“Ha! My sister, with you? I would never allow it!”
“So what? You got rid of me?” Artur narrows his eyes in disbelief.
“Exactly, you stupid fuck. I got rid of you because I own that city and everyone in it. I made sure you lost everything…even came close to getting rid of you for good,” he mutters angrily.
“You should be happy our uncle passed away and can’t see the disgusting man you became, Misha. He would be ashamed of you,” Artur growls.
“I saved our family name by forcing you out of it,” he huffs in return. “Our name had to stay pure. We couldn’t have a streetrat like you infiltrating our bloodline,” he huffs, snubbing his nose at Artur.
Around us, I watch as suspicious-looking men slowly creep closer.
“Give my sister back to me, Artur,” Misha warns him.
“I don’t think you deserve her. I don’t think you ever did,” Artur spits.
“Give her the fuck back to me,” Misha snarls again.
“Good luck with your miserable life, Misha. But you aren’t getting Maria back,” Artur responds.
I reach out and grab his arm. “Art,” I warn him. He looks up to follow my gaze and notices the men crowding us.
“We’ve got to go,” I mutter.
He nods and slips his hand beneath his shirt to rest his hand on his Glock. I do the same, flicking the safety off my gun.
Misha laughs coldly as he watches us backing off the wooden platform of the beach bar and onto the sand. Art stays close to me, ready and alert.
“Go around the side,” he says.
“On it, let’s hurry,” I reply.
We managed to escape without incident despite it getting very close to becoming an explosive situation. On the drive home, Artur is silent and staring out of the window.
At least I know what happened now.
The truth had to come out at some point, and a lot of how Artur feels toward Misha makes sense. But why does he hate Maria?
Chapter 19 - Artur
“The pilot will have the plane ready at four,” I say to Joseph and Benedikt.
Ben nods. “A vacation seems a bit strange in the middle of all this?” he asks.
“It’s a good time to get out of the city. We need to get away from any threats after that failed meeting. Although it went exactly as I expected it to go,” I huff.
“You knew he was angry about you and Maria growing closer?” Joseph asks, confused.
“No,” I sigh, “I had no idea about that. I just mean his arrogance,” I shrug. “But anyway, the point is that Misha might not have left Chicago. He might still be here, and that means the wise choice is for us not to be here until we can come up with a plan to deal with him,” I explain.
Ben and Joe look at me with amused expressions on their faces.
“What?” I snap, “You don’t agree?”
Ben chuckles, but it’s lighthearted. There is no mocking tone in his laughter. “No man, it’s just nice that you seem to have joined the team and are willing to discuss things with us,” he says, smiling.
I huff and roll my eyes.
“We’ll be at the airport at four. Tell Kazimir and Maria,” I say, then turn away from them to leave the room because it’s getting way too friendly in here for comfort.
