Chapter Twenty-seven
Raven
I stared at my reflection in the mirror for so long that I no longer saw my face, but just the parts that made it up.
Underneath the makeup I was pale with dark circles under my eyes, which looked to be sunken in, either from a lack of appetite or a lack of sleep.
Possibly both. My cheeks were gaunt, my skin was cold and I wasn’t even sure I was alive as I applied mascara and a thin layer of powder to my pale skin.
I looked awful, which I didn’t really care about, but if I did, I might chalk it up to the test I took this morning, or my broken heart. I couldn’t be sure.
But none of that mattered now. Once I was dressed in the off-white dress I borrowed from Harper, I wiped all evidence of emotions from my face and stepped into the nude pumps I knew Viktor would appreciate and I left the room.
The clubhouse was quieter than I’d ever heard it, as if the whole MC knew what lay ahead. I felt dozens of pairs of eyes on me as I stepped into the bar wearing an outfit that I’d never be caught dead in, with hair and makeup that made me almost unrecognizable.
Slate stopped in front of me, his hair messy as if he’d been running his fingers through it for hours. “Are you wearing the hair elastic I gave you?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m wearing it.” I turned to one side to let him inspect it.
“Good. There’s a tracker in it. It’s got a long range and it’s difficult to spot. But this,” he produced a silver charm bracelet and fastened it on my wrist, “is the perfect decoy. It’s a listening device. It’s obvious and they’ll spot it quickly. They’ll feel smug and stop looking.”
I swallowed around the big ass lump in my throat, his words were the reminder I didn’t know I needed about what exactly I was—willingly—walking back into.
I’m doing this for me. To free myself of Viktor.
To keep the Steel Demons family safe. “Yep. Got it.” My smile wobbled but I stretched it bigger as if that would make it more fucking genuine.
“Even if they strip me down, I’ll probably still be wearing a ponytail.
” The part I didn’t say out loud? Even if they killed me, at least the elastic would let them find my body so my brother didn’t spend the rest of his life worrying.
“Dark,” Slate murmured, offering up a sympathetic smile. “But I get it. You’ll be fine. Don’t go off script and stay calm. You got this.”
My lips tugged into something that looked like a smile, but I wasn’t sure if it really was, and I honestly didn’t give a damn.
***
I spent the ride to the restaurant in total silence, mentally preparing to see Viktor again without freaking the fuck out. This man had defined our relationship for years and this was the first time I was meeting him on somewhat equal footing, and I needed to remember that.
He wasn’t my boss. Not my owner.
He was just a man.
Hades sat beside me, jaw clenched tight enough to crack every tooth in his head, worry vibrated off his broad shoulders.
I wished I didn’t care that he cared so much, dammit. What difference did it make if he cared when it wasn’t how I wanted him to care? How I needed him to care? He cared more about what Falcon thought about our relationship than anything else, so yeah, it was nice that he cared.
It just wasn’t enough.
“I’ll be fine,” I whispered when we arrived at Lavender Leaves, just before I slipped from the backseat.
The coffee and tea shop was busy but not too busy, just enough people to notice if he dragged me out of here against my will, but not enough to make him start shooting.
I sat at the empty table right in the middle of the shop, taking the chair that faced the window while my heart pounded out of my chest.
It felt like several eternities passed before the door opened and the wooden wind chimes sounded, but really it was just a few minutes.
I laid eyes on Viktor for the first time in years and sucked in a sharp breath.
He looked the same but older. His dark hair now contained thick streaks of silver at the temples and the lines around his eyes and mouth were more prominent.
He still dressed impeccably in a crisp suit and a stark white shirt, no doubt fitted with expensive cufflinks.
I was sure he’d send Alexei instead, but here he was.
“Daisy.” Those two syllables had the power to make my heart drop down to my stomach, but I kept my expression unreadable while he took in my appearance with an appreciative smile. “I trained you well,” he said in that slightly accented tone as he took the seat across from me. “You’ve changed.”
I nodded to let him know I was listening. I’d changed more in the last three years than in the time I’d spent with him. “You haven’t,” I said in a bland voice that lacked all the heat I wanted to aim his way.
Viktor grinned, a low chuckle escaped the way it did when he found something amusing. “I am not as young as I used to be.”
No, but he was still handsome. And wicked.
