“No. Stop. Be rational.”
“Get out of my fucking way.” I pushed at him to reach the car faster. He didn’t quit, though, unafraid as he joined me. I couldn’t be rational where Claire was concerned, and that was worrisome. How could I lead if this simple woman could twist me into fear and anger like this?
“We are getting her out, Uncle,” Sergei said sternly. “By the time we get to the station, they’ll have her released.”
I gritted my teeth, slowing my breath and forcing his words to fit into my mind. He was making sense. He was right. I couldn’t walk right into one of the most corrupt police stations in the city. It was well-known that Niko paid those fuckers there. It could be a trap to lure me there, and I had to admit Sergei was right.
But as we sped to the location then sat in the car idling at the curb, I was tense and impatient to see her. She couldn’t have been gone for more than an hour or two, but it was too long of a break. Too wide of a distance. Knowing she was near the Popovs and controlled by them in any way was enough to drive me insane.
“There she is,” Sergei said, seated next to me. He moved to get out, gesturing for me to stay put in here. Behind the tinted windows, I was hidden, concealed, but I had a full view of her walking out. One of the best lawyers we had on our payroll strode beside her, looking pissed and annoyed. He’d gotten her out, though. They always did. I paid for the best and always got my way.
As Claire was guided to the car, though, she moved with an eerie blankness. Numb. Wooden. Not blinking and hunching her shoulders over.
“Fuck.” I gritted my teeth, hating that she’d had to deal with those assholes at all. “Fuck this shit.” The wait for my nephew and guards to bring her to the car felt like an eternity of misery and suspense. She was rattled. Shaken. Shocked. Just like that day when I shot that Giovanni trying to kill her in the parking garage, she looked like she was one inch away from a nervous breakdown.
If she hadn’t whined about leaving, this wouldn’t have happened.
If she’d just fucking listened to me and stayed, understanding that I was keeping her safe, she never would’ve found herself in this position.
Telling herI told you sowouldn’t make a damn difference now. They opened the door and urged her to get into the backseat, and I shelved the urge to scold her. If I told her that she shouldn’t have run, she’d protest more.
Maybe that would help, though.
She looked dull and lost, scooting into the backseat. I tugged her closer, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. Like this, she was locked in her mind and scared. If I pushed her to fight me, I could snap her out of it.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I asked, unable to keep my anger out of my tone. Hoping my arm around her would be the contradicting comfort she needed, I tipped her chin until she faced me. So she could see the fury in my eyes. “What the fuck were you thinking, Claire?”
She lowered her lids, unwilling to maintain eye contact.
Fuck!
I gritted my teeth as Sergei got in. With one quick glance at him, I saw that he’d noticed her shellshocked status too.
He shook his head slightly, again daring to tell me what to do.
To let her be.
To not push her.
All I could read from her was fear. This numbness meant she was losing her morality, sinking into shock and not fighting back.
This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
She was supposed to want to stay with me. To be with me. To lean on me and reward me by letting me have her goodness in my life to brighten it.
“Go,” I ordered the driver.
22
CLAIRE
Of all things Mikhail could’ve said to me, that stung the most.
What was I thinking?
I hadn’t been.
Living in his house and witnessing the brutality of his world pushed me to survival. Not thinking, not being smart about this. I left earlier with no other goal than to escape. Getting the hell out of there was my motive.
