Prologue #2
His head rolls sluggishly toward the door. “Did you kick the door in? It was unlocked.”
Andrei shrugs, looking like a pissed off dog as he stomps forward.
He grabs Daniil around his shoulders, and lifts him into a standing position.
I look around him at the splintered remains of the doorframe, closing my eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath while my heart pounds anxiously in my chest.
I like this house, but these two are working so hard to make it as miserable as my last apartment.
“Where’s the bedroom?” Andrei asks, eyeing the unopened stack of boxes disdainfully.
I sigh and open my eyes. Daniil’s good arm is propped up over Andrei’s shoulder, and he looks miserable.
“Up the stairs, second door on the left.”
I shake out my arms, not sure what to do now that Daniil is in far more capable hands. I look around the room, trying to ignore all the damage that’s been done in a matter of minutes.
When Daniil bought this house, I thought it was a step toward something more stable than what I had.
I was sick and tired of the drafty windows, the noisy neighbors, the thin walls and locks that only worked some of the time.
This house is supposed to be a new start for me, and maybe the start of something a little better for Daniil and me.
When Andrei’s work here is done, Daniil’s going to have to leave Colorado and go back to Chicago, but I hope this house means that he’ll make an effort to not use that as a reason to set an expiration date for us.
“What do you need me to do?” I call out.
They’re already climbing the stairs, and for a moment I’m not sure Andrei heard me. When they reach the top, he looks back at me and I wonder how I look through his eyes.
Pathetic, probably. I’m a fucking mess. Covered in blood, face puffy and tear-stained .
“He should have a first aid kit around here somewhere. Grab that, bring it to me, and then fuck off for a while.”
“Don’t be rude to her in her own house,” Daniil grunts.
Andrei snaps something back, but I’m already sprinting toward the hall closet for the medical supplies that I put away. Daniil thought we didn’t need to have a full suture kit, but it looks like we were both wrong about what this house needed.
Darting up the stairs, I practically toss the first aid kit at Andrei, who catches it with infuriating ease.
“Thanks. Now go get some sleep.” He almost looks sympathetic as he looks at me. I open my mouth to tell him how impossible that would be, but before I can, he shatters an illusion of him caring by opening his mouth again. “Today’s shipment is too big to fuck up, so I need you to get it together.”
I straighten my spine and stare at him, refusing to flinch away from his uninviting stare.
“No, you don’t.”
He looks at me over his shoulder, gaze so sharp that I feel pinned in place. “Pardon?”
“You don’t need me.”
“Last time I checked, I only had one useless dispatcher on my payroll, and that was you. Go put yourself together so you can do your fucking job.”
Frustration that’s been bubbling inside me for the past eight months boils over. I want to find something to throw at him, but I don’t want to distract him while he’s taking care of Daniil.
“Tell your idiot driver not to take the interstate and to stick to the highways instead,” I say.
I’ve told him this a hundred times already, but he refuses to listen.
“He’s moving drugs, and we all know it, but if he takes the slower route, there’s less traffic.
If a cop pulls him over, it’ll take longer to get backup, and the cops sit on their asses, scared they’re going to get shot.
Not to mention, it’s next to impossible to be stealthy about following someone when there are no other cars on the road.
It throws off the troopers, and it throws off DEA agents, too.
The cartels do it, and I’ve heard them call off entire operations over it.
“Or, even better, wait a day. Switch your driver and the car that they’re using, because both of them are under surveillance.
Because if the fucking State Patrol has any intel, they probably got it from public sources.
Facebook, or Discord, or some other social media.
They aren’t fucking clever; your drivers are just stupid. ”
I clench my fists, hating how the drying blood makes my skin feel tight. “Your drivers are the fucking problem, Andrei. Find some who can keep their mouths shut and they’ll stop getting busted all the time. And if that doesn’t work, then you have a rat.”
I take one more glance at Daniil, throat squeezing when I see his eyes closed and head flopped against the pillow.
“I can’t fix that, so I’m taking a sick day.
You dragged me into this so I’d make sure things get missed, right?
You want to make it easier to get charges thrown out in court because I didn’t document something, or I took too long to get cover so your driver gets let off because the State Patrol could get charged for false imprisonment.
