Chapter 22
One hour later
I can’t let Liz go. I don’t want to. Her small arms around my neck haven’t loosened in the slightest. I can hear people talking behind us. Nikolai was carted off in some black van to god only knows where and I was left to stagger back to where Billy’s body is slumped on the ground. Only… my legs gave out.
Everybody is leaving. I’m vaguely aware of the fact that people are being escorted out. I’m sure that the wedding is ruined, but there’s a ringing in my ears that won’t stop. Liz’s tears have sunk into my dress and shoulder, and I think mine have dried on my face. I need to get her somewhere to get her cleaned up. She has her father’s blood in her hair. She’s traumatized for life. She’s never going to forgive me. I’m never going to forgive myself. I need to get her away from here and get her cleaned up.
I can’t move.
I think I might be going into shock. Is that a thing? Is this the sort of thing that people go into shock over?
Helena finds me before Anya does. That’s probably for the best. I’m sure Anya is going to be very mad about the fact that I’ve ruined her wedding. The happiest day of her life and now it’s got a dead body in it. Tainted.
Two men in all black find us right after Helena sinks to the ground beside me. Her dress is going to be ruined with how she’s sitting. Seems like a silly thing to be thinking about as strange men are hauling away my husband’s dead body.
I don’t feel sad that he’s dead. In fact, it’s rather hard to look away from him as he’s being pulled away.
He can’t hurt me anymore.
He’s never going to make Liz scream in fear again like he did today. That is all over and done now. Isn’t it? Why do I feel so hollow? Must be the shock.
“We should get Liz inside, honey.” Helena offers. Her hand hovers just over my shoulder, like she’s afraid or nervous to touch me.
Just as well. I think I might hit the person who tries to pry Liz from my hands.
“Everybody is going inside now, we need to get you somewhere warm at least.” Helena offers again.
“Where are they taking him?”
Helena’s brow pinches. “Taking… who?”
I almost don’t know which answer to give her. Does it matter where they are taking Billy? If he’s placed in some unmarked grave somewhere, am I really going to care? I don’t think so. If I ask her where they are taking Nikolai, will they tell me? Is he just another problem that needs to be solved? Even now as I look at Helena, I can’t help but wonder if she will give a damn about Nikolai’s fate. He wronged her. He wronged all of them. It’s certainly no surprise that they wouldn’t mind if he was no longer a nuisance to them. If they knew what he was to me, would they care?
“Nikolai,” I answer finally.
Helena snatches her hand back toward her like I’ve said something shocking.
“They took him away, where are they taking him?”
“Let’s get you inside and warmed up, then we can talk about everything once everyone’s calmed down and clean.” Helena holds her belly as she stands and then holds a hand out for me to take. Horus appears just a moment later. He is the one who I let take me by the elbow and stand with Liz.
“Let us get you inside, Ms. Kate.” Horus says again, watching the men carting off my ex-husband’s body. The same one that Helena won’t even look at. I guess I don’t blame her. Knowing what I do of her, she’s already had more than her share of death.
“I don’t want to go anywhere until I know what’s going to happen to Nikolai.”
“Daniel will be back shortly, and we can speak about everything then.” Horus explains and gestures that he could take Liz from me, if I wanted.
I pull her more tightly against my body, despite the fact that her long legs make it hard to hold her properly. She’s been growing so fast in these last few months. Even still, I let them guide me into the house. It’s not that a nice, hot shower doesn’t sound good, because it does.
When Horus leads us inside, it’s not to the room everybody else is in, it’s to a private bedroom and bathroom. Fresh, clean clothes are already laid out on the bed for Liz and me.
“Nothing will be decided until you join them, I will make sure of that.” Horus says.
I have no choice but to trust him. I have to take his word for it.
With great difficulty, I get Liz changed and bathed and tucked into bed. She doesn’t want to be more than a few inches from me at any moment and I can’t say that I blame her. I don’t leave the room until she’s asleep. She hasn’t said a single word to me yet, and I know that the conversation that we’re going to have later is going to be an intense one. But it will have to wait.
I head downstairs in the loose black sweats that they left for me, my hair braided and still damp as it hangs over one shoulder. At least I’m not wearing Billy’s blood anymore.
