I bang on the windows until my hands are red and throbbing. But the men standing guard around my jeep are completely unmoved by my pleas. When I yell that I’ll bribe them to set me free, I get a big, fat group laugh. Otherwise, nothing.
Assholes, the lot of them.
The back windows of the jeep are tinted, so I see everything through a dark sheen. But I do notice my brother drive up. I’m too far away and too well-hidden for him to notice, but I scream his name all the same.
All I can do is sit and wait.
That is, until the side door flies open and I find myself staring at the sour-faced righthand that Aleks seems to rely on.
“You,” I hiss.
Demyan smiles sympathetically. “You’ve got some lungs on you.”
I move towards the door, but he throws his arm out and forces me to a stop. “Hold on. I just opened the door to give you a breather. We haven’t been called yet.”
“Do you always wait until you’re called?” I ask.
“Where Aleks is concerned, yeah. Do I look stupid to you?”
“My brother is in there.”
“I’m aware.”
“He came alone,” I point out. “Just like he said he would.”
“Sure thing, princess.”
“Fuck you. Don’t call me that.”
He just laughs. “Huh, would ya look at that? The princess swears. It’s actually kinda hot.”
Compared to Aleks, this man is a wisp in the wind. He’s my height, give or take an inch or two, and far too skinny.
But there’s something intimidating about him all the same, and it’s got nothing to do with the tattoos that cover both his arms and most of his neck.
Maybe it’s that dark calculation in his blue eyes. Or the way they seem too light—eerily light—compared to his raven-black hair.
“I have to see my brother.”
“You will see him when Aleks says you will.”
“Jesus!” I cry in frustration. “Does he have all your balls in a vise?”
Demyan chuckles. “Pretty much. It comes with the title.”
I study him curiously. “And you’re okay with that? Doing his bidding like some trained dog?”
He turns those scary blue eyes on me. “You trying to manipulate me, honey?”
“Depends. Is it working?”
He laughs under his breath. “Not even a little bit. Manipulation never works on the confident.”
“Who taught you that?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“Who do you think?”
I roll my eyes even harder, then turn towards where my brother’s car is parked in front of the building.
I remember when he bought that car. He was twenty and he paid for it entirely with his own money. It’s a piece of shit now, but I know he’s going to keep driving it until it breaks down completely and nothing on earth will revive it.
I asked him once why he still hung onto it when the cost to maintain it was more expensive than buying something new.
“It was the first thing I ever did all on my own,” he told me.
Whenever he came home to visit for a few days, he and Dad would spend most of the weekend in the garage tinkering around with it. That’s probably another reason Rob has kept it so long past its expiration date. There are memories of our father baked into the metal.
Demyan raises his hand to his ear, and I realize he’s wearing a barely visible earpiece. He listens for a moment and nods. “On it.”
He turns to me. “We’re up. Let’s—”
“Coming.” I jump out before Demyan can even finish the command—and immediately fall flat on the ground with a yelp.
Demyan snorts as he gazes down at me. “That was graceful.”
“Shut up,” I snap. “My legs are asleep.”
He offers me a hand, but I bat it away and get to my feet on my own. My thighs are on pins and needles, but I shake them out to get the blood flowing again.
“This way,” he says, shepherding me forward. “And no funny business, got it?”
He adjusts his shirt, making sure I catch a glimpse of the gun in the waistband of his pants. I’m so used to being threatened at this point that it doesn’t really register.
“Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, cowboy.”
We set off trudging in the direction of the building. But as we approach, Demyan suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me around the back.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“We’re taking the back entrance in.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s Aleks’s side.”
“Sides? I thought this was a neutral meeting place.”
He chuckles again. “This world is going to be very cruel to you if you insist on being so damn naïve.”
I puff a stray lock of hair out of my face. “Excuse me for thinking we can all be rational adults about this.”
“The rules are different here, princess,” he says. “You need to learn that if you plan to survive it.”
“I don’t plan on staying in this world for long.”
