Finally, I let out a long breath, glancing at the blank screen once more before speaking.
“I believe you, Ivan.”
I can’t keep myself from embracing him the next moment, and he receives me with his strong arms, warming me with a hug I so desperately need as he buries his face in my hair.
“I’m so sorry I doubted you,” I say in half a sob.
“You had every right to, Katy,” he whispers back, “you had every right to never speak to me again after being put through so much.”
I pull back a touch and look up at him, my lip trembling before I feel a weight lift from my shoulders as I look at what I can now believe more than ever is an honest face.
“Let’s go home, Ivan,” I whisper.
On the way back, something feels different between us. There were always times when the silences between us held some kind of tension, like between the moments of fleeting bliss together, there was this reminder that I’m with him as part of a deal. A transaction.
But as we drive back to Brighton Beach in his car and I lean towards him from the passenger’s seat, wanting nothing more than to embrace him, that tension seems just...gone. Like it was a spell that’s been broken, and we can breathe freely together.
I look over at him, and despite looking to be deep in thought, I can see some kind of relief in his face as well.
He’s a hit man. He kills people for a living. But...he loves me, doesn’t he?
The realization hits me suddenly. He didn’t have to do all this. He could have left me to hide in my cottage forever, or until Konrad found me. But he came for me.
And I realize that I wanted him to, desperately.
I swallow the lump in my throat just as he looks over at me and speaks.
“There’s something on your mind.”
I nod quietly, then look forward at the road as we drive closer to the place that feels more like home than anywhere else in the world could.
“Konrad is still after you, Ivan. After us. What happens now?”
“You’re right,” he nods grimly, “he isn’t going to stop.” He then looks at me with a cool, steady gaze that at once thrills me and raises the hair on the back of my neck.
“That’s why I took the liberty of showing this tape to my superiors. They agreed with me on what needs to be done.”
My face blanches, and I feel my hands go cold at the implication. “You mean…?”
“Konrad needs to be dealt with,” he says with finality before looking at me again, “and I’m going to need your help.”
My mouth is dry, but something else in me is stirring. Determination. I look at Ivan, the cool confidence with which he’s approaching this, and I want him so badly in this moment. I want him to pull over and fuck me in the back seat of his car, but I know that will have to wait. I have a family to avenge.
“Well, hit man?” I say with a feeling that thrills my whole body, “What do you have in mind?”
“Konrad is passionate for you. Mad, really,” he explains. “Such lust-ridden men act irrationally, viciously, and impulsively. The sooner we act the better.”
I nod, suspecting where this is going. “So we’re going to set a trap for him, and you want to use me as the bait.”
He looks at me with a tenderness and concern I didn’t think to expect, and he hesitates a moment. “Katy, I wouldn’t ask this of you if I weren’t going to be watching over you the whole time. But I understand if you—”
“No,” I stop him, resolution in my face even as I wring my hands, “I want this.” Every part of me is trying to resist, but there’s a part of me in the back of my mind fighting its way to the front, thrilling my entire body. I need this.
Ivan looks long and hard at me as we stop at a red light, then nods.
“Then listen carefully.”
18
Katy
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Konrad, thank God! I don’t have much time, I-”
“Wait, Katy? How did you get this number?”
I’m pacing around the club floor of the Amber Room. It’s well before opening time, and I texted the staff ahead of time that we’re opening late today to keep them out for a good long while. The only people here are me and Ivan, and he’s pacing around at arm’s length from me, listening to the conversation with hawk-like attentiveness.
“I got your message, Konrad,” I breathe, desperation in my voice. “Oh my God, I don’t know how much time I have before Ivan finds out I know, I-”
“Calm down, Katy, calm down,” his horrible voice tries to coo, trying to sound reassuring and seductive but coming off as nervous and sleazy. “It’s going to be okay, I’m here.” I try not to grimace. He’s been waiting for this call for so long, I realize.