Chapter 38 - Mikhail
I was back at Aleks’s house, with several other of the more senior cousins.
We sat around the table in their formal dining room, ignoring plates of food and half-empty glasses of various drinks ranging from iced tea to vodka at our elbows.
Laptops were open and phones out, on speaker so the rest of the family could hear me tell everything I knew about Rand Eckvald.
The prisoner who’d tipped me off to the bounty on Laurel’s head had no more useful information, and instead of killing him, Aleks had decided to have him dropped off somewhere in the middle of Mexico.
With no money, phone, or passport, he was going to have a hell of a time surviving and getting back, but it was a better chance than the bullet to the head that usually ended anyone who visited the interrogation shed.
“If Eckvald is working with Drugov, he’s got to go,” Gavril said from one of the speakers.
I grumbled, and Luk piped up, “He’s messing with my sister-in-law. That’s why he’s got to go.”
“We’re all agreed he’s not going to live a long and happy life,” Aleks said patiently from his place at the head of the table. “The problem is finding him. CJ?”
Another voice rang out from a phone in the middle of the table. “He must be dug in somewhere and not moving. The last time I was able to spot him on any camera was yesterday, at a gas station about an hour and a half north of LA. He’s been off the radar since then.”
I swore in frustration, and Luk clapped me on the shoulder.
Everyone at the table and on the calls agreed that they’d pour all their resources into finding him.
This was what family meant. Even when I told them everything about the initial reason for our marriage, they were all in on helping one of our own.
And I had made it very clear that no matter how the marriage started, it was real now, and wasn’t going to end. Least of all by having some scumbag steal my wife away from me. Not going to happen.
She was part of me now, the most important part, and no one was going to make her live in fear.
“You’re not going to like this,” Aleks said, directing his attention to me. “But I think you need to take Laurel somewhere and sit this one out.”
He was right. I didn’t like the idea of someone else finishing my business for me, or letting one of my cousins have the satisfaction of tearing Rand to pieces, but he was also right that Laurel’s safety was more important than my own satisfaction.
“We’ll keep him alive until you return,” he said, noticing my brief hesitation to agree.
“Absolutely,” I said. “I’ll let you know where we end up when we get there.”
“Just stay safe,” he countered. “It’s better no one knows anything for now.”
It was rare that one of us got captured and tortured, but it had happened recently to one of my father’s closest associates. It was a huge fucking mess that almost destroyed their long friendship, and all because of misinformation.
“Fine,” I agreed. “Just make sure I’m the one who separates his head from his body when the time comes.”
Aleks’s stony face relaxed into a slight smile. “We’ll do our best.”
I got up to leave them to continue planning as best they could without a location on our target. My only mission was to get Laurel far away until I could make sure her world was safe enough to return to.
Driving home, my scraped knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel. Getting Laurel out of the country was the easy part. I didn’t think she’d fight too much after I finally told her everything. First and foremost, she had to understand that none of what was happening was her fault.
If it wasn’t Rand coming after us, it would be someone else, and the only way to alleviate that kind of constant worry was for her to know that I was used to this sort of thing and well-equipped to deal with it.
The rest of my anxiety stemmed from wondering exactly how much she’d hate me once she knew the secrets I’d been keeping, and how long it would take for her to forgive me. If ever.
From the time I left the house to gather my family together to discuss everything, about four hours had passed, but it felt much longer.
I hated leaving her alone, and the fact that there were twice as many guards as usual around the property did little to alleviate the sickening feeling that I never should have left her in the first place.
She was badly shaken up, and vulnerable after sharing that not only had she suffered from an abusive relationship, but she’d grown up in a household that didn’t know a shred of love. Was it a mistake to run off to try to fix things when I should have stayed to hold her hand a little longer?
It was hell second-guessing everything, and I was so screwed up I took the wrong exit, only noticing when I was several miles further from home instead of closer.
Swearing, I almost took out a street sign making an illegal U-turn to get back on the right road.
My phone’s GPS was desperately trying to get me back on track, and I almost didn’t hear a call ringing through over the sound of my curses.
“What?” I snapped, answering without seeing who popped up on the caller ID. Then instantly contrite in case it was Laurel.
It wasn’t. It was one of my guards, informing me that they’d lost her. I’d lived my entire life without getting stabbed, but now I was certain I knew what it felt like to take a knife to something vital.
They fucking lost her.