Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ANTON
We enter the Whitlock farm the following afternoon, me riding ahead of my brothers’ cars. The engine vibrates through the bike as I pass the main office, then the bed-and-breakfast and the stables farther back, before the mansion comes into view at the end of the drive.
I don’t know if there’s any real point to this meeting. We’ve already had one, and these svolichy made themselves clear. They’re not going to stop running guns to our clients.
Things were peaceful between us before that, even with the overlap in the businesses we run—guns, gambling. We had an agreement, though. They kept their clients in the South and the West; we kept ours from Minnesota to Maine. Then they got greedy, and here we are.
I kill the engine and swing off my bike, tucking my helmet beneath my arm as Konstantin pulls in behind me, followed by Aleksei and then Kirill. They park in a loose line near the house while I remain where I am, surveying the property.
She could be anywhere out here, watching me right now, probably wondering why I’m ignoring her. Why every time she gets close enough for me to finally take what I want, I’m the one who pulls away.
But it’s what I have to do. She’s no good for me.
Except I’m not even sure I believe myself anymore.
Muttering a curse, I set my helmet on the seat just as Konstantin steps out of his Royce.
His gaze holds mine a little too long before he nods and addresses the rest of my brothers. “Everyone on their best behavior.”
His attention settles pointedly on Aleksei.
“I won’t say a word.” Aleksei gives a quiet laugh. “Just know I’ll be skinning them alive in my head.”
“You may do whatever you wish inside that brain of yours.” Dry humor passes over Konstantin’s face as he straightens his jacket. “But once we step inside, we practice decorum until there’s no longer a reason to.”
Aleksei’s grin widens while Konstantin fixes his focus on the house.
“Davay, poshli.” Come on, let’s go.
We follow him up the front steps, and the door opens before he can ring the bell, an older woman in a house staff uniform stepping back to let us through.
“They’re waiting for you in the study. Left and down the hall. Very last door.”
“Thank you, but we know where it is.”
Konstantin goes first, the rest of us following behind him until we reach the study at the end. He knocks once.
“Come on in.” Harlan’s Southern drawl carries through the door.
Konstantin opens it, and we step inside.
Oh, look. The whole Whitlock gang is here. How wonderful.
Thora isn’t, though, which is the only small blessing I’ve been granted today.
Harlan stands near the center of the large room, silver at his temples, his four sons flanking him. Greer sits in the armchair nearest the door with one leg crossed over the other, arms folded as she watches us come in, and I’d bet good money she’s also imagining herself skinning us alive.
Harlan steps forward and extends his palm. “Gentlemen. Nice to see you all.”
Konstantin takes it first, then Kirill, while Aleksei only stares at Harlan’s hand until Konstantin cuts him a look that makes him begrudgingly reach out and shake it. Harlan’s eyes move to me briefly, and I give him a nod from where I’m standing, which he accepts without comment.
Smart man.
“Please.” He gestures toward the sofas. “Sit down. May I offer you some of our fine whiskey?”
“No.” Konstantin takes the first seat, with Aleksei and Kirill following his lead while I remain standing behind them, assessing the room.
It has two exits: the door we came through and another one behind Harlan’s desk that probably leads deeper into the house. Even though I’m sure they have guards somewhere we can’t see, they’re far enough away that it would take at least ten seconds to reach us.
Plenty of time.
I’d kill Cole first. He’s the hothead and acts before he thinks. I’d slit his throat, put a bullet through Jace’s head, and then take down Nash and Theo before either had the chance to reach for a weapon.
That would leave Harlan and Greer. They wouldn’t be much of a fight.
I put my hands in my pockets and wait for Konstantin to speak.
“So…” Harlan looks between us, taking his spot at his desk. “I assume you wanted another meeting to discuss the two new clients we’ve acquired. But as I told you last time, once you have your product again, we can back away. Until then, there is no conversation to be had, I’m afraid.”
“You will back away now.” Konstantin leans back, his stare hard enough to cut through the room. “I’m done being patient.”
Harlan sighs, and a muscle in Konstantin’s neck jerks.
“Look, I’m sorry we’re all in this position.” Harlan lifts a hand. “I’d prefer a peaceful coexistence, but I’m a businessman first, Mr. Marinov, and this is money on the table. Without your product, you’re useless to your clients. All we’re doing is giving them what they want until you can.”
“How gracious of you,” Aleksei mutters.
Cole leans forward, giving Aleksei a death stare that almost makes me laugh.
He reminds me of the dogs I used to fight: too angry and eager, convinced all that rage makes him more dangerous than he really is. One wrong move, and I could make him disappear before anyone in this room had time to stop me.
“Ah,” Konstantin says, his tone flat. “Your bulldog. How I’ve missed him.”
Cole’s chair scrapes half an inch against the floor as he starts to rise, a curse already forming on his mouth, but Nash’s hand comes down on his shoulder hard enough to stop him.
“Sit the fuck down.” He pushes Cole back into his seat.
