The Hit Read online

  He pauses and takes another sip of his drink.

  “I know how important revenge is to you. So now, you get to decide: the girl or Kyrylo’s head. You can’t have both. You swear to me, you’ll leave Kyrylo alone to swim in his sewer, and I think I can overlook the fact that your property planned to kill me.” He downs his drink. “Go home and think, I’ll do the same, and call me in the morning.”

  He gets up, snaps his fingers at his two goons, and they follow him out the door.

  Holy hell, I’ve got a decision to make.

  When I get back to the house, I find Justina halfway down a bottle of wine and already a bit messy. I can’t fucking take any more drama tonight, so I make her a coffee, order her to drink it, and tell her I’ve got a headache and need to go lie down.

  Once in my room, I take my suit off. As I’m folding away my stuff, my mind is whirring. Allyov might say he’ll leave Violet alone, but can I trust him?

  I’ll need to leave her and Justina sometimes.

  They need to be trained in firearms use. I’ll get Violet a couple of guns, light, easy to carry and conceal, and train her to use them, but in the short term, either she has to stay with Alesso, which is a no-no as he’s got a new job, or I have to leave her alone and unprotected. Another big, fat no. Unless…

  Other than Alesso, I can’t trust anyone from this world, but I’d trust Reece.

  Except he’s laid up, recuperating. But that hard-faced bastard, his boss, the guy who runs a close protection firm, Liam … he’s not sick.

  He’s ex-special forces, like me, and although he doesn’t like me, made it quite clear the few times we met, he owes me. I can easily afford to pay his rates.

  Fuck it.

  I pick my phone up from the nightstand, where I threw it along with my wallet moments ago, and scroll through my contacts.

  I wonder if he’ll answer.

  On the fourth ring, he picks up.

  “Yes?” His voice is cool, unfriendly, but not aggressive in any way.

  “I need a favor.”

  He laughs low. “Don’t owe you anything, friend.”

  “Oh, my mistake. I was under the impression that without me, your beloved would be in a prison cell about now, not safe with you.”

  “As you know, that was a favor done in return for something Reece did for you.”

  Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Maybe. I lose track. Reece and I … so many favors and counter favors.” I sigh. “It’s not for me, not really; it’s to help protect a woman. Two women actually, and I can pay. If you’ve got something you’re already working on, fine, but can you recommend someone? I want them to be ex-forces. I need someone I can trust. I’d rather it be you guys. Yourself, or the other miserable bastard you work with, what’s his name?”

  “Ethan.”

  “Yeah, him. I can pay the going rate, and you’re not going to be doing anything fucking dodgy, okay?”

  He snorts this time, instead of laughing, and I want to throttle him. “Oh, of course not, nothing but babysitting some hitman’s moll.”

  “Firstly, don’t ever speak about Violet in such a way again. Secondly, by this time tomorrow, I’m either going to be dead or the owner of a new job title. I’ll be second in command to Allyov. And he’s going legit. Already mostly is.”

  “Yeah, we’ve heard.”

  Of course, he has. Him, Ethan, Reece, and the other one … Luka, they’ve always got their ear to the ground. It pays for them to know what’s what and who’s who because they protect a lot of important people.

  “We are free, but only for the next few weeks. After which two of us are off to Africa for three weeks. Luka will still be here, but he can’t do it alone. I don’t want to tell Reece about any of this as he’s got to get better, and he’ll want to help you. So you’ve got a few weeks to sort something else out.”

  I figure within the timeframe, I can track down a couple of my ex-Spetsnaz brothers and see if they’re amenable to come work for me. I need my own men. People I can trust to babysit the women when I can’t be with them. Liam and his men will simply be a stopgap.

  “Three weeks is more than enough. And I’ll pay the going rate, so it’s not even a favor. Your conscience is clear. How is the lovely Abigail, by the way?” I refer to the woman whose freedom I saved by cleaning up after her.

  “Fine.”

  If she is, it’s a surprise because she always seemed terrified by life. Or, maybe, she was simply terrified of me. Plenty of people are. I visited her a couple of times to let her know she had nothing to fear of her husband’s death ever coming back on her, and she visibly shook when I spoke to her.

  Liam’s voice softens, and he surprises me when he says, “She really is fine, but you scare her, okay? She’s incredibly grateful for what you did, and she’d hate you not to know. I’m not telling you this for any other reason than I know she’d want me to. She sees you as part of the reason she’s walking around free. But she’s … nervy, and you scare her.”

  “I get it.”

  And I do. Although, if I scare her, I’m surprised Liam doesn’t because he’s hardly the jolly, happy type.

  “We can start tomorrow, if you like, but I want the truth right now about what’s going on. I know you’re not simply hired muscle; you have an agenda. What is it?”

  It’s a huge moment for me. Even Justina doesn’t know everything. I sigh and tell him. I tell him how five mobsters murdered my family, and how after being in special forces and then working interrogations as a highly paid mercenary, the chance arose to work for Allyov and get close to the guys I wanted to take out. I give him their names and tell him three are already dead, two by my hand, and Babiek through a dodgy ticker. And then I tell him who Violet is and how I want to save her anyway. Need to save her.

