"I..." Laney looks stunned. "You're not angry?"
"Angry?" Kaiden laughs, then winces again. "I'm impressed. Most people freeze in a crisis. You leapt out swinging." He extends his good hand. "I'm Kaiden Barnes. And I'm proud to have had my nose broken by you."
Laney shakes his hand, still looking embarrassed but slightly mollified. "I really am sorry though."
"Don't be." Kaiden releases her hand and settles back onto his stool at the kitchen island. "You did what you thought you had to do. That takes courage and grit." He glances at me. "Your woman's fierce, Korolyov. Better keep her."
"I intend to." I move to Laney's side, my hand finding the small of her back. She leans into me slightly, and the weirdness that flooded me moments ago, settles.
Laurie is watching us with interest, her gaze flicking between me and her sister. "So this is happening? You two?"
"Yes," I say before Laney can overthink it.
"Good." Laurie nods once. "Laney needs someone who can handle her stubbornness. And apparently someone with access to small armies."
"Laurie," Laney protests weakly.
"What? It's true." Laurie grins, and for a moment she looks like the carefree girl she probably was before all of this. "You've been taking care of us forever. It's about time someone took care of you."
Yakov clears his throat. "I’d like to introduce you both to Maksim Vasiliev, the head of another Bratva family, he has come to help."
Maksim clears his throat. "Speaking of taking care of things, Laurie, we need to ask you some questions about what you heard while you were being held captive. Names, locations, anything that might help us track down Zajmi and shut down his operation for good."
The lightness drains from Laurie's expression. "Yeah. Okay." She sits down at the table, Laney immediately taking the seat beside her. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Start from the beginning," I say, leaning against the counter. "Tell us everything."
Laney
I hold Laurie's hand under the table as she starts talking. Her voice is steady at first, clinical almost, like she's recounting something that happened to someone else.
"They took me from the Vine and Crimson bar. Told me they worked for the hotel...One of them had a rag with something bitter on it. I woke up zip-tied in the back of a van with two of the other girls."
My grip tightens on her hand, but I don't interrupt. She needs to get this out.
"They took us to a warehouse first. Different from the one where you found me. There were half a dozen women there already. They kept us in shipping containers, brought us out in groups to... evaluate us." Her voice wavers slightly. "They were deciding who to send where. Who was pretty enough for the high-end clubs, who would go to brothels, who would be shipped overseas. They didn’t talk in English very often, so I don’t know what else they said."
Yakov's jaw tightens, but he stays silent, letting her speak.
"I heard them talking about their operation. They're not just trafficking women. It sounded like they were trying to take over the drugs scene too. One guy runs it all, but he's got partners. I heard names..." She closes her eyes, trying to remember. "Drakos. Someone called Drakos came by once, talked aboutshipments to Europe. And there was an American, didn't catch his name, but he had an accent, Southern, maybe? He was talking about routes through Texas. Thats the only time they spoke English."
Mikhail and Yakov exchange a look. Something passing between them that I don't understand, but it makes my stomach clench.
"They moved us a few days ago," Laurie continues. "Said the first warehouse was compromised, that someone was getting too close." She looks at Yakov. "I think they meant you."
"They were right." Yakov's voice is cold. "What else?"
"The head guy, Zah—something, came to the second warehouse. He was furious about something, yelling at his men about losing product and money. He said..." She swallows hard. "He said he was going to send a message. That he was going to hit the Korolyovs where it hurts. Make them pay for interfering."
My blood runs cold. Yakov's expression doesn't change, but I see the shadows in his eyes darken.
"Did he say how?" Maksim asks quietly.
"No. But he was serious. I could tell." Laurie's hand trembles in mine. "After that, they separated me from the others. Said I was too much trouble, because I kept trying to escape whenever they opened the doors and things. They were going to..." Her voice breaks. "They were going to make an example of me. Show the other girls what happens when you don't cooperate. That’s when I got my first beating. They got orders part way through and had to leave. Carried on when they got back until one of them said something and they all left again. When you came in I thought you were one of them coming to finish the job." She lets our a watery laugh, before dropping her head forward, trying to hide the fact that she is crying.
"But they didn't," I say fiercely. "You're here. You're safe."
"Because of you." She squeezes my hand. "All of you."
