Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
THORA
My heart is heavy as the private jet lands on the airstrip two days later, the wheels hitting with enough force to knock me forward, while some part of me stays back in New Jersey with Anton.
Every time I play back the last day I saw him—the wounded look in his eyes, the pain of walking out the door—it hurts.
Why the hell did I have to meet his cute dog? If I’d never seen Volchok, none of this would be happening.
I should’ve listened to Blair. She’s usually right.
My eyes close as the plane slows. This is good for me. Being home with my family, being far away from him.
At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Beside me, Greer unbuckles her seat belt and stands to grab her bags from the overhead bin. But I’m still sitting here, strapped in and staring out the small window, wondering if I’ll ever see him again.
“You okay?” she asks, and I force myself to snap out of it.
“Yeah.” I fit a pretty smile and get to my feet just as she grabs my stuff and hands it to me. “Just thinking about Daddy trying to hook me up with Zachary at the gala and figuring out how the hell to avoid it.”
“Shit, that’s right. I forgot about that. Man, I really don’t want to be you right now.”
“Wow, thanks.” I laugh as we advance through the aisle and down the steps to the limo waiting for us, the warm Texas air wrapping around me the second my feet hit the ground.
The ride is quiet as I stare out the window, then check my phone like a desperate idiot, wondering if he’ll text me. But why would he?
Before I can shut off the screen, a text from Blair comes through.
Blair
Have fun in Texas! And get some D. Preferably from a cute cowboy so you can tell me all about it.
Thora
No boning will be had on this trip, but thanks for thinking of my vagina.
Blair
Always. Friends don’t let friends go dry. But seriously, get out there. Live a little. Just not with people like him.
Thora
Thanks for the concern. Gotta go. Almost at my parents’.
By the time the limo glides into a spot outside the mansion, Mama is already hurrying down the front steps. She grins from ear to ear as we climb out, her dark hair tied in a ponytail and the faint lines beside her eyes deepening.
“My girls.” She gathers me in her arms first, and the instant she holds me, I realize just how much I’ve missed her.
Mama and I have always been close. She understands me better than anyone else in the family, and I can tell her anything because there’s a gentleness to her, even when she’s angry.
“Oh, I missed you two.” She smooths a hand over my back before turning to embrace Greer. “I have lunch ready. I’m sure you’re starving.”
“We’re fine,” Greer says, hugging her right back.
Mama makes a disapproving sound as she steps away. “You need to eat. Both of you are getting too thin.”
Greer mouths here we go over Mama’s shoulder, amusement lifting the corners of her mouth. The driver carries our bags inside, and the moment we enter, the scent of garlic and something savory fills the house.
“There they are.” Daddy appears in the foyer with his arms outstretched and a broad grin on his face.
I go straight into his embrace, and he presses a kiss to the top of my head the way he used to when I was little.
When we separate, I notice the gray around his temples, more of it than the last time I saw him.
It’s hard not to recognize that they’re getting older and one day I won’t have them anymore.
The thought brings a sting to my chest.
“You girls have your dresses for tomorrow’s gala, right?” Mama asks as we head to the den. “Everyone will be there, so we have to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.”
“Yep.” Greer lowers herself onto the cream leather sofa.
I remain standing, wondering whether either of them will mention Zachary Peterson or save the ambush for tomorrow.
Daddy takes the chair across from Greer while Mama twists her fingers together in her lap, the same nervous habit I inherited from her.
She probably wants to tell me, but has no idea where to begin.
One of the housekeepers brings in a tray of cheese and crackers, along with a pitcher of iced tea, sets it on the coffee table, pours some into glasses, and disappears out of view.
When I sit in the empty armchair, my father stretches his arms out and gives me one of those grins he uses on business partners or someone he’s trying to butter up. I know before he says anything that this is definitely about Zachary.
“So, Thora, your mom and I were talking about your future, and we think it’s time for you to consider someone stable. A man you can build a life with.”
Greer sucks in a breath.
“Okay.” I hold out a hand. “Let me stop you right there, Daddy.” I set my glass back down. “I’m not looking for a husband, and I can find my own boyfriends.”
He nods, his grin growing. “Of course you can, honey. You’re an amazing woman.
But it doesn’t hurt to weigh your options.
I don’t know if you remember Zachary Peterson, but he asked about you, and your mama and I thought, why not make the proper introduction tomorrow?
If you don’t like him, then that’s the end of it. ”
Fuck me. I shouldn’t have come. I thought being home might help after everything with Anton, but now I’m not so sure it was worth it.
Shaking my head, I lean back. “You do realize I’m only twenty-five and you have a bunch of sons to set up? Plus…” I throw a thumb toward Greer. “A daughter eight years older than me.”
Greer scoffs. “Oh, please. Daddy knows if he ever tries setting me up with anyone, the man will end up dead.”
Mama blows out a breath. “That’s my darlin’ daughter for ya.”
Greer shrugs, a smirk on her face. “I’m many things, but dishonest isn’t one of them.”
“That you are, honey.” My father chuckles before his attention returns to me. “So what do you say, sweetheart?”
“I don’t like it, but I’ll meet him. That’s all I’m promising.”
His grin grows, and Mama appears relieved.
“That’s all we can ask,” she says.