  When I’m finished, he doesn’t thank me for the truth; he simply says, “Fine, we will be there tomorrow.”

  “Good. Right now, Violet is holed up in a hotel with two Greek guys I trust, but they’ve got a job in three days, and they can’t say no. It means I can bring her back here tomorrow if I know you guys can be here too. I’ll call in the morning. If I don’t call, can you do something for me?”

  He sighs, but says, “Yes.”

  “Go to the Pine Grove Hotel, and tell Alesso I sent you. Take Violet, and do whatever is needed to keep her safe. There’s also a woman here, Justina. She’s had a shitty life, was trafficked, but I got her out of there; she needs protecting too. Justina knows how to access my accounts. There’s more than enough money for them both to start afresh, and I know for a fact you guys have the connections and clout to get them new identities. Not through official channels, though, because those fuckers always leave a trail. Get them new names, passports, and get them out of the country.”

  “Done. Call me by ten. If I’ve not heard from you by then, we’ll go straight to the hotel and move Violet somewhere safe. Then we’ll come to your house and retrieve Justina. If things go bad, I’ll inform Reece as he’s the one who can come up with new identities.”

  He hangs up, and my stomach rumbles. I can’t face a meal, so I grab a banana out of my workout bag and eat it as I think about the mess around me.

  Can I do what Allyov wants? Forget all about getting Kyrylo?

  I made my sister a promise, a vow. But it wasn’t one she asked for. No, my other vow was the one she dragged out of me as she lay dying. I wish I could speak to her because something tells me she’d want me to let the vendetta against Kyrylo go if it meant protecting Violet. I’m sure it’s not only wishful thinking on my part. Even in agony and slipping away from me, she’d used every bit of her remaining energy to make me promise not to hurt women and children.

  Suddenly it hits me so hard. She never wanted this for me. She didn’t want me to spend my life in the pursuit of vengeance, getting down and dirty in the mud with scum like Kyrylo. More than anything, she wanted me to avoid becoming like him.

  I was young, scared, and traumatized, but her word
s remain with me.

  Violet’s words come back to me too. How I’d better be sure her father did those terrible things. I am. I no longer want my revenge on his family, though. There’s only Violet left, and she’s been punished enough. She has no one. I have my aunt. Justina. My sister in America. Allyov, in some ways, is like family to me, despite the mistrust between us. He’s mentored me, been good to me. Violet has nobody. The only person she did have, for a while, was me. And now I’ve gone and thrown a grenade into what was developing between us.

  I want to punch myself. I’m so angry at my actions. I don’t and decide instead to make it up to Violet, even if it takes me the rest of my life to prove to her I am sorry.

  I go take a quick shower and clean my teeth. The whole time there’s an unfamiliar churning in my stomach, and I realize it’s anxiety. The last few years I’ve gone through life so deadened to everything. This feeing is new and unpleasant.

  I barely sleep. I drop off only to jerk awake, random thoughts running through my mind. How the hell I managed to sleep in a warzone and now I can’t, I have no clue. I ignore the voice telling me I had nothing to lose back then and now I do. Violet.

  My phone buzzes at just after eight in the morning, and I see Allyov’s number light up the screen.

  Shit.

  For a moment, a crazy moment, I’m tempted not to answer and simply grab my go-bag and race to the hotel for Violet. Reality hits, and I rub my jaw as I pick up the phone with my other hand and press the call button.

  “Morning.” Allyov sounds in a good enough mood.

  “Morning.”

  I’m not going to be the one to speak about this first. Let him. The old Andrius wouldn’t have, so the new, stupid, crazy about a girl who makes him weak Andrius, needs to act the part.

  “Have you thought about our conversation?” he asks.

  “More to the point, have you, my friend?”

  He chuckles. “Yes, I have. I’m willing to overlook your female’s crazy plan. After all, I did murder half her family. As you say, she wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. I doubt she knows how to use a gun or a knife. I’d have disarmed her in an instant.”

  I make a mental note to tell Violet to never let another living soul besides myself and Justina know she planned on murdering Allyov with his allergy.

  “Exactly, she has no training. She’s … stupid, naïve.”

  I hate calling her these things, but the more he sees her as a silly little girl, and not a threat, the better for Violet.

  “And now, she is under your control, yes? So anything … disrespectful she does, it comes back to you.”

  The threat is crystal clear, but I’m happy to take it on if it keeps her safe. “Yes, she’s my responsibility now. She does anything wrong, I’ll deal with her. Already have, after she made a fool of herself in your club.”

  He chuckles again. “Good. You keep her in line, and she can come with you places, but she never, ever, goes to any of my businesses alone. She is free to come and go as she pleases in her life, but she steps within fifty feet of me, and you better be by her side … for her sake.”

  “You know, if anyone else talked to me about a woman I had under my protection like this, we’d have an issue. But she did plan to kill you, so I’ll let this go, and she won’t be anywhere near you unless I’m there.”

  “And you? You’re willing to drop things with Kyrylo, even do business with him on the legit side of things if need be?”

