Chapter 23
Lev
When I push open the door to my office, I have a present waiting for me.
“Vadim,” I say, greeting my brother with a nod as I move around the desk to sit in my chair.
“What brings you by?” Vadim is lounging in one of the leather armchairs, a glass of my best vodka already in his hand.
He looks like he hasn’t slept in forty-eight hours, but his suit is still sharper than a razor.
He’s the diplomat of the family, the one who cleans up the messes I make with a smile that never reaches his eyes.
“Pakhan has a message,” he says.
“So, he sent you to give it?”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “I volunteered. He said to go to Chyornyy Barkhat tonight at ten.”
I sit back and narrow my eyes. “Why?”
“He said it’s something to do with the girl.”
I don’t say anything. “What girl?” I ask eventually.
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a dick. Everyone knows you have her here.”
“Who is everyone?”
“Everyone,” he states. “So tonight, at ten, go to the club.”
“What exactly am I being set up for?” I ask, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the desk.
“No one is setting you up, Lev. But this needs to end. Pakhan did a bit of digging on the man behind the drop. It led to a boss called Nikolai Popov.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
Now it’s his turn to narrow his eyes. “You do?”
“Yes, but I’ve been a bit distracted to deal with it.”
Vadim snorts. “Oh, really? Distracted is what we’re calling it? Baron is calling it obsessed.”
“Well, Baron can get fucked,” I say, and Vadim shakes his head.
“I won’t tell him you said that.”
“Please don’t. But I don’t need a relationship classification from my Pakhan-slash-uncle, and I don’t need leads where I already have them.”
“So, you’re not going to the club later?”
“Oh, I’m going. Just know that I’m going to end this my way.”
Vadim drains his glass and sets it down carefully before standing and buttoning his jacket. “That was the idea.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Loud and messy, I believe, were the words Baron threw around.”
My shoulders relax slightly as I land on firmer ground again. “He knows me well.”
“Well enough to know that if this doesn’t end soon, Mercer will slip through the gaps.” Vadim pauses, and he searches my eyes. “Do not let Mercer slip through the cracks, Lev.”
The warning is loud and clear. “I won’t. I’ve already got enough on him to lean heavily.” It’s a slight exaggeration, but right now, Vadim needs to report back that I haven’t lost my touch, or my head.
He nods swiftly. “Club at ten, and then lean.”
Vadim leaves, and I’m left with the silence of my office and the weight of a clock I can’t stop. Ten o’clock.
I pull up the footage of the club. It’s where this mess started, and apparently, it’s where I’m expected to make a statement. Baron wants loud and messy. He wants the world to know that crossing a Voronov isn’t just a mistake; it’s a death sentence.
Nikolai Popov is a parasite. He’s been feeding off the scraps of our territory for too long, thinking his small-time smuggling ring makes him a player. Sending a man to Varvara’s flat to see if I popped out of the woodwork was a stupid move from a stupid man.
Well, I did, and I’ll show him exactly how much of a monster I become when someone touches what’s mine.
I head back upstairs, my pulse already quickening. I go to her. I need to see the marks on her chest. I need to remind myself that she is mine.
Unlocking the door, I find her on the bed. She’s staring at the tablet, but her eyes jump to mine the second I enter. Closing the door slowly, I wait a beat before moving towards her. Reaching out, I cup her face and brush my thumb over her lip.
“I want nothing more than to keep you locked up in here,” I murmur.
She licks her lips. “But?”
“But I want you to come with me later.”
She lets out a soft gasp. “Where to?”
“The club.”
Her eyes go wide, a flicker of genuine shock replacing the haze of the afternoon. “Are you sure about that?”
“That is where this mess started. It’s where it ends.” I slide my hand down to her throat, my thumb resting over her pulse. It’s drumming a frantic beat against my skin. “I’m going to put you on display so every prick in that building knows that looking at you is a capital offence.”
“You want to use me as bait,” she whispers, though she doesn’t pull away.
“No, I don’t need bait. I want to use you as a statement.
” I lean down, my mouth hovering an inch from hers.
“A man called Nikolai Popov is behind this. He thinks he can play in my shadows. Tonight, I’m going to drag him into the light and slaughter him in front of everyone, and you’re going to be by my side while I do it. ”
I feel her shudder, but it isn’t just fear. It’s the same dark electricity that had her begging for my blade earlier.
“Wear something that shows my name. I want them to see who owns you before they die.”
Her bottom lip trembles. “Why are you doing this? Really?”
I’m not surprised she can see straight through me.
I let go of her and straighten up, moving to the window.
I stare out over the courtyard, fixated on the fountain, before I answer her.
“I have dropped the ball since I brought you here. My Pakhan sees that and has pushed me along to a place I should’ve already been.
That is unacceptable both to me and to him. ”
“You have something to prove?”
“Always,” I say.
I turn from the window and look at her properly.
She’s sitting in my bed in leggings and a sports bra, my name hidden when I want it seen.
It irritates me for reasons that are not entirely rational.
I cross back over to her and pull her to her feet.
Slowly, I remove the bra from her, letting her tits fall free so I can see my name on her skin.
I brush my fingers over it lightly. “I have several things to prove. To my uncle. To the men watching me. To Popov. To myself.”
Her eyes stay on mine. “And I’m part of that.”
“You’re at the centre of it.”
Her tongue darts out, wetting her bottom lip. “Meaning?”
“Tonight is not about bait. If I wanted bait, I’d leave you somewhere stupid and wait for a man with a death wish to come running. That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s me walking into a room with the woman Popov’s people tried to kill, with my name on her skin, and making it clear that touching anything of mine ends in blood.”
“So, what am I meant to do? Just stand there while you gun down a room full of men?”
“You’re meant to stand beside me,” I say. “You’re meant to look untouchable.”
She searches my face like she’s trying to find the trap in it. There’s always a trap with men like me. The difference is that I’m not lying to her about it.
“What if I don’t want to go?” she asks.
I let that sit between us for a second. “Then I still go, and I leave you here under lock and key while I deal with it. But I’d rather have you where everyone can see you.” I drag my fingers lightly over the carved letters again.
She shivers under my hand. I feel it all the way through me.
“I’ll have eyes on you the entire time,” I continue. “You won’t leave my side unless I tell you to. You don’t wander. You don’t panic. If something kicks off, you do exactly what I say, the second I say it. No hesitation. No questions. You trust me to keep you alive.”
She doesn’t look away. Her pulse is a frantic beat in her neck, but her jaw is set. She’s terrified, but she’s not backing down. That’s the woman I’m obsessed with.
“I’ll go,” she says, her voice wavering slightly. “But don’t expect me to enjoy being your trophy.”
“I don’t expect enjoyment. I expect compliance.” I step back, the cool air filling the space between us. “Wear one of your button-down shirts, but leave it open enough that everyone will see my name.”
“That probably means they will also see my tits.”
The thought of it punches me in the gut. “Then everyone dies anyway.”
I want the sight of my name on her skin to be the last thing Popov sees before I end him. It’s a message written in flesh.
Tonight, the shadows belong to me. I’ll show them all what happens when a Voronov marks his territory.
Popov thinks he’s a player. By five past ten, he’ll just be a memory.