Chapter 19
Tomorrow turns into a string of tomorrows. It’s been two weeks since Artem said we needed to work out how to resolve my mess.
He’s been talking with my brothers. He’s not even trying to hide it anymore. His conversations no longer switch to Russian when I walk into the living room and find him on the phone. The past few days he’s been more adamant about making sure I know when he’s talking to Alexander.
He always offers the phone, and I politely decline.
It’s been months, but I’m not ready to hear the lecture.
Alexander is good at them, and they can go on for a long time.
I’m skilled at ignoring most of what he says, but this time I deserve it.
I’m just too much of a wimp to subject myself to it yet.
“Elana.” He towers over me as I work my needle through the fabric of my nearly completed project. Needlepoint had been a way to quiet my mind, but I’ve found in the last few weeks Artem has had the same effect.
He’s still overbearing, always watching me and demanding to know what’s going on in my thoughts.
When our gazes meet, cold runs down my spine. “What’s wrong?”
“Kaz’s wife, Sienna, was hurt.”
I drop my needlepoint onto my lap. “Hurt how? Did Janis—”
“No.” He’s quick to answer. “Her cousin beat her badly.”
“Oh my god. Is she okay?”
“She’s healing, but she lost a baby.”
“Oh no.” Tears spring to my eyes. “Oh God.” The needlepoint falls to the floor as I jump to my feet, suddenly needing to move.
“Elana.”
“Why? Why did he hurt her?”
“She was unwilling to betray Kaz at her family’s demand.”
I stop short. My lungs freeze.
Before I can say anything, he shakes his head. “This is not on you. Do you understand, Elana? Her own family did this.”
I nod, because he seems to want a response, and my throat is closing around my words.
“We need to go home. You need to go home.” He emphasizes my part in his plan. “Enough hiding.”
“And if Janis follows me? I will have brought a whole new enemy to my brothers’ door.”
“Janis won’t be an issue.”
“How do you know that? We’ve been stuck in this cabin because of the bounty he put on our heads.”
“A bounty easily paid.” His shoulders drop. “Janis will be handled. You need to go home.”
He could have been handled this entire time if it was just a matter of paying a bounty. This cabin hasn’t been a hideout from Janis. It’s been me hiding from myself.
So afraid to face everything I’ve done wrong, all the selfish decisions I made, I just kept making them. And this time, I’ve dragged Artem along with me.
When I stay silent, his dark eyebrow lifts into a sharp peek. “I will drag you there myself. But I don’t want to do it that way.”
“You won’t have to that.” I raise my chin. “You’re right. It’s past time to go home. When should we leave?”
His eyes narrow slightly, like he’s not entirely sure he trusts what I’m saying. I can’t blame him. How many times have I pretended to do one thing in order to do another?
“I mean it,” I say solemnly. “Kaz needs me. He needs us. We should go.”
“I have a plane waiting for us at a small airport forty-five minutes from here.”
“Now? You want to go now?” I’m not changing my mind, but really, a little bit of time would have been appreciated.
He lifts a shoulder “No time like the present.”
“You knew. You’ve been planning this the entire day. You didn’t just call up the airport; you had this worked out already.”
He stares at me blankly.
“Artem, I’m right, aren’t I?”
“I needed to be sure I’d be able to get you onto a plane quickly if you decided to give me trouble.” He shrugs casually. “I’ve already packed your clothes.”
“Seriously?” I deadpan. “You really thought you were going to have caveman me out of here?”
“If by that you mean I was going to have to drag you out of here, then I will admit I thought there might be a possibility.”
His little smirk soothes the edges of my irritation. Why wouldn’t he think that? It’s not like I’ve been open to the idea of leaving this place.
“Can I at least use the bathroom before we leave, or do you have backup plan for that too?”
He laughs. “No. You can use the bathroom.”
“Thank you.” I stick my tongue at him as I round the couch and head to the bathroom so I can wash up before I’m forced to face humanity again.
“Two minutes, then I break down the door,” he warns just as I shut the door.
An hour later, we’re in the air, and three hours later we’re in the car headed to Kaz’s townhouse. My stomach is in shambles, rolling over and trembling harder the closer to his place we get.
Artem reaches across the center console and squeezes my hand. “It’s going to be all right.”
I squeeze him back. “I’ve been gone a long time. I know they don’t blame me for what happened with Tony and his brothers, but running away—I’m sure they’re a little pissed about that.”
“You’ve survived worse than Alexander blowing hot air at you.”
“Is he going to be there? I thought it would just be Kaz.”
“I let them know we were coming. Alexander and Ivan are waiting.”
I groan. “That’s a lot to spring on me.”
He pulls through the gates of Kaz’s drive and parks beside Alexander’s SUV. Ivan’s already here, too.
I put my hand to my stomach and close my eyes, taking in a long slow breath.
