“And I don’t feel like this is an inside job,” Rurik spoke up. “My men don’t leave someone alive. We double check, and we clean up our mess. Whoever this is wanted Maksim to be found. They thought he would bleed out.”
I clenched my jaw. “They were using him to make a statement.”
Rurik nodded once, then muttered a curse and leaned back in his chair. “Looks like you’re getting that meeting after all. And you need to bring Rico in. It’s time to put differences aside. There’sa dangerous game at play here, and we need all hands on deck until the problem is solved.”
I pushed back from the table. “I’ll talk to him and get with you in the morning. We meeting here?”
We both looked at Shaw and Konrad, who were already looking at each other, speaking without words. Finally, Konrad nodded. “Yeah, all meetings here on neutral territory for the two of you,” Konrad agreed. “Keep us in the loop. We’ll get everyone else here up to speed.”
Niran stood as well, and we left the room. Sighing, Niran ran his hand down his face. “Rico isnotgoing to be happy to be in the same room with Balakin.”
“Nope, but he’ll do it if for nothing else than to keep Anurak safe.” That, I knew with certainty. Rico would doanythingto keep his husband protected. I glanced at my watch. “Let’s get home. Maksim will be waking up soon, and I want to be there when he does. He needs to hear this from me.”
Niran nodded, heading for the doors. I smiled at Ace as I passed him. “Hey, kid. You look mellow.” Which meant he didn’t seem nearly as bratty as he usually did.
Ace smirked at me. “Courtesy of a good dicking.” His husband, Gunner, sighed heavily, casting his boy a look to warn him he was treading on thin ice.
I barked out a laugh and followed Niran out of the clubhouse. First, I needed to talk to Maksim and get him up to speed, and then, I needed to talk to Rico.
Shit was hitting the fan, and it was time for a truce. Especially since Maksim was mine. The Bratva was his family, and whileI was a selfish son of a bitch, I would never make him choose between the two of us. But until we knew who the fuck was targeting him—and possibly targeting the rest of us, too—he was stuck at home where Iknewhe was safe.
And until I knew this son of a bitch was dead at my fucking feet.
Chapter Nineteen
Maksim
Islowly peeled my eyes open. Drool was stuck to my chin, and I reached up with my good hand to swipe at it, my cheeks coloring in mortification. Had Alfonzo seen me drooling? Oh, God, what if he had? He probably thought I was disgusting, and knowing that made me cringe. What if he sent me away? What the fuck would I do then? I wasn’t fit for survival on my own—not when the Bratva had turned their backs on me and all I had to rely on was, technically, the enemy.
On my own, I was surely a dead man walking.
I pushed myself into a sitting position, jerking in surprise at the sight of Bento occupying a chair that’d been pulled near the bed. When I cleared my throat, he looked up from his phone and smiled at me. “Hey. Surprised you’re already up,” he commented. “Sleep well?”
“I… uh, yeah,” I managed, my voice raspy with sleep still. I rubbed at my eyes. “Where’s Alfonzo?”
Bento locked his phone, giving me his undivided attention. He seemed… nice, unlike Alfonzo had seemed when I first met him. But I also knew looks could be deceiving. Alfonzo had shown me his true colors from the very start. So, now I just had to figure out if Bento wasactuallya nice person or if he was just masking to hide something much more dark and dangerous.
“He went to meet with Rurik.”
I choked on my spit and just about swallowed my tongue. “Come again?”
Bento huffed a laugh. “He went to meet with Rurik. He got his hands on your burner phone and called him. Niran texted me a little while ago to let me know they were on their way back. They’re both fine and safe and alive,” he assured me. “Alfonzo knows what he’s doing.”
I had no idea if Rurik was truly on my side in this whole thing. Sure, he’d given me a burner phone, took me away from the family, and supposedly put me up in a motel until my flight time, but how was I—or anyone, for that matter—supposed to know if he ordered that hit? Rurik hadjustdropped me off when it fucking happened.
I looked up to Rurik. He’d taken me off the streets and given me a family. But I also knew Rurik was a psychopath through and through, and if someone got in his way, he wasn’t afraid of taking them out. And while I wanted to believe that letting someone else off me wasn’t Rurik’s style… it definitely was Anatoly’s. And if Anatoly gave the order to Rurik…
I was going to make myself sick with all of the what-if scenarios pulsing through my skull. As it was, I was already getting a headache from it. But how was I truly supposed to cope knowingmy family was turning their backs on me without even giving me a chance to explain myself?
The door to the room opened before I could think of something to say,like all the questions pouring through my skull that I couldn’t seem to be able to open my mouth to voice. Alfonzo filled the doorway, and Bento stood.
“I hope you feel better soon,” Bento told me.
“Thanks,” I rasped.
He smiled, then left the room, dipping his chin once at Alfonzo. The door shut behind him, leaving me and Alfonzo alone in the room together. “Do you know how stupid it was to go meet with him?” I blurted once I saw for myself he wasn’t injured, that he was truly okay.
Alfonzo arched a brow at me. “You calling me stupid, mouse?”