There is something akin to pity in his expression, if a man like him is even capable of such an emotion. He sighs. “Like I said: cruel awakening in your future.”
I can’t ask him to explain because we walk through the back door just then and I catch a glimpse of Aleks’s back. Jesus, the man has broad shoulders. Like Superman, if Superman abandoned all sense of morality and decided to start wearing Brioni suits.
Then Aleks moves to the side and I see my brother.
“Rob!”
He looks tired. Dark circles burn around his eyes and he’s lost weight since I last saw him.
I move forward, ready to run to him, but Demyan grabs my arms to hold me back. “What did I tell you?” he growls in my ear. “No funny business.”
I stand there, wedged between Demyan and Aleks, but my eyes stay fixed on my brother. I’m hoping he’ll see that I haven’t been hurt. That I’m okay.
All I want is the same assurance from him.
“Rob,” I gasp desperately. “Are Mom and Mia okay?”
He doesn’t budge from where he’s standing, but he looks me over for damage. Then he nods. “They’re fine. Both being looked after.”
Relief floods through me. “Oh, thank God.”
“But they’re worried about you,” he adds. “We all are.”
I glance towards Aleks, realizing that I’m up. Next on the docket. I have to make good on my part of the bargain.
“Rob,” I begin, “he’ll let me go. He’ll let me leave with you if you just drop the investigation.”
“The case is dropped,” he says. “You can release her to me, Makarova.”
Aleks hasn’t said a word since I got here, and now, I’m scared of what’s going to come out of his mouth. From the calculating glint in his eye, I already know it can’t be good.
“You keep saying that, Agent Lawrence,” he sighs. “You keep saying you dropped the investigation, that I have nothing left to be concerned about. Just like you insist you came alone.”
“Because I did drop it. And I did come alone,” he says.
But I don’t miss the way his eyes go wide. It’s slight, but it’s there. And a strange feeling spreads through my chest, like a cold breeze only I can feel.
Aleks exchanges a glance with Demyan and then shakes his head. “Then why are there ten unmarked FBI vans in a quarter-mile radius? Why have they formed a circle around us? Why are you using private government radio channels to communicate with them?”
I turn white as a ghost. “Rob, you… you brought backup?”
I can see the truth on his face: he’s not here alone like I thought he was. Like he swore he would be.
In this, at least, it seems Aleks was right. My valiant defense of my brother has proved to be hollow.
He takes an uncertain half-step forward, hand stretched out to me in silent apology. “I’m sorry, Liv,” he says sincerely. “But I couldn’t risk coming here alone. This man… he’s dangerous. More than you know.”
“Compliments aren’t going to help you now, Robert,” Aleks remarks. “We had a bargain and you broke it. I told you when you last left that the only way you’d get your sister back is by ending the investigation and following my instructions. You chose to ignore me. There are consequences for that.”
“This is a whole lot bigger than my sister, Makarova,” he barks. “There are more lives at stake.”
I blink at him, not fully understanding. Or maybe just not wanting to understand. “Rob, what do you mean?”
Rob looks over, his eyes pleading for me to understand. “He has taken multiple women, Liv. I don’t know what he does with them. But they disappear without a fucking trace.”
Frowning, I glance at Aleks to see how this accusation is sitting with him.
He looks almost bored.
“You’re starting to imagine things now, Robert. Delusions aren’t very becoming of a federal agent.”
Rob shakes his head. “It’s not my imagination,” he insists. “I have evidence placing at least three different women who are now missing persons in and around your properties. They all have ties to your people.”
Aleks narrows his eyes. I feel Demyan stiffen behind me. I have no idea how to read their body language. It could be denial or anger. But it could just as easily be read as acknowledgement.
That probably shouldn’t shock me, but it does.
Because somehow, I’ve allowed myself to be convinced over the course of the last few days that Aleks couldn’t possibly be guilty of doing what Rob thinks he’s done.
Ironic, I know, considering he abducted me.
Am I really so weak that my opinions can be so easily changed? That my perspective can be so easily manipulated?