“You okay?” He eyes me.
“I’m trying not to throw up all over your dashboard.”
“You’ve never been nervous dealing with them before.”
“I’ve never been this in the wrong before.” I look at him through lowered lids. “Any chance you could just go in there, tell them I’m sorry, then whisk me away somewhere…is my apartment still available?”
He pulls my hand from my stomach and brings it to my face, pressing my palm against the rough stubble of his beard. “I’m here. Nothing will hurt you so long as I’m with you.”
“And if they realize we’ve been…”
“Fucking?” He provides when I can’t get the word out.
“Yeah.” I exhale. “Ivan had the captain of the varsity football team’s car impounded then crushed because his—and I’m using his words here—eyes lingered too long on me when Ivan picked me up from school.
” I refused to let him or any of my brothers pick me up after that.
“For this, he might have you put in the car first before crushing it.”
“I’ve made my intentions clear. We’ve worked it all out.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, but he’s already climbing out of the car. I shove open my door and jump out. “Artem. What does that mean?” I ask again, hurrying to follow him up the front steps of Kaz’s townhouse.
Before I’m able to step onto the front porch the door swings open, and light from inside shrouds the person in the doorway in a black silhouette.
Artem steps to the side, putting me face to face with the hulking figure who steps onto the porch.
The soft light from the porch lamp illuminates his face, and my mouth dries.
Alexander stands before me, his eyes darker than Satan’s soul and his hands clenched at his sides.
“Easy,” Artem says softly.
Alexander’s gaze sweeps over me, inspecting me from head to toe. His eyes land on the small wound on my chest. Artem removed the stitches yesterday morning. It’s healing, but still obvious to the naked eye.
“I’m fine,” I blurt out. “I’m not hurt.”
His jaw flexes.
“Alexander. I promise. I’m not hurt. And.” I swallow. “I’m sorry. About everything.”
“Elana?” Megan, his wife, calls from behind him. “Alexander, move, you big brute.” She slaps at his back.
His eyes soften at the sound of her voice. She lifts up his arm, and ducks under, jumping at me in a big hug.
“Thank god.” She squeezes me tighter. “What the hell have you been doing? I want all the details, but later, when your brother doesn’t look so murdery.”
I laugh. “When doesn’t he?”
“Get out of the way, let me have a turn.” Vivienne pulls Megan off me, only to pull me into another hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Of course I’m okay,” I say stepping out of her embrace. “I’m very good at taking care of myself.”
Artem clears his throat.
“Plus I had him lurking in dark corners like a psychopath stalker,” I add jerking my chin toward him.
Alexander’s eyebrow lifts to a peak.
“Let her inside,” I hear Kaz before I see him. Alexander turns, giving me enough space to walk past him into the house.
I glance at Artem, my stomach shaking again. Out of everyone, Kaz has had to bear the brunt of my actions. He’d been forced to marry Tony’s sister as a way to broker peace.
Artem’s expression says everything I need to hear. I’m safe, and he’s here.
When I step over the threshold into the house, I’m yanked into a bear hug. Kaz squeezes me so tightly, I squeak.
“If you ever do this again, Elana, I will let Alexander lock you away like he’s always threatening to do.
” Kaz lifts me from the ground then drops me, grabbing my arm to steady me so I don’t fall back.
It’s the same way he used to manhandle me when I was a kid.
Though back then, he’d let me fall on my ass so he could laugh.
“I’m sorry. Everything I did—”
He puts his hand up and shakes his head. “No more apologies. No more guilt. No more running away.” He points a long finger at me, which makes him look more like Alexander than himself.
“I told you we should have locked her away at a boarding school years ago,” Ivan says from behind Kaz.
“You never said that,” Alexander protests. “That had been my plan, you were against it. Both of you were. Maybe you both should have listened to me.”
Ivan smirks, ignoring our big brother. “You’re okay?”
“I am.”
“I heard you had some trouble.” He glances at the healing wound on my chest.
“My own clumsiness.” I touch the raised skin lightly. There’s no more pain, but it’s going to leave a scar.
“Where are your bags?” Kaz looks at Artem, who stands behind me, bagless. “Your room is still yours.”
Artem’s jaw tightens. “She stays with me.”
The air fills with awkward silence.
A small boy around six years old runs into the foyer. A woman hurries behind him. The fading bruise on her cheek and slight swelling to her lip tells me she’s Kaz’s wife. Sienna.
The boy runs up to Kaz and stands between the two of us, looking from him to me before gesturing with his hands. Kaz makes more movements with his own hands. The child is deaf, and Kaz has learned sign language.
“Kaz, who is this?” I ask when the boy turns up at me with a wide smile and a wave of his hand. It’s like looking at a much younger version, but I need to hear it from my brother.
“This is Tommy. Tony’s son.”