Ghost (Boston Underworld #3) - A. Zavarelli Page 0,48

and hands me the phone.

“Simply tell her you are safe,” he says. “And anything else you wish to say.”

It rings for a long time. And every sound is like a jackhammer to my ears and my armor. I’m shaking in Alexei’s arms, and he is rubbing my back in a soothing gesture. There are tears in my eyes. And then the muffled sound of someone answering.

“Hello?”

My lips are sticking together, and it takes me three attempts to get her name out.

“Mack?”

There’s a long pause, and the guilt is stabbing at my heart. The one I swore I no longer had. She sounds so scared. So nervous that this is some sort of a sick joke. That it can’t be real. And I know now, she thought I was dead. She thought I was lost forever.

Because I was too much of a coward to tell her otherwise. She deserves so much better than this. Than me. She deserves everything I could never be to her.

“Talia?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “It’s me.”

“Are you okay?” she asks. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” I answer. “I can’t talk very long though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just…” My voice cracks, and I can barely speak. I’m going to break. Any second now. I’m going to break completely. And it isn’t fair to Mack. I can’t let her hear me cry. The best thing I can do for her is to let her believe I’m okay. The way she always wanted me to be. “I just wanted you to know that I’m okay. And that you shouldn’t worry about me anymore.”

“What do you mean don’t worry about you?” she demands.

“I’m safe,” I repeat. “And I’m not coming home.”

“Talia…”

“I have to go, Mack,” I tell her. “I just wanted to say congratulations on your wedding. And that I love you, and I miss you so much. But I’m okay now, and I have you to thank for that.”

It’s the last sentence I can manage to get out before my resolve breaks and I disconnect the line.

26

Alexei

“Arman has sent word on the shipments,” Viktor informs me. “You will need to inform him soon.”

“Of course.” I nod my assent, but Viktor doubts my assurances.

It is one thing to doubt me, but to do it in front of the Vory is something new. Viktor has only ever shown me respect. But right now he is giving Sergei precisely what he wants. A reason to doubt me. To prove that I am not worthy of my title. Of my rank.

“This could very well get ugly,” Viktor adds. “He may not wish to part with the girl.”

“It is too late.” I shrug. “It is done. She is my wife. He has no claim on her now. And he will be compensated accordingly. The choice is his. He can have his money and his life, or nothing at all.”

“And what of our shipments?” Sergei asks.

“There are plenty of other suppliers.”

“Not with his arsenal,” he scoffs. “You full well know this.”

“So then we take over his supply. Run his operation ourselves. It would not be the first time we have done so.”

“What you are speaking of means going to war, Lyoshenka,” Viktor replies.

“So we go to war then.”

All of their eyes are on me. My father’s disapproving gaze. And even after all of these years, it burns me. He still has the power to make me feel inadequate in his presence. Which is precisely what he wants. He wants me to doubt myself. To waver in front of these men and prove I am worthless.

But my resolve is steadfast on this matter. And that will not change.

“Going to war is an easy solution for you.” Sergei doesn’t attempt to hide his disdain for me. “When you have the brothers doing all of the dirty work for you.”

I meet his gaze and hold it. “I am a Vor, too. You seem to forget.”

His lips sneer and Nikolai steps up to place a hand on his shoulder before he says something he will regret. That will incriminate him and allow all of the others to know his dirty secret. That he is the father of a son who will never live up to Nikolai’s standard. That he is the father of me.

“And I will be the first through the door,” I add. “Should it come to a war.”

Viktor steps beside me and places a hand on my shoulder, showing his support for me without speaking a word. It grates on Sergei, and his eyes linger on the connection