27. Viktor
27
VIKTOR
M axim?
I watched Irina fight back tears. Her lower lip wobbled as she stared at me, brave to the core to face me with this.
“Who the hell is Maxim?”
For a gut-wrenching moment, I thought she was going to tell me that she was two-timing me, that she had another man in her life. As soon as that worry hit me, I dismissed it. I hadn’t been bluffing when I claimed she wanted me. I felt her affection. I saw the truth of what her heart desired when she gazed at me. Those baby blues couldn’t hide everything. She was damned good at being aloof and icy for everyone else, but I’d seen the real her. The true woman with grit and fear. She surrendered and submitted to me when I filled her, and I wouldn’t forget it.
“My younger brother.”
No one ever said anything about a brother.
“Maxim. He’s fourteen.”
“Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?” I shook my head, ignoring the stupid idea that she could be lying and trying to trick me. The anguish in her voice when she mentioned him couldn’t have been faked.
“Because no one hears about him. My father is ashamed of him and hides him. He’s never accepted him and considers him a waste of space. Max is deaf, and because of the challenges during his birth, he’s always been weak. He’s immunocompromised and deaf, and because of that, my father has always hated him. He’s always seen him as less than.”
“Fuck.” My heart broke for her. If her helping Eva and Lev escape wasn’t enough to show me that she was a compassionate person, this did.
I gathered her in my arms, hugging her and holding her close. Unlike when I captured her in this dark stairwell, I embraced her with my arms supportive around her slim body, my hands rubbing comforting strokes up and down her back.
“Irina…”
She sniffled. “He’s kept him hidden all his life. He’s never been accepted as his son. I have to work to get visitation rights. I have to do as my father says and appease him just to ensure he doesn’t kill him or abuse him.”
“ Fuck .”
“My love for my brother is the only thing he has to use as leverage against me. I have to report to him, I have to act as a spy and soldier for him, all to keep Maxim as safe as possible and alive.”
“Yet you risked helping Eva and Lev.”
She lifted her head to face me. “Because I knew I could fudge the truth around how that happened. The Ilyin soldiers were sloppy, and I knew that I could get away with it. But if you are expecting me to go with you and tell Oleg Baranov all I know, there is no way I can lie my way out of that situation.”
I nodded, understanding so much more now. Why she was so guarded, why she was always calculating her next best move.
“I have been counting down the days until I could kill my father, Vik. I can’t trust that he won’t tire of Maxim and kill him first. Or me. I can’t trust anyone, and as soon as I can, I will kill Igor and run with Maxim.”
“No.” I shook my head and took her hand, urging her to come with me. This stairwell wasn’t an ideal place for saying such things. “You can run to me, Irina. You can trust me .”
“I thought I was trusting Professor Viktor Remi all this time.”
“It was a cover. I am Viktor. Nothing has changed.”
She walked slowly with me toward the elevator. “Exactly. Nothing has changed. I am still Igor Petrov’s daughter. He will still expect my loyalty to him just so I can make sure Maxim lives.”
“No. You can lean on me to help you. I will fight for us, Irina.” I would remind her every minute if I had to. I’d caught myself from telling her that I loved her in the heat of the moment. I did. But I wanted to confess that later, when we weren’t mixed up in this danger and deception. Right now, I had to get her on board with opening up to me.
“But not Maxim?” she challenged.
“I will,” I promised as we rode up to my floor.
“I will believe it when I see it.” She crossed her arms.
I tilted my head to the side, peering at her confident glower. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll turn traitor. I’ll betray my father and tell Oleg Baranov anything and everything he wants to know— after you see Maxim brought to me, safe and sound.”
“Obviously,” I replied as the doors slid open. “If Igor’s control over you is tied to Maxim’s security, that won’t change now.”
“You’ll see to my brother’s safety?” She followed me toward my door.
“Yes.”
She huffed. “How? You, alone, will ensure that Maxim isn’t killed and is safe?”
“I’m never alone,” I told her after I let her inside. Just because we were here and making progress, I kissed her hard. “I will fight to always have you .”