As the conversation turns to the business back in New Jersey, I nurse my drink and gaze through the window at the lush green acres stretching across the estate, wondering whether I should go back with Greer at all.
ANTON
Arriving at Konstantin’s for dinner, I sit in the car for a minute, staring at the texts between Thora and Blair.
Thora flew to Texas without protection, with whoever shot at us still out there. I don’t fucking like it. I can’t protect her from here, and I don’t trust the Whitlocks to do it either. Look how close I got to her. If I could do it, then so can whoever else might be watching.
We found the car the shooter used abandoned in the middle of nowhere, wiped clean with no plates, prints, or evidence left behind, which confirms it had to be a professional or someone very careful.
Getting out of the car, I ignore the throb in my arm and start toward the house, already irritated before I even reach the door. I can’t suffer through endless small talk today.
As soon as I step past the foyer, I stop dead. This night just got twenty times worse.
“Anton. Privet, brat.”
My cousin Arkady comes over first, with his identical twin, Mikhail, right behind him, both wearing the same smug, dangerous smiles I remember too well. They clap me on the back in greeting, but my attention moves past them to Konstantin, who’s standing off to the side.
“What are you two doing here?” My tone remains stiff as we enter the dining room, where the rest of the family is already gathered around the large table.
Arkady chuckles, while Mikhail’s crystal-blue eyes sweep over me, a hint of mockery entering them.
“Are you not happy to see us?” Mikhail asks.
“Not really.”
Their laughter fills the room.
“Leave it to our favorite cousin to be honest.” Arkady slaps me on the back again, harder than necessary. “Well, I’m happy to see you. Nothing beats family, am I right, bratya?”
My brothers answer in agreement, but I don’t join in. I don’t like this.
Arkady and Mikhail are two of the best assassins in Russia, and they wouldn’t travel this far for a family visit. Konstantin called them here because he needs a job handled, one he either doesn’t want me doing or no longer trusts me to finish.
Every muscle in my body goes rigid. The only order I haven’t carried out is killing Thora.
If they’re here for her, they won’t stop until she’s dead. They’ll follow her to Texas, learn her routine, and wait for an opening to kill her before anyone around her realizes they were ever there.
There is no way I can let her be there without me now. Which means I have to get to Texas, and since taking the private plane will only raise questions I don’t want to answer, I’ll have to fly commercial.
How wonderful. As if this day wasn’t already bad enough.
“Are you all right?” Konstantin asks, coming to stand beside me as Arkady and Mikhail take their seats near Aleksei and his wife, Fiona.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I keep my voice low enough that no one else can hear us over the conversation spreading around the table.
“You seemed…off when you saw our cousins.”
I hold his stare, hoping I don’t give anything else away. “I’m curious why you need them when you have me.”
He puts an arm around my shoulders. “You are not being replaced. I can assure you of that. They’re here for business. That’s all.”
I don’t believe him.
“Fine. May I sit now?”
“Of course.” He drops his hand, but his gaze stays on me. “Although I am curious about something.”
“What?”
He takes a few seconds to answer. “I’m curious why you haven’t taken care of the girl yet.”
Blyat. Think fast.
“I’m enjoying the anticipation.” A half-grin forms. “Toying with her until she trusts me, so I can see the dread in her eyes when I take her life. Is that all right with you?”
“Certainly,” he says, watching me too closely. “But don’t have too much fun.”
My big brother, the destroyer of dreams.
“Ladno.” Okay.
I march off before he can ask anything else and take the empty seat beside Lev, grateful that if I have to sit through this dinner, at least the person next to me won’t ask questions I don’t feel like answering.
A plate is set in front of me, but I barely look at it.
My appetite is gone, and every conversation around me feels like noise I have to endure while Arkady and Mikhail chuckle with my brothers as if we’re one happy fucking family.
I can’t let anything happen to Thora. If I have to go against my own family to save her, then I will.
At that exact second, Lev looks up at me, almost as if he knows what I’m thinking.
“Eat your broccoli,” I tell him.
He looks away, but from the corner of my eye, I see him reach into his pocket. When he pulls out a chocolate bar and holds it toward me, I shake my head.
“No. That’s your favorite.”
Kirill gets them for him all the time. He loves them.
“Yours,” Lev says, pushing it closer.
“Are you sure?”
He nods, drops it beside my plate, and goes back to his grilled chicken and broccoli like nothing happened. After a second, I take it and slip it into my jacket pocket, knowing I can’t give it back. This means something to him, and I don’t want to be a shittier uncle than I already am.
Sloane leans over, catching what he’s done, a grin spreading across her face. “You’re such a good boy for sharing.”
She kisses the top of his head. Lev doesn’t say anything; he only moves his broccoli a centimeter to the side before putting it in his mouth. Then Sloane’s attention shifts to me.
“So…” she says, low enough that no one else hears. “How did it work out with your lady friend?”
“Fine.”
Her smile widens. “I’m so glad. Maybe you can bring her around one day.”
I almost laugh. “Unlikely.”
“You never know.” She shrugs. “Life can be full of surprises.”
That’s cute. Whatever fairy tale Sloane has made up in her head isn’t mine. Thora sitting at this table, as if she belongs here with me, is never going to happen.
Right now, the only thing that matters is figuring out whether my cousins were brought here to kill her.
And how fast I can get to Texas to stop them.