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“You know what, it’s been a long fucking day, and I don’t want to try and figure out your weird-ass foreplay. You have your reasons, but I’m not about to help your ass when he figures out where you are,” she warns.
Really? She thinks I want her help on something like this? She was a means to an end.
Yeah, definitely not over it. Fuck it. After today, I probably won’t be seeing her for a long damn time.
I chuckle. “Bitch, I want him to come after me. I have some business to finish first, and then I’ll let him catch me. Maybe. Or I’ll catch him. Depending on my mood that day. For now, we have some things we have to deal with, and you can fly back to be with your friends.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, the bitterness is there.
The very people she’s going back to are the products of the people who caused all of this in the beginning, who created me, and they all get to live their lives normally.
I resent them for it, but at the same time, I know it’s not their fault. It’s a mindfuck I’m not ready to unravel yet.
Rori’s face softens, and I want to punch it. Again. I don’t need her pity or understanding. “I’ll tell them you say hello. I’m sure Amara will want to see you again. She’s been without family until now, and she wants nothing more than to get to know her sister. Even from afar.”
The mention of my biological sister makes me freeze. A small part of me hopes that one day I might be able to see her in a normal circumstance, but I know it’s never going to happen. Not after everything in New York. Her man—or any of the men in her life—will never let me near her again.
She’s got her own family now, and my job of keeping an eye on her from afar when I could is finished.
“Maybe someday.” I keep my voice brisk. “For now, this is what we’re going to be. Now, we have places to be and things to handle. See you around, Ms. O’Brien.” I spin and walk away, shoulders back, focused only on my destination.
I vaguely hear Mishka saying goodbye to Rori before I veer off into the trees. We have a bit of a hike to get deeper into the forest and to the secret airstrip I had built months ago. Though, this time, I’ve secured a plane Ilya won’t be able to track.
When Mishka catches up with me, we walk in silence for almost a full hour before he finally breaks the silence. “You good?”
“I’m fine.”
He doesn’t react to my curt tone. Instead, he says, “He’s going to come after you, Lane. You think he won’t, but that man is gone for you. Saw it on his face.”
“He’s not going to find me until I’m ready for him to, so it doesn’t matter. All I care about is getting back to Russia and getting shit cleaned up.”
“I got messages that everything went as planned. They’re just waiting for us to arrive.”
Relief is sharp, but it doesn’t linger. “Good. Then let’s get going and get this done. Then you can start handling your father’s territory.”
The silence between us is thick. Our worlds are about to change. I’m still not sure if that’s going to be for the better or worse, but there’s no turning back now.
Mishka is about to have his life back, the one he was ruthlessly pulled away from because of his father and brother.
And me? My future is up in the air, but I’ll find out soon enough if the bridges are burned or just simmering.
38
ILYA
“Why the hell are you not furious?” Zakhar demands, hands flailing. “She fucking drugged you, Ilya. Again. Then she snuck the hell out without anyone seeing her. Well, anyone other than Rori and Alonzo, but those two aren’t saying shit.”
He turns to glare at the two of them, who are standing near the conference table in my office, unfazed. Rori simply shrugs. “You really think she was going to tell me where they were going? They walked off into the dark. I wasn’t chasing them.”
“You won’t even tell me a direction,” Zakhar accuses.
“Why do you want to go after her so badly?” Alonzo asks, arching a brow. “It’s not like you’re going to catch up with her. Thank her, and go about your day.”
“Thank her? Why the—”
“Because all of this started from her saving your daughter.”
Zakhar freezes, like he’s forgotten all about that. No, not forgotten; he hasn’t processed it yet. He’s still pissed Mila was involved in the first place.