  “Yes. But he must know I killed his brother. I don’t think you ought to be taking me to any business deals with you. It might sour things somewhat.”

  He chuckles again. “Now that you’re in this with me, there’s a lot you will learn. One of those things is Kyrylo hated his brother, saw him as weak and useless. You did him a favor taking him out.”

  Well. Shit. I didn’t mean to do the fucker a favor.

  “There’s an internal war going on within a lot of the crime organizations. There are those, like myself, who want to go more legit, who don’t see the need for the danger involved in illegal activity when there’s so much easy money in legal, or borderline legal, business. Then, you have your Kyrylos of this world, along with his underboss, Boris. They are going to hell for leather as fast and far as they can into the grimy side of life. I say we leave them to it. We may need to deal with them on the arms side of things possibly. I’ll put the word out in a way Kyrylo can’t miss that he’s no longer on your shit list, and you, my friend, need to come see me in the next day or two so we can draw up some plans. I’ll give you some time to get your girl back, but then come to the house. Bring Justina; you know how Donna likes to see her. Let’s say, four days from now? Ten a.m.”

  He hangs up. No mention of bringing Violet. Shit, good thing I have Liam and his men to watch her back until I can organize something more permanent. I wouldn’t trust Allyov to lure me to a meeting at his house and send Misha and Alexei here to take out Violet.

  My heart soars as I think about fetching her back here, where she belongs, and then sinks again when the thought hits me that she might not want to come with me.

  She doesn’t have much choice, though, does she? She can’t stay with Alesso for more than another day or two. She has no money. Where can she go? She isn’t safe anywhere but at my side, and the thought gives me a sick thrill. Yes, my little rabbit has woven a trap of her own making. And now she’s truly caught.

  Chapter Four

  Violet

  I actually slept! I can’t believe it, with the way I was feeling, but at some point, exhaustion must have claimed me because the last time I glanced at the clock it said midnight. Now daylight is streaming in through the gap I left in the curtains.

  I yawn and stretch then wince at how sore and tight my neck is. God, I need a massage and to learn to destress because, otherwise, I’m going to end up with neck issues. And then my brain goes to thinking about Andrius and him being the one to cause this stress and anxiety. I get sad, and then anxious, which soon borders on full-blown panic. Great, awake for thirty whole seconds and already commencing a nervous breakdown. I yawn again and haul myself out of bed.

  I don’t want to face the day. A dark cloak of depression is smothering me in its dank embrace. As if a heavy fog has descended and is dulling everything, I can’t quite seem to connect to the world. It’s as if a glass wall separates me from reality, numbing but also disconcerting.

  Maybe depression is a protective device because although this feeling of disconnection is thoroughly strange, without it, I’d most likely be trying to yank open the windows to throw myself out.

  I have nothing.

  Nothing.

  Even my memories have been taken from me and shown to be mirages. Lies.

  Andrius did that.

  I should hate him, but I don’t. I miss him. Ache for him. How pathetic am I?

  It’s as if he was my anchor in this raging storm my life has become. I doubt it’s a healthy feeling, but it’s mine and it’s real. I want him here now. I want him to wrap his big arms around me, to inhale his unique scent, and trust in him to take care of it all for me.

  He isn’t here, though, and I may never see him again. He sent me away, and I have no idea what his long-term plans for me are. I’m stuck with these two guys for now, and they’ve been kind enough, but I don’t know them, and I’m so fucking fragile I need a friendly face.

  Then it hits me.

  Aliya.

  Oh my God. Why don’t I get a flight and go find her? She’s in the middle of nowhere, literally, living her best life and looking after endangered wildlife in the jungle. I think I’ll be safe from Allyov out there. She’s my best friend, and maybe, with her by my side, and nothing to do every day but care for animals, I can mend.

  Can you just rock up at one of these places, though?

  I presume not.

  Then again, if they need volunteers badly, and Aliya supports me, I doubt they’ll turn me away. Then the little problem with
my plan hits me. I don’t have a passport.

  There’s a commotion outside my door, and I freeze. I hear Alesso and Damen saying something, but I can’t make out the words. Then I hear a voice.

  It’s deep and familiar with those rough, harsh consonants, and I want to cry with relief.

  Not even thinking, I open the hotel door and rush out.

  Andrius turns to me, and for a moment I don’t know what to expect. Then he opens his arms to me.

  “Zaika.”

  I run to him, and then I’m safe. For a moment, I let the lie of his embrace soothe me and wash away everything else. We’ve always been about this, haven’t we? Deep down. About the lie, the pretense of him being my safety.

  His arms are around me, and the things he said to me, the way he hurt me, it all disappears if only for a moment.

  I have nothing left. No strength of my own, so I take his. I sag as he holds me up, and then he’s lifting me and walking to the bedroom with me. He kicks the door closed behind us, and I’m suddenly scared.

  I want him back in my life, but he terrified me when he dragged me down to that room. I don’t know if I can simply go right back to where we left off. I’m not ready for him to touch me sexually, not after yesterday.

  But he doesn’t go to the bed; instead, he sits at the chair in the corner of the room, gathers me even closer to him, and rocks me gently as he kisses the top of my head.