Page 31 of Bought By the Ruthless Pakhan

I walked to the window. Outside, a police siren wailed past. Brooklyn's streetscape looked gray. Across the street, half the neon sign was busted, the other half flickering on and off. The light couldn't reach my tiny room.

I pressed my hand to my stomach. Palm flat against the thin fabric. Nothing there. Completely flat.

But I knew. Life was growing.

I suddenly remembered—when I was little, I couldn't take Gary's cruelty anymore and ran to find Mom.

She'd already remarried by then. New husband. New kid.

I looked through their glass window. The three of them sat around the dinner table, warm and perfect.

That window was spotless. Reflected my shadow. Split me and them into two worlds.

That day, I understood—I had no family anymore.

The world was so vast. And I was alone.

A breeze blew.

I thought I caught Ivan's familiar cedar scent.

I looked up. That suit jacket I'd stolen—I'd washed it, hung it outside to dry.

Wind filled the sleeves, puffed them up then deflated them, like an empty hug. Then a business card tumbled out of the pocket. I reached out instinctively. Caught it.

Ivan Volkov.

I stared at that phone number. For a long, long time.

Then I tore it apart. The fragments slipped from my palm like little white butterflies, floating over the rooftops, past the neon lights, and into Brooklyn's gray, heavy night, where they vanished without a trace.

"Keep it."

"For myself."

My eyes burned. But I didn't cry.

From now on, I had family.

I'd never be alone again.

Chapter Nine

Ivan

The traitor's body went cold. I ripped off my blood-soaked gloves and tossed them on a rotting cardboard box in the corner.

Sergei got away.

Didn't matter. We'd ID'd the traitor.

Dmitri stood beside me, holding out his phone. "New York confirmed. The owner's ready to sign."

I didn't respond.

I'd sent him to negotiate last week. Location, square footage, layout—I'd already signed off on it all.

"You're really going all in for her, huh? Nine out of ten girls from those places are just after the money."