Chapter 27 Lev
LEV
Iwake to the sound of Yuri's voice somewhere beyond my bedroom door, talking to someone on the phone.
My body feels like it's been run through a meat grinder and reassembled by someone with no medical training.
Every breath pulls at the wound in my gut and sends fresh waves of pain radiating through my core.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and force myself upright, ignoring the screaming protest from my midsection.
The wall becomes my crutch as I make my way toward the door with one hand pressed flat against the cool plaster while the other clutches the bandages wrapped around my stomach.
My vision swims with every step, but I grit my teeth and keep moving.
I have to know if there's news about Vivika.
I haven't even checked to see if Rurik got to her at the station.
The walk to the living room takes forever because I have to stop every few steps to catch my breath and let my gut rest. But when I finally make it to the door, I see Yuri leaning on the mantel with the phone pressed to his ear.
His back is to me, and he doesn’t look up when I stagger in, but I get the sense that whatever is going down isn't good.
"What's happening?" My voice scrapes out rough and a little slurred thanks to the heavy medication they have me on.
Yuri spins toward me, surprised. "You should be in bed. The doctor specifically said—"
"The doctor can go to hell," I grunt while I lean heavily against the doorframe. Never in my life have I been so weak. "Who's on the phone? Is it about Vivika?"
Yuri presses a button on his screen and holds the phone up, but all I hear is a crackling of the phone breaking up. He shakes his head, scowling at me, and grunts, "Rurik… That foolish woman has gotten herself in deep now."
He stomps over to the window and peeks out through the curtains, spying something outside as I limp closer to him, stopping at the arm of his leather sofa to rest for a moment.
"What's going on?" The only foolish woman he could be talking about is Vivika, but she's in Moscow, right?
"Kolar is here." Yuri's eyes snap to mine as he reaches into the sideboard and pulls out two guns, tossing one to me. I miss it, and it bounces on the couch next to me as he chambers a round in his and scowls. "She brought him right to our door. Rurik is with them and they're coming in heavy."
None of this makes sense. Vivika is supposed to be safely tucked hours away from this city in some Moscow hostel, not here in St Petersburg with Luka Kolar. "She's here?" I ask as I check the magazine, ignoring the screaming pain that shoots through my abdomen at the movement. The news isn't good.
If Kolar walks right into Gravitch territory with intent to harm us, how will our limping forces ever withstand that war? "How many men do we have on the grounds?"
"Four. Maybe five if Ruslan made it back from his assignment." Yuri tucks his own weapon into his waistband and grabs a second gun. "Everyone else is still recovering from the warehouse or out on other assignments."
"Then we hold the entrance and hope to God he wants to talk before he starts shooting."
He moves toward the front door while I heave myself off the couch and grip my side. Twice I have to stop, hunched over, and clutch my side, but I make it about the time I hear car doors outside shutting.
Yuri stands on one side of the door and I step up to the other, leaning against the wall because standing unsupported is beyond me right now. But my gun's raised and ready and I'm waiting for the fireworks to start. If they've taken Rurik and Vivika, they're not going to go down easy now.
I peek out the door which stands wide open and watch. But the first person to emerge isn't Luka Kolar. It's Vivika.
She steps out onto the gravel drive with her chin lifted and her shoulders squared, every line of her body projecting the confidence and authority I spent weeks drilling into her.
She's wearing the same wrinkled suit, but somehow, she carries herself with grace anyway.
She holds the door open behind her and her eyes rise slowly and catch me there staring out at her.
She's exquisite. I thought I'd never see her again, but there she is and driving up to our territory in the enemy's car like she owns him.
"What the fuck?" Yuri grumbles under his breath, lowering his weapon slowly.
My gaze shifts from Vivika to the man now climbing out of the car behind her.
Luka Kolar straightens his jacket as he steps onto the gravel.
His sharp eyes sweep over the property like he's assessing our security, but he has no weapon drawn.
He flicks two fingers at the car, and more men pile out, a guard, Rurik, a driver.
I'm as confused as Yuri when I lower my weapon and suck in a breath to squelch the tension in my chest.
"I believe we have business to discuss," Vivika says, and as she does, she nods at Kolar like they're old buddies. "Perhaps we should take this inside."
It's baffling to even see her here in town, but to see her commanding a man known for his ruthlessness as easily as Yuri commands this family is baffling. They begin moving toward the front door and my mind is still reeling.
Yuri recovers faster than I do. He tucks his weapon away and nods, stepping back to allow them entry. "Please. Come in."
Vivika leads Kolar up the steps, and as she passes me, she reaches out and squeezes my hand, just briefly, just long enough to let me know she sees me, and she knows I'm hurt, but she'll explain everything as soon as she can.
Then she's past me and into the house, and I'm left standing on the stoop with my wound burning and my head spinning.
Rurik's expression is sour and etched with concern as he mounts the steps. He takes one look at my condition and moves to my side without a word, offering his shoulder as support. I want to refuse, but my legs are threatening to give out and pride isn't worth collapsing on the front steps.
I lean on him and let him guide me back inside, trailing behind Kolar's guard and driver, both heavily armed.
The living room has transformed into an impromptu meeting space by the time we reach it, Yuri and Kolar seated across from each other in leather armchairs while Vivika stands near the window with her arms crossed.
Kolar's bodyguard positions himself by the door, as if he's trying to remind everyone in the room how quickly this could turn violent.
Rurik deposits me on a sofa near the fireplace and stands over me, and though I've put the safety on the weapon, I don't hand it over. It lies on my knee. I hate feeling useless, but my body isn't giving me a choice.
"Vivika tells me you have proof," Kolar says, "that Yaros murdered his sister and has been lying to me for months. I'm here because I want to see it."
