But with Katarina, the vendetta is not about my own guilt, it’s about her pain.
“No, Sasha doesn’t have any scars. At least not physically. But all the same…”
“Whatever your plans for Sasha, treat her with care, brother. He tried his best to break them.”
“I know,” he answers, “I will.”
“Now on to the real business, Ivan is here in London.”
“Fuck,” Ryker rumbles. “We’ve got a similar problem. Sver, Ivan’s favorite hitman, is in Vegas.”
I go rigid. Sver is on my list of men to kill. But if Sver isn’t here that leaves Ivan even less protected.
“I’m going to take care of Ivan and then I’ll join you in Vegas.”
“Win. There are four of us here, and one of you there. I think we can handle?—”
“All the same, I’ll come.”
Ryker lets out an irritated rumble. “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”
“Yes. I’ve been told. Repeatedly.”
My brother coughs into the line. “That might be the closest thing to a joke I’ve heard you deliver in a long time.”
I smile as I lean back in my chair. “I’ve got this sassy little spitfire lobbing them at me constantly. I think she’s rubbing off.”
“Sassy little spitfire is the way to describe her.” I hear him rub a hand down his face. “Sasha is so vulnerable that I worry I’m too rough for her.”
“Katarina worries about her sister too.”
“Why’d she leave her with me, then?” Ryker asks, his voice rough with an emotion I’ve never heard.
“She’s here for the very reason, if you really thought about it, you already know. She wants her own justice and Sasha’s too.”
“She wasn’t running away?”
“No, she’s a soldier, Ryker. She was running toward it. Until she ran into me, that is.”
“And what are you doing?”
“I’m going to fight for her. I can hear it in your voice that you’re about to do the same for Sasha. And together…”
“We’ll win. Keep in touch.”
“Will do, brother.”
I hang up, smiling to myself. Because the pieces are falling into place.
Now, if I can just keep them from falling back apart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Katarina
I spendmost of the day feeling raw.
Not physically, but in my soul. On the one hand, being with Win was the best experience of my life.
