51. April

51

APRIL

It's the cold that wakes me up.

I blink my bleary eyes open with effort, the back of my head pounding. "Wh…what… h-happened?" I rasp. "Where am I…?"

I try to look around. This is a place I don't recognize. The light is dim, too dim to see properly. Which is strange, because I can hear birds outside.

What was I doing before this? I was at the penthouse. I was alone with May. Matvey had just gone to work.

Then I remember.

I wasn't alone. Someone came by.

I let him in, but that was okay, because I knew him. Because I trusted him.

And then…

I'm sorry. I had no choice.

I scramble upright. I squint, willing my eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness around me. It's like being in a damp hole in the ground. For a second, I wonder if I've been shoved into a well.

"May?" I call. "Baby, are you there?"

I feel around on the floor, but she isn't anywhere.

Panic sets in. "My daughter," I gasp. "Where's my daughter?"

I try to find purchase on the wall, but when I stretch out my hand, it isn't concrete I find.

It's iron bars.

Not a well, then.

Somehow, the thought isn't all that comforting.

I grab the bars with both hands and start tugging. It's useless—they're too heavy—but the mama bear in me won't hear it. I keep trying to pry the ugly things off the ground, screaming my lungs off in the process. "WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER?"

"Ma! Ma!"

I stop.

May. I'd recognize her voice anywhere. "Who's there?" I snarl. "Show yourself!"

Then I see her.

But she isn't alone. There's a man holding her, and as he steps out of the shadows, I give a huge sigh of relief. My baby's docile in his arms, the tiniest frown on her little face from the distress in my tone. But otherwise, she looks perfectly content where she is. And why wouldn't she be?

After all, she's in her uncle's arms.

"Yuri." It's such a familiar sight that, for a second, the prison bars disappear. Like we're back at the motel in Jersey. "What's going on?"

But something's wrong. Not just with the situation—with him .

Yuri's face is dark, guarded. Miles away from the honest young man I've come to know. "April. How are you feeling?"

I don't like the way he asks me that. Like he knows way more than I do about how we ended up here, and why. Normally, that would be a weight off my shoulders, but every single piece of this puzzle feels crooked.

Like it doesn't really fit with the picture in my mind.

Like it's a part of a different picture entirely.

"How am I feeling?" I echo. I blink in disbelief. "I'm in a cell. I woke up on the floor. How do you think I'm feeling?"

He grimaces. "Yeah. Sorry. That must've been uncomfortable."

"Uncomf—" I stop and collect myself before I try again. "Yuri, what the hell? What is this? Why am I in here? And why are you holding my kid over there ?"

"Here," a second man says, stepping out of the shadows. "I'll take her."

I freeze.

That voice.

The first time I heard it, I was in my motel room. The second time, I was in a cabin. Now, I have no idea where I am.

But if he's here, it can't be anywhere good.

"Carmine," I hiss.

A hand descends on Yuri's shoulder. His eyes widen, a spark of irritation flaring in the dark. For a fraction of a second, it looks like he might bite the whole thing off.

But then Yuri swallows, just once, and obediently hands over my daughter to the devil himself. "Careful. She doesn't like strangers."

"Strangers?" the man chuckles. "My, my, you wound me. We actually have a lot in common, this little one and I. After all, am I not her grandpa?"

"Get your hands off of her."

He finally looks at me. "April," he greets with a polite, everyday smile. "Are you quite sure? Because I can do that, but then she'll fall."

Then, with the most natural shrug in the world, he starts to loosen his grip.

"NO!" I scream.

I stretch out both hands through the bars, but I'm too far away.

Yuri isn't, though. His palms immediately shoot forward, ready to break my baby's fall, ready to…

"Just kidding." Carmine smirks, grip growing firm again. "Oh, loosen up, you two. I wasn't going to actually drop her."

With a snarl, Yuri's arms fall back to his sides. "Quit fucking around," he snaps. "No harm must come to them. That was the deal."

"And I'm a man of my word," Carmine agrees, his cheerful lilt suddenly sharpening at the edges. "So why don't we watch that tone, consigliere ?"

Yuri's face drains. It's just for a heartbeat, but the fear there is unmistakable. And yet, instead of reaching for his gun, all he does is hang his head in defeat. "Yes, boss."

Boss. No. It can't be.

"Yuri?" I murmur. "That's… that's not true, is it?"

His lips press into a tight line, but he stays quiet.

"Tell me it's not true."

Nothing.

"You wouldn't do this to us," I stammer, hands tight around the bars. "You wouldn't do this to Matv?—"

"Don't," he barks. "Don't say his name."

"Why?" I ask. "Why can't I say his name, Yuri? Why are you doing this?"

But he doesn't answer.

This is a nightmare. It has to be. Because there's no way Yuri would turn traitor, right? There's no way he'd ally with Carmine. That he'd kidnap me and my kid, bring us into the den of the enemy, and then…

I'm sorry. I had no choice.

"The mole," I realize, pieces finally falling into place. "That was you. All along, you've been working with him ?"

Again, silence.

This can't be real. This is Yuri we're talking about— our Yuri. The same Yuri who's always had my back, who helped me hide when I needed to… Who brought us food, sang lullabies to my daughter when I was too tired to do it…

Matvey's little brother, the person he trusts most in the world…

I can't believe this. I don't want to believe this.

"Say something," I beg, voice breaking. "For God's sake, just say something!"

But his silence is more damning than any excuse.

"Does Petra know?" I ask finally. "Does she know you betrayed everyone? That you betrayed your own family ?"

"I didn't betray my family!"

His outburst catches me by surprise. He steps forward and I reel back on instinct.

For the first time in my life, I'm afraid of the person in front of me.

"I didn't betray my family," he repeats, lower. "They're the ones I'm doing this for. So don't come for me, April. Not when I know you'd do anything to protect yours."

"Yuri…"

What happened? I want to ask again. What forced you to do this? What made you think you had no choice?

Why didn't you just talk to us?

I try to reach for him through the bars, but he slips away in an instant.

"I take it you haven't told her?" Carmine inquires.

"Told me what?"

"Shut up," Yuri seethes, but not at me. "There's nothing to tell. She has nothing to do with it. There's no need to involve her."

"I'd say she's already involved," Carmine counters with a shrug and a pointed look at my cage. "But sure. Whatever you want."

"Would everyone please stop talking as if I'm not here?" I snap.

That seems to amuse Carmine. "I love nothing more than a dramatic reveal, Ms. Flowers, but I'm afraid this isn't my story to tell."

Then they start walking away.

"Wait!" I yell. "Where are you taking her?! Give me back my daughter!" I start rattling my bars again. "May! MAY!"

"April, ENOUGH!" Yuri yells back. "Seriously, just… stop. This isn't helping anyone."

"How can you ask me that?" I croak. "How can you ask me to just give her up like this?"

"I'm not," he says. "But until this is over, you need to trust me."

"I did trust you. And look where that got me."

Pain flashes across Yuri's face. Agony, deep and raw and true. "I'm sorry," he says, and for the first time, I believe him. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."

Then he's turning away again, walking back into the dark tunnel at Carmine's heel.

"Wait!" I call after him. "Whatever he said to you, whatever he promised you—he's lying! He's a liar, Yuri! He may be your father, but he's?—"

"Oh, will you just shut the fuck up, you shlyukha ?"

If he hadn't spoken, I never would've seen him. A third man, hiding in the shadows behind them. Neither Yuri nor Carmine seems surprised by his presence, probably because he's exactly where he's supposed to be.

The second I recognize him, my eyes go wide. "You…!"