If you listen to me, he won’t get pulled over at all, and I’m redundant. ”
I turn on my heel, wanting nothing more than to lie down as the adrenaline fades to impotent worry. “I’ll be downstairs. Please let me know when he wakes up.”
Andrei grunts as I turn the corner.
“And you’re going to get my door fixed!”
I stop in the hall bathroom to scrub the blood off my hands, turning the water as hot as possible and scrubbing until my skin feels raw.
I can’t tell if Andrei’s intentionally being quiet, or if I'm just feeling numb after everything that’s happened, but the silence lurking in every shadow feels like it’s going to suffocate me.
I wander through the first floor, trying to find somewhere that isn’t haunted by my dread. I make it as far as the living room before I stop dead in my tracks. Daniil’s blood is drying between the floorboards.
I can’t leave it there. I just can’t.
I grab a bucket and sponge and turn on the lights, staring at the stain in the bright light for the first time.
With a grim sigh, I twist my hair into a loose braid, get on my knees and start scrubbing.
Daniil’s going to be fine .
He won’t leave me to deal with all this shit alone. If he cares about me at all, he’s going to fight with everything he has to make it out of this, and he’ll be just fine .
I need him to act as a buffer from the nightmare that Andrei turned my life into.
When Daniil’s around, it’s all a little bit easier to stomach.
Sure, my family doesn’t talk to me anymore, and, sure, I’m working so many hours that I’m slowly killing myself.
But when Daniil’s there, Andrei doesn’t feel like a looming giant that I’ll never be able to get away from.
When Daniil’s with me, I’m not as worried about finding myself alone with that creep Pavel again.
A shiver works its way down my spine at just the thought of him. The last time I was face-to-face with him, his dark eyes reminded me of the obsidian display that I enjoy looking at in the museum.
They were the last thing I remember seeing before I woke up in a hospital with a dislocated jaw and three broken ribs.
Daniil’s stuck to me like glue since then, but it doesn’t erase the fear that I’ll run into Pavel again.
By the time I pour out the bloodied water, the first rays of sunlight are peeking through the scattered clouds, making my little kitchen look far cheerier than I feel.
I’m emotionally wrung out, and all I want to do is to crawl into bed and pass out, but there’s no chance of that happening when I still don’t know if Daniil’s all right or what the hell happened to him.
I’m staring out the window above the sink when Andrei knocks on the wall, getting my attention and nearly making me jump out of my skin.
He looks worn, and his dark hair looks like he just got out of a wind tunnel.
I wonder if he was asleep when I called, or if he was just annoyed that he had to deal with us before sunrise.
I can’t say I blame him.
“Daniil’s fine. He’s awake and waiting for you.” He sounds as tired as he looks.
“He’s okay?” I cling to the counter, feeling like a puppet whose strings have been cut .
“Yeah, Blair. He’ll be fine. He only needed four stitches and a band aid.” He runs a hand through his hair, an aggravated sigh passing through his lips. “He’s a melodramatic asshole, but he could’ve handled this on his own.”
I nod, looking toward the stairs. “Thank you, Andrei.” The only acknowledgment he gives me is in the way the corners of his eyes tighten, but I know better than to expect anything more from him.
Andrei Voronov is a man of few words. When he says something, he means it, and if he’s silent, it’s because he’s busy listening and watching. Nothing escapes his notice, and half the time it feels like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, even if I’d never dare voice it.
“I’ll swing by later with some antibiotics.” He sighs, looking around like he can’t wait to get out of here. “Then I’ll fix your door.”
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he looks upset, but I’m sure it’s just a lingering worry. Or maybe he’s still mad about being here. Either way, I don’t like seeing it.
I head toward the stairs, stopping long enough to squeeze his forearm.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
He swallows, shaking my hand off and taking a single step toward the front door.
“I’m fine. Go talk to Daniil.” He hesitates for a moment like he wants to say something else, then shakes his head.
“Tell him that he needs to call Maksim later. I’m not cleaning this mess for him.
” Without another word, he walks out the front door, taking care to close it gently even while it still sways on a broken hinge .
