Chapter 31
“Ellie brought me right to you…what?”
Teddy’s disbelief that I had anything to do with his capture is so wholesome that for a moment, I forget my resolve.
He’s coughing up blood now, his lips split, and a cut across his cheek is oozing.
My nausea, forgotten in the glory of my revenge, roils in my gut again at the sight of blood.
I’ve never been involved in this part of the business, and now that I’ve seen so much blood flowing out of Leo along with his life…
I hope I never have to see much ever again.
Gabri and Nikki seem overcome by their bloodlust, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of my brothers is trying to crack his rib with how hard they’re punching.
Teddy tries to maintain eye contact with me, and never once does his facade crack.
He’s in pain, but it’s obvious that communicating with me is his priority, even as his energy wanes.
“Whatever it is that you think I did, baby—”
“Don’t call me baby!” My scream is deafening, and my voice cracks with the force as everyone in the room stills.
My brothers share a loaded look, then stop their abuse, backing away from Teddy as I slowly approach with shaking hands.
The confusion in his gaze can’t hide the love in his eyes, and my eyelid twitches.
I want to believe him. This is my Teddy. But then…
“I’ve wanted to come to you. I just wasn’t allowed—”
Oh. Right.
“You weren’t allowed? Because you’re in the fucking Bratva, right? You have to do whatever the Pakhan says. Is that your excuse?”
“Well, actually, I’m technically the—”
“Or was it your precious Mila who kept you away? I can’t believe you thought you could keep me on the side! I deserve better than that, and you made me think…I really thought that you—”
“How do you know about Mila? You have to let me start from the beginning and explain. I don’t deny that I’ve kept things from you—”
“I don’t want to hear it. I really don’t.” The cavern inside my chest still contains my heart, and I can feel it beating a mile a minute, but hearing him say that name again has iced over what the love in his eyes had started to thaw.
Nikki sees me collapse in on myself and hustles to push a chair behind me so that I don’t crumple to the floor. Even now, Teddy is trying to get out of his binds and get to me. I can’t look at the pain in his eyes, but I can’t help myself as my brothers untie him enough to move him to the basement.
“You don’t need to be involved in any of the rest of this,” Gabri mumbles. “Go find Nonna and take your medicine. See if Mama will let you sit and read to her for a little while.”
“Medicine? Baby, are you sick?” He’s no match for both my brothers as they drag him, kicking and crying toward the basement. “Whatever you think, it’s not true. I love you! I love you I love you I love—”
The slam of the basement door shuts out his declaration, words I had longed to hear and fully believed to be true, even before they ever passed his lips. The ice around my heart shatters as I feel deep in my bones that I love him too. There must be some explanation for what I heard…
Yeah, he was trying to tell you, and you wouldn’t give him a chance.
Racing for the door to the basement, it opens for me easily, but Nikki is immediately there, shutting it behind him with finality.
“You have no business down there, Elia. Let Gabri do his work.”
“No!” I scream, and he runs a hand down his face.
I notice for the first time how haggard he looks, and realize that even with their thirst for revenge, Leo’s loss is still weighing on him.
“No,” I continue quietly. “I think we need to hear him out. I was wrong to ignore him and interrupt him while he was trying to explain, and just because we think we have all the evidence we need doesn’t mean anything.
You know how important context is, Nikki.
Maybe we have all the pieces, but we’re putting them together all wrong! Please, let me talk to him—”
A wail from the basement pulls a sob from my gut, and Nikki leads me gently to the empty kitchen, once the soul of this house, now as quiet as a tomb.
“You have no business down there. Gabri and Papa have made their minds up. Take your medicine and try to rest.” With that, he’s gone, and I’m left shaking like a leaf and dreading the consequences of what I’m sure now was a grave mistake.
Sinking to the floor, I pull my phone from the pocket of my sweatpants and dial the only number I have who isn’t connected to my family and who I know will drop everything and come for Teddy. My tears flow freely, and my voice shakes when he finally answers.
“Hi. I hope you’re still in town. It’s a long story, but Teddy’s in trouble, it’s at least partially my fault, and I’m going to need your help to get him out.”
“Are you sure nobody saw us coming out of the basement?”
“Eventually, someone will check the interior cameras, but not until they’ve figured out that Nonna isn’t actually having a heart attack. How in the hell did you manage to be so sneaky?”
Thatcher smirks, but it’s short-lived as a groan from the back seat draws our attention.
By the time we got our distraction in place and managed to access the basement, it was the middle of the night, Teddy was unconscious, and Thatch had to carry him out across his shoulders.
Now, it seems like he’s finally coming around, and I need to see his beautiful eyes to know he’s okay.
He gives me his gaze for a couple of seconds max, then turns away.
“Teddy, I—”
“Thatch, man. Thanks for getting me out of there. Where are we going?”
“Well, I’m taking you back to your family’s compound.
Your sister, who is scary but also scary hot, by the way, has been up my ass since the moment you went offline.
Then I’m taking this one back home to her family’s compound.
Then I’m either getting on a plane back to fucking New York, or I’ll come back here if I’m allowed, and you can tell me more about what the hell is going on. ”
Teddy grunts and leans back against the headrest before looking out the window away from me. He must be in so much pain.
“I’ll stay with you two. I’m not going back to my house until I know you’re okay.” I reach for Teddy’s hand, bruised and resting on his knee. Before I can make gentle contact, he rips it away and rests it on his stomach, out of my reach. “Teddy, I—”
“You’ll go back to your family, where you’ve made it clear your loyalties lie.”
His flat tone is measured, but the hatred in his eyes when he finally turns to me pushes me back.
“I was wrong, and I’m sorry, but I heard you—”
“You were wrong, and you’re sorry? You misheard me, or at least misunderstood what you heard. The result was me being tortured in your family’s basement for something I had nothing to fucking do with! Tortured thanks to you, the woman I thought I loved!”
The tears streaking down my face are warm against the chill of his words, and he huffs a cold laugh before looking me up and down one last time, then turning back to the window.
“If you had listened at all,” he says quietly, closing his eyes, “you would have heard that I was telling the truth. And if you had bothered to look in my eyes, you would have seen the truth of my words even if you didn’t hear them.”
“Please, I—” My pleas turn to ash on my tongue, and Teddy’s jaw flexes, but he doesn’t open his eyes or look my way.
His silence feels final, but everything’s so fresh…
he’ll come around. He’ll have to—for all three of us.
Everyone is hurt, Leo is dead, our families are at war, and we don’t even know what’s happened…
This is the worst of it, I’m sure. Tempers will cool, and once we figure out who’s behind the murder, everything will be fine.
“Alright, we’re here. Guards have already noticed us. What’s the play, Teddy?”
He sits up, turning to stare at me one last time. If I thought there was hatred in his eyes earlier, now it’s…nothing. As if I’m not even here. “Park it here and don’t turn it off. I can walk now, I think. She can use it to find her own way home.”
With that, he’s gone, and I’m left to scramble into the driver’s seat before the Taranov guards can get any closer.
Driving away from the gates, I can’t help but look in the rearview mirror.
Teddy and Thatch slowly make their way through, and Thatch glances back over his shoulder to watch me leave. Teddy never does.