“That’s what I’ve been doing all morning,” I remind him. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“Are you sure, Viktor?” he asks carefully.
I look at the man who’s been my family’s confidante since I was a child. He was my father’s closest friend when they were young men. I trust him with my life and he trusts me not to make decisions that would hurt the business.
I simply nod in response. He nods back and gets up, leaving the house without another word. I’m sure he’s angry with me. He’s probably questioning my sanity, which is fair. I’m not acting in anyone’s best interest right now, and I know that. What I need is for him to have my back anyway, and I know that he will.
I know he’s right. I should return her. If I hand her back through an intermediary, it would be a show of strength. It would be a reminder to Mikhail of what I’m capable of, and a warning not to fuck with me.
I could still step back from the edge and regain control of the situation. The thought lingers for exactly five seconds. Then it disappears.
I look at the screen and see that she’s back upstairs, practicing defensive positions. She’s certainly making the most of her captivity.
I remember the heat of her body when I restrained her, and her unflinching determination to fight back. She’s not weak. She proved that last night when she didn’t look away as I murdered her final captor. Most people don’t watch.
She’s a fighter. If she’s not fighting me, she’ll be fighting Mikhail, and I have a feeling I have a lot more patience for it. For whatever reason, I can’t allow myself to put her in that position.
I know what I’m risking here. I know that Mikhail’s hunt for her will be relentless, and it just might lead him to me. As much as I don’t want that to happen, I will be ready for it if it does. I get up and walk over the cabinet where I keep some of my deadliest weapons. I inventory for a moment, letting my eyes linger over the pieces.
All of my safehouses are equipped with enough weapons to survive a major incident. I’m pleased to see that everything is well stocked. We can survive here for a long time, if need be. We can hole up and defend ourselves.
In the meantime, I put all of my men on notice. I don’t give them any details, I just let them know Grinkov is on a tear, and we need to be ready for any eventuality. It’s the closest I can do to getting them battle-ready without actually ringing the alarm. I just have to have to keep the faith that this is the right thing to do.
6
ANYA
Ispend the entire first day cataloging everything I possibly can. Various men come in and out of the house, and I watch from the window. Some bring groceries, some bring weapons, some bring suitcases. I take it we’re going to be having guests.
I know what it all means. He’s preparing for war. I can only imagine how Mikhail reacted when he found his men dead and me missing. He’s going to tear Brooklyn apart looking for me.
That’s why Viktor should have left well enough alone. I could be out of New York and halfway to another country by now if it weren’t for him.
That’s what I fantasize about when I finally lay down for the night. I imagine what would have happened if Viktor hadn’t forced me into his car. I would have hailed a taxi and made my way to JFK. I would have gone to every ATM along the way and withdrawn every cent from my bank account. Cash isn’t traceable.
Then, for good measure, I would have bought a fake plane ticket with my credit card. They’d probably see through it, but it mighthave at least slowed them down a bit. Mikhail and my father would end up chasing their tails for at least a couple of days.
I could disappear forever and he’d spend his entire life wondering what happened to me.
Instead, I’m only a few miles away. I still haven’t figured out which neighborhood we’re in, but anywhere in Brooklyn is way too close to be right now. He’s going to find me eventually. That isn’t a question or a fear. It is a fact. At least he’ll probably kill Viktor in the process. That’s a thought that brings me a certain level of joy.
The next morning, I decide to plan. I have to get the hell out of this house. My credit cards are almost definitely locked down now, so my original escape plan isn’t going to work, but I can improvise.
There’s a soft knock on my bedroom door and I open it to see one of the guards standing there.
“I’ve been asked to give you this,” he says, handing me one of the suitcases I saw being brought in last night.
I take it warily and slam the door in his face. I heave it up on the bed and open it, assessing the contents. Inside is a travel bag of toiletries and a handful of new clothes. They’re not nearly the kind of finery I’m used to, but I do relish the idea of getting out of the clothes I’ve been wearing since I arrived. It’s almost a nice gesture. Which gives me an idea.
I take a long shower and change into one of the outfits. It fits perfectly, which is a surprise.
I go downstairs to find Viktor sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a mug of coffee. He looks up at me casually as I enter, but I’m notfooled. He’s probably been watching me on his security cameras since yesterday. I’m sure he saw me assessing the house. He isn’t stupid.
“How are the clothes?” he asks as a greeting.
“They’re perfect,” I answer sweetly. “Thank you so much for this, it was a really thoughtful gesture.”
I know I’m laying it on thick, but my biggest advantage here is that Viktor doesn’t know me. He’s seen me in an extremely stressful situation, and I can easily pretend that all the fussing was just my fight or flight kicking in. I can lure him into a false sense of who I am to trick him.