Horus is the only one to rise to stand when I enter the room.
I don’t bother waiting for explanations. “Where is he?”
Daniel is back and is standing behind Helena with a hand on her shoulder. Her massive wedding ring glints in the light as she holds his hand, her thumb rubbing back and forth over the back of his palm.
“That’s not what you need to worry about right now.” Daniel says.
I think it might be one of the most insulting things that I’ve ever heard.
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I answer, my anger barely contained. I might have worked for them, but I’m not part of their little clan or Bratva or whatever it is that they want to call it. I’m not affiliated so they don’t have any right to tell me what to do or what to say.
A muscle in Daniel’s jaw feathers. He’s obviously not used to being spoken back to, and I don’t give a single shit about it.
“I want to know where Nikolai is, and what you plan to do with him.”
“Shouldn’t we focus more on the fact that you’ve betrayed our trust?” Daniel asks too casual for my liking.
Shocked would be an understatement. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Would you care to tell us just how it is that your ex-husband came to find our location here tonight? It’s not listed on any maps.”
“You think that I invited him here?!” My voice is raising as I speak and I can’t stop it. “Are you insane?!”
Horus physically steps forward and places a hand on my shoulder, just a moment of reassuring touch and then it’s gone. “As I have informed Mr. Colombo, there was a contract sent over by the Di Gennaro clan, and we have good reason to believe that Ms. Kate’s ex-husband was contacted by them, possibly under contract, in order to get closer to her. Presumably, because she did not start working with them right away.”
“I demand that you let Nikolai go. He was defending me. That’s all. He saved my life. He saved my daughter’s life. Sorry that it inconveniences you all, but how was Billy able to get here in the first place?! Why don’t we talk about the constant lapses in your shitty security?!” I shout, pausing to look at Horus. “No offense.” I add as an afterthought.
Horus doesn’t say a word.
“Be that as it may, Nikolai broke the terms of our deal by coming here.” Daniel continues.
“So, my life… my daughter’s life are less important that some fucking deal? You heartless bastard!”
Helena flinches. Good. Let her know the sort of man she married.
Horus speaks again. “Mr. Volkovich was truthfully only acting in Kate’s best interest. He surrendered without objection or fight… perhaps putting him to the test would be the wisest option. It would be beneficial to see if perhaps during his time in prison and subsequent freedom his motives have changed? And then decide his fate after that.”
Daniel instantly shakes his head. “No, you’re biased.”
Thankfully, Alek seems capable of hearing reason. “We could hear him out, at least. Horus knows him better than either of us do. I might not think that he’s capable of change, but I’ve been wrong before.”
“It would be improper for either of you to decide his fate in this matter regardless,” Horus says. “Nikolai’s fate should only rest in Helena and Anya’s hands. If he is forgivable at all, they should be the ones to forgive him first.”
I see the point that he’s trying to make -- but there’s no proof that Nikolai is the same person that he was before. The version of him that I’ve come to know couldn’t possibly be the same man who did all those horrible things. He has no reason to have pretended this whole time. Nothing to gain by manipulating and then leaving me. Does that count for nothing?
“We’ll think about it.” Alek says and crosses his arms across his chest. “For now, everybody should get some sleep. We’ll decide in the morning when everyone has had time to process.”
I get up and storm out of the room, Horus on my heels. The whole thing is just insane to me.
“Will you be all right?” Horus asks gently when we are out of ear shot. “Is there anything that I can do for you or Liz?”
I shake my head. “No, and thank you for what you did in there… you didn’t have to. Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness?”
Horus smiles softly as he walks me to my bedroom door. “My kindness might not be enough.” He almost looks for a moment like he wants to touch me, and then stops himself. “You can thank me when Mr. Volkovich is free again. Goodnight, Ms. Kate.”
The Next Day
Strange to be squeezed into the backseat of a SUV with two of Nikolai’s exes. There’s got to be a joke about this somewhere. Both women heavily pregnant and me in the middle of the pair of them. I’m a nervous wreck. I think that Henry, bless him, is just about the only reason that Liz detached herself from me. Without him convincing her that he needed her company, this meeting wouldn’t have even been possible.
