One week.

  One fucking week, seven fucking days, Angel had been left hanging in the wind while Kuznetsov hung over her head like a storm cloud. She tried to go about her life like normal, or whatever counted as normal anymore, to pretend like nothing happened, constantly looking over both shoulders. No calls or messages. Hell, she half expected an army to storm her apartment and drag her all the way back to Russia. But nothing came. This had to be some kind of test to see if she was going to run again, as if she had anywhere to go now. So Angel went to work at the club, ignoring the concern of her friends and thanking what lucky stars she had left that Star wasn’t asking about that night. Then, after work, she joined her new crew to get down to business and clean up any other messes they made before they drug her name through the mud with them.

  Once again, she was leaving work, this time in the company of her friends, when her day of reckoning finally came in the form of team of Kuznetsov’s men, waiting for her up the street. They were dressed in plain clothes, but Angel was able to recognize who they were instantly. The guns just barely sticking out from inside their coats and pants were a dead giveaway, as was the expensive car they were all just casually standing by. If that wasn’t enough, their prison tattoos were still visible on their arms and necks. Who they thought they were fooling was a mystery to her as she immediately turned on the heel of her boot and quickened her pace in the opposite direction. She didn’t even make it four paces before she walked right into two guys who grabbed her by the arms and hauled her over to the car.

  “Fucking again?” she whined. “Are you kidding me?”

  “What the hell are they doing?” Crystal shrieked as they ran up to catch her. “Let her go!”

  “I knew you were getting into trouble! Leave her alone or I’m calling the police!” Star cried, pulling out her phone to prove she was serious.

  “No! No, it’s fine,” Angel said, keeping her voice calm and placating. “Don’t call anyone, it’s ok.”

  “How is any of this ok?!”

  Angel shook her head and willingly stepped into the vehicle, not wanting to cause an even bigger scene. Other people on the street were already looking their way and she didn’t want them calling the police either. It’s not like they’d be able to do anything and she didn’t know what order these guys were under, whether it was to be inconspicuous as their wardrobe indicated or to bring her in by any means necessary. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to find out the hard way.

  “Don’t worry, I know these guys, it’s alright. I’ll text you all later.”

  The door snapped shut before the ladies could voice any further protests, leaving them in the rearview as the car drove off in her second forced car ride of the week. Hopefully this wouldn’t become a regular thing, but she wouldn’t hold her breath.

  Angel was boxed in like she figured she’d be, one man on each side of her and two up front. No one said a word, no matter how many questions she asked all she was told was:

  “Mr. Kuznetsov wants to see you right away. We’ll be there soon.”

  But they never gave her any information on where “there” was supposed to be. She was no stranger to being kept in the dark and she knew complaining about it wouldn’t fix it. It wasn’t that far away, in fact, they didn’t even leave Brighton Beach. The car smoothly turned down the street and up to a cafe that was directly across from the construction site from that night.

  At last, Angel was released from the back seat and greeted by none other that Vitaly, who didn’t dare look her in the face now. Instead, he glared at the ground as he held the door of the cafe open for her. A brilliant sense of elation broke through her frustration and dread and she allowed herself a moment to relish in it.

  “Good to see you again, Vitya,” she said and absolutely meant it as she watched his eye twitch, desperate to maintain his professional demeanor.

  “Likewise, Ms. Ivanov,” he ground out through his forced smile.

  Angel’s was genuine though as she sauntered inside. After all the grief he caused her, seeing him so subservient was beyond satisfying. He led her to a table at the very back where Kuznetsov himself sat, sipping coffee as he read the newspaper. The powerful smell of dark roast permeated the air, he still drank coffee that Angel was sure was strong enough to kill a normal man.

  Vitaly pulled out a chair for her across from him, but she waited until she received some form of permission. She never had to before, growing up she and Nikolai would invite themselves into his study whenever they pleased and hung around like they owned the place. Nikolai really would one day, but they never worried about the consequences. But now, Angel couldn’t help but get that nauseas twist in her gut like she was in trouble.

  “Well?” her godfather asked. “Are you waiting for a written invitation your highness?”

  “Sorry,” Angel mumbled and took her seat.

  He waived over a waiter who placed a chocolate muffin and a cafe au lait in front of her as he set his paper aside.

  “That’s still your favorite right?”

  Angel felt a weight lift from her shoulders. The snack served as a small peace offering. A reminder of the “good old days”.

  “Yes, thank you sir.”

  “Come now, no need to be so formal, kotyonok.”

  “Uncle Matvey,” Angel corrected herself with a relieved grin.

  He really was acting as if nothing had changed. As if it hadn’t been four years since she ran away in the dead of night. She ate in silence until he finally broke the ice.

  “I hear you go by Angel now.”

  Angel choked on her coffee, but kept it in as she made to save face.

  “Not… really. ’S just a… stage… name.”

  Oh lord, that sounded so bad.

  “To think, you’ve been here this entire time. Why? Why did you run away like that, Lyudya?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I was… scared,” she whispered, like she was still afraid.

  “Scared?”

