Levka wasn’t prepared for that. He glanced at Kira, and she bowed her head, indicating that she must have told Luerna what happened.
And perhaps even why.
Embarrassed and completely unprepared, Levka forced onward. “Please let the staff know if there is any way we can accommodate your stay.” He pointed to a man approaching. “Greggory will be your escort and private concierge. Anything you need, he will see it done.”
Before he could walk away again, Luerna stopped him with a little less emotion in her tone. If he wasn’t going to be amiable, neither was she. “We want your help.” She glanced over her shoulder at the three men standing in the foyer. They had earpieces and hidden guns at their sides. “We want to escape for a while. And we’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about your hotel.”
Levka clenched his teeth with the realization that she came here to use him. Why didn’t that shock him? Pettiness made him reply, “No, I’m sorry. That won’t be possible. it’s too dangerous.”
Kira popped up. “Come with us. I’m sure you know these streets better than anyone.”
It was supposed to be a compliment; if it came from anyone else, he would have taken it as such. Levka was raised on these streets with all of his cousins. They were called the wolves of Moscow because they traveled in packs and caused problems wherever they went. But Levka took it as an insult. Her family was the one that put him on ‘these streets’ for the last two years. There were nights when he had no place to call home. Times when younger, less powerful clans trapped him, seeking vengeance. He had scars on his back. Two gunshot wounds on his legs. All because of their fucking family.
“I can’t help you.”
“Can’t?” Luerna provoked. “Or won’t?”
He snickered, sneering at her. Her privilege was like a halo over her head.
“Please,” Luerna added, taking a desperate step toward him. “I need a break.”
Levka could almost feel the heat of her and he despised himself for it. There’s no way anything survived after two years. It wasn’t possible. But even if there was, he wasn’t a naive boy anymore and wasn’t nearly so blind to the devastation her father could cause.
“I’m sorry.” He moved away before they could try again.
Luerna sagged as she watched him leave.
Kira gripped her arm and leaned into her. “He’s changed.”
When Luerna learned the truth behind Levka’s stupid rape attempt, she wanted only to berate him. You just didn’t go up against Yakov. There was no winning. She despised him for challenging his father.
But she envied him for having the guts to do it.
“We’ve all changed,” she whispered.
Chapter eight
Gift
Levkapacedhisroom.He threw off his jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. It was stifling in here all of a sudden. He cursed himself, cursed this moment, cursed every fucking thing that existed because here he was two years later, stuck right back where he was. He thought he was over her. He wanted to be over her. He’s slept with dozens of women to erase Luerna from his soul. He’s kept his mind on the business alone, never allowing even a second to think about her. And yet a single picture of her in a magazine or in the news would shove him down and hold him hostage till he was strong enough to forget her again. He didn’t want to feel this anymore. It was too much torture.
So what did he have to do? Levka looked around the room hoping something would have the answer.
A phone call pulled him out of his fall, and Levka rushed out of the room. Apparently, Luerna had done her research on this hotel. He joined the Bac Family fourteen months ago under a fake name. There wasn’t a choice, really. He was going to die if he didn’t find protection. Too many clans had heard about his fall from grace, and they either wanted vengeance or whatever power Levka hid from them.
The Bac Family owned a series of hotels that catered to the high elite who lived in secrecy. Dozens of tunnels were built through the place for private liaisons or to run from the police.
After proving himself for the last year, doing the worst any human being can do, he earned his place as the general manager. It was pennies compared to the money he used to have, low six figures, but it got his father out of the shabby apartment and into a real house. By this time next year, if the stock market did what he needed, he could move his father back into a penthouse in the city.
It was not making up for the destruction he caused, but hopefully, down the line, he’d earn his father’s respect back.
Levka found them in the hallway, cursing at the locked door. Luerna was dressed in a sparkling blue jumpsuit that fit tight on her ass and hugged her breasts like a second skin. Her hair was in a long ponytail with long earrings that shook with every movement of her head.
She turned her wide blue eyes to him, and he smiled forcefully. “Can I escort you back to your room?”
“No,” Luerna bit back. “We want to go out.”
“I can prepare your car.”
