“Bratva?”
“Like mafia, but Russian,” she explains. “Runs weapons in and out of the city, he’s a supplier for practically every case I’ve covered in the last six months.”
I feel like I’m going to throw up. He’s... he’s basically handing out guns to every criminal in this city? It doesn’t feel real, that I could have been standing in a room with a man like that and not know a thing about it. How could I not sense it on him at once, that darkness, that cruelty?
“Cara, I’m not kidding,” she tells me urgently. “You need to get out of there. As soon as you can. You and Nina both, you can’t stay with a man like that, you don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“I can’t,” I protest. “I just took this job, and I need the?—”
“Screw the job, Cara!” she exclaims, and the sudden shift in her tone makes me jump.. “Turn in your notice. Tell them that you have to move across the country to take care of your sick aunt or something,” she urges me. “Just get out of there. Get as far away from him as you can. Trust me when I say that youdon’twant to be around when shit goes off...”
She catches her breath, gathering herself before she continues.
“Please, just tell me that you’ll listen to me on this,” she begs me. “I know it might sound like I’m over-reacting, but this...Thisis the kind of thing you can’t just let slide. You can’t have Nina around him, it’s not safe.”
I don’t say anything for a moment, my mind drifting to Max, who seemed like such a sweet little boy in all the time I spent with him today. If I leave, am I just going to be abandoning him to this life? He needs contact with the outside world, with something beyond the confines of this dark place...
“Cara?”
But the sound of my sister’s voice pulls me back into the moment, and I try to remind myself of what is at stake here. I’m not just thinking about myself, I’ve to think of Nina. How would I explain it to her if she was exposed to even a corner of that world? And it’s not a matter of if, it’s when, at least while we are living under his roof. If what my sister is telling me is true, and I’ve no reason to believe anything else, then there is the possibility of violence beyond anything even I could handle, let alone what my precious daughter could.
“I’ll find a way out,” I promise her softly. “You’re right. I’m not… I’m not going to stay any longer than I’ve to.”
“Thank you,” she replies. “Anything you need, any help, you just tell me, okay? You guys can stay with me if you want, it’s not a big deal...”
I laugh slightly, though it is still rather shaky. “You really think we could all pile into your apartment?”
“Whatever it takes,” she replies firmly. “It’s better than living there with that man, trust me.”
“Got it,” I whisper. Behind me, I hear something creak in the corridor, and I whip my head around, suddenly distinctly aware of the fact that someone could be listening in.
“I’ve to go,” I blurt out. “I’ll call you again soon, okay?”
“Please do,” she replies. “Cara?—”
But before she can finish what she’s saying, I hang up. Truth is, I don’t want to talk to her or anyone right now. I just want to curl up in bed and try to get some sleep, forgetting about the enormity of everything that has happened today.
And, as I slip into bed, I stare up at the ceiling. I think about the man in this house, the man who I’m living under the same roof as, the man who gave me pleasure deeper than anything I’ve felt before or since...
And how, whether I like it or not, I need to try and put as much distance between myself and him as possible.
6
ALEXEI
I flexmy hand as I step out of the car, clenching it into a fist as Ilya nods towards the building in front of me.
“He’s in there,” he tells me, a grim note to his voice. I nod.
“I’ll handle this,” I reply. I slam the car door shut behind me and stalk towards the entrance of one of my warehouses.
A warehouse that, judging by the CCTV footage Ilya showed me back at the house, was compromised last night.
Someone is about to pay for it, too, thanks to the pictures.
But I need to know who put them up to this in the first place. Who he decided was worth risking his work and life for. Because he must have known that I would rain down hell on his head for daring to do something like this to me, and I intend to make sure he pays in any way I can make him.
Two guards pull open the door as I approach, and I make my way directly towards the large office at the back of the building, where I can see a single light blazing in the semi-dark. When I open the door, I find the culprit there, Ivan; a younger guy, thekind who would be willing to take risks like the one he did last night.
