Defiance, p.18
Defiance, page 18
“What?” Timofey scoffs. “Are you saying she’s not a selfish, reckless brat? Come on, Maxim, she’s been pulling this shit for years. It’s about time we stopped letting her get away with it. So what if she had a hard time growing up. We all did.”
Maxim’s jaw clenches. “Not like her, you didn’t. Even I wish I hadn’t seen the things she saw when she was just a child.”
“What do you mean?” Daniil’s entire body seems to tense. “What did she see that we don’t know about?”
“It’s not for me to say. Unless she decides to tell you, I will take it to my grave.”
“That could be arranged,” Timofey says.
“Timofey!” Evie gasps. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
Timofey slashes a hand through the air. “Well, I’m sick of secrets.”
Meredith flinches. She has, after all, told her fair share of lies.
Timofey notices her distress and pulls her down onto his lap. “I don’t mean you, myshka. I’m just sick of people like Mila, my father.”
At that, Maxim jumps to his feet. “Do you dare equate that wonderful girl with that animal? She is nothing like your father. Nothing.”
The tension in the air is overwhelming. Evie clears her throat. “Can we all calm down, please?”
“I am sorry, Evie.” Maxim sinks back down into his seat. “I just… well, she is nothing like your father. Mila is her mother’s daughter. She reminds me so much of Manya…”
“Bullshit!” Timofey spits out.
Meredith strokes his arm to placate him and turns to Maxim. “In what way is she like their mother?”
Maxim scrubs a hand over his face. “She is kind, loving, brave. Can’t you see it? The selfless acts of love, the willingness to sacrifice herself for others? In that, she is like your mama.”
“Maxim’s got a point,” Evie says. “Mila might be reckless sometimes, but everything she does is for her family.”
Evie looks to Meredith for support. The other woman screws up her nose like she smells something offensive. “Well, you know I have no great love for Mila, but I agree with Evie. Mila puts her family first, always. She’d die for you.”
“Exactly!” Maxim shouts triumphantly. “You want her to apologize for what she did. But she never will—because she did nothing wrong.”
“Nothing wrong?” Daniil raises his eyebrows in surprise. “She wandered into a situation where she could have got herself killed.”
“No, Pakhan.” Maxim is careful to show our boss respect. “She considered her options and acted as she saw fit. She called me to back her up. Of course, if you’re saying I’m not capable…”
“He’s right.” Everyone turns to me, as I finally enter the discussion. “She called Maxim because she knew he would have her back. We can’t punish her just because we don’t like that she trusted him more than us.” It’s a painful truth, but one we all have to acknowledge. When she needed someone to turn to, Mila chose Maxim.
I think that’s the real reason I’ve wanted to punish her.
“She knew he wouldn’t question her judgment, that he would support her unreservedly. If she thought we wouldn’t do that, it’s on us.”
The room goes quiet. Everyone is somber. I wish I’d seen things from Mila’s point of view before. My fear that something terrible would happen to her took over. I wanted to shut her away, protect her from the world, but I’ll never win her surrender that way. We could just go around in circles, until one of us dies.
“So, what now?” Timofey is the one to break the silence. “We let her come back, business as usual?”
“It’s not up to you to let her come back,” Meredith says. “She’s been a part of your organization for years. She helped build it. If you have any sense, you’ll beg her to come back.”
Timofey scowls. “Since when have you been so firmly in her corner?”
“Since you decided to lock her away for her own good when she just did something you’d do in a heartbeat if your family was threatened.”
A knot of dread twists in my stomach and I rub my brow as my head starts to pound.
“What do you think, Niko?”
I look up, as Evie asks for my opinion. “I think I need to go and speak to Mila.”
It’s time to start communicating properly. I will tell her what I desire and she can tell me what’s acceptable to her. We can meet halfway. Though I don’t like to compromise, I can’t lose Mila. I love her too much.
