Page 37

37

LEONA

C iel showered off the blood covering his body while the rest of us talked in Makarov’s main living room. When the guys called me up there to talk with him, he had been completely dazed. But ever since snapping back to reality, he’d seemed completely fine.

Except for the part where he hadn’t spoken a word.

I’d offered to go with him. I wanted to, just to make sure he was fine. But he brushed his thumb over my cheek and shook his head. I sat down on the couch to watch Konstantin Makarov lay into his sister. Ryuji lounged beside me, devouring a plate of little Russian cookies. Obi stood behind Ryu while on his phone. Cas was on my other side, trying yet failing to nurse his knee. Wynn was in the kitchen with the rest of the Russian men, helping them tend to their wounds.

It was fine. Everything was fine.

“Everything is fine , Kostya,” Zoya Makarova said to her brother, who paced the room in front of us. See? Zoya knew was she was talking about. “Can you please calm down?”

“Calm down?” Makarov whirled. “Volpe has gone after my businesses, my family. I’ve already taken over a half-a-million dollar hit just in the last two weeks from lost product and extra injury pay to my men. I just paid more in hush money than your entire year’s allowance.”

“And how exactly is that my fault?” Zoya countered, standing from the couch.

“It’s your fault because you refused to live here , where you’re safe.” Konstantin dragged his hand down his face, exasperated. His blond curls, the same shade as hers, were skewed in all directions. “What the fuck were you thinking, Zoya? If the Shadows hadn’t been paying attention, you would be dead!”

We had followed Makarov back to his house so we could debrief and strategize the next steps now that the Alacrán Cartel was hopefully eliminated in New York. Cut the head off the snake and the body dies , as the saying went. Whoever was left would have to return to Colombia, and Obi believed there’d be some sort of internal power struggle that would keep them busy, if they didn’t completely collapse. There were still tainted drugs we needed to clean up before more civilians got hurt, but the Alacrán Cartel was done. Max’s alliance with them was over. They’d no longer be a thorn in our sides.

I’d expected us to celebrate a little more, but as soon as we entered his home, Konstantin and Zoya started yelling at each other.

She straightened, leveling him with her withering gaze. Zoya Makarova was beautiful. I remembered her wavy blonde hair and the straight line of her nose. But back when I met her, she was a scared little mouse, always hiding behind her father’s legs. It had taken twenty minutes of coaxing before she’d even spoken to me. And even then, she’d only wanted to play for a little bit before she’d asked to leave.

This Zoya was different. She was fuming, arms crossed over her chest, while her brother yelled at her.

The other brother, Kolya, spoke in Russian to some of their men in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Wynn bandaged his forehead. When Kolya had found us at the van, he had hissed something to Zoya in Russian before stomping away. He seemed competent, a decent second-in-command to Konstantin, but it was hard to see him as anything other than that drunk who’d made a mess at Ryuji’s club all those weeks ago.

Maybe this war had straightened him out a bit.

“I was literally just living my life, brother,” Zoya finally responded, voice scathing. I watched with a small yet sad smile on my face.

I knew exactly what she was talking about, and it’s what had me so fucking pissed off earlier. In this world, women were always the collateral damage. We were the pressure points. We were the ones people used to further their goals, never once considering how we might feel.

My father had feared that I’d be used as his weak spot, which was why he made Cas my bodyguard. In my teenage years, Cas had to defend me from kidnapping attempts twice. My mother and Max’s mother had been targeted with a car bomb with the sole intent of hurting our fathers.

It was everywhere in my life, but I didn’t truly get it until this night.

When these dangerous men couldn’t easily get what they wanted, they turned their sights on us because they thought we’d be meek, easy targets.

Not today.

I was so fucking tired of it. I would build my own syndicate to prove them all wrong. I would forge a different path for us. In our future, women wouldn’t have to live that way. Women would have all the power we wanted and live whatever lives made us happy. I’d make sure of it.

“And now what?” Konstantin asked. “Your apartment is a crime scene, and I’m still at war.”

Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “I’ll go stay with a friend.”

“No. You’re moving home immediately. I’ll have the men go get some of your things—what can be salvaged, anyway. But you’re not to set foot out of this house.”

She gaped, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Absolutely not! I have a life! Ever since Dad died, you’ve been trying to keep me trapped here, but I’m tired of it, Kostya. No more.”

“I never should have let you move out,” he muttered. “I should have pulled you back to the compound when we started this war.”

Zoya rolled her eyes. “You tried, remember? I just walked out the front door and came back to my apartment. I ditched every single man you sent to pick me up.”

Cas leaned over to whisper, “Sounds really familiar, doesn’t it?”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “I never could ditch you for long, though, could I?”

The corner of his mouth pulled into a smile.

“You’re twenty. You don’t need your own apartment.” Konstantin braced a hand on his hip. “Once it’s cleared by our contacts on the force, I’m selling it. Ryu, can I use your realtor?”

Ryu shrugged from beside me. “Sure.”