Maybe it’s true what Demyan said earlier—that confidence makes it more difficult to be manipulated. Which would explain why it’s taken no effort at all for Aleks to mold me to his liking.
All it took was a little bit of attention, and I found myself making excuses for him. Bending over backwards, both literally and figuratively.
“Is that true?” I ask, turning to Aleks.
He doesn’t even look at me. Instead, he keeps his gaze fixed on my brother. “You have evidence?”
“I do.”
“In what form?”
Rob narrows his eyes. “What does that matter?”
“It matters because whatever evidence you’ve been given is a fucking lie,” Aleks snarls. “It’s planted. I’m being framed.”
“And who would want to do that?” Rob scoffs.
Aleks throws Rob an incredulous look. “Do you know who I am? I have a lot of enemies. Many of whom fight like cowards.”
I study Aleks’s features, trying to determine how much of this is just an elaborate ruse and how much is true. He looks sincere. But then again, I’m sure he’s a brilliant liar when he needs to be.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect anything from you,” Aleks says. “Especially not after today.”
“My sister’s done nothing—”
“No,” Aleks interrupts, “she hasn’t. But you have. And she’s going to pay the price for that. I did tell you her safety depended on you, didn’t I?”
Fear flashes across Rob’s face as he realizes the vulnerable position he’s placed me in.
“It’s okay, Rob,” I tell him, making sure to meet his gaze. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do. I’m not the only one who matters.”
“I won’t abandon you, Liv,” he says. His jaw sets with determination as his gaze flicks back to Aleks. “You don’t want to make this a full-blown battle, Makarova. I work for the goddamn FBI. The house always wins.”
Aleks smiles. Menace rolls off him in waves. “You forget, Robert: chaos is where I’m most comfortable.”
Suddenly, I notice movement outside the open windows. At the same time, I register the click of a dozen different weapons being pointed in our direction.
“FBI! Drop your weapons now!”
I look around, realizing the entire building is surrounded by agents who are dressed in full riot gear. Rob looks triumphant as he takes another step forward.
“You’re surrounded,” he announces to Aleks. “If you want to walk out of here alive, you’ll let my sister go right now.”
I search Aleks’s face for any sign of fear or nerves, but I find none. He just smiles at Rob. “Why would I do that when I have the upper hand?”
Before Rob can say a word, I notice more movement.
More men.
More guns.
And behind each of the FBI men, I see a Bratva soldier—masked and clad head to toe in riot gear—step up and press a pistol into their throats.
“I didn’t think you’d stick to our bargain,” Aleks tells Rob, who looks suddenly seasick. “So I didn’t, either. Tell your men to drop their weapons or I’ll tell mine to blow their fucking heads off.”
Rob looks around and the color drains from his face. His eyes are desperate and searching, but there’s no changing the reality. No way to spin this as a victory for him.
Aleks Makarova holds all the cards.
His shoulders slump. “Drop your weapons!” he barks into an invisible microphone in his shirt cuff. “Now.”
None of his agents listen. They keep their weapons up despite the Bratva guns jammed into their jaws.
“Do it!” Rob bellows.
Finally, after some hesitation, the agents drop their weapons, one by one.
Looking amused, Aleks moves closer to me, angling his body just behind mine. I see Rob’s eyes bulge. He makes a fumbling grab for his gun, and I don’t understand why—until I feel cold metal press to the side of my head.
The stench and weight of Aleks’s gun sends shivers of fear racing through me. Oil and metal and blood. Heavy with death.
Would he really shoot me? Something inside of me is saying no. But I don’t think I can trust my own intuition anymore.
Truth be told, I haven’t been able to trust myself since I first met Aleks. Since I learned who he really was. I should hate him, but I don’t. I can’t.
And that’s all I need to know to know that I cannot be trusted.
“This is what you did, Robert,” Aleks says calmly. “She is at my mercy now because you decided to overplay your hand.”
“Drop your weapon, motherfucker!” Rob screams.
“You first.”
