Iliya’s hand is restless on the leather seat between us before he takes yet another controlled breath. "I disagree. With all due respect,Pakhan, stirrings such as these rarely start from boredom. Instead, they come from a wish to make trouble. You are in a precarious place. Your one heir isn’t only incompetent but has been raised entirely outside of the Bratva. He doesn’t even carry your name. Not to mention, he’s unable to produce an heir himself. You know what that means."
"I’m still in my prime, Iliya. I’m strong and healthy and young enough to keep control of my ownBratva."
"Not without yourvor," Iliya said, his dark glare shifting to me. "A boss is only as strong as his men’s loyalty." Our gazes meet, and my second doesn’t look away as would anyone else.
Iliya isn't wrong, and I would be lying if I said the rumors and stirrings didn't concern me. Except I have a secret none of them knows, not even Iliya—I might just have another heir on the way.
"I want you to watch Leah, Iliya."
At my sudden change in subject, my second’s eyebrows beetle until they touch. "What? You want to keep an eye on the girl?"
"Yes."
Iliya opens his mouth like he wants to argue, but he manages to get himself under control in time. His breath comes out as a huff,and he shakes his head like he doesn’t know whether I have gone mad.
"You want me to watch the woman you had a one-night stand with?"There are so many other matters at hand from which I have to protect you, is his unspoken thought. We’ve been together for too long for me not to understand the pinched expression on his face.
"It's more important than you think, Iliya. This might be part of protecting my position and my empire."
Iliya may look like a dumb jock, and he may feign ignorance by making his accent thicker to pretend he knows little English when it’s necessary, but the man is anything but stupid or slow.
The line between his eyes disappears, and his shoulders square to attention. He stares at me for a moment more, his expression now set, his mouth a grim line. "If you wish it," he says finally, slowly. I'm sure he's already halfway to the correct conclusion.
"Ease your mind, Iliya. We’ll continue to work on the matter and uncover the truth. For now, watch over Leah as you do me. Do not let her out of your sight. And you are the only one who knows; you alone. No one else."
9
LEAH
I'm walking out of my daughter's school when I see the car again.
Not exactly the same car, but it's a big black SUV with all the windows tinted so dark I can barely see anything inside. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, but I keep walking because my daughter is looking up at me and chatting about her day. The last thing I want to do is frighten her, even though I'm scared to death.
It's just a car, I tell myself.Take a deep breath. There are cars everywhere, and it's been a while since I last saw the sedan. Many people own black SUVs with tinted windows.
But the hair on the back of my neck doesn't settle down, and neither does the feeling that whatever thatcaris about, it's there for me.
"Did you know there are whale sharks, Mom?" she asks. I don't answer right away, caught up in my thoughts—her little hand tugs on mine. "Mom?" she repeats.
"Sorry, baby." My voice sounds breathless to my ears. I wonder if she can sense it. "What did you say, sweetheart?"
"I said there are whale sharks. They look like whales, but they're sharks. They don't eat people either. People swim with them. Can we go swim with the whale sharks sometime?"
"I don't know about that, sweetheart.” I only half hear her question; most of my attention is on the SUV, which we’ve almost reached. I look down at her and stop, my heartbeat hammering in my ears. "You know what? I think you left your coat back in school."
"I didn't bring a coat," Eliza says. "I told you I didn't want one this morning, remember? You told me I would get cold, and you wanted me to bring a coat. But I was right, I didn’t get cold."
"Okay, well, you left something you brought here this morning. I just know it. Let's go back to the school and look."
Eliza looks confused, but I don't give her a chance to protest. I begin pulling her back toward the school building half a block away.
I'm just being paranoid. I'm just being paranoid. Go back to the school, and by the time we come out, it'll be gone.
But the other half of my brain doesn't believe it. That car is for me, and so is whoever's inside.Could it be Clarissa? I had no idea she was Viktor's ex-wife. And unless he told her, which I highly doubt, she couldn’t possibly know I’d slept with him.
"Mom!" Eliza protests. “I didn't leave anything.”
"Just come on," I tell her, glancing back only to see the driver's side door open and a big man in black get out. "Come on,sweetie," I say, holding her hand until she's trotting after me. "Let's go."
