Chapter 26 Vivika
VIVIKA
Rurik parks the car behind a row of abandoned shipping containers and kills the engine, his jaw tight with tension as he scans the warehouse district through the windshield.
We've been in St. Petersburg for three hours and I haven't slept in nearly two days, but exhaustion is the last thing on my mind right now.
In approximately ten minutes, I'm going to walk into a meeting with one of the most dangerous men in Eastern Europe and try to convince him that his business partner murdered his sister.
"This is a mistake," Rurik grumbles. He keeps trying to warn me and I keep telling him I don't care. "You should let me contact Yuri first. Let him know what you're planning."
"If we contact Yuri, word might get back to Yaros before we're ready.
" I check my reflection in the visor mirror, making sure the dark hood of my jacket obscures enough of my face.
"The whole point is that this meeting didn't come through normal Gravitch channels.
Kolar agreed to meet because he thinks he's dealing with someone outside the family structure who has information he wants. "
"And when he realizes you're the woman Yaros has been hunting across the city?" Rurik's eyes narrow on me as he scowls. I can tell he doesn't like taking orders from a woman, and if Lev were here, I'd be sidelined. "You're not Ana Veche, no matter how much you look like her."
"Then I tell him the truth." Inside, my stomach is churning and my hands want to shake so badly, I have to press them flat against my thighs to keep them still. "Lev has proof of everything. The entire bait and switch plan will work." I only wish I believed myself.
"You don't know that there's proof waiting at the estate. You don't even know if Lev is still alive."
He's right, and I've been trying very hard to avoid thinking about that particular possibility.
We haven't heard from Lev once since he sent me to Moscow on that train.
Hell, the entire Gravitch leadership could've been wiped out in that warehouse battle, and I could be walking into a meeting where I'll be killed and for no reason.
But I can't let myself think that way. If I think that way, I'll fall apart, and falling apart isn't an option right now.
"Lev sent me to you so you would protect me," I say quietly. "That was the last order he gave you before I got on that train. Are you going to honor it?"
Rurik scowls at me and sighs hard, but he reaches into his inner coat pocket and pulls out a weapon, handing it to me.
"Safety's off. Point and squeeze if you have to use it." He waits for me to take the gun, which I do with shaking hands, and says, "I'll be right outside the door the entire time. If anything goes wrong, you scream and I come in shooting. Understand?"
I nod and tuck the gun into the waistband of my slacks, pulling my jacket down to cover it.
This is my last shot at backing out. I could turn around and be free from Lev, and Yuri, and this whole mess.
But I know I won't ever be free. I fell in love and my former life means nothing to me now.
If I don't finish this, I'll never forgive myself.
"I know what I'm doing," I tell him, even though we both know it's only partially true. "Trust me."
"I trust Lev's judgment in people." He opens his door and steps out into the night. "Let's hope he was right about you."
We approach the warehouse on foot, moving through the shadows between buildings and stacks of pallets.
The district is quiet at this hour. Work is shut down for the night and there's no one around to witness whatever may happen.
Rurik walks slightly ahead of me, and I notice how rigid his posture is.
I've only just met him, but I can read him like a book.
He's scared shitless, just like me. Two of us walking into a meeting with God only knows how many armed men. We're fools.
But I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory than sit back on my hands and watch the man I love suffer. I know what this means to the Gravitch name and I know what it means to those women who are trapped in Yaros's plans.
The warehouse we're looking for is at the end of a narrow alley. Its loading dock doors are closed and a single entrance is visible on the side. A black sedan is parked near the entrance, which means Kolar's already here. He's early. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one.
Rurik positions himself beside the door and gives me a final nod. "I'll be right here. Don't do anything stupid."
"Define stupid," I say, pulling my hood lower over my face and pushing the door open before he can respond.
The interior of the warehouse is wide open and mostly empty, concrete floors stretching toward distant walls lined with abandoned shelving units.
It's like this place hasn't been operational in a while, and they've removed any object behind which someone could hide to sneak attack.
A single work lamp has been set up near the center of the space, but darkness reaches toward the walls.
Two men stand within that pool—one of them is clearly a bodyguard, but the other is the man I've come to see.
Luka Kolar is shorter than I expected, though just as impeccably dressed as I thought, and he watches me approach with eyes that miss nothing.
This is a man who built an empire by being smarter and more ruthless than everyone around him, and right now, those calculating eyes are trying to figure out exactly what I'm up to.
I stop at the edge of the light, keeping my face in shadow, but before I can speak, he does.
"You're the one who requested this meeting.
" Kolar's voice is smooth and cultured, with just a hint of an accent I can't quite place.
"You have information about Ana Veche?" He unbuttons his suit coat and slides his hands into his pockets coolly.
At first I tense, wondering if I should reach for the weapon I tucked in my waistband, but I don't want to escalate this.
"That's correct," I say in my strongest voice.
"Then share it. I'm a busy man. I don't appreciate having my time wasted." Kolar's eyes dart to his guard as he jerks his chin up, and the guard folds back his suit jacket, exposing a weapon which I know is probably loaded and ready to take me out at any second.
I take a breath and remind myself that I've been training for this moment for weeks, that Lev spent hours teaching me how to project confidence and authority even when I'm terrified out of my mind.
