Chapter 25 Nadir #2
“Good thing my man came to collect her when he did.” Taro laughs. “Jess was about to drink herself to death, weren’t you, darling?”
My chest stings, but I have to ignore the pain and focus on what matters. I was too stressed earlier to take notice of the wine. Consider why she was drinking.
“Jess was sucking on that thing like it was a pacifier.”
My chest pulls with guilt.
“It’s okay, Jess. There’s no need to feel ashamed,” Taro continues. “Wine is your way of coping. You’ve been through a lot.”
I will not let him get into her head.
But part of what he’s saying isn’t wrong. I’ve been hard on her. I thought it would be safer to give her the cold shoulder, to avoid her and not give her a direct answer.
When you say things out loud, the world listens.
And people play close attention to your weaknesses when you’re in power.
But all I’ve fucking done is ruin her.
“Jess—”
“I didn’t think you’d show,” she says. “Not after Maureen.”
“Of course I’d show. For you.”
“Jess has learned the hard way and knows better than to jump between toxic relationships,” Taro sneers.
Not helping whatsoever.
“I always knew you were a little whore,” he sniggers.
“A whore?” Jess explodes. “How can I be a whore when I was drier than a desert every fucking time we were alone together? You lied to me repeatedly.” Clearly, they haven’t had a proper conversation about how they left things.
“You followed me around like you were getting paid to do it. You should’ve kept out of my business and left me alone. Maybe then you would’ve had a chance.”
What the fuck?
“You took it too damn far, Taro. Savannah’s daughter could’ve lost her life.”
“That’s not my problem,” he says. “The issue with you, Jess, is that you hear something sweet and you can’t ignore it. Someone gives you the tiniest slither of attention, and you’re all ears. You’re like a sunflower when the sun’s shining. You can’t help but turn.”
“You’re missing the part where I flew to Miami to get away from you.”
“Ah, yes.” He chuckles. “To whore around with a man who’s even more manipulative than me.”
I dive into the front of the vehicle and capture Taro in another chokehold. He grits his teeth again, decaying breath blowing my way. I’m forced to hold my own as he takes deep exhales, trying to calm himself down.
He squirms, attempts to break free, but that only makes me grip him tighter.
He stops moving in the end, but doesn’t stop talking.
“You can’t help but fall for the wrong people, Jess. The ones who play unfair. And that’s because the good ones are never enough for you. They don’t give you what you want.”
“Nadir fucks me like you wouldn’t believe. You wouldn’t know the first thing about that.”
I hitch my eyebrow, waiting for Taro’s reaction. He must be a eunuch. Business will take away your libido if you let it rule your world.
I felt like that at one point. And then I met Jess on the plane.
I’m insatiable with that woman. Even now.
She’s pale, tied up to a stretcher, nursing a hangover, and I’d still fuck her. If I wasn’t so possessive of her, I’d fuck her and make Taro watch so he can see how horny she gets for me. If she screamed my name loud enough, it would probably kill him.
But only I get the pleasure of seeing Jess in that state, completely undone.
I slam Taro into the door again and press my gun to his temple. “Unlock Jess from the cuffs.”
“We have a deal, Nadir.”
“We never had a deal. You made a proposition. I chose not to respond.”
“Are you hearing that, Jess?” Taro calls, grabbing her attention from the back of the ambulance. “He said he chose not to respond.”
And now Jess is quiet.
“I told you this would happen, didn’t I?” Taro says.
I could pull the trigger. But I have to hear him finish his sentence.
“He wouldn’t have wasted any time coming out here if he really loved you, Jess.”
She’s still staying silent.
Fuck, why isn’t she biting back like she usually does?
I look behind me. The white light from my phone’s flashlight illuminates one side of her face. She’s blinking, staring straight at the ceiling. She’s awake hearing all of this. Saying nothing.
“He might look like the hero now, Jess. But you know the truth. He’s only here because his intentions with you are selfish. You said it yourself—he’s fucking you. That’s why he’s here. Because all Nadir has ever cared about is himself. You know I’m right. You don’t have to like me to agree.”
“Jess. You know that’s not true.” I keep my hands locked around the weapon, the muzzle pressed into Taro’s temple.
I can shoot him before he says anymore bullshit. But I’m afraid too much has already been said. He got into her head already. She let him.
But this isn’t her fault.
Blyat, I could kill the fucker this instant. Silence him once and for all, but that won’t reverse any of the damage that’s already been done. Taro already got into Jess’s head. The thoughts he planted there are only gonna grow.
“The bottom line is, Jess—if Nadir truly loved you, he would have handed his business to me over the phone. He would’ve saved you in a heartbeat.”
My attention wavers when a bullet explodes outside, echoing through the parking lot. I peer out the window just in time to see Leon shoot someone dead.
Nice for some other Kozhikovs to join in on the fun. It was getting quiet around here.
Another bullet rings through the night, temporarily erasing my hearing. I grab Taro by the collar and shove him into the steering wheel. Oddly, the horn is still working. It rings out, echoing just as loud as the gunshots.
I toss my gun onto the passenger seat and slip my knife instead, running the blade along his mouth. “If you’re not going to shut up, I’ll have to make you.”
“You can kill me, Nadir, keep your business, all of it. But I still win.” His eyes cut right where it hurts.
I feel pain. It’s the kind that isn’t so easy to shake off.
The kind destined to haunt you for the rest of your life.
Taro keeps watching me. “You may be the most powerful Bratva in Boston, but are you winning?” A horrible smile crawls onto his face, and I’m one more snide comment away from cutting that smile completely out of his face.
“The strike of a knife lasts a few seconds. But the right words stay with someone forever.”
I’m done with his bullshit. I thrust the knife straight into his chest and kill him without thinking twice about it. Fuck the torture I had planned for him. He needs to go.
I keep looking at Taro as his blood squirts everywhere. I need to see the life go out of his eyes myself. He’ll probably be easier to tolerate dead.
But, fuck, he’s right. I kept my business…and I think I just lost Jess forever.
A final bullet rings through the parking lot as Leon wards off the last of Taro’s assassins.
I watch Taro’s eyes, a crude smile playing on his mouth. He dies with it on his face. I watch his eyes go blank, marking the second his spirit leaves his body for good.
Blood gushes out of his chest, landing on my lap. I waste no time digging into his dress shirt, searching for the handcuff key that will unlock Jess. Eventually, I find it in his pants pocket—also drenched in blood.
You can’t get any more ironic than murdering someone in an ambulance, parked right outside of the emergency room.
This has to be my favorite kill to date. He captured Jess. And for that, he deserves to rot with the hospital he calls home.
“Jess.” I kick open the passenger door and open up the back, rushing in.
She’s lying on the stretcher, the metal handcuffs clanging together as her entire body shakes.
“I’m getting you out of here and we’re going back to Boston.” I wipe my hands on my pants in an attempt to clear away some of this blood, but they’re as soaked as my pants. I’m completely drenched.
I reach over over, unlocking the first set of cuffs, freeing her hands. “Relax, you’re okay. It’s over.”
“Yeah.” She captures my eye and gives me the most painful look I’ve ever seen. “It is.”