“I’ll come with you.” Daniil inviting himself along is unexpected. I really don’t want an audience when I negotiate the terms of our relationship with Mila. It’s not the sort of conversation I can have with her brother in the room. But he’s the boss and I’ve always respected the chain of command. He seems to sense my discomfort. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you speak privately first.”
“Yeah, okay.” There’s really nothing else I can say.
Daniil and I both get to our feet. He turns to his brother. “Can you get Evie home safely?”
Timofey nods, but Evie has other ideas. “Oh, no, I’m coming with you. I want to see how Mila is.” She looks at me, uncertainty twisting her lips into a strange pout. “If that’s okay with you, Niko.”
“Sure.”
With Daniil and Evie behind me, I head for the corridor that only staff use. As we approach the changing room, where the girls on our escort service get ready for work, I pause.
Someone’s in there.
I turn to Daniil and raise a hand, to indicate that something isn’t right. He whispers to Evie, and she runs back along the corridor, presumably to alert Timofey. If there’s trouble, he’ll get her and Meredith safely out of here.
Daniil and I both draw our guns. As I reach for the handle of the door, it suddenly flies open. A small, slight figure barrels into me with surprising force. She—I assume it’s a woman—knocks me back against the wall opposite. She runs off, heading for the stairs. My feet seem rooted to the spot. Oddly, Daniil doesn’t go after the intruder either. He just slips a hand under my shoulder, easing me down to the floor as my knees suddenly go out from under me.
“You’re okay,” Daniil says, as he helps me sit back against the wall. I furrow my brow.
What is he talking about? Of course I’m okay.
“Just be still,” Daniil mutters grimly.
“Yeah, sure.” Aware of an odd feeling in my gut, I look down as a deep red stain spreads across my shirt.
My head spins. In the distance, someone calls my name, as darkness pulls me under.
CHAPTER 22
Mila
Being locked away in this room sucked before, but it’s been worse these last two days. True to his word, Niko took away the few books I had, and has banned his staff from speaking to me. He hasn’t visited me either. When he brought me back to the room, he said it would give me time to come to my senses.
I’m amazed he thinks I’ll cave after five days.
If he imprisons me here for five hundred days, I won’t give him what he wants. I got down on my knees for him the other night, and I really didn’t like the imbalance it created between us. As adamant as he is that I’ll kneel for him again, I’m equally determined not to.
That charade the other night, dressing me up as his personal fuck toy didn’t work the way he thought it would. Sure, he had me begging to come at one point, but he didn’t break me down. If anything, I chipped away at his resolve when I so willingly let him fuck my ass. I’m sure, given a few more days to consider his position, he’s the one who’ll be surrendering to me. Then perhaps we can get back to how things were before that little upset with Alexander Harrington.
I have no problem playing Niko’s games of dominance and submission—well, up to a point—but he’s got to realize I won’t allow him to carry it outside of the bedroom. I can’t let him run my life the way my father ruled my mother’s. He turned a sweet, vibrant woman into a quivering wreck, scared to refuse him, no matter what depraved acts he wanted her to carry out. Deep down, I know Niko would never do that, but I fear handing power to him all the same.
As the key turns in the lock, I get up from my seat at the window, expecting to see Lucie coming in with my evening meal. It’s a little early, I think, but the timing of my food deliveries hasn’t been consistent. It’s a task to throw me off balance, no doubt. These little tricks would probably work on someone who doesn’t have my experience in tormenting people.
The door swings open and my jaw almost hits the floor when it’s not Lucie who walks into the room, but Meredith Slater. As usual, she looks like the undead, with her pale skin and waif-like figure. Her body is swamped by ill-fitting jeans that do nothing for her long, bony legs, and a floral blouse that somehow makes her even more flat-chested than usual. I have no idea why my brother’s so nuts about this woman. It must be like fucking a stick figure.
“What is this?” I ask, as she comes toward me and stops at what she imagines is a safe distance. The frightened rabbit look on her face, the fearful gleam in her eyes, tells me she thinks I might lash out. “Are you some new torture Niko’s dreamed up for me?”