Ana Veche wouldn't hesitate or show fear.
And right now, I have to be that pillar of strength one more time.
"Ana is dead," I say, keeping my voice steady. "She's been dead for months. Yaros killed her to take control of the family, and he's been lying to everyone—including you—ever since."
Kolar's expression doesn't change, but something shifts in his eyes, a flicker of emotion that's gone almost before I can register it. "That's a serious accusation. Do you have proof?"
"The Gravitch family has proof. Documentation, witnesses, everything you need to verify what I'm telling you."
"The Gravitches," he scoffs then chuckles darkly. Now his expression does change. His mouth curves into a smirk and then his lips purse angrily. "So this meeting does come through Gravitch channels after all. I thought the approach seemed unusual."
"The Gravitches don't know I'm here." I keep my voice firm even as my heart drills against my ribs.
"I arranged this meeting on my own, outside their normal operations, because I knew it was the only way to get you to listen.
If this had come through official channels, you'd have assumed it was a trick and you'd have sent Yaros in your place like last time. "
My throat constricts even as I'm talking, and I have to fight myself to stand still. Everything in me is screaming to run away.
"And what makes you think I won't dismiss it now?" Kolar takes a step toward me, his bodyguard moving with him like a shadow. "Why should I believe a single word coming out of your mouth?"
"Because you're here." I stand my ground, but I know he sees me shaking.
"You took this meeting even though you didn't know who was requesting it or what they wanted.
That tells me you have doubts. You know Yaros's story hasn't been adding up, and you've been waiting for someone to give you an explanation that makes sense. "
Kolar studies me with those sharp eyes, and I can practically see the calculations running behind them—weighing my words against what he knows, looking for holes in my story, trying to figure out if I'm telling the truth or setting some kind of trap.
"Take off the hood," he says finally.
My stomach drops. "That isn't—"
"Take off the hood or this conversation is over." His voice has gone cold, all pretense of civility stripped away. "I don't negotiate with people who hide their faces. If you want me to believe what you're saying, you'll show me who you are."
I hesitate for a long moment, every nerve in my body screaming that this is a mistake. But I didn't come all this way to back down now. I won't let Lev down because I got afraid and ran when things got hairy.
I push back the hood and let him see my face, and Kolar goes very still, his eyes widening as recognition dawns.
He knows what Ana looks like because he's worked with her closely.
And right now, he's looking at a woman who could be her twin standing in front of him claiming that the real Ana is dead.
"You," he breathes. "You're the woman Yaros has been hunting. The impersonator."
"My name is Vivika Rozhkova." I force myself to meet his gaze without flinching. "I was abducted by the Gravitch family weeks ago because I bear a strong resemblance to Ana Veche. They trained me to impersonate her, to buy them time while they gathered evidence against Yaros."
"So you admit you've been deceiving people…" Kolar is enraged. I watch the blood flood his face as his forehead creases in deep-set crevices.
"I admit I did what I had to do to survive.
" I choke out my words as the facade crumbles and Ana fails me.
"I was a translator before this. I had a normal life, a normal job, and then one day I was grabbed off a street corner and thrown into the middle of a war I didn't understand.
I've been shot at, chased, nearly killed more times than I can count.
And through all of it, I've learned one thing that matters more than anything else. "
"And what's that?"
"Yaros Veche is a monster." I take a step toward him, closing the distance between us even though his bodyguard's hand moves toward his weapon.
"He killed his own sister to take power.
He's been running a human trafficking operation through the southern routes, selling women to the highest bidder while his family looks the other way.
And he won't stop until he's destroyed everyone who threatens his control—including you, if he thinks you're becoming a problem. "
Kolar's jaw tightens and his eyes narrow. "You have evidence of this?"
"I do…" I've never seen the evidence, but I know Lev has it. I'm banking everything on it. "And I can take you to it if you trust me.”
His hand slides into his coat pocket smoothly and he pulls out a gun, raising it to press it against my temple.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now," he says quietly.
The metal is cold against my skin and my heart is beating so hard I feel like I may pass out, but somehow, I manage to keep my voice steady when I respond.
"Because if everything I've told you is a lie, killing me changes nothing.
You go back to your alliance with Yaros, you continue doing business as usual, and life goes on.
" I meet his eyes without flinching, drawing on every ounce of strength I have left.
"But if everything I've told you is true, then you've been partnered with a man who murdered his own sister and has been lying to your face for months. "
The gun doesn't move. Kolar's finger rests on the trigger. I stare into his cold eyes and plead with whatever higher power there is for mercy.
"Take me to the Gravitch estate," I say. "Let Yuri show you the proof. If I'm lying, you can kill me there just as easily as you can kill me here. But if I'm telling the truth, you'll have the chance to make this right. To choose the winning side before it's too late."
Seconds tick past, feeling like an eternity. Then, slowly, Kolar lowers the gun and tucks it back into his jacket.
"If you're lying to me," he says, his voice soft and dangerous, "I won't just kill you. I'll kill everyone at that estate. Every Gravitch soldier, every family member, everyone who was part of this deception. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
"I understand."
"Good." He turns toward the door and gestures for his bodyguard to follow. "Then let's go see this proof of yours."