Yuri's expression slowly softens from cold concern to confidence. Vivika could not convince Kolar she was a real Veche, so she did the next best thing. She convinced him that we could remove the wool from his eyes.
"We have that exact proof," Yuri says, and I watch him fight back a smile. We couldn't get through Yaros to speak with Kolar on our own. The meet we set up was interfered with by Yaros, but Vivika found a way, and the pieces will fall into place seamlessly now.
"Show me."
Yuri rises and moves to a safe concealed behind a landscape painting on the far wall.
I watch him enter the combination and retrieve a folder thick with papers, photographs, recordings stored on flash drives.
He's been compiling this evidence for weeks, gathering it piece by piece while we ran our operations and trained Vivika to play her role.
This was always the endgame—proving Yaros's guilt to Kolar, so the man could see how evil the entire Veche organization has become. With Ana dead, Kolar's alliance to her is broken. Dealing with the lying sack of shit that Yaros has become doesn't have to be a thing for him.
He hands the folder to Kolar, who opens it and begins examining the contents. Minutes tick past in silence as he reviews document after document, his expression growing darker with each page he turns.
Vivika crosses the room while Kolar reads, moving to stand beside me. She doesn't say anything, but she does reach down and take my hand in hers, lacing our fingers together. Her skin is warm against mine, proof that she's actually here and this isn't another fever dream.
"You were supposed to stay in Moscow," I manage, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I couldn't." She squeezes my hand. "I couldn't hide while you fought alone. I had to come back."
"You could've died." I lift my eyes up to take in the sight of her face, now washed clean and looking more like herself.
"So could you." She meets my eyes with compassion, and I see the way her bottom lip quivers. "Just let me do what you trained me to do."
Yuri's right. This woman is foolish and stupid, and reckless, and mine.
All mine, and she came back to help me, not because she wanted to save women from a slave trade, but because she didn't want to leave my side to begin with.
How can I fault her for that? Our gazes linger on each other for a moment until Kolar's voice cuts through the moment.
"This is authentic?"
Yuri nods. "Every piece of it. We can provide witnesses who will corroborate the documentation if you need additional verification."
"Witnesses?" Kolar tosses the folder onto the table between them, then scrubs both hands over his face and growls loudly. "You have witnesses who can confirm that Yaros murdered his own sister?"
"We do."
Kolar's silent as he shakes his head, staring at the scattered papers with an expression that promises violence.
When he finally speaks, his voice sends chills down my spine.
"My alliance with Ana Veche was a strategic positioning of resources toward a specific end…
" He locks his eyes on Vivika and glares hard.
"The brother is at best an annoyance and at worst the reason the Veche organization should be dismantled.”
Then he turns, meeting Yuri's eyes. "She promised me that she had him under control. And now you're telling me he killed her, and he's been lying to my face for months…"
"That's exactly what we're telling you."
"Do you believe me now?" Vivika's fingers tremble in my grip but she continues. "The only way to draw him out and force him to show his hand was to use my face to prove what he really is. It was wrong to deceive you, which is why when I came to you, I didn’t pretend to be anyone other than myself."
"Why? What do you have to gain from any of this?" Kolar sits back, studying Vivika now with curiosity. I notice how quickly he's relaxed again. It means he already has in his head a new plan forming, one that will remove any "annoyance" from his life and set him up on a different path.
Vivika's chin lifts slightly and she says, "The women Yaros is selling on the black market could've been me in a different life. I want to save them, and I want his operation shut down. For good."
A thin smile spreads across his face, then a chuckle erupts from his gut. The man is confident and arrogant, but he pulls as many strings in this family as my uncle.
"You have balls," he says. "Walking into a meeting with a man like me with no backup?
Ana had that same quality. It's what I valued about her most." Then he turns back to Yuri and his expression is more serious now.
"I want nothing more to do with the Veche family.
Yaros has made his choice, and now he'll face the consequences.
But I still have interests in this region that need protecting, partnerships that need maintaining.
If the Gravitch family is willing to take over where the Veches failed, I'm prepared to discuss terms."
Yuri leans forward, and I can see the calculations running behind his eyes—the future that's suddenly opening up in front of us. "We're prepared to discuss whatever arrangements benefit both parties."
"Good." Kolar stands and buttons his jacket. His bodyguard drifts to his side and he stands with his chin erect, waiting for orders. "But I have one condition before we proceed," Kolar continues.
"Name it."
Kolar gestures toward Vivika. "She's the one I want to deal with. She's the kind of asset you don't waste on supporting roles." He meets Vivika's eyes. "If we're going to do business together, I want her at the table—every meeting. She's earned that seat."
I look at Vivika, expecting to see her being fearful or uncertain, but she nods at him with confidence and says, "I'd be honored."
Kolar grins like a madman. "Then we have an understanding. I'll be in touch to discuss the details." He moves toward the door, pausing briefly to look back at Yuri. "And Yaros is yours to deal with. I have no further interest in protecting him from whatever's coming."
The door closes behind him and his men, and Yuri stands and walks to the sideboard to pour each of us a drink. While he's distracted, I take the moment to pull Vivika onto my lap. Rurik turns away, affording me a moment of privacy.
"You came back," I say, because I still can't quite believe it.
"I told you I would." She cups my face in her hands, and her thumbs trace gentle paths across my cheekbones. "Did you really think I'd leave you to fight alone?"
Words are inadequate in this moment. She was free and she could've vanished forever, but she came back. I can't even form a coherent thought right now, let alone respond to her.
So instead I kiss her.
It hurts—everything hurts right now—but she's worth every bit of the pain. And now that she's back, I'm never letting her go again.