15. Chapter Fifteen #2
But Mikhail is not my husband. He doesn’t have my best interests in mind. He’s doing all of this for Natalya. If I wasn’t Natalya’s sister, then Mikhail probably would have gunned me down to get to Nico. That thought makes me shiver.
The sound of sirens rings through the night.
“We need to leave,” Mikhail says. “This whole place is going to be a crime scene. Come on.” He grabs my arm and hauls me out the back gate.
I look around, expecting Nico to pop out of nowhere and start fighting Mikhail. But he’s nowhere to be seen.
Mikhail takes me to his car and we drive away from Nico’s house. From my house.
While I’m happy I’ll get to be with my sister again, knowing that I’ll be safe with her, I also can’t deny the ache in my chest when I think about Nico.
I finally let him have all of me, whether because I trust him or I was just tired of fighting my desire for him.
I’m not sure which. But I do know that I already miss him.
Knowing that he and Mikhail are at war doesn’t sit right with me. Natalya or I could be killed in it.
I peek at Mikhail. His face is stoic as he drives. No expression. No emotion.
He may love my sister and want to protect her, but he doesn’t feel the same way for me. I can’t fully trust him. Even Natalya I have to be careful of. Will she choose her husband over me if push came to shove? The fact that I’m not sure worries me.
Which means that the one person I can only really trust is Nico.
I almost laugh at how ironic that is.
Mikhail brings me to his home. The fact that I don’t feel as safe as I should is upsetting. I’ll be with Natalya. I know she’ll do everything in her power to keep me safe.
So why do I feel this way?
Mikhail grabs my arm, leading me inside, like he’s worried I’m going to make a run for it.
But where would I run to? I don’t know where Nico went and I know enough to know that it’s not safe out there on my own.
Not in the mafia world. Not when someone else might want to use me to hurt Nico.
He has other enemies beyond just Mikhail.
Giovanni flashes in my mind. I have to remind myself that he’s in Rome. He’s not here.
Natalya is pacing around the foyer but the second she sees me, she runs and throws her arms around me.
It takes me a moment but I hug her back.
I can’t deny that I do feel safe in her arms. My big sister.
She was never one to hug me a lot when we were kids.
She tended to show more affection to Irina because they’re similar.
So to have Natalya hugging me now makes me break down into tears.
“You’re safe now,” she whispers into my hair. “I got you.”
“I was so scared.”
“You’re safe, Sasha. I promise.”
I pull back. “Can we talk? Just the two of us?”
She looks to Mikhail and he nods. “This way.”
“You need his permission?” I ask as we walk down the hallway and into a guest room.
“Mikhail likes to be in control and I like being controlled. It’s unconventional but it works for us.”
“So, a submissive housewife.”
She shoots me a look. “Don’t judge me on my marriage, Sasha. I did what I had to do to survive. Don’t be angry with me for finding a way to love Mikhail.”
“Fine. But don’t be angry with me for finding a way to care for Nico.” I can’t say the word ‘love.’ I’m not even sure if I do love Nico. I just know I don’t want him dead. Maybe that is love.
“You care for Nico? But how?”
“Maybe the same way you care for Mikhail. He’s your husband. You had to make the most out of it. I did the same with Nico.”
“And now you have feelings for him?”
I shrug. “Yeah. I do. But I’m glad to be here with you. I know you’ll keep me safe. But… I’m not sure Mikhail will.”
Natalya sighs and flaps her hands down at her sides in clear annoyance.
“Why don’t you trust Mikhail? He’s my husband.
He will help you. He’s been looking for ways to get Irina and Ana out of the house for the past year now.
But he didn’t want to go in there and start shooting and risk killing them. ”
“Oh, like he did today with me?”
She stills. “He did what?”
“Oh? You didn’t know? He set Nico’s house on fire with me in it. He pointed a machine gun at me to get to Nico. He didn’t pull the trigger but I’m pretty positive he considered it. He has a hate for Nico that extends beyond his need to save me for you.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. But Nico tried to kill me. Mikhail was only doing what a protective husband does.”
“And so was Nico!”
Anger flashes in her eyes as she paces around the room. “Nico was trying to save you by putting a gun to my head?”
I flinch. “I mean… no. He was just trying to give Mikhail a warning, I think. But I could have been killed with what Mikhail did.”
“And I could have been killed by Nico so many times before. Long before you were married to him. He is not a good man. I’ve seen that myself. So excuse me if I don’t like the guy, when it seems to me that you clearly do like him.”
“I mean… fair,” I grumble. “You have a right to hate him. Sometimes I still hate him. But I’ve grown closer to him. I can’t deny it. And I don’t want him dead.”
The fight seems to leave Natalya at the same time it does me. “Ok. But Mikhail wants justice. There’s a good chance he’ll kill him. Why didn’t he kill him?”
“Because I stood in front of Nico so Mikhail wouldn’t shoot.”
A small smile plays on Natalya’s lips. “Funny. I’ve stood in front of Mikhail before, keeping him from dying. We’re not so different, are we?”
