9. Cash
Cash
One day, Aleks and Leo were there helping me work on their mother’s house. The next, they were gone.
Katya had brought me a letter from Aleks. It was short and promised that they’d be back soon.
It was Katya’s wide blue eyes, swimming with tears even as she smiled and assured me that everything was fine, that proved they really were coming home. This wasn’t like Jax. It wasn’t a break.
Aleks and Leo would never leave her behind.
Katya said they’d gone to retrieve their brother, and I didn’t know why that made her delicate fingers flutter nervously to her lips.
There was something about this that scared her.
Maybe it was just that her sons were going back to Russia, a country they’d fled from while I’d been away, but it felt like something more than that.
I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to pry.
I just told her that I hoped they all made it home safely, and I was looking forward to meeting her other son, which had made her smile broaden and her cheeks flush. The sensation of finally having done, having said, the right thing hit my chest like a sledgehammer, and I was glad for it.
It was harder, working on the house by myself.
Pa had offered to come and help, but I didn’t want to put that on him, and just walking there was a long way on one good leg.
Uncle Tommy could’ve managed, but that would’ve meant asking him to remove himself from Grant’s inner circle, even for a few days while the others were gone.
I didn’t want Grant’s attention.
In the end, Evie was the one who tagged along, and while she wasn’t much help with the dangerous stuff or the heavy lifting, I liked her company.
I liked when she filled the silence by humming songs her ma used to sing her.
She was eager to help, and there were plenty of times when a second set of hands to hold something steady was much appreciated, no matter how little they were.
“What do you think Viktor’s going to be like?” Evie asked as she held a beam still while I secured it to the foundation. The logs that’d make up the lower walls, I thought I could get into place on my own, but I’d need to wait for the others to get the higher ones situated.
“Viktor?”
“Katya’s other son. She said his name is Viktor, and he’s Leo’s twin. They must look a lot alike, so he’s probably cute, don’t you think?”
Did I? Leo was handsome enough—I just hadn’t stopped to think much about it because I was too fixated on—
Well, building. Obviously. I was fixated on my work.
“You’re a little young to be looking at anybody that way, aren’t you?”
Evie rolled her eyes. “I can see, Cash. I know when a boy’s cute. That doesn’t mean I—”
Her cheeks pinkened, and I really, really hoped that was all this was. That her friends hadn’t seen anything they shouldn’t, or that nothing had happened that—
A crush was a normal thing, but the thundering of my heart spoke to all the ways such an innocent experience could be twisted and used and—
“Katya!”
As soon as I finished securing the board, Evie let go and bounced across the foundation to where Katya had come with her basket.
The first day, she hadn’t realized that Evie would be with me at the site, but we’d split sandwiches so everyone had some.
Since then, Katya had made one for each of us, every day. There was some spread she used, herby and nice. I didn’t know what it was, but it was delicious.
If she was trying to win me over with food so I’d build her a nicer house, it was working. Of course, she didn’t really need to. She was kind, and wherever she was, I wanted her to be happy.
When I was a kid and she’d taken her son and fled, I’d liked to imagine they’d landed somewhere better than Wildwood.
Now, I didn’t think it had worked out that way. But here? I was going to make her the best place I could and hope it was enough.
“They’re getting back tomorrow, right?” Evie asked, licking her fingers clean of the spread that’d dripped from her sandwich when she was finished. “They’ve got the flights booked and everything?”
Katya smiled softly. “They do. They’re all coming home.”
Evie grinned at me, but I saw the reservation in Katya’s eyes. Even so close to having them back, she was worried.
“Dad got me a new nail polish,” Evie announced, rocking onto her knees. “I wanted to wear it for the occasion. Do you—” She glanced my way before turning back to Katya. “Would you like to wear it with me, Miss Katya?”
The smile Katya sent her way eased some of the tightness in my chest.
Big changes rarely happened in the pack. We didn’t get new members. Good things didn’t happen.
It’d make sense for Evie to want to celebrate this.
“I suppose if Cash doesn’t need your help—” Katya arched a brow at me.
It didn’t matter if I’d needed an army. Right then, I wouldn’t have denied either of them anything, especially the distraction Katya obviously would benefit from.
“Not at all. I actually have some drafting work to do—measurements to check. Better to double and triple check than to make a mistake. You ladies go enjoy your afternoon. Maybe come show me when you’re done?”
Evie grinned, nodding.
When Katya cleared up lunch and rose, she offered her arm to Evie, who was pleased as punch to hang off her as they made their way back through the trees.
It made me happy to see it. Evie needed a woman like that in her life—someone who could protect her, but who understood things I struggled to.
As bad as things were for the men in the pack, they were worse for the women and girls. I knew that. I’d seen the coal-black look in Giselle’s eyes as she sized Evie up.
Evie was a pretty girl with long dark hair and eyes like emeralds. There was no way she’d grow up anything other than beautiful.
Every time I caught myself wishing she weren’t so pretty, I hated myself for it. A girl should be pretty and bold and whatever she wanted to be, without ever having to worry about the people who’d harm her because of it.
I loved Evie precisely as she was, but in a pack like this, I was scared for her. Reeve had run things a certain way, with Giselle right at his side, and when Grant had taken over, she’d slid in next to him too. She was an opportunist and a user, and I didn’t want her anywhere near Evie.
Frankly, she didn’t deserve a place in the pack or among decent people at all.
But there were plenty of slimy old men who appreciated what she was willing to do for them, how she’d pressure girls and entrap them.
Evie was too young for me to tell her anything too specific, but one day, I’d have to. She needed to know so she could stay safe. Uncle Tommy wasn’t going to talk frankly with her, and I couldn’t put it on Pa.
We’d never even figured out how to talk about how he’d lost his leg. Talking just wasn’t our strong suit.
But to keep Evie safe, I was going to figure it out, and maybe Katya could help me.
She was one of few women in the pack that didn’t tolerate any harassment, and she got away with it either because Grant favored her or because she was simply that intimidating.
As I watched her walk away, arm in arm with Evie, I hoped that she’d take my cousin under her wing and help me keep her safe. I didn’t know the full story of how Leo and his brother had come under Katya’s care, but clearly, she was the kind of person who looked out for others.
I could ask her for this too; I was sure of it.