I smile. He talks about Nicki lovingly, and that’s so refreshing to hear. “So, what did you do?” I ask.
“Well, Vik and I came up with a plan,” he says. “We decided to go in together on teaching him how to get tough and how to take care of himself. In return, should Vik ever need the Red Devils for anything, or vice versa, we’ve got his back.”
He sits and smokes in silence for a moment, flicking the ashes on the floor. “It’s been like that ever since. And let me tell you something that I know better than anybody. Nobody fucks with your man, sweetheart. Anybody thinks about ruining his day, they are gonna pay for it. If they’re lucky, all they’ll lose is their life.” He nudges me playfully. “Our boy’s gonna be fine on his own. Trust me.”
I nod and smile back. If Teddy has confidence in him…
Shouting grabs our attention. Someone’s yelling something from the bar. “Lock and load!” I hear somebody yell.
Teddy tosses the cigarette onto the floor and crushes it under his boot. “Stay in here,” he says as he stands, pulling out the handgun in his belt. “Lock the door and don’t open it for anybody. You understand? If you don’t hear me on the other side, you don’t open it.”
I nod quickly and he’s gone, rushing out of the room and closing the door behind him. I get up and lock it quickly. I start looking around the room for an exit, and there isn’t one. The windows above me look like they’re sealed shut. Shit, shit, shit…
I grab the journal from its place on the bed as the unmistakable popping of muffled gunshots goes off somewhere in the club beyond the door. They decided to come here for us. I hope Viktor’s faith in Teddy isn’t misplaced.
Shouts, gunshots, fighting noises… It continues for too long. I sit on the floor and find that I’m shaking all over.
And then the door handle shakes. Fuck.
I look up at the lamp on the nightstand and a plan forms. I toss Nicki’s journal under the bed and get up to grab the lamp. As soon as I get it in my hands, the room is filled with hard thuds as someone kicks the door. Once, twice… Then the air splits with the sound of the door splintering as it bursts open. I throw the lamp at the figure before it even registers.
He throws an arm up and it crashes into a million pieces across his forearm, but he doesn’t stop. Yanov charges at me, leather gloves covering my mouth as I struggle against him. He drags me out of the room and sparks are flying around us. The heavy smell of gunpowder fills the air.
Before I’m dragged out the back door, I see one of my father’s men attack Teddy, trying to wrestle the gun out of his hand… Teddy’s winning…
I bite Yanov’s hand, digging through the leather with all my might. He yells and turns me loose, but only long enough to throw me out the back door. I fall on my ass in the alley, and before I can get up, he grabs me and pulls me to my feet. “Enough of this,” he mutters in Russian before clocking me across the jaw…
