Chapter 19

After liaising with my security team, I return to the bar to find it flooded with men, both mine and the Sokolov brothers. Everybody is tooled up now. Ania sits on one of the stools, her hands trembling as she brings a glass of water to her lips.

"Car bomb," I grunt. "We all need to leave—now."

"Car bomb?" Dimitri growls. "What the fuck sort of game is this?"

"This wasn't me," I snap, looking at the big man.

I've been around a lot of fake tough guys in my life. Dimitri and Mikhail are the real deal. I knew that the second I walked in here and saw their cold, ready stares.

"It wasn't us," Mikhail snaps. "Like we'd risk hurting our sister."

"Yeah, and like I'd risk hurting …" I pause. What is she to me? The woman I kissed? The woman I want to keep kissing? "Anna."

Ania looks up when I use the English version of her name. It seems to mean a lot to her, piercing the shock coating her entire body.

"We need to be fast," I go on. "My men will spin a story for the cops, but we can't be seen together."

"The Sokolovs aren't good enough for your daddy's business, eh?" Mikhail snaps.

I don't rise to it. Instead, I walk over to Ania. Mikhail walks into my path. "You seriously think I'm going to let her go with you now?"

Ania slides from the stool and walks right up to me, almost into my arms. "I want to. Please."

"Fuck," Dimitri snaps when he hears sirens. "We're not leaving this city until this is sorted," he sighs, "but we have to leave, Mikhail. Just for now."

"Leave him with her?"

"He won't hurt me," Ania says in a distant voice. "He's a good person."

She really is in serious shock.

"Fuck."

Mikhail kicks the bar, then walks up to me, shoulders square, with a wild, capable look in his eyes. I know right away that he's competent in serious violence. "If you even think about hurting her, it won't be slow, Aiden. It won't be easy. We'll make it last a long, long time. Do you understand?"

I offer him my hand. "I'd expect nothing less."

In a messed-up way, this is the best thing he could've said to me. I want Ania to have a supportive family. If I'm not here to protect her one day … One day? I've known her for one day!

Mikhail seems surprised, and then Dimitri steps forward and shakes my hand. "It'll last weeks," he says. "Months, maybe."

"Good," I tell him.

"In the meantime, keep communication open. If this wasn't you, and it wasn't us, we need to figure out what the hell's going on."

Ania looks small as she leans against the door in the passenger seat. She always looks small, but this isn't just a physical thing. It's like she's trying to shrink into herself. She shudders every time the car goes over a bump.

Soon, we're back home. As we ride the elevator up, she moves closer to me, closer, until we're almost touching. I'm about to put my arm around her, warning myself that I need to be careful not to let this feeling spiral out of control when the elevator makes a ding noise. She jolts away from me as though shocked. Molly is waiting for us, rushing forward.

"Anna," she says, her voice shuddering. "Oh, Anna."

"Mom," Ania says, then bursts into tears. Molly rushes over and pulls her daughter into her arms, leading her down the corridor. "We've got a doctor waiting. Oh, you poor thing."

Dad passes them in the hallway, approaching me with the aura of a man ready for a serious rumble. "Thank God you're okay."

I clap him on the arm. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"What happened?"

I shrug. "Car bomb. No other info yet. The cops suspect it might've been a terrorist attack."

"That's the story they're going with," Dad says, nodding, "but we both know it's crap. Do you think the Sokolovs …"

"I doubt it, Dad, honestly. They seemed like brothers trying to take care of their sister to me, but it was only a short meeting."

"I've never known a better judge of character than you."

"It makes no tactical sense, either. Why risk hurting their sister?"

"So what are you thinking?" he asks, gesturing down the corridor.

"The rival Bratva is the obvious choice. They must've pretended to back off. Then, when they realized that the Sokolov brothers were going to be on the East Coast, maybe they saw their chance."

Dad nods as he drops onto one of the armchairs in the living room. "I've been thinking the same. I've put some feelers out. Nothing to do in the meantime but wait for our detectives to do their work."

"If some bastards have risked Ania's life," I say as I curl my hand into a tight fist, "it's a serious lapse in judgment, Dad."

He looks at me closely, making me wonder if this is how I make other people feel when I look at them. There's a definite sense of discomfort being probed this closely. I think he knows there's more going on, but he decides to let it drop.

"If it's another Bratva, we may be forced to work with the Sokolovs."

"Hmm."

"Word on the channels is that Dimitri Sokolov only agreed to serve under his father because he forced Konstantin to stop human trafficking."

"He should've put a bullet in his head."

"His own father?" Dad says, frowning.

I smirk. "Don't worry. You're safe."

But it's false confidence, and we both know it. Dad leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "This wasn't how I imagined this going."

"We underestimated the Sokolovs," I tell him.

Dad looks at me sharply. That's the thing with people like my father. They're not used to people challenging them. That's why he needs me around, to keep him humble. "You're right."

"It doesn't matter now. What's happened has happened. All we can do is keep pushing forward."

"This new optimistic side of yours is catching me off guard, I must admit."

"Optimistic, me?" I force out a laugh. "Let me know when the detectives discover the source of the car bomb. If it's this rival Bratva, let's hope they have no rules about women and children. Let's hope they're not morally gray and downright evil."

"Why?" Dad says.

"Because then I can do any damn thing I want to the pricks, and I don't have to feel bad about it."