I was drawn to him like a bee to honey, and found my feet shuffling closer to his big form. “Maybe you’re just worth more alive than you are dead,” I said, my own lips twitching, unable to stay in a frown.
He had his arms around me, pulling me close. I rested my head against his chest as his hands rose up my back to tangle in my wet hair. He tugged my head back, giving me a stern look from his great height.
“You will do whatever I tell you, without hesitation,” he said. “When I go in to speak with Luigi, you will stay in the car with the guard.”
I was getting what I wanted. “Of course,” I said, tipping my head back farther and rising on my toes for the kiss I had been waiting for.
Like hell. I’d had it up to my eyebrows with Gavril’s guards.
“I’m serious,” he said, pulling away, but still so close I could feel his warm breath against my lips.
“Okay, Gavril,” I said impatiently, eager for another kiss.
There wasn’t enough time for more than another quick swipe of our lips, and we were back on the road, with a stern driver who spoke solely in Russian to Gavril, as if I couldn’t understand.
There wasn’t much new to be learned. We really were heading to the place Luigi had run to as soon as his cowardly, betraying ass was back in LA.
If he had honestly been betraying Gavril this whole time. There was still a kernel of doubt in the very farthest corner of my mind. And I had a long history of trusting my mind. My heart? Not so much. I was a complete newbie at being in love, and didn’t trust myself to see past the yearning for that elusive happy ending.
We pulled up into an office block and drove all the way back to the last building in the park, set apart from the others by a large fence. We had to wait to be buzzed through. Gavril confidently rolled his window down to show his face to the camera while the driver maintained a stony silence, staring straight ahead.
While Gavril seemed like he was going for a massage, my stomach tied up in knots. Was this a trap, and if so, was it set for Gavril or me?
“Remember your promise,” he said, sliding his hand behind my neck for a kiss. Not a last kiss. I couldn’t think that way. “These are bad guys. Completely untrustworthy. You’re notgoing to be within ten feet of them ever again.” He gave me a hard look, pleading and commanding at the same time.
I could only nod as I watched him hop out of the car, a confident spring in his step as he neared the front door. He walked right through without looking back.
Completely untrustworthy? Who was he to talk? Who was I to believe he meant a single word he said, no matter what seemed to shine from his eyes when he said it?
Not sure what my final goal was, I stared at the back of the silent guard’s head. Mustering my courage. He was beefy, his neck as thick as the top of my thigh. I pulled a lip gloss from my bag, added a dab, and then made a show of dropping it. He didn’t give me a single glance. Why should he? I was a third of his size and unarmed. Once I leaned over to retrieve the lip gloss, I quickly felt around underneath both front seats, smiling when I felt the spare gun.
There wasn’t a single one of my cousins who didn’t keep multiple weapons in their cars at all times, and it looked like Gavril was no different.
This is only possible because he trusts me.The thought came with a minor twinge of guilt. I could easily be handcuffed right now. But I wasn’t. I might have been inexperienced in the world of crime, but I knew a bad gut feeling when I got one.
Something wasn’t right. What if Gavril never made it back to me?
What if he was right now laughing his ass off over my gullibility?
Straightening up like a cobra, I bashed the guard over the head with the butt of the gun, then hit him again for good measure. As soon as he slumped over the steering wheel, I tookoff to find out the truth. It was time to confront my so-called husband.
Chapter 40 - Gavril
I kept up a casual facade in case anyone was watching me, but no one was in sight, and it didn’t appear that there were any cameras around the building, either. I had never been to this place and didn’t know it existed until now. By the looks of it, Luigi had control of the entire two-story building, and walking through the big, empty lobby was like moving through a ghost town, quiet and eerie.
Everything hinged on how this meeting went, and if I could keep up the ruse that I was Luigi’s best buddy until the attacks were fully called off. My first instinct was to drop him where he stood as soon as I found him, but I still didn’t know the breadth of his campaign against the Petrovs.
I called him, and he directed me to come upstairs, not bothering to ask if I was alone. He either had well-hidden surveillance going on or he honestly did trust that I was on his side. In the large, corner office on the second floor, I found him by himself, sitting in a swivel chair with the air of a king.
The urge to punch him had never been so strong. Was he taking my appearance as an admittance that he was now in charge of the Collective? I swallowed my pride, picturing Lilia’s relief when I could tell her that her loved ones were safe at last.
The room itself was sparse, but had apparently become a command center of sorts. A map of Los Angeles hung on the wall with pins stuck in it, along with a list of names I recognized as businesses that were owned by various Petrovs.
I turned to grin at Luigi, truly grateful for all this information laid out so neatly for me. Nice and convenient.
“It’s already begun,” he crowed, getting up to clap me on the back. He pointed out one of the pins, making a mock soundof sympathy. “I hope they have good insurance on this building—not that the owner will be alive to collect.”
My hand twitched toward my gun. I had the information I needed, and there was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to splatter this guy’s brains all over the map in front of us. I only hesitated because it still might be faster to get his men to stand down on his orders instead of mine. So, the easy way or the hard way, and both would be messy.
