When I find Andrei, he’s spraying blood off the driveway. I look around at all the acres of private land around us, knowing it was worth the enormous price tag because it gives me the freedom to do things like kill a man in my own front yard without having to worry about nosy neighbors.
“Grab Ilya and get some moving boxes and then meet us at Nina’s parents’ house. I’ll text you the address.”
“Are you going to kill her dad?” he asks. “She might not like that.”
I shake my head. “No, I promised her I wouldn’t.”
“Marriage is all about compromise.”
“Tell me about it,” I say with a laugh. “I’ll still make him regret his decision, though.”
Andrei and Ilya are the only two who know the details about what Nina’s been through. They don’t know everything, but they know enough, and I know either one of them would be more than happy to hold the bastard down while I gut him.
When Nina joins us, I get the address, smiling when I see that it’s firmly on our side of the city, and text it to Andrei before leading her to the garage. Instead of taking the Porsche, I head for one of the SUVs so we can load boxes in the back. The drive doesn’t take long, and when we’re only a couple of minutes away, Nina starts tapping her foot and fidgeting. Reaching over, I squeeze her hand.
“Relax, baby. They can’t hurt you anymore. Soon, they’ll understand that.”
We pull into the driveway, and as soon as Nina’s out of the vehicle, I wrap my arm around her shoulders so we can walk up together. She digs a key ring out of her pocket and unlocks the front door. The house is like all the other boring mini mansions on this street, and I want to roll my eyes at the fakeness of it all. I’ve met too many people like her parents. Pompous, full of themselves, assholes who turn their noses up at everyone while hiding their own horrific sins from view. Hypocritical bastards.
The sound of the door shutting brings a woman over to investigate. She looks to be in her fifties, although she’s trying like hell to fight it. Her dyed blonde hair is perfectly styled, and the outfit she’s wearing looks like it’s been starched and ironed to within an inch of its life.
I lean down to Nina and whisper, “Does your mom always look like she has a giant stick up her ass?”
Nina barks out a laugh and then tries to cover it with a cough. The woman’s eyes widen comically when she takes in the sight of Nina standing next to me. I’m still in a T-shirt, so the tattoos all over my arms, neck, and hands are sending a loud message to her, and I can tell she doesn’t like it, not one little bit. I don’t fit in her picture-perfect home, and she doesn’t want me here, marring the cream interior and perfectly accented couch pillows.
“Nina, what are you doing here? Ruby called and said you’d run off with some man.” She gives me a cold stare. “I’m guessing you’re him.”
“I am,” I tell her.
She turns her cold eyes back to Nina. “You’ve caused a lot of trouble, and your poor father is paying for it.”
Nina stiffens beside me when her mom steps forward like she’s going to pull her away from me. I tighten my arm around her, and gently scoot her back so I can step in front of her.
“You don’t get to touch my wife,” I tell her, making it clear that she’ll have to get past me to get to Nina, and that’s never going to fucking happen.
“Your wife?” she scoffs. “Are you kidding me, Nina? Please tell me you didn’t marry this tattooed felon.”
“I’m not a felon,” I tell her, smiling. It’s only true because I’ve never been caught, but she doesn’t need to know that. “And, yes, we’re married. Where’s your piece of shit husband?”
“You’ve got some nerve coming in here and talking to me like that.” She’s trying so hard to be brave, but I hear the slight tremor in her voice.
“Richard,” I yell. When that doesn’t work, I yell, “Hey, Dick, get your pathetic ass down here!”
Richard comes out looking even paler than his wife. God, this man has no balls. His eyes run from me to Nina, barely sparing a glance at his wife. I can tell their union is not one of love. I’m guessing their marriage was arranged to better their connections and strengthen their positions in the community. It certainly wasn’t done because of any sort of fondness between them. How in the hell did these two bastards produce such a sweet daughter?
I point my finger at Richard. “I should fucking kill you for what you did to Nina.”
“I didn’t do anything,” he says, throwing his hands up in the air like I’m going to buy his patheticit wasn’t my faultexcuse.
“You gave her to Ruby to pay off your fucking debt. You knew what they were going to do to her, and you still left her there.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” her mom says. “It’s not like any woman’s ever died from waitressing. It was a simple job.”
I take a step closer and lean down until I’m sure I have her mom’s full attention. “Lie to me again and I’ll punish you the same way I’m going to punish your husband.”
Her eyes widen at that, this time in pure terror, before she slowly nods.
“Good, now shut the fuck up.”
