Page 54 of Toxic Salvation (Krayev Bratva #2)

KOVAN

“It’s down?”

“Completely,” Pavel says with satisfaction. “St. Raphael’s is officially clean.”

“What about the client list?” I ask.

“I’ve taken care of that,” Osip replies as he reclines against the sofa facing the glass wall of my office. “They’ve all been informed that there is no longer a waitlist and that pursuing the purchase of an organ will result in a visit from the cops.”

“Any problems?”

“A few,” Osip concedes. “But the moment I start rattling off personal details about their lives and loved ones, they get really quiet. I don’t think you’ll have trouble from the clients. No one wants to admit they were willing to purchase illegal organs on the black market.”

“I’m not worried about the clients,” I say. “I’m worried about the Keres.”

“Ihor is the head,” Pavel says. “We cut off the head and the snake won’t be able to bite any longer.”

“Yeah. The problem is getting close enough to the head to cut it off.” I flick at the files covering my desk. “He’s been MIA now for almost two weeks. Not even Denis has heard from him. Yana is a ghost, too. It’s their new strategy: hide until we forget they exist.”

“Maybe they know what’s coming?” Osip suggests hopefully. “Maybe they’ve decided to run before we corner them.”

“Not likely,” I snort. “I know Ihor. I’ve known him my whole life. He’s not the type to run and hide. He’d rather die. Lucky for him, I’m more than willing to do the honors.”

Pavel points at my desk. “Your phone is ringing.”

I glance down. Vesper’s name on the screen makes me smile before I answer. “Vesper, how did the?—”

Her breathing stops me cold. Heavy, panicked, fast. Faster than it should be if everything went alright at her appointment with Dr. Mann.

“K-Kovan!” she gasps. “I… Ihor… He was here… I’m… There’s so much blood… Oh, God… so much blood...”

The line goes dead.

I’ve known fear in my life.

When I was twelve, I broke my leg trying to prove to my father that I was every bit the hardened Bratva man that he was.

A few years ago, I rushed into a hospital room just in time to watch my brother flatline.

In the moment when Luka first called me Papa, I realized that, for the rest of my life, I would be responsible for him and what kind of man he turns out to be.

I’m used to fear. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, it has a way of creeping into the recesses of your life and standing its ground. I’m used to that.

At least, I thought I was.

But what I’m feeling right now is nothing compared to what I’ve felt in the past. This is what you would feel if you were going under the knife without anesthesia. You’re splayed out, open, vulnerable, completely raw.

There’s nothing between you and that blade. Nothing to stave off the pain. Nothing to dull the razor-sharp edge of agony that saws through your flesh and bone, reminding you that for all your strength and bravado, you are still human.

You bleed red.

You feel pain.

You know fear.

And sometimes, there’s only one thing between you and oblivion. One phone call.

Ihor… He was here… I’m… There’s so much blood… Oh, God… so much blood…

I try calling back. No response.

Nikolai doesn’t answer.

Neither does Tikhon.

We’re speeding down the highway towards Dr. Mann’s clinic when Pavel manages to get through to Aleksei.

“What the fuck is going on?” Pavel demands.

All I can hear for a moment is Aleksei’s ragged breathing. “Pavel, Filipp and I are parked out front in the lot with Annabelle. Is something wrong?”

Pavel turns to me. I grab the phone from his hand and yell into the receiver. “Where the fuck are Nikolai and Tikhon and why aren’t they answering their fucking phones?”

“I… I don’t know, boss,” Aleksei stutters. “I’ll go in right now and check on them.”

“Don’t leave Annabelle alone!” I snarl. “You go check. Leave Filipp with Annabelle. We’re on our way.”

I hang up and turn to Osip, who steps on the gas.

“They separated,” I say. “Vesper went into the clinic with Nikolai and Tikhon. Ihor probably cornered them somewhere and…”

“Stop,” Pavel says. “Don’t spiral. We don’t know what happened. And until we do, we can’t afford to panic.”

Except I am panicking. I’m panicking big time.

Because I’ve become complacent. The mother of my child had an appointment today and instead of being there myself, I sent her out into the world with four men who are clearly unqualified to protect her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Almost there,” Pavel says.

“Any luck getting through to Vesper?” Osip asks, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror.

“She’s not answering,” I rasp. “She’s not answering because she probably can’t.”

“Kovan, we don’t know?—”

“Either that bastard has her. Or?—”

“Kovan, stop.”

“—he’s already killed her.”

Saying it out loud doesn’t make it better. It only doubles the panic. Only makes the fear that much more acute. The world feels out of my control. Because if Vesper is hurt—or worse: dead—then it’s over for me.

I may as well ask Ihor to put a bullet in my head, too, because there is no fucking point in my life without her here to share it.

Osip slams on the brakes, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the clinic. I run inside, ignoring the startled secretary in the ridiculous reading glasses as she tries to ask me for my name.

I turn the corner—and freeze.

Aleksei and Filipp’s backs are to me. They’re standing over a body, blood seeping onto the floor and flowing freely across the white tile.

It’s almost at Aleksei’s shoes, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“No, no, no… Vesper,” I choke, pushing past Aleksei to get to my woman.

I drop to my knees on the floor, right in the puddle of blood, an anguished scream in the back of my throat, waiting to escape.

All it will take is one look at her face.

Except, when my eyes focus on the body, it’s not what I’m expecting. I don’t see her perfect blonde hair or her heart-shaped face. I don’t see Orion’s belt dancing across her right cheek.

What I see is a big, ungainly corpse, swathed in a dark suit.

“Nikolai,” I breathe, my hand falling heavily against his suited chest. “Fuck.”

“Tikhon is in there, boss,” Aleksei says. “W-we think he dragged himself into the examination room after he was stabbed… to help her…”

I jump to my feet and kick the door open. It swings back on its hinges and hits the back wall so hard that the whole room seems to tremble.

Or maybe it’s me—maybe I’m the one who’s trembling.

“Vesper!”

Again, I’m expecting to see her body, sprawled out on the floor, blood gushing out of her as she clings to life.

But she’s intact. She’s kneeling on the tile, her hand hovering on Tikhon’s chest as she sobs silently. I’m not sure if the blood she’s covered in is her own or someone else’s.

But she’s alive.

All I can register is sweet, blissful, beautiful relief.

She’s alive.

For now, that’s all that matters.