Rob’s hand is white-knuckling on the butt of his holstered service pistol. But every single soul in the room but him knows he can’t draw it. Or rather, won’t draw it, for fear of what would happen to me if he does.
And eventually, he realizes the truth, too: that he’s lost. I can see the defeat splattered across his face.
I’m sorry, he mouths to me.
I close my eyes and crinkle my nose, the same way Dad used to do when we were kids. I wish I could say something to him. Something that will convince him I’ll be okay, no matter what.
But my throat is locked down tight. I can’t even seem to get a sound out. Breathing itself is hard.
“Order your men to leave,” Aleks says. “Now.”
“L-leave?” Rob stammers.
Aleks nods. “I want them out of here in two minutes or I will blow her pretty little head off. What are you going to tell your mother, Robert? What are you going to tell Mia? That your baby sister is dead because you refused to sacrifice your pride?”
“Keep my family’s names out of your mouth, you fucking snake.”
“Ninety seconds left, Agent Lawrence.”
Rob raises his hidden microphone once again and gives the command in a mumbled growl. There’s scattered talk, but a minute later, I see motion through the windows. The agents set their weapons down and retreat to their vehicles, with Aleks’s men shadowing close at their backs.
Rob looks at Aleks with uncertainty. “My men—”
“As long as they cooperate, none of them will be hurt,” he says.
We all watch in strangled silence as the FBI agents load up into their vans and disappear.
Rob stays where he is, mired in loneliness and despair a few feet away. He’s still got his gun in his holster, but his hand hangs next to it, limp and useless. He might as well be unarmed.
Aleks raises his hand to the side of his face as someone gives him a report through the earpiece. He nods once and turns his gaze on Rob. “Looks like you’re alone, Robert. The way it should have been from the beginning.”
Panic starts snaking its way up my spine. My brother is standing opposite me all alone, surrounded by Aleks’s men. He’s the most vulnerable he’s ever been and there’s nothing stopping Aleks from killing him.
“I did what you asked,” Rob whispers hoarsely. “Now, can you please stop pointing the gun at her?”
Aleks smirks and pops open the clip, revealing that it was unloaded the entire time. Rob’s eyes bulge.
“Just needed to make a point,” he says mildly. “But it’s good to know how far you’ll go to protect your sister. She is quite something, isn’t she?”
I twist around and grab the front of Aleks’s shirt. “Please don’t hurt him. Let him go. I’ll stay with you if you let him go. I won’t put up a fight.”
“Liv, no!” Rob cries.
I ignore him and focus only on Aleks’s deep blue eyes. “Please.”
He looks down at me with an unreadable emotion on his face. Almost tenderly, he peels my hands off his shirt, although he keeps them enveloped in his as he gazes at me.
“It would be easy, wouldn’t it?” he murmurs. “To just walk away from here and call it a day?”
Oh, God. Oh, God.
“But then Robert won’t learn his lesson,” Aleks continues calmly. “We had a deal, Rob. You drop the investigation and bury it. You come alone and we work out terms to make sure I get what I want and you get your sister back. But you thought you could outsmart me. And now? Well, now there need to be consequences. So that you understand exactly who the fuck you’re dealing with.”
“No!” I scream, terrified now. “No, please, Aleks! Please don’t hurt him!”
“Don’t worry, Olivia,” he tuts. “I’m not going to kill him. I’m just going to make him suffer.”
My thoughts run amok. Will I have to stand here and watch while Aleks mutilates my brother? While he breaks an arm or severs a leg?
I mean, that’s what Bratvas do, don’t they? They torture. They deal out pain like Halloween candy.
I wriggle free of Aleks and try to sprint to my brother, but Demyan intercepts me. He wraps his arms around my waist and hauls me into the air. All I can do is kick and scream.
It only serves to exhaust me.
“No! No! No! Let her fucking go!” Rob yells. He tries to close the distance to us, but Aleks holds out his hand and my brother halts dead in his tracks.
“Not another move,” Aleks says firmly. Then he touches his earpiece and orders, “Bring out the priest.”