“No, Kostya, please,” she whined, grabbing his hand. “I need my own space. I can’t stand constantly being guarded.”

“It’s not safe. Fuck, even at home, it’s not safe.” He pulled free of her grip and paced around the room. “Coming after my fucking sister. I’ll gut him. We might have killed that Colombian fucker tonight, but I’m positive Volpe gave the order. He’s dead.”

“He’s mine, Konstantin,” I said, crossing my leg over my knee. “You don’t touch a hair on his head.”

Ryu’s hand clamped on my knee. “Now is really not the time, sweetheart.”

Konstantin turned to me and leveled a hard glare.

I knew what I was doing. Challenging the head of the Bratva in his own home was a massive sign of disrespect. But right now, I didn’t fucking care. He could pace around his house all he liked, but Max was mine.

And I wasn’t saying it for him.

I was saying it for Zoya Makarova, who stared at me like she’d never once seen someone object to her brother.

I wasn’t afraid of powerful men.

“I’ll let that slide, Leona,” Konstantin said. “Out of respect for what your men did for me and my sister tonight. But if you ever challenge me on my turf again, we’re going to have problems.”

I inclined my head, my crossed leg bouncing. Once his back was turned, I winked at Zoya.

“Fucking whatever,” he grumbled. “I’m extra pissy tonight.”

“No shit,” I whispered to Ryu. He squeezed my leg.

“What’s next, then, Makarov?” Obi asked, looking up from his phone for the first time in minutes. “Do you need any further assistance from us?”

“No, you’ve already done enough to keep my sister safe.” He collapsed on the big lounge chair in front of the fireplace. “I just need to figure out what to do with her now.”

“I’m still here, Kostya,” she snapped. She glanced in my direction.

Konstantin was right. She wasn’t safe in the city, especially not with Max targeting the Russians. I wouldn’t let her become collateral damage to my war.

But I also couldn’t stand the idea of Konstantin keeping her trapped here.

My father would never let me get my own apartment, no matter how much I begged. Not until you’re married, and your husband can keep you safe , he’d say. And then he’d turn around and tell me I’d never marry Max. I fully understood Zoya’s desire for freedom.

An idea formed in my head.

“I could marry her off,” Konstantin mumbled to himself. “An ally could protect her.”

“No! Kostya—” Zoya interjected, face pale.

“What if we took Zoya?” I asked, voice raised to cut across them both.

Konstantin looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Even Obi and Ryu turned in my direction, eyebrows raised. Only Cas reacted, exhaling heavily with eyes rolling to the ceiling, like he knew exactly why I wanted to defend her—why I felt for her.

“You want to take my sister?”

I nodded. I wouldn’t allow Zoya to be married off just to keep her safe. She wasn’t an object, and I was getting really fucking tired of these arranged marriages. Women were not pawns.

“What if we took her to the Irish in Philadelphia? They could protect her, so you can focus on Max and finishing up whatever remains of the Colombians. I know Fallon can hide her—she offered to do the same for me once.”

Konstantin rubbed his mouth with his other hand braced on his waist. His eyes darted from Zoya to me, to Ryu, and then over to Wynn, who still stood in the kitchen. Finally, Konstantin stood. “Yes. If Fallon can keep her safe, hide her in Philly until this war is over.”

I withheld my relieved smile.

“ Kostya, ” Zoya hissed, practically stomping her foot. “That’s not any better. You can’t send me away. It would be no different from being guarded here.”

He cupped her cheeks. “What do you mean me to do, zólotse ? I don’t want to marry you off against your will, but if it’s the price to keep you safe, I will. At least you’ll be safer in Philadelphia. And if you’re safer there, I can focus here.”

Zoya huffed, casting a wary glance at me before she left the room and walked upstairs.

“Fallon will protect her?” Konstantin asked. His shoulders slumped. This war was exhausting him as much as it was us. Konstantin and the Russians were taking the brunt of the war on the ground. “I can trust her?”

“You can definitely trust her, even if she says no.” I pulled out my phone, texting Fallon that we needed to meet. Fallon would understand, and I needed to do something to make it up to him. His men had been the targets. Yes, Ciel had most likely saved Zoya’s life tonight, but without the Russians, we’d be nowhere.

“So, what, you’ll just take her down there? Do I need to come?”

I shook my head. “Max already knows about my connections to the Irish, and Fallon already wanted to meet with me in person. If we take Zoya with us, hide her on our way out of the city, we can get her out undetected. If she’s not here, she’s not a target.”

In our future, women would be free to make our own decisions. We’d be free to be just as powerful and strong as the men. Zoya deserved that future. We had to win this war so we could make it a reality.

“What if he just goes after Fallon instead?”

I snickered. “Fallon would rip him to pieces.”

He huffed a laugh. “Fine.” He extended his hand. “I’ll repay you.”

I took it. “Help me take Max down, and we’ll be even.”

Ryu placed his chin on top of my head. “Or pay us in loads of cash. That would be fine, too. Assuming, of course, you still have some left.”

“Fucker.” Konstantin grinned.