I wait until I hear the roar of his car from the street then dart up the stairs, knowing I won’t be able to relax until I see Daniil. He’s spread out across the bed, looking more annoyed than he does pained, but the white dressing on his shoulder has me blinking back tears.
“Are you okay?”
He smiles at me, and it’s enough to get me through the door and climbing into bed next to him.
“Yeah, babe. I’ll be okay.”
I tuck myself into his side, trying to hide the way my hands shake.
“Don’t show up bleeding in the middle of the night. You scared me.”
He threads his hand with mine and presses a gentle kiss against my hair.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Do I even want to know what happened?”
He tenses, and I tentatively look at his shoulder like the small movement will be enough to tear out his stitches.
“Probably not,” he answers in a dismissive tone that tells me he really means absolutely not .
“Try not to sweat it, huh? Andrei’s got me all patched up, and now I get to spend all day in bed with you.
” He smirks, and I’m right back to wanting to smack him upside the head.
“You know what we’re going to do with that time?”
His eyes dart down to my lips. “What’s that?”
“Sleep, you ass. You got shot .”
His chest rumbles under my head as he laughs, throwing his head back against the pillow. I bite my lip to keep it from trembling. I could have lost this. Lost him . Daniil will probably never tell me what happened, but whatever it was could’ve been so much worse.
Running a hand through my hair, he settles, looking down at me. “You’re right, that was rude of me. I’ll work harder to avoid it happening again.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, taking comfort in the familiar scent of his cologne, even though it’s tainted by the lingering smell of antiseptic.
My mind’s running a thousand miles a minute, and panic beats an unforgiving rhythm in my chest. Now that I’m not freaking out about Daniil, I have to worry about the weight of what I told Andrei.
When I open my eyes and look at the end table, all the notes I’d scribbled down, every piece of information I’ve gathered on the planned drug busts today and for the next few weeks are gone. Presumably tucked away in Andrei’s pocket.
“If Andrei pulls his head out of his ass, he won’t need me anymore,” I realize with an airless breath.
If Andrei decides to listen to me, if he uses my notes and realizes his issues are deeper than I can fix, then he’ll know I’ve never been crucial to his success here, and I’ve gone beyond my usefulness.
If anything, I’ve been slowing down their progress so that I don’t have to face the other side of this arrangement.
I haven’t pushed Andrei to realize the truth because I don’t want to be left alone again.
There’s no reason for Daniil to stick around in my life if I’m not helping them. And there’s no reason for Andrei to let me continue living. I’m just a walking liability .
Oh, god.
“Good. If he finally listens to you, then maybe we can wrap things up and head back home.” Daniil shrugs, and I close my eyes, bracing for the inevitable pain.
The arm wrapped around my shoulders shifts, pulling me closer against his chest. “I was hoping you’d be open to moving back to Chicago with me. ”
I stare at him. Even in my wildest fantasies, I thought he’d ask about having a long-distance relationship, but moving to Chicago with him?
“You want me to come with you?”
His grin is amused, but I feel like he just shifted the ground I’ve been standing on.
“Of course I do. I love you, yeah? Leaving you behind doesn’t really work for me.” I blink, dismayed as he closes his eyes and settles into the bed, relaxing.
Easy for him to say.
His whole life is back there. All he has to do is figure out what to do with this house, and he’ll have nothing to worry about.
I’d have to leave behind everything and everyone I’ve ever known and jump straight into the murky waters he’s offering without so much as a life vest. I’d have no choice but to cross my fingers and hope everything works out.
Then again, what would I really be leaving? My family doesn’t talk to me, and it’s not like I have any close friends. I don’t love my job, but even if I did, there are dispatching jobs all over the country. The only person who’d notice if I disappeared today is Daniil.
There’s this house, but do I even want it if I’m going to be alone again? Daniil has his own home back in Chicago, so it’s not like I’d need to keep this one .
“Just say yes, babe. Don’t overthink it.”
What do I have to lose? My peace of mind?
I take a deep breath, then exhale slowly.
What do I have to gain?
I look at Daniil. He’s smirking like he’s just waiting for me to give in.
I could gain a lot, but I have to take a chance on him to find out.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”