Before today, I wouldn’t have said that I’m generally an anxious person, but I have no idea where Nikolai is, if they hurt him, what condition that he’s in – if he was injured to begin with.
It doesn’t help that neither woman on either side of me seems to want to say a single word to me. They don’t say a thing the whole ride over and I’m almost desperate enough to ask their opinion. Since when am I this woman? It’s like I’ve been transformed into some other version of myself that isn’t putting herself first. By choice, even. Or am I just that worried about Nikolai?
Both women have the right to their anger. Nikolai treated them horribly, but their husbands have just as many terrible things to their names. The issue is that they feel their husbands are redeemed, and Nikolai is just destined to forever be a monster to them. It’s not fair.
The guards guide us down a flight of stairs and Helena and Anya are whispering softly to one another in a way that I can’t hear them. It’s for the best. I probably wouldn’t like what they are saying anyways.
Though, it couldn’t have prepared me for what is waiting on the other side of the heavy door.
Nikolai, chained with his arms out to either side of his body and his head hanging low as he kneels on the cold concrete floor. My heart drops as I rush over to him, cupping his face in my hands and lifting it so that I can see him better. It doesn’t look like he’s physically worse off than the last time that I saw him, at least. Though, that doesn’t make me feel much better if I’m being honest.
“What have they done to you?” I whisper, not caring if the others hear me but not trusting my voice to speak without breaking. Was he like this all night? It’s barbaric to chain people like this. He has to be cramping all over! The bags under Nikolai’s eyes are deeper, groggy as he smiles weakly up at me. He doesn’t even seem to notice that we aren’t alone.
“Nothing that I don’t deserve, Kate, I can promise you that.” He chuckles to himself darkly.
This must be where he had kept Alek for all that time. And Anya. Nevertheless, I can’t stop hurting for him.
“Nobody deserves this… no matter what you’ve done.” I counter. It’s inhumane to chain people up like this. Though the heavy metal shackles look impossible to undo on my own, I try futilely anyway to free him.
“It’s no use. Kate, I mean it.” Nikolai shakes his head, telling me to stop and so I do, my fingers lingering on the chains cutting into his wrists. I would be surprised if he had any feeling in his hands at all right now. “It’s worth it, really. I’m glad that I could protect you from that miserable bastard.”
“I can’t say that it’s not satisfying to see you like this, Nikolai.” Anya says, crossing her arms over her chest. She looks angrier with Nikolai than Helena does. Is it because of the wedding or something else? “You know, I never wanted to be in a room with you again. Yet, it’s like I just can’t get rid of you.”
Nikolai’s black eyes roll slowly from me over to his ex.
“It’s the least that you deserve. Poetic justice that you have ended up in the same place that you left Alek and me to rot in .” Anya continues.
Nikolai interrupts her. “I’m sorry.”
Anya’s eyes widen in shock. I doubt that he’s ever apologized to her for anything before. “Sorry? You think that saying sorry is going to fix something like that?!”
Nikolai shakes his head, utterly defeated. “No, but if this is the only chance I’m going to get to apologize for my sins then I want to do that. You, Helena - I won’t ask for your forgiveness because I don’t deserve it. I just hope that you ensure your husbands keep their promise to Kate. Keep her and her daughter safe, no matter what happens.”
Anya’s mouth opens like she’s going to say something before abruptly turning on her heel and walking out of the cell. It’s just Helena and I now.
“You need to protect me yourself. Stop trying to die, you’re not getting out of this that easily.” I cup my hands to his face once more, pushing up into his short hair, trying to memorize every bit of his face despite the sad expression that he’s wearing. I would take some of the pain from him if I could.
Footsteps echo down the corridor, and a moment later Alek, Daniel, and Anya return to the room. Anya is holding onto Alek’s hand tightly, but if it’s uncomfortable for Alek, he makes no note of it. Helena is looking at me like I’ve grown a second head. She can’t seem to take her eyes away from where my hands are on Nikolai. I drop them slowly, feeling somewhat self-conscious under her scrutiny and take a step away from him. I choose to focus on Daniel and Alek instead, knowing that whatever decision they have come to, I’m not going to be able to lawyer my way out of this. Silver tongued or not, I have no power here.
