Chapter 21 - Josiah
She is shaking in my arms, her entire body trembling with shock.
“Where are they?” I ask quietly.
“In the trunk,” she whispers.
“Did anyone see anything?”
“I…I don’t know. I was stuck in the back. The man…he trapped me there…”
I pull her away from me so that I can look at her face. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. But I was scared. He was…there was something so dark about him. He told me his men had killed my bodyguards. He told me how efficient they were, and…"
“And what? Kayla, what else did he say?”
“He told me to tell you he sends his regards. That he hopes your family is well,” she says, sounding like she might cry.
I cup my hand over her face and hold hers up towards mine. “Look at me, baby. Look at me, beautiful girl. I’m here with you, okay. I’m right here.”
“He was so charming,” she mutters, her eyes glazed with shock.
“And beautiful. His eyes were bright, bright blue. Like something you’d think wasn’t even real.
And he had dark hair….” she mutters, letting the memory spill from her.
I let her speak, listening closely so that I might find out who the man was.
She tells me about his confidence and his sharp attitude.
About how he toyed with her as though it was some kind of game.
Her face goes pale again when she tells me how she opened the trunk.
“It’s okay, let’s get you home,” I tell her.
She’s in such shock that my priority has to be getting her somewhere safe.
I leave my men to clean up the scene and bring the other vehicle somewhere safe so that we can deal with the guards’ bodies in a respectful manner.
Kayla snuggles against me in my car as I drive her home. She doesn’t want to let me go.
When we pull into the driveway, she whispers, “The twins will be home in an hour. I don’t want them to see me like this.”
“I have already asked Stella to take them straight upstairs to have a picnic on the top floor in the sunroom. They think you are at work, so they aren’t expecting to see you until five this evening.”
“Thank you,” she breathes a sigh of relief.
Upstairs in her room, she is still clinging onto me, and I can see how shattered her thoughts are.
“Can I run you a hot bath?” I ask, trying to find ways to comfort her.
“Will you lie with me? I just want you to hold me,” she says quietly.
“To hold you?” I repeat, my heart spinning.
She nods, biting her bottom lip.
I kick off my shoes and shrug my jacket off, tossing it over a nearby chair. I guide her to sit on the side of the bed so I can take her sneakers off. She stares at nothing, bewildered and stunned.
I scoop her in my arms and lay her on the bed, then lie down next to her and pull her right up against my chest, with her back curved into me and my arms wrapped tightly around her.
“Like this?” I whisper against her ear.
She nods.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask.
“Those men…their families…”
“Those were both good men. But they knew what they were signing up for. They have both been involved in the Bratva since they were young. Born into it. Lucas is single and has no family. Tony’s divorced.
He had two sons who live with their mother.
As per my promise to him, I will take care of his family and make sure they have everything they need to be okay.
I will honor both men with a funeral that thanks them for their sacrifice. ”
“His sons,” she whispers, her heart clearly still aching.
“His sons hardly knew him. But their lives will be easy. I will pay for their college and help them start a business whenever they are ready.”
“So, both of them were alone in this world, in a way?”
“They had family. The team they worked with. They are all like brothers. But yes, the men who go into jobs like this are generally loners. Most of them have no one,” I explain.
She nods, sighing heavily.
“I don’t want to live my life like that—alone. I want a massive family. I never even knew or understood what family was until I spent time with yours. I want the girls to have that,” she says.
“They will have everything, Kayla. They already have a family who loves and adores them.”
As the adrenaline wears off, and she relaxes in my arms, Kayla falls asleep, exhausted.
It breaks my heart that this is the reason I get to see her being vulnerable again. I want her to trust me and need me. I want her to open up to me like she did now. But not for reasons like this.
I have been calm and tender with her. But inside my body, there is a rage so dark I can’t calm the flames that are lapping against my thoughts.
Anton Radev.
I knew exactly who she described the moment she spoke about him.
I have seen those blue eyes and that confident, arrogant smile.
Anton Radev. One of my enemies.
The Bratva king of Vancouver.
We have been at war for as long as I have had power here.
However, Anton tends to stay on his side of the map while I stay on mine. We don’t cross paths.
It would take something big to upset him enough to bring him into my city looking for trouble like this. For him to approach my wife and threaten her, and to kill two of my guards.
Something big.
Like me, joining forces and doing business with the West Coast Pakhans!
He feels threatened by my expansion of power. It can only be that. He wouldn’t waste his time on something less.
The anger inside me becomes too much to deal with, and I have to slip away from Kayla before I accidentally wake her up.
Gently, I tuck the blankets around her and place soft pillows at her back to keep her comfortable.
Then I head downstairs to think.
And I pace.
I pace and mutter and fight the urge to throw things. I want to tear that man apart.
He had his hands on my wife. He threatened her, terrified her. He was so close to her that the images in my mind are breaking me.
He could have done anything. And I wasn’t there to stop him.
The threat is clear.
He could not have been clearer if he tried. He’s letting me know he can reach the people I love, and he will, if I don’t back out of the deal with the Pakhans.
Dialing Isaak, I hold the phone to my ear and walk out onto the patio.
“The team has everything cleared up, and they brought the guards' car to the warehouse. I'm sorting it all out.”
“It was Anton Radev,” I snarl.
“Anton? No! He’s in Chicago?” he blurts out in shock.
“I reckon he made the trip especially for this,” I huff.
“Do you think he's behind the attempt to kidnap her before? And the attack on the operations?”
I sigh, pressing my fingers into my eyes.
“I don’t know. I mean, messing with the operation makes sense, seeing as he is clearly against the alliance.
But Anton doesn’t need to manipulate smaller groups to do his work.
His messages are clear, not underhanded.
He has too much power to bother with small-time games.
If he wanted to kidnap Kayla, he would have succeeded.
But then again…he might just have been toying with me for the fun of it,” I sigh.
“Playing games with you is his style,” my brother says.
“It’s true. He loves messing with people.”
“What do you want us to do?” Isaak asks. “He came into your city and handled your wife!”
“I know. And he sent a message home with her. Tell Josiah I say hello, and that he hopes my family is well.”
Isaak growls in anger. “That fucking motherfucker!”
“Look, we don’t have evidence that he’s the one who messed with the operation. For the time being, I am leaning towards him being the primary suspect, but we can’t say that until we know for sure.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean…”
“It doesn’t mean I'm going to do nothing. He fucked with me today, and he will pay for that. He will pay for what he did today with the full force of my wrath,” I snarl.
I hang up the phone after saying goodbye to my brother with my anger still at a boiling point.
“Josiah,” she says my name and makes me jump. “Are you going to go after that man?” she asks with her brows knitted.
“Yes, Kayla. He needs to learn that he can’t treat you, or my employees, like that and get away with it,” I tell her.
She bites her lip. “I don’t like this at all. What if he was baiting you into going after him?”
I walk over to her, gently pulling her close to me. "That wasn’t bait, sweet girl. That was a blatant threat.”