Chapter Twenty-Six

Brooke

W e raced towards Winter Valley in total silence, Ilya gripping the steering wheel like it was his enemy's throat. Both of us were a bundle of nerves as the city raced by and gave way to the wider, tree-lined streets of my hometown.

When Ilya's phone rang my heart nearly jumped into my mouth.

"Yes," he barked.

The phone was on handsfree speaker mode, and a masculine voice muttered something in Russian. Whatever it was, didn't make Ilya happy as he grumbled some response and disconnected.

"What? What's happened?" I asked.

"Your friend came to collect your daughter, apparently she needs her leotard for dance practice tomorrow, so Lara is taking her to your home to collect some things."

Damn it! I thought Lara would be away until midweek, I was counting on Karina being safe with Ryan, "Are they okay?"

"Dmitri is following them, he'll keep watch from outside. Don't worry, if anything happens, he'll be there in a flash. He never travels anywhere unarmed."

I wasn't sure if that reassured me or scared me more. Thinking that my poor daughter and best friend were getting caught up in mafia business was terrifying. "We need to have a plan."

"A plan?"

"We can't tell Karina who you are, not yet, not with all of this drama going on. And no, it's not a delay tactic." Though I couldn't blame him for thinking it was. "I promise. I just don't want to scare her until we know what's happening. Plus, wouldn't she be in more danger if Oleg knew she was yours?"

"For now. Sure." His jaw clenched and his grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"I'm serious. You don't want it like this. Trust me. Despite what you might believe, I want Karina to have her father in her life if that's what you want. I want you to be there for her, to be a present and stable presence in her life. This situation isn't good for her or for you."

He nodded and focused on driving.

"We need a plan," I repeated after a few minutes. "What if your uncle has sent someone and they are already there, waiting at my home?"

The words barely left my mouth and Ilya was already making the call to Dmitri. The phone rang out, before going to voicemail.

"That isn't good," I said.

"No," Ilya replied tersely. He tried making another call, and once more it went to voicemail.

I was getting really panicked now, "What should we do?"

Ilya glanced down at his phone again, then said, "You should go in through the front, be as natural as possible and I'll make a surprise entrance through the back."

"You think your uncle might have someone waiting already?"

He didn't answer me, but from his silence, it was clear that we were both thinking the same thing. I didn't like it. There were too many opportunities for things to go wrong, but it was all we had at the moment. "And you'll keep Karina safe no matter what?"

"No matter what," he replied grimly as he parked down the street. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"There's nothing I can't handle to keep Karina safe." I was scared as hell, but my words were true. "She's the goal, the priority, Ilya." I opened the car door, and he reached out and grabbed me by the wrist.

"You have to be careful, Brooke. Take it slow and easy, and don't give away anything of what you're feeling. My uncle's men will be able to read you like a book."

"I'll do my best."

"Be safe," he whispered, and pressed a kiss to my wrist. "Please."

"I will."

I exited the car and walked towards the house that had been home to me for years as if I were a complete stranger. I climbed the porch steps and took a deep breath. Then I shoved my key into the lock and pushed the door open. "Hello?"

I stepped inside hesitantly and waited for Lara or Karina to greet me with wide smiles, but there was nothing.

I swallowed hard and stepped inside, clenching my jaw as I flipped on the light switch, nearly screaming when it illuminated the living room. "Lara." I took in the sight of my best friend sitting on the sofa, Dmitri beside her, and my terrified daughter on her lap, clinging to her. "What's up?"

Her gaze darted left, and that's when I knew for sure they weren't alone. "Nothing much," she whispered, and gifted me with a shaky smile.

Okay, you got this. I didn't have this at all, but I had to be strong. "Hey, Karina. Mommy missed you."

Her gaze darted to the left and then she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Missed you too, Mommy." She sniffled and I ached to reach out to her, but I couldn't, not yet.

"Don't stand about in the hallway. Get in here where I can see you. Now." The voice was heavily accented and impatient. "Don't make me ask again."

I took one step forward and then another. "You didn't ask the first time," I replied shakily. "It was more like a command."

His laughter was deep and full of amusement, which was unexpected. And terrifying. "You've got more fire than I imagined you would. Too bad you won't have it for much longer."

"Threats already when I don't even know your name yet?" That sounded mostly normal, like I wasn't at all scared.

He laughed again. "I am Oleg. Uncle Oleg to you, I suppose."

I thought Ilya said his uncle was in Moscow, so when had he arrived in the US? I took one last step into the living room where I finally came face to face with Oleg Kuznetsov, the man who wanted me dead. I greeted him with a small smile acting worlds braver than I felt. I hoped that standing in the middle of the room would give Ilya a good vantage point when he came in through the back. "I've heard so much about you, finally, we meet."

He was bigger than I expected, taller and stockily built with a bald head and piercing blue eyes that looked even more severe against his pale skin. A black clad men emerged from the shadows and flanked him. "You're prettier than your pictures. Smaller than I expected."

I shrugged. "I get that a lot. What is it that you want, Uncle Oleg?"