Daniel slides his hands into his pockets. Somehow, he makes it look like a damned power pose as he stands confidently, and casually, all at the same time. Unlike Alek, who looks two seconds away from punching Nikolai and waiting for is the signal.
“We have reviewed all of the security cameras, as well as looked into the current movements of Di Gennaro’s Camorra.” Daniel says simply. “I am… familiar with them. My own clan is Cosa Nostra and while Alek and I have a truce in place that allows us to work together, that does not extend to the other clans in the area. While the Camorra hasn’t been nearly as active in the last few years, I am well aware of the vicious reputation they hold. What we have been unable to figure out, Volkovich, is why they are suddenly so interested in Kate.”
How do they manage to say his name like it’s a curse each and every time?
Nikolai’s not going to say a word about what we have become to one another. But it’s not like it’s not obvious at this point.
“Horus has informed us of the fact that Volkovich didn’t exactly leave town when he was supposed to, following his release. This deal between us won’t work, Kate, if you continue to keep secrets from me.” Alek says, finally looking at me.
“And if I told you that I was welcoming Nikolai into my bedroom every night, what would you have said then?” I say without even a small hint of shame.
Helena’s eyes widen at the confirmation of what she was clearly guessing at, and she pulls herself into Daniel’s side. He manages to tuck her under his arm and hold her closely without shifting his intimidating posture. That’s a skill set, for sure.
“I told him to leave, thinking that if he was gone, they would have no reason to keep chasing after me.” I tell the room at large. “I didn’t think that they would reach out to my ex-husband. While I’m not going to lie and say I’m displeased by his staying, I have no idea why Nikolai hung around after we broke things off.”
“If I know anything about Di Gennaro, it’s that he’s not going to quit just because plans have changed. He would and will keep targeting Kate until she gives him what she wants. There’s no length he won’t go. He would consider hurting her if it was his only way to truly get back at me, and that would just be an added bonus.” Nikolai says. “I had to make sure that she was safe.”
“Her safety is handled.” Alek scoffs incredulously at the notion that Nikolai’s protection could possibly be better than his own.
Nikolai’s nose crinkles as he looks about a second away from snarling at the arrogance of Alek. “Like you protected her when her ex showed up on her front door? Like you protected her last night?! Fucking disappointing. All of those resources and you can’t keep a single woman safe?”
“What do you know about safety? Huh? You only ever hurt people!” Alek snaps. The history between the two of them is making the tension in this room so thick it’s going to smother me.
“I never said that I could do it on my own, but you know just as well as I do that nobody will protect her the way that I do.”
Alek laughs bitterly as he moves closer to Nikolai. “That didn’t take long, did it? Old habits really do die fucking hard, don’t they? Was that the plan? Use Kate to get access back to your old men? Guess what, they wouldn’t come back to you for anything, Volkovich. I promise you that.”
“Somebody has to move against the Camorra, or she and her daughter are going to be dead before you even know it’s happened.”
“And you’re going to be the one to do it? Pull a new Bratva out of your ass? Is that the fucking plan? Kill me and Daniel and take back what you think is yours?” Alek pushes.
Nikolai balks, his anger shattering and he shakes his head. “That’s not… no.”
“I think, if I may suggest, what Mr. Volkovich is proposing is that this might be the perfect situation for a hitman to be hired. A proper one.” Horus interjects calmly.
My eyes widen as I see the olive branch that Horus has tossed into the room, cutting through the tension.
“Yes!” I say quickly. If they hire Nikolai as a hitman then he won’t have to leave. He won’t be a part of a clan officially; he will keep his rogue status, but he will still be able to move into the territories that he needs to in order to carry out their jobs. “That’s a perfect idea!”
But will Nikolai’s pride and ego him to be employed by his former enemies?
Alek looks to Anya, trying to gauge what she thinks about the matter at hand. Daniel and Helena say nothing at all, I can’t read them in the slightest. Waiting for their answer, I feel like I can’t breathe.
It’s Nikolai who speaks up. “Absolutely fucking not.”