A part of me wants to rebel at the idea of being anything like my sister and yet…
It also feels kind of nice to have something in common with her for once. We never did growing up. She the demure, disciplined ballerina. Me the hothead who couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“I know you don’t want to hear it,” I say slowly, “but I don’t trust Mikahil to fully keep me safe. I trust you though.”
Natalya gives me her hand. “And that’s all you need. As long as we’re together, we can get through anything. I believe it.”
I decide to take her hand. The moment we touch, I feel safe. But I can’t deny that Natalya’s hand doesn’t exactly feel like home anymore.
Nico felt like home.
I’m not sure what to do with that.
Nico
Since Mikhail kicked me out of my own fucking home with me wearing nothing but the pants on my body, I have no way to call for help. I don’t even have fucking shoes on.
I can’t risk returning to my home. The fire has spread and I’m sure firefighters and the police are there. I don’t need anyone asking me questions that I can’t answer.
So I have no choice but to walk until I reach one of my men’s houses – Tony. He lets me in after I bang on his front door. He’s a good loyal follower of mine. Collects his money owed to me on time. Never talks back. He’s a good friend to have because right now, I don’t have many friends.
“I need to use your phone,” I rasp out. He doesn’t question me as he hands it over. I call Denis. “Mikhail attacked my fucking home and stole my wife. We have to go after him.”
“I want that fucker dead just as much as you,” Denis hisses. “But…”
I stand up straighter. “But?”
“But I’m busy disciplining my nieces right now. I can’t come. They thought they could try and escape. When I left for Rome. They tried to leave but were caught.”
“Discipline them how?” I slowly ask. Not that I care about Irina or Ana but… the thought of Denis beating up Sasha’s sisters doesn’t exactly sit right with me.
“By locking them both up. But I also gave them each a good beating. They won’t be running again anytime soon.”
I clinch the bridge of my nose. It’s in moments like this that I’m reminded of how much Denis annoys the fuck out of me.
I only made a deal with him to gain power and get Sasha, not because I like Denis as a person.
Now, I’m no fucking saint. But I don’t beat up helpless women.
It’s my one code on conduct. An honor system if you will.
But I can’t tell Denis what to do in his own home, even if I did have the power to take Irina and Ana away from him. Which I do. Yet, I can’t risk pissing off an ally. Not when I’m in danger at the moment.
“Fine. You’re no fucking help.” I hang up and call Adrien. “Can you get here?”
“Since I’m currently in Paris, if you mean New York, then no.”
“I need help in taking down Mikhail Novikoff. I need all the strength I can get.”
“Sorry, Nico. Can’t help you with that. I have my own work to attend to. You can understand.”
I do but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to reach through my phone and slap Adrien upside the head. “Fine. You’re no help either.”
Once I hang up, I toss the phone back to Tony.
“What happened?” he asks.
I tell him everything. The fire. The dead guards. Mikhail taking my wife.
“It’s a shitshow,” I mutter. “I could send men to his house but what if he tries to kill Sasha? I can’t risk it.” Now I understand why Mikhail never got Irina and Ana out of Denis’s house: he never wanted to accidently kill them. He loves his wife. It’s his one weakness.
It’s also becoming my weakness. I care for Sasha more than I would tell anyone. If she were to get hurt…
I can’t even fucking go there.
“There’s always the Irish,” Tony suggests.
“What about them?”
“They hate Mikhail too. Maybe they’ll help you.”
I stare at Tony like he’s stupid. “I killed their previous boss. I don’t think they’re going to want to work with me to take Mikhail down.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“Not if the Irish try coming for me,” I mutter. Fuck. I returned to New York to keep Sasha safe from Giovanni but now I’m reminded of all the dangers here from the Bratva to the Irish. I have to be careful.
“Do you have clothes I can borrow?” I ask.
After I’m dressed, I leave Tony’s house – with Tony’s phone. I need it more than him at the moment.
I also borrow Tony’s car and drive it to one of my restaurants. I just need a place to think and consider what I’m going to do next.
But of course things can’t be that fucking simple.
The moment I get out of my car, I notice a few men down the road get out of their car. They approach me.
“Who are you?” I ask.
There’s three of them, all in their twenties. They look like fucking punks to me.
“Liam O’Connor wants to talk.”
Fuck me. They’re Irish. Of course they are.
“Why does Liam want to talk with me?”
“Seeing as you killed his boss a year ago, he’s still angry about it.”
“How did you fuckers even find me here?” I ask.
They share a look and a laugh that makes me want to punch them. “He has all of us keeping an eye out at every property you own. He figured you would show up at some point. So come with us. We can do this the hard way or the easy way.” The leader flashes me his gun.
I roll my eyes. “I can’t fucking believe this.” The reality is that I’m outnumbered and they all have guns. I don’t have a weapon myself because Tony doesn’t like to carry fucking guns in his house.
“Fine,” I grumble. “I’ll go with you. It’s time Liam and I talk anyway.”