Only I know he’s currently back in the States, exact location unknown. I’ve been allowed video calls to confirm his well-being, but all I know for sure is he’s sharing a house with a select group of Bratva soldiers who control his every move. He works out and eats regular meals, and on our last call, he told me he’d set up a video game tournament with some of his captors. I haven’t been too concerned about the care he’s receiving. Until now.
I’m almost too afraid to ask. “Is Fitz OK?”
“Driving his guards crazy, but yes, he’s in perfectly good health.”
I allow myself a brief moment of relief. I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge the possibility that the Bratva had turned their attention to another of my brothers because their original asset had been… That something had happened to Fitz.
Katarina’s smirk makes me want to tighten my grip around her neck. “What the hell is going on?” I ask “Has it slipped your mind that we’re supposed to be on the same fucking team? Because I swear, if you’re conspiring with your uncle, I’ll make you pay.”
“I’m not the one deviating from the plan. You are,” she says carefully. “You fucked a girl in Philadelphia and now she’s working in your office and her name is scrawled all over your calendar.”
Katarina’s like a goddamn bloodhound. I don’t know how she found out about my history with Grace, but I’ve seriously misjudged how easily she can infest my life.
Her eyes narrow. “Are you fucking her again, Duke?”
Katarina’s trained to pick up on subtle tells, especially this close, so I should be pleased I can answer truthfully, butat this precise moment, I don’t care. I’m done being her compliant little pet.
“No, but I intend to.”
“I would seriously advise against that, moya lyubov.”My love.
Katarina’s seductive rasp is simply the result of the pressure I’m applying to her throat, pressure that increases at her veiled threat. “With all due respect, fuck you. I’m done playing nice.”
“But you’re still very much in the game, one you have no chance of winning without me,” she persists. Her face begins to redden as I apply more pressure to her airway. “You think you’re the first man to throttle me, Duke? Are you brave enough to be the last? I think not. If you kill me, your little brother won’t get to see another sunrise.”
I hold her gaze. She’s not bluffing. And I hate that she’s right. Even if I were capable of killing an unarmed woman, Vasili isn’t going to simply void our deal. The murder of his niece would require a payment in kind. A life for a life.
“Maybe I can’t outmaneuver your uncle, but the Griffins have proven they can. I should have involved them as soon as Fitz was taken. It’s time everyone knew.”
“And start a war? Do you want to be responsible for more deaths?” There’s a trickle of sweat from Katarina’s temple, but she manages to make a sad face. My conscience is my weakness, and she aims low. “It would be such a shame for Quinn’s baby to grow up without a daddy. And it wouldn’t just be the Griffins’ lives at risk. Your would-be girlfriend would make such an easy target.”
My fingers tighten on her throat. “If you’ve told your uncle…”
Katarina rolls her bulging eyes “He doesn’t know. And believe it or not, I want it to stay that way.”
“Then why did he attack Rory?” I’m genuinely confused.
“Haven’t you connected the dots yet?”
As Katarina’s smirk widens into a reptilian grin, I do just that. Rory’s accident was a nudge to keep me in line so I remain faithful to my fiancée. A warning that couldn’t have come from Vasili because he doesn’t know there’s a threat. “Are you fucking serious?” I growl. “It was you?”
“I have my own resources, people who are wholly unconnected to my uncle.”
My pulse shoots up. Even for Katarina, this is beyond fucked up. “Who?”
Her face turns puce. “Someone who would…” she rasps. “Take great exception to you squeezing my throat right now.”
My eyes lock with hers. I don’t blink. My focus is lethal and sharp. She’s just slipped up. “Some-one,” I repeat, emphasizing the singular. Katarina has a person. “Would that be the same someone who sent you a very special gift to my office?”
She scowls. “Let. Me. Go.”
As much as I hate Katarina at this moment, I don’t take as much pleasure in cutting off her airway as I’d like. I release my grip, but prod her side with the barrel of my gun. I’m still a threat, and that fragile thread connecting me to my soul and my sanity is close to snapping.
Katarina coughs politely to clear her throat as if my fingers around her neck had been a minor nuisance. “I can’t have you compromising our position by fucking around, Duke. I thought I made myself clear when you sneaked off to Brimstage with her.”
If the reminder of how she’d threatened Grace’s safety is meant to scare me, it doesn’t work. “But you didn’t followthrough with the threat, did you?” I say, unpicking her strategy. “You don’t want Vasili to know about Grace. You’re still worried he’ll recall you back to Russia.”
“We both have a vested interest in keeping the ruse going, I know that,” she says with a shrug.
