet still, I can't shake the feeling that wants to sprout.
Anton watches me curiously, his head tilting back and forth like he's trying to bore my brain open and extract all my secrets. "I think we can both agree that things are getting out of hand."
I nod. Though I'm not sure what he's referring to.
Because there are so many things that are out of hand.
The presence of the Rushkoffs, any impending arrangement between Victor and Sage, myself and Sage...
then there's that fucker Alexei. I stifle a laugh.
"It depends on which thing you're talking about. "
Anton gives a tired laugh too, and scrubs a hand down his face. There's a shadow of stubble on his chin, his tired eyes sunken in. "All of it," he finally concedes. "The Rushkoffs... are becoming a problem."
"I agree," I say, trying to stop my excitement sounding through.
"This marriage, I don't like it. Anton, I don't give a fuck what was written in any kind of will or contract or document.
I won't ship her off to him." I lean forward and barely let myself think of the repercussions of my words as I launch them at him.
"Please. Please don't make me." I cut myself off and worry my lip with my thumb.
"Because of what's going on between the two of you?" Anton says.
My startled eyes find his. But he gives me nothing.
"Or because of whatever is going on with her and Alexei?" Anton finishes.
My heart goes off like a cymbal, clanging loudly enough to create a ringing in my ears.
He's noticed it too. Which means I'm not just seeing things, and I'm definitely not making it up in my head.
There's something about the hatred that they pour into each other that is starting to come across much more like...
"I don't think they have any idea what they're doing to each other." I smile through the hurt.
Anton eyes me warily as if I'm a gun primed to fire. "That must be hard for you."
"I don't need a therapist," I say, giving him a chuckle. "But I'll have whatever she gives me until she tells me otherwise."
Anton nods again.
"She..."
"Loves you," Anton finishes. "That much is clear. As it has been ever since you've been around here." He stands and makes his way towards his desk to sit behind it. "You're the only dumbass that didn't realize."
I laugh and let out a groan, praying that is still true before I run out of chances. She's given me far too many as it is.
"I've figured it out far too late," I admit, going to stand at the window. "Whatever is there between her and Alexei may be too far gone now."
"Could be nothing."
"It doesn't feel like nothing. It feels like the beginning of something."
"Nic, you know that girl means the world to me. Whatever she chooses... I..."
"I know."
"If she chooses Alexei?"
My face turns to solid stone as my blood heats. I level him with the angriest glare I've ever felt in my life. "Then he'd better fucking deserve her."
Anton raises his hands in a surrendering gesture. He watches me for a moment, maybe to sense if I'm calming down. I'm not, but he must think I have because he continues. "Would that change anything for you? Here?"
"No," I say, shaking my head. It would tear my heart in two, rip my guts out from my throat, but it would change nothing. "I'll die for her and this family regardless of whether she loves me back."
"Good," he nods and then he levels me with a harsh glare of his own. "Because when it comes to her, all of us are expendable. Dimitri would say the same if he were here."
"We just need to get rid of the fucking Rushkoffs," I say instead. Meaning more to whisper it to myself but grateful for the opportunity to say it to Anton. I miss the days when it was just Sage and me here. No fiancé. No brother-in-law. Just the days that I took for granted.
Anton barks a laugh. "Understatement," he says. "They need to go."
"Sage planted a cloning device on Victor's phone. He knows," I say.
I hear a thud and turn to find Anton banging his head against the desk. "For fuck's sake," he says. "She won't leave well enough alone will she?"
"Probably not," I reply. "I don't trust Victor either. Something about him is off."
"I know." Anton raises a brow at me.
"I can't put my finger on it. Even with the psycho Rushkoff running around here, Victor still seems like the bigger threat."
"Did Sage find anything on his phone?"
"I don't know yet," I say. "I'll keep an eye on it."
"I doubt we'll have any luck convincing Victor to go quietly," Anton says, thinking out loud to himself. Though I have to agree. I turn back to look at Anton to find him watching me again. "She doesn't want to marry him. But she won't say no to him, because of the threat to us if she does."
"So don't give her a choice," I say, heart plummeting even as I do. I know taking the choice from her is a betrayal. But she's choosing wrong. "As I've said all along."
"You can't be serious," Anton says, huffing out a breath. "She'll kill us."
"Victor might beat her to it," I say, smiling at him. His lips twitch even as he tries to remain annoyed. "I'll death promise Victor if I have to. He has too much honor to back down from that."
"You're not death promising Victor," Anton growls.
I just shrug. "Victor is friendly with you now, Anton. He might back off and then I won't have to."
He looks away, staring off into space like he very much doubts that I'm right.
"I'll keep her safe," I say. "You just get the fucking Rushkoffs out of here. Both of them."
I leave him with the particulars of figuring out how the fuck to do that. I turn back to the window, watching the lawns. Wondering if I've used up all my grand gesture chance cards to win her over. I'll need them once she finds out what we've done. Especially if it starts a war.
As I'm looking out the window, I spot a figure in the distance. A familiar woman in an olive-colored cocktail dress running up the driveway in her heels.
"Fucking Freddie!" I launch into a run out of Anton's office.
Sage grunts and flails comically, like her legs have turned to jelly. She's halfway up the fence, struggling to get over without the motion sensors going off. It's got to be a nightmare in that little olive dress. She can't even lift her leg properly to haul herself over.
I fold my arms across my suit, holding in my laugh as I watch her.
God, she's funny. I don't think she even means to be.
She continues on without noticing I've spotted her and am watching. She tries one foot and then the other, but that death grip she has on the fence will not make an ounce of difference if she can't lift her leg.
"You're kidding me right?" I say, and she pauses her climbing, head turning slowly over her shoulder. She sighs when she confirms, that yes, I have found her. Gravel crunches under my feet as I approach her. "You're trying to scale the fucking fence? In the middle of your own engagement party?"
"How do you always know?" she groans, throwing her head back in a grimace.
"It's my job to know," I chuckle. I move closer to peer up at her as she continues to cling to the fence for dear life. "You gonna come down?"
She shakes her head.
"Am I gonna pull you down?" I ask, standing up straight and readying to do just that.
She shakes her head again.
"How is this going to go down then?"
She closes her eyes, and I think that's where we're going to leave it. This will be where she comes down and I live another day wondering what the fuck she's still hiding from me.
She purses her lips as she thuds her head against the bars and says, "I'm going to trust you." It physically hurts her to do this. To trust me. She's either gotten herself in some really deep shit or I've fucked my chances more than I thought.
"I'm getting out of here tonight, Nic. And if you must come with me to make that happen, then so be it."
I take a step away from the fence. This is big for her. I know that. But I look back up the driveway to where I can see the party still raging in the ballroom all the way up to the second floor.
Am I really going to run off with her in the middle of her God damn engagement party?
Fuck.
I am. I'm gonna do it.
I check my holsters to make sure I'm equipped with enough ammo.
Checking all my weapons up my legs and then my arms, making sure they're all there and loaded before I roll up my sleeves and step up to her.
I place my hand under her foot and she gasps as I launch her easily the rest of the way up the fence.