She blinked up at me, so afraid to hope. I hated that she’d been used and treated like a pawn for so long like this, and for something as sweet as being a protective sister to her brother.
I wasn’t wrong about her. She wasn’t an icy brat or bitch. Of course, it would be something huge to motivate her. Something inherently good.
“And you can be sure that Oleg Baranov will give you the resources to retrieve Maxim and take him from Igor’s reach?” she asked, that dreamy, dazed look after the kiss fading.
She snapped her fingers. “Just like that? The Baranov family will risk war with the Petrovs just for my brother’s sake? You ask and shall receive?”
I led her toward the couch, sitting with her for a moment before I planned to call the Boss, Lev, and many more. She was sharp, well aware of how our families opposed each other. “Oleg does not want war,” I said, relenting to her truth, “but he does want the upper hand over whatever Igor is trying to do.”
“I will not tell him anything until I see Maxim is safe.”
She was bargaining on me, testing me to advocate for her wishes. While it would’ve been instinct to be mad that she could be so stubborn not to want to give in to me out of love, it was easy to understand her perspective. She was a fighter, a survivor. Instead of seeing this as an impasse and her not cooperating, I viewed this as a chance to prove she didn’t have to fight alone. That she could trust in me, in us. No longer enemies, but together.
“I know.” I leaned in to kiss her brow, then sighed. “I know. You are not going to surrender anything until your terms are met.” And I had to admire her for being tough like that. For the right reason, she was acting admirably. This wasn’t a demonstration of her being sassy or rebellious. This wasn’t a last-ditch attempt to fight for Igor. She was protecting her brother, and I had to respect the hell out of that.
“So, let me make a call, and I’ll start proving to you that everything will be okay.”
I felt the burn of her stare as she gazed up at me. Nervous, hopeful, scared, and in awe. So many unspoken things passed between us as I stood, taking my phone with me to call my brothers.
Lev was first. I gave him just enough to work with—that I had Irina with me and she would not reveal anything until we could promise Maxim was safe. He contacted several others, soldiers who could most skillfully rescue Maxim.
Because I needed more information from Irina, I returned to find her hugging a pillow on my couch. With the phone on speaker, we had her provide all the details that she had about Maxim’s whereabouts and what he looked like. She freely told us everything. Where he used to live. The nasty area he’d been relocated to. What he looked and sounded like. The details about the guard with him. Everything.
I hated how anxious she was, but she seemed slightly more optimistic when the Baranov soldiers interviewed her for everything they could use to retrieve Maxim.
Back in my room, though, I wrapped up the call with Lev.
“You have to tell the Boss,” he said.
“I’m calling him next.”
“Hurry,” he replied, “because this rescue operation will only happen with his approval, Vik. This is a big risk.”
I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck. “I know.”
“Asking the Baranov organization to essentially kidnap the only son and heir to the Petrov Family, a son Igor has hidden well, won’t go over well.”
“We’re risking war,” I agreed, parroting what Irina said earlier.
“And you’re not even making her speak up first. Oleg will expect her to talk first. Then he’ll help her get her brother.”
I cringed. “Maybe not.”
“Are you delusional?” he barked.
“Maybe not,” I repeated.
“Vik. Are you willing to risk war for her?”
“Absolutely.”
“You care that much for your target? You’re serious about her?”
“I am.”
“Fuck. I’ll set things in motion and look for this kid.”
“Good. Time is running out. Igor is already furious, from the sounds of it, that Irina was with me at all.”
“But you don’t think he knows you’re a Baranov?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it. “No. I don’t think he does. If he did, we’d know.”
“True.” He blew out a deep breath. “I’ll start men looking for him while you speak with the Boss. Don’t fuck this up, Vik. Convince Oleg that this is in our best interests while I get this started.”
“Thank you.” I could always count on Lev.
I ended the call with him and dialed the number for the Boss, praying he would come through for me, to show Irina that I could fight for her and make our future come true.