Cole barely relaxes, his teeth clenched, glare still locked on Aleksei, whose grin only widens.
Harlan’s attention shifts from Aleksei to Konstantin, his expression too calm.
“As I said the last time we spoke, I have a lot of respect for your family, but we made our position clear then, and it hasn’t changed.
We’re not stealing anything. Your clients came to us because they needed product you couldn’t provide, and we have plenty. ”
Konstantin sighs. “We wanted to give you another chance to reconsider, but that clearly will not happen. Thank you for the meeting.”
He starts to rise.
Harlan lifts a hand again. “I understand you’re not happy about this, but we aren’t trying to make enemies here. I hope you know that.”
“You’re the ones insulting us.” Konstantin’s mouth tugs.
“I’m sorry you see it that way.”
Harlan isn’t sorry. Konstantin knows it, and so do I.
Then the door to the study opens, and the second my eyes land on her, my body stiffens.
Thora stops for half a breath, the tray she’s carrying still balanced in her grip, and when our eyes meet, color rushes to her face.
She didn’t know I was here. That much is obvious from how her eyes flare and her fingers tense around the tray.
Her steps falter beneath those cutoff jean shorts as she crosses toward the table between the sofas, unable to keep her attention from drifting back to me.
A plain white T-shirt hugs her tanned skin, and her hair hangs loose around her shoulders.
Her lips part before she realizes I’ve caught her watching and quickly lowers the tray.
Every thought in my head goes silent. That’s what she does to me. No matter where I am, no matter who is in the room, Thora walks in, and the rest of the world loses volume.
But how the hell do I keep her without wrecking it all?
“There she is.” Harlan’s face warms as she approaches. “Gentlemen, I don’t know if you’ve met my youngest. My pride and joy, Thora.”
My fist curls inside my pocket.
“If you ever need a vet, she’s the one you want.” He watches her with unmistakable admiration. “Finished vet school in three years and graduated at the top of her class.”
Thora offers a brief smile and does her best to avoid me, but her attention keeps straying back to me. Each time our eyes meet, my fingers dig further into my palm.
I shove my other hand into my pocket too before I do something reckless like cross the room and kiss her in front of everyone, letting every man in this blyatski room know exactly who she belongs to.
“Well, Daddy, if there’s nothing else, I, uh…have some work to do.” She brushes a loose strand away from her cheek, and when she catches me watching, her brow furrows.
She’s clearly upset, and I’m the reason. I’ll keep doing it too, because that’s what I do. I destroy things.
I accepted long ago that a man like me was never meant to have anything good. Then she came into my life.
Harlan nods. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“Of course.” Her gaze fixes on me one last time before she slips out.
The second the door closes behind her, my attention stays there, wishing she would walk back in just so I could look at her for another second.
When I pull my focus back to the room, Kirill is watching me with too much interest.
Damn it.
I give him nothing, dragging my blank stare to the Whitlocks instead. To Cole, in particular. Because right now, thinking about killing him is a hell of a lot easier than thinking about her.
THORA
My heart hasn’t stopped pounding since I left the room. I hide in the staff room by the foyer, needing a second to calm myself down.
When Daddy texted to bring in a tray of pastries and coffee, I had no idea Anton would be standing in that room. He looked just as surprised to see me, and God, he looked so good. Every second I spent in there reminded me just how much I’ve missed him, even though it’s only been a couple of days.
Plopping my head back against the wall, I wonder if this is it. If the day he brought me the basket was the last time we’ll have together.
My thoughts wander back to that day until I lose track of how long I’ve been in here. But just as I’m about to leave, footsteps sound in the hall.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anton says, keeping his tone low.
“I saw you.” Another man speaks with a Russian accent, probably one of his brothers. “The way you looked at each other. Everyone in there must’ve been blind if they didn’t see what I did.”
“Then maybe you should go back and ask for a medal.”
“It’s not funny. Konstantin isn’t going to like it.”
“Like what?”
I press my ear to the door, the floorboards giving a creak.
Shit.
My eyes widen. I hope they didn’t hear that.
“You can be the one to explain it to him, then,” his brother adds, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Tell him, and I’ll kill you.”
A chill cuts through me at the menace behind those words. I remain perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe as silence gathers on the other side of the door.
“If you want the truth…” Anton continues. “I fucked her, and I liked it. Maybe I’ll do it again.” He sounds detached, almost bored. “But she means nothing to me. She’s a distraction. A useful one. That’s all.”
Each word tears through me. I clamp a palm over my mouth to trap the cry rising in my throat, but the tears come anyway, burning down my cheeks as his confession repeats in my head.
“If that’s all it is, then I guess I don’t need to say anything to him,” his brother says.
“Exactly.”
More voices come from down the hall, his other brothers telling them to hurry up, but I don’t move.
I just press my back against the wall and keep my hand over my mouth, wishing I could take it all back. Every look. Every touch. Every moment I let myself believe he was anything more than exactly who he warned me he is.