Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
My stomach clenches at the thought of leaving my family to their own devices again without me to keep everything together. But another part of me jumps with excitement, anticipation shivering at the thought of returning to Evgeny’s quiet, calm, clean estate.
And maybe, just maybe, to Evgeny.
Marco is my next target, as he keeps mentioning an issue with his professor, and I want more information. My “oldest” youngest brother is too apt to keep everything in so he doesn’t cause Dad and me more trouble.
But Dad waylays me in the shadows at the bottom of the stairs. “Evushka.”
His eyes are always gray, always serious, but something in them stops me in my tracks.
“Papa?”
“You need to come home, Evushka. Whatever you are doing, it’s not worth it. You need to come home.”
“Papa.” I try a reassuring smile and put my hand on his arm. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. I know what I’m doing.”
My father’s gray gaze shifts up the stairs and back to me. “You don’t know what you’re getting into, Evushka. Already, Jordan is finding trouble. You are not here taking care of us. This is not a good decision you’re making.”
I see the worry in his eyes, the concern he won’t speak, but I can hear it at the edges of his words.
“Papa, please. I’m doing this for us. To make sure we can keep our house and the bookstore and Marco in school.”
There won’t be any money at the end, but what’s that compared to their safety? He might seem to be thawing, but Evgeny has never taken back his unspoken promises, and I’m not about to test the Kucherov pakhan’s mettle when it comes to my family.
“End this now, Eva. I know that man upstairs.”
“You do?” My stomach flops.
“I know men like him. I know what he is. I know those tattoos. Do you forget I’m from Russia, too?”
He doesn’t know. Not exactly. But my father knows something. He knows my story isn’t the entire story.
“Papa, I have to do this. You don’t understand.”
I’m done with the conversation and try to push past him, afraid of where it will lead. Fearful of what will happen if I break one of Evgeny’s rules.
Dad’s hand wraps around my wrist, preventing me from leaving. “Whatever you’re trying to do for us, Eva, it is not worth it. Nothing is worth this.”
You are, I want to say. You all are. Keeping you safe is worth it.
But I don’t because I can’t.
Dad’s eyes harden. “You keep doing this, Eva, and bad things will happen. Terrible things.”
Fear stabs at my heart at the words. “Papa, I—”
“Everything okay?”
Dad’s hand drops like a stone from my arm as we both look up the stairs to see Vasya. He watches us with narrowed eyes, one hand on the banister, the other resting lightly on the outside of his leather jacket.
The place where his gun must be hidden.
“Everything is fine,” I manage, though my too-bright smile feels more panicked than cheerful.
My father grunts and shuffles off, back into the recesses of the house.
“You ready?” Vasya asks, his gaze trailing after my father as he comes down the steps to me.
“Almost. I just want to check on Marco, and then we can go.” I push an escaped strand of hair behind my ear, my heart hammering wildly in my chest.
I’m still not quite calm by the time Vasya lets me back into the car.
“Thanks for helping with Katie’s homework,” I say as his big black Rover eases away from the curb.
Vasya shrugs. “She’s a good kid. I always wanted a younger sibling anyway. Nice to spend time with one.”
“You don’t have any brothers or sisters?” I ask.
“No. Only me.”
The leather steering wheel creaks as Vasya’s hands tighten around it, but his mild expression doesn’t change.
“I thought you and Evgeny were like brothers?”
It takes Vasya a moment to reply. “We are. He’s the closest I’ve come, anyway. But he was always the heir, and me? Well, I’m whatever he needs me to be.”
The words clash with the easy smile Vasya gives me when I’m unsure how to respond. Silence falls as the car stops at a light.
“Look, Eva.” Vasya licks his lips, his hand tightening on the steering wheel again. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Evgeny, but I’m telling you, as someone who knows him better than most, don’t let it happen.”
He doesn’t look at me as he says it.
“You can’t save him, Eva. He’s not some nesting doll with a good soul deep inside. Whatever you think, he’s the pakhan of the Kucherov Bratva. That is who he is. The Bratva will always come before anything else, and he’ll do anything to protect it.”
When he looks at me, his blue eyes are burning.
“Anything.”
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry and my father’s warnings ringing in my ears.