He laughed. "Are you ready to negotiate? It's clear my nephew doesn't have what it takes to do what I ordered." Oleg looked to Dmitri and then Lara before his gaze settled on Karina, nearly a carbon copy of her father. "I have an idea why that might be."

"You think you do. The same way you thought I knew about your business and ordered me killed." He froze. "I knew nothing other than the numbers were off. I did my duty and warned my client. Nothing more. So, really, this is all your fault."

He nodded to the muscle-headed goon at his side. "Good thing I'm here to remedy my problems. All of them."

That was the threat I was waiting for. "Right."

"You are strong and feisty. I can see what Ilya sees in you, which is why I will give you a choice. You can watch them die or let them watch you die."

"Neither, please," I offered up when a strong, beefy hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked. Hard. "Ow!"

"Don't fight me," the man growled in my ear, and tightened his grip on my hair. "Relax."

He gripped me so tight it brought tears to my eyes. "What do you want?" I asked through gritted teeth while I struggled with the big oaf of a man.

"I have made it clear what I want," Oleg answered. "It is Ilya who has forgotten to whom he answers."

At that moment Ilya suddenly stepped into the living room from the kitchen, his gun pulled out and a scowl darkening his face. "It's not me who's forgotten, Uncle."

It was so fast that if I hadn't been looking at Oleg, I would have missed it, but that flash of fear was real. He sat taller and his face reddened with fury. "That's funny, because I am looking at a bitch I ordered you to kill days ago." The look Oleg aimed at me was full of hatred.

"You made a mistake."

Oleg bristled and shook his head. "That is not for you to determine."

Ilya looked to me, his mouth in a flat, straight line. "In this case, it was. You were wrong, making an emotional decision guaranteed to bring the heat of the police down on the bratva in a multitude of ways. Do you realize her brother is a cop? He should be arriving here at any moment."

"Involving the police in bratva business? Is this what America has done to you?" Oleg spat out.

"No, just informing a concerned brother, who happens to be an off duty law enforcement officer, that his sister might be in danger and in need of his assistance," Ilya glared at his uncle then turned his gaze to Karina, Dmitri, and Lara on the sofa, taking in every detail before he gave Oleg his full attention once again. I wasn't sure if I imagined it, but something passed between Dmitri and Ilya, and I saw an almost imperceptible movement in Dmitri's fingers. I don't know if this was some sort of secret code between them. I hoped to god it was, and that they were somehow figuring how to get us out of this mess. I also hoped that what he said about Ryan coming was true and not bravado. Given my brother's opinion on Ilya, I had a feeling he was bluffing.

Ilya addressed his uncle again, "Unless, of course, that was your intention, Uncle? To alert the police to our presence in town."

Oleg blustered. "That is nonsense. I have no reason to want to do away with one of my highest earners. That is no way to do business."

Even I could tell he was lying, which made me wonder about the tension underlying this not so happy, family reunion.

"Then you can understand why killing a woman, a smalltown single mother, is bad for business." Ilya folded his arms, his face in a steely expression.

"Not when she threatens our business!" His eruption of anger didn't seem to shock Ilya.

"She doesn't. In fact, Brooke was looking out for me by letting me know that someone was stealing from my businesses. I would think that was something worth investigating, and as someone who gets a generous slice of my earnings, I am surprised you disagree."

The two men stared at each other, so much being communicated between them without a word being said. It was an eerie feeling, observing the interaction between them. Despite Ilya's use of the word uncle , there was no love lost between these men.

"It is not your job to question me. It is your job to do as I say, and I am telling you that this bitch is a threat to our business, our very fucking existence. Be a good boy and get rid of her. Or would you prefer I get Igor to do what you clearly can't."

My heart started at a gallop, and instinctively I struggled as the strong grip that held me tightened. "No!" My eyes were wide and wild as I looked around the room and my gaze landed on Karina, whose wide blue eyes held an entire world of fear. Calm down. You have to be calm, Brooke. No matter how scared I was—and I was fucking terrified—I couldn't freak her out. I wouldn't let this situation traumatize her even further.

"Mommy!"

I tried for a smile I didn't feel and looked at my sweet little girl. "It's all right, Karina, I'm fine. Do Mommy a favor and go to your room."

"No," Oleg roared. "Everyone stays here where I can see them."

"She doesn't need to be here for this. She doesn't need to see any of this. Surely, you're not such a monster that you want her to witness this." My chest heaved with fear that maybe Oleg was exactly that type of monster.

But why?

The answer came immediately. He wants to hurt Ilya.

"Do it. Now."

"I won't," Ilya insisted in a cool voice, the only hint of his anger was the tightness around his eyes.

"You will," Oleg insisted. "You will kill her now or Igor will kill her and then your daughter, once that is done then I'll finish you off like I did your father." Oleg laughed. "Not so powerful now with your dog muzzled, are you?" He laughed in Dmitri's direction.

Ilya's lips tugged into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I handled your men on the perimeter with no trouble at all, Uncle, though I'm sure Dmitri would've been far more efficient."

"Even so, you are outnumbered and outgunned. A woman, a child, and a neutered dog." He laughed. "Prepare to die."

Ilya's fingers twitched and I braced myself for whatever came next.