“You ran away,” he stated plainly. “Why?”
I laughed. “You are not seriously asking me that question.” I knew he lived in another world, but I didn’t realize he lived on another goddamn planet.
“I was good to you,” he insisted with a straight face.
I bit back the words that were on the tip of my tongue, only because I didn’t want to antagonize him.
“Other than being a prisoner and a possession with no freedom, yeah you treated me well.” I rolled my eyes because I couldn’t help myself, and then I smiled because I realized that I was nervous to be here with him, but I was not the same scared girl I was before.
Viktor’s icy gaze narrowed and anger flashed hot and quickly before he got it under control, replacing the frown with a surface level smile. “Yes, well, when you return, things will be… different.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the shiver that tried to work its way down my spine. I didn’t even want to think about what he had planned for me. Nothing, I reminded myself. He didn’t have anything planned for me because I wasn’t going back.
Period.
He sat back and studied me carefully. “Why now, Daisy?”
I fucking hated that name more than I hated any other word in the English language. Even more than that, I hated that Hades and several other Steel Demons were listening to all of this. “I’m tired of running,” I answered easily, which wasn’t entirely untrue.
One brow arched, highlighting his incredible bone structure. “I don’t believe you. In the years since you ran away, you’ve managed to stay off the radar.”
“True, but it’s always a matter of time. I understand your skepticism, but it’s exhausting wondering when your goons might find me.” Even from the safety of my room inside the Steel Demons clubhouse, it was always a concern. It was the reason why I didn’t sleep more than a few hours every night.
“Maybe so. Or maybe your biker friends are waiting nearby to ambush me.” He flashed a smug smile as if he’d already clocked every last one of them.
“I had thought about looping them in,” I admitted with a grin. “But they aren’t around. I left without letting anyone know because I didn’t want them to worry. This is my fight. Not theirs.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. They’ve inserted themselves into this by killing two of my men.”
I didn’t know that, but it didn’t surprise me. “Well I’m here now and they’re not.”
His brows lifted. “So you’re really giving yourself back to me? Freely?” The gleam in his eyes terrified me and that satisfied, victorious smile spelled danger for me.
I nodded. “As long as you promise to leave the Steel Demons alone. Them and everyone associated with them. For good.” I was going off script a little and I knew the guys listening in were probably losing their shit, but this was the best option.
“No trap?”
I shook my head. “No trap.” Those two words tasted bitter on my tongue, but I smashed my teeth together and tried for a smile I didn’t feel.
Viktor nodded slowly, his eyes studying me to the point I wanted to squirm. “That’s good to hear,” he began slowly, leaning forward to show me his phone screen. “But just in case your boys are thinking of trying something, you should see this first.”
My gaze was riveted to the screen as a pit of acid formed in my belly. And then the screen changed. My brother tied to a chair. My brother with a split lip and a black eye. “Falcon!” I squeaked. “Why?”
“Insurance,” he answered easily. “Just in case you think of trying anything.” He shoved the phone into his jacket pocket as if he was just finishing up a business deal.
“Come now, and don’t make a scene.” He got to his feet and paused for a moment.
“Oh and leave your bracelet behind, your new friends must think I am an idiot.”
My heart raced inside my chest and breathing grew difficult as I unfastened the bracelet and placed it on the table. This was it. The moment I knew would come, but somehow still hadn’t expected it to actually come.
“We’re leaving the country first thing in the morning. So be a good girl for me and your brother will live to be reunited with his biker friends.”
My heart was stuck in my throat. He had my brother.
A ruthless international criminal had my brother and was threatening his life.
“I don’t believe you,” I finally said because this was no time to be scared.
“I’ll comply and you’ll kill him anyway.
” That was how he operated. I’d seen it and heard about it often enough to know that was the case.
Viktor was not a man to be trusted. He didn’t keep his word, and he killed with reckless abandon.
“Yes, well, if I have to kill you right now then know that your last thoughts will be of all the ways I will make him suffer before I take his life.”
It didn’t matter whether or not I trusted Viktor, not now. He had my brother, which was the exact fucking thing I was trying to avoid, which meant I had no choice but to do as he said. “Fine,” I grunted as I got to my feet.
I needed to play the role just long enough for them to track me, and hopefully that would lead them to Falcon too.
“Good girl,” he said softly before he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of Lavender Leaves.