“I’m not here to torment you.”
“Your whiny voice torments me.” I scowl at her and, for once, she doesn’t flinch. “Why are you here?”
“I came to tell you Niko’s hurt.” My heart lurches. It’s all I can do not to grab Meredith and shake her until she tells me everything. “He’s been stabbed, but he’s okay.”
I nod, but I don’t get why Meredith came to tell me. Of all the people who could have delivered the bad news, she’s the least obvious choice. Have my brothers completely turned their backs on me? “Why did they send you?”
“Because Daniil and Timofey are coordinating the hunt for the person who stabbed Niko, and Evie wanted to be there to take care of him. I don’t really know Niko, so I volunteered to come and tell you what happened.”
Okay, that makes sense. I suppose it was good of Meredith to put herself forward to break the bad news, all things considered. Still, I can’t resist needling her. She makes herself such an easy target. “Hoped to see me cry, did you? Well, sorry to disappoint. We can’t all be as feeble as you.”
“You know, Mila, you have no right to be this way with me. If either of us should feel aggrieved about the past, it’s me.”
She spins on her heel and walks away, but I still have questions. “Wait, Meredith! You’re right. I’m sorry.” Sighing heavily, she turns and comes back into the room. “How badly is he hurt?”
“He lost a fair bit of blood and was out of it for a while. But he was conscious and sitting up when I left.”
Exhaling slowly, I try to tamp down my fears for Niko. “What happened, exactly?”
“Well, we were all at Cirque this morning.”
“Why?”
“Does that matter?”
I shrug. “I suppose not.”
“Anyway, Daniil, Evie, and Niko were leaving when someone ran out of the changing rooms. They stabbed Niko, I guess.”
“You guess?” A five-year-old could give a more detailed account.
“It happened fast. Daniil was sketchy on the details.”
“But Niko’s okay?”
“He is, but he’s got to stay in bed for a few days.”
Oh, the irony!
My jailer is now confined to his bed. I can’t wait to let him know just how much that amuses me. Realizing I’m grinning like an idiot, I take another breath. “Where is he?”
“Chateau Daniele.”
It doesn’t surprise me that they took him to my family home. It’s a secure location in the Provencal countryside, away from prying eyes. We also have plenty of medical equipment stashed there in case of emergency. We’ve had a few nasty injuries to patch up over the years.
“Great.” I flash Meredith an insincere smile. “Thanks for letting me know. Bye-bye now.”
Her pasty face crumples in confusion. “Aren’t you going to come home with me?”
Hearing Meredith calling that place home—where I’ve lived with my brothers for the best part of a decade—pisses me off. She doesn’t have the right to stake a claim on that house, just because she’s had her claws in Timofey for a whole five minutes. Somehow, I manage to hold back from grabbing the nearest heavy object and bludgeoning her with it. “No.”
“No message at all?”
“No, nyet, non, nein. How many ways would you like me to say it?”
“You’re some piece of work, you know that, Mila?”
I step forward, grab her arm, and spin her around to face the door. “Thanks for stopping by.”
As she stomps from the room, grumbling about my coldness, I sink down onto the window seat. Despite my flippancy with Meredith, my hands are shaking and I feel like I need to vomit.
We live in a dangerous world, and this isn’t the first time Niko’s been hurt, but this still hits me hard. Tears well in my eyes, and my shoulders shake as I start to cry. What if the stupid man had died before I got the chance to tell him how I feel?
Because, despite his dickhead behavior lately, I do love him.
Drying my eyes, I notice Meredith left the door open. Since Niko isn’t here to act as prison warden, I don’t suppose anyone else will take on the role but, just to be sure, I go and take the key from the lock.
Nobody will be shutting me in here again.
I don’t know my way around Niko’s house, but I remember the stairs are to the right, so I head in that direction and make my way down to the ground floor. The place really is decorated in the most hideous fashion and I hope it’s not a reflection of Niko’s taste in home décor.
