Page 72 of Vows of Blood
He’s smiling, but I can’t really smile with him. He brushes the hair out of my eyes and as he studies my face, he finally realizes that something’s off. “Hey. What’s with the long face? I told you I’m all right. Or I’m gonna be, anyway. The doctors said if the bullet had been an inch to the left, it would have hit my heart. I’m a lucky man.”
“Dad,” I say. My voice sounds thick with emotion. “This whole thing with Alexei, you have to call it off.”
He sighs. “Oh, honey,” he says, “there’s nothing I can do about that. He took a shot at me?—”
“He didn’t,” I tell him. “I promise you, Dad. It wasn’t him.”
“Right. That’s why you were hiding out with him in some cabin in the woods up north, then? Come on, honey. I’m not a fool. I’ve been in this game a long time. I know a guilty party when I see one.”
I shake my head. “He didn’t do this. In fact, he was trying to stop all this from happening. He went to your house because he wanted to warn you, not kill you.”
He chuckles. It sounds more like a cough. “Isabella, honey, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would he try and warn me about his people attacking me? That’s a serious breech with these guys. Way worse than with us, you know what I’m saying? Do you know what his people would do to him if he did something like that? These Russians, they’re animals. They’re notorious for eating their own. And he’s a legacy. He knows that better than anybody.”
“He was going to warn you because I convinced him that you didn’t try to attack him first,” I tell him. He scowls at me.
“Attack him first? Nobody attacked him first. What are you talking about? I never gave the order to do that. Why would I do that? I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by partnering up with them. I wouldn’t blow it by attacking the crowned Mechnikov prince.”
“I know. And he knows that too. He thinks… he thinks there’s someone on his end trying to start a war.”
He regards me for a long moment, then sighs and leans back in his bed. “Well. That’s a shame if it’s true. I mean, it’s too late for anybody to do anything at this point.”
“What are you talking about? You can end all this right now by telling your men to let him go. Please.”
My voice cracks, betraying my desperation. He just looks at me with the most sorrowful look. “Aw, shit. You fell for that Russian side of beef, didn’t you?”
I nod as the sobs start to rise again in my chest. He sighs again and shakes his head.
“The irony isn’t lost on me, Isabella. That was supposed to be the best-case scenario for a situation like yours.”
All I can do is stare at him. He’s talking so casually. Like he’s giving me some sort of life lesson.
“What they say is really true,” he goes on. “War is hell.”
“So, you’re not going to do anything?” I ask him, my voice shaking.
“Can’t. Listen, bullets have already been spent on both sides. I can’t take it back now. If I don’t follow through, how’s that gonna look? I’m a boss, honey. I can’t be made to look weak in front of everybody.”
My heart twists in my chest. My hand goes to my stomach, instinctively protecting my baby.
“Don’t worry, honey,” he says. “You’re still young. There’s a million guys out there for you. Hopefully, this experience has humbled you some, maybe chilled you out from being out there in the streets…”
I don’t really hear anything else he says. All I can hear is the breaking of my heart. He’s really content to take Alexei from me.
What am I going to do now?
26
ALEXEI
Iopen my eyes to darkness… and motion all around me. My head is throbbing and my stomach turns as the floor I’m lying on rumbles under me. Judging from the smell of motor oil, I’m pretty sure I’m in the trunk of a car.
The motion slows and red lights come on in front of me, illuminating the interior for just a second. I glance around, making out the low ceiling above me and the hills and shapes of the wheel well behind me.
Fuckers hit me hard. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but I can hazard a guess. These guys are either taking me farther away from Fortune or more toward it, depending on whatever order they were given to kill me. I start to feel around the scratchy upholstery until my fingers touch the cool, hard metal of a crowbar.
Idiots. Leaving a weapon in here was their first big mistake. I grab hold of it and wait for the trunk to open.
The car is rumbling along and suddenly, I hear talking through the seats. I lean against them and listen. As I press my ear to the cushions, the words come through loud and clear.
