26. Luka
26
LUKA
I f I didn’t know for certain that my car wasn’t capable of blowing past the Petrov Mansion gate, I wouldn’t bother slowing down.
My teeth grinding, I lay on my horn while tapping my breaks, willing the gate to open. This could be all in vain. Vitaly might not even be home.
Blood drains from my face at that thought, but my prickly fingers never unwind from the wheel.
I’m not too late.
I’m not .
The gate slowly cranks open, letting me peel through it toward the mansion. Vitaly doesn’t drive his own car, just whatever SUV is available that day, so it’s impossible to say if he’s here. Mila’s silver BMW, however, is parked out front. I whip behind her then hurry inside, not looking back even when Denis, a fellow guard, asks if there’s an emergency.
I make a beeline for Vitaly’s office, feeling the slightest bit of relief when I find him there, along with Mila. But it’s temporary. I’m far off from where I want to be.
The Pakhan sits behind his desk, his head turning from Mila as I storm toward them. No expression crosses his face, not even anger or surprise. For a moment that I just stand in front of his desk, panting, it’s distracting. It makes me wonder if he belongs in my family after all.
“I kidnapped the daughter of a cartel drug lord named Ricardo Valdez. I need you to get him on the phone. Now .”
Vitaly’s brow lifts as he turns to Mila. I’m too afraid to look at her, so I keep my eyes on him.
“You have … a lot of nerve showing up here right now,” Mila says with every bit of self-righteousness that I’d expect. “And then you think you can make demands ? Are you?—”
“Can we talk alone?” I ask, never taking my eyes off Vitaly.
He blinks, leaned back in his chair with one ankle rested on his knee. His face is still perfectly blank. When he looks at Mila, I get the courage as well. Her face is bright red, her glare pinned on me.
“Are you kidding me, you fucking asshole?”
“Five minutes, Mi. Please .” I shift from foot to foot, trying not to count the seconds that could be vital. “I swear to God, you can yell at me after.”
She opens her mouth, presumably to protest, but Vitaly leans over to rest his hand on hers. When they lock eyes, she looks equally pissed for several seconds before finally relenting to whatever telepathic command he’s giving her.
Standing from the chair next to his, she doesn’t meet my gaze. I can’t imagine she’ll ever want to again.
Once she’s gone, I pull a chair up to his desk, sit and show him my palms. “Look, you don’t like me. I get it, I really do. I’m sure Mila told you what happened with Leo, and I could tell you other shit that I’ve done to her that would make your head explode. But that’s exactly why you’re going to help me.”
One side of Vitaly’s lips lifts. “Oh?”
I nod. “Be honest with yourself, Vitaly… You want me dead, but Mila is never going to let you kill me. As soon as Valdez finds out what I’ve done to his daughter, he’ll do the job for you. I’m out of your life forever… You have the contacts. All you have to do is get him on the phone for me.”
Vitaly nods, his lips pursing before he holds out a hand. “Couldn’t I just … talk to him myself? Tell him I found information on the man who has his daughter?”
I shake my head. “You might as well put a bullet in me yourself. Mila would never approve.”
“Ah.” Vitaly looks off and seems to weigh that for several seconds. When he peers back at me, his eyes narrow slightly. “You seem to have thought this through, so forgive me for criticizing your very elaborate suicide, but … don’t you think there are less dramatic ways for you to kill yourself? A bridge, perhaps? Or a gun? I do believe you own one…”
I grit my teeth at the smirk tugging at his lips.
I’m amusing him. I’ve never felt more fear in my entire life, and somehow, I’m amusing him.
“I’m not trying to commit suicide. I just need your fucking contacts. Quickly .”
“Why?”
My shoulders lift as I go to sneer, but I hold it back. My instinct is to shut this man out, to keep him as far away as possible. But right now, as much as it kills me, I need him.
“Lucia has been taken by a rival cartel to Chicago. I’m obviously not equipped to go get her by myself, but if I can give her father her location, she might still have a chance.”
Vitaly blinks. “So what are you going to do? Wait here until Daddy comes to get you, or is your plan to slink away like a snake? Because if we’re concerned with what Mila will approve of, me imprisoning you so you can’t escape the cartel’s wrath would put me in the doghouse for at least a night or two. Surely you know that.”
My hands grip the arms of the chair as I glare. “I’m not staying in Vegas. I’m going to Chicago.”
His eyes widen ever so slightly. “Oh.”
“Hey, this is fun and all, but…” I wave to the phone on his desk, my foot tapping. “ Please .”
Vitaly leans back in his chair, his fingers steepling together as he tilts his head at me. “Why did you kidnap her?”
“Because I’m sick. Who cares?”
“ I care,” he says, his voice stern. He leans forward slightly with a hardened expression that straightens my spine like I’m being challenged. “The truth is, Luka, you’re right. I don’t like you. I never have. I abhor the idea of helping you when all you’ve ever done is whine at being asked to protect my wife. And now you’re so bold as to come to my home to ask me a favor, yet refuse to answer my questions?”
“She watched me kill Piper,” I say, my voice deadpanned. “It was either kidnap her or kill her. She looked like a good lay.”
I inhale a steadying breath through my nose, calming my anger, but when Vitaly speaks again, it roars.
“Was she?”
“Was she what ?”
“Was she a good lay?”
My lip curls as I shove from the chair, my palms slamming on his desk. “Just call her fucking father.”
He shakes his head. If he’s frazzled by my raised voice, he doesn’t show it. “Answer me first.”
“ Fuck you.”
“Was it tight?” Vitaly asks, his fingers drumming the arm of his chair. “Their culture isn’t unlike ours. And she was a princess. She must’ve been a virgin.”
My eyes widen and fists clench. Vitaly just lifts his eyebrows. “Well? Was it?”
I don’t think about my next actions. I just see red as I jump across his desk, my hands aiming for his neck as I growl out my rage. I fall on top of Vitaly, but before I can get a grip on his neck, he throws me to the ground and pulls me into a headlock.
I reach behind me, viciously searching for a piece of him to attack, but as seconds pass, the lack of oxygen steals my intensity.
“Not on your best day, kid,” Vitaly says in my ear before finally letting go.
I cough and flip to glare at him, my hand to my throat. He crouches in front of me, his eyes void of the mockery I expect.
“Do you love her?” he asks.
After a few seconds of hesitation, I nod.
“Do you feel like a changed man because of her?”
I look away, my initial thought no . The more I consider it, the more I come to the same conclusion.
I’m not a good man. Not then and not now. I don’t even feel like a different man, only one who sees things differently.
Finally, I shake my head.
Vitaly is quiet for several moments before giving a hum of acceptance. He stands and extends his hand. “Then I guess you just showed me the person you always were. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get to know him more… Lucky for me, murder has a way of bringing people together.”
I eye his hand with my brow furrowed.
“Come on,” he says, nodding toward the door. “Lucia might not have much time.”
I take his hand and let him help me up then follow him toward the door while my head spins. “I really need to call?—”
“We’ll do it from the car.”