It probably isn’t. If he doesn’t even know what rooms he has, I doubt he’s had a hand in the fixtures and fittings. Everything is embossed with gold or covered in marble. As I walk along the corridor, looking for the kitchen, I see heavy burgundies and greens. There’s wallpaper in one room that actually hurts my eyes. Everything is over the top. I prefer a simpler palette with colorful accents here and there. It’s surprising, as the bedroom where Niko kept me is really rather nice.
I turn a corner and run into Niko’s housekeeper, Marianne. If she’s shocked to see me roaming free, she gives no indication. “Ah, Marianne. Where’s the kitchen?” She stares at me blankly, but I’d bet my life the woman speaks perfect English. “Ou est la cuisine?”
She doesn’t reply, but points to the end of the passageway. “Envoie moi Yuri.” I assume she’ll get hold of the kid who drives for Niko. Her curt nod seems to confirm it. “Merci, Marianne,” I say sweetly. She tuts and carries on to wherever she was going before I rudely interrupted her. I’m guessing the woman’s good at her job. Either that, or Niko killed one of her family members and he’s trying to atone. One thing’s for sure, he doesn’t keep her around for her sparkling personality.
When I reach the kitchen, I’m startled to find a refrigerator and other appliances that are probably older than I am. There doesn’t appear to be a separate laundry area, as the washing machine sits next to a rusted stainless-steel sink. An ancient range is the only thing to cook on, and the floor is covered in a wood-effect linoleum that’s in dire need of replacing. It’s a big space, though, with a lot of potential. Perhaps I’ll persuade Niko to let me take charge of remodeling.
Once we’ve got a few things straight between us, of course.
As I’m rooting through the cupboards, looking for everything I need, Yuri comes into the room. “You sent for me, miss?”
“My name is Mila. I’m not some aged spinster.”
“Yes, Mila.” Poor Yuri sounds confused. “You sent for me?”
“I did. I need you to drive me home in about”—I calculate how much time it will take to bake a cake and get changed—“ninety minutes.”
“Okay.” He watches as I grab a bowl from the worktop behind me and give it a quick wipe with a clean cloth. “What are you doing?”
“Preparing my secret weapon.”
“Secret weapon?”
“That’s right, Yuri. I never go into battle without something to weaken my opponent’s defenses.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I parrot back at the poor, bewildered boy. “Now, go wait for me in the car. I’ll be out when I’m ready.”
CHAPTER 23
Niko
Refusing painkillers isn’t about some macho, bullshit posturing. My side hurts like hell, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Not taking medication is about keeping my head clear, maintaining my focus. I don’t enjoy being unable to think straight. I’ve told Evie Lenkova this, but she’s sat at my bedside for the last few hours, trying to persuade me to swallow down some oxycodone all the same.
“Really,” I tell her, as gently as I can. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to be brave.” Her eyes well up. The woman barely knows me, but my injury seems to have brought out her emotional side. “Nobody will think less of you.”
“I might,” Timofey says from his seat in the corner. “Can’t depend on a man who cries like a baby every time he gets a little knife wound.”
His grin doesn’t win Evie over. She scowls at him, and starts to fuss with the pillows at my back. The bed is like any you’d find at a hospital. It’s been adjusted to allow me to sit up. The whole room resembles a state-of-the-art medical facility. Built underneath the guard’s lodgings, by the entrance to the Lenkovs’ sprawling country retreat, it’s only been used a handful of times. We keep it fully stocked nonetheless. In our line of work, you never know when someone’s going to need medical care, and hospitals ask too many questions.
As Evie shifts one of my pillows, the movement jars me and I hiss in pain.
“Oh, Niko, I’m so sorry.”
I grab her hand. “Evie, it’s fine. You should go rest. You look tired.”
She scowls, and I expect her to argue, until Timofey opens his mouth. “What he means is your fussing has worn him out. Why don’t you go for a swim or, better yet, get my brother to put a baby in your belly? That’ll keep you out of the way for a while.”