  “Mom and Dad screwed up so bad, I thought you’d be mad at me too.”

  “Were you really afraid of me?” Matvey asked, sounding genuinely hurt and dropping a small shard of guilt into Angel’s heart.

  “Everything was so intense. My parents were taken away, then dad ran, I didn’t know what to do.”

  Truthfully, she had been a little worried back then. The whole thing had come out of nowhere. It wasn’t like her parents had betrayed the family and they knew better than to give up any information when they were taken in, but when Angel saw her opportunity she took it, context didn’t matter.

  “Nikolai was furious when he heard what happened,” she continued, bringing tears to her eyes, but not letting them spill over, “he said he never wanted to see me again. I thought you felt the same and I panicked-”

  “Easy lapochka,” Matvey interrupted. “Calm down, deep breaths”

  He passed her a napkin to wipe away her crocodile tears as he motioned for the waiter to come over again. Even though he was the one who schooled her pokerface from the beginning, he was falling for it.

  “Clear this away and bring us something a little stronger.”

  The plates and mugs were cleared away in the blink of an eye and replaced with two polished stem glasses and a bottle of Masetto. As much as she loved living her own life, Angel had to admit, she missed getting this level of service.

  “You still like reds?” he asked.

  She nodded and idly swirled the glass. Thanks to him she had grown up to be quite the wine snob, among other things, a habit she’d given up when she went on the run.

  “I was never angry with you, mily. Never. What happened wasn’t your fault, but I suppose I know where you’re coming from. Tensions were high, so I really can’t blame you or Nikolai for how you both reacted.”

  His understanding was almost too good to be true, but as long as she was a flight risk, he wasn’t going to be too harsh with her.

  “How’s Kolya these days?” she asked as she sipped her drink. God knows she needed the buzz right about now.

  “He’s been good, he’s really stepped up,” Matvey said with the prideful air of any other doting parent. There was very little Nikolai could do wrong in his eyes. “He regrets what happened that day, it broke his heart.”

  “Mine too,” Angel confessed, and it was the truth. It broke both their hearts to separate like that, but that was the idea.

  “You know, he’s never moved on from you. Said he’d never love again, that he’d never be able to love another woman that way.”

  Yeah, that’s for sure.

  “He couldn’t believe it when I told him you were here, he was absolutely speechless. I think he’s nervous about seeing you again.”

  “See me? He wants to see me?”

  “Of course! He asked me to invite you to dinner tomorrow night.”

  That was a whole load of bullshit, but she was in no position to argue.

  “I don’t know, I, uh-”

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure you two will work things out.” As if they had a choice. “I’ll send a car to pick you up and please, do be sure to look… presentable.”

  Angel looked down at her outfit, a crop top and very short short-shorts, where her small bright red heart tattoo was visible on her hip and the small angel wings on her shoulders were barely covered under a fuzzy leopard print coat. She felt no shame or insecurity, she never did, but she couldn’t suppress her laughter when she saw her godfather’s distasteful expression. He had to know what she did for a living if his men picked her up at the club and she imagined her actual father would probably react in a similar manner if he ever found out.

  “You don’t think I’m pretty, uncle? I thought I looked good as a redhead,” she teased, laughing harder when he tried to backtrack.

  “You know what I mean! While I’m happy you’ve been able to make it on your own out here, I do wish you had chosen a more, well, ladylike profession.”

  Angel scoffed and tossed back the rest of her wine. He knew better than anyone that she had never been “ladylike” a day in her life, despite her parents’ numerous attempts to turn their daughter into a proper debutant. She supposed it was to prepare her for marrying into the prestige of the Kuznetsov family, but she didn’t know who they were kidding. Everyone knew what Matvey and his business really was, but on the surface he was a respectable business man and the owner of several properties from high rises to restaurants, earning himself the reputation as the landlord from hell with his “supposed ties” to organized crime. Apparently her mom and dad forgot just how big a role her godfather played in her upbringing.

  While they were setting up etiquette lessons, dance classes and private tutors for singing and piano, she and Nikolai were going to the shooting range, gambling on poker or the ponies at the racetrack, and organizing lowball prize fights with their classmates. By the time they reached high school they were already running errands for the old man, and more often than not came home with blood on their hands and smelling of gun oil and household accelerants. He knew what she was and despite her disappearance, she was the most loyal member of the family, second only to his own son.

  “A girl’s gotta make a living,” Angel pouted, pouring herself another glass. “I’m actually quite popular. Ask any of your men, I’m sure they’ve seen me before.”

  “Please stop,” Matvey groaned, covering his face.

  “It’s not as bad as you think.”

  “Well, you aren’t going back. If it’s money you’re worried about, then don’t. We’re here now, you’ll be taken care of.”

  Of course. Angel saw this coming, but she was already falling back under his thumb and it was making her sick to her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she stomped that feeling down and kept her poker face up and flawless. The man himself taught her to bow her head to no one, but that lesson never applied to him. Still, the gnawing disappointment in herself ate away at her like an ulcer. Maybe meeting with Nikolai wasn’t such a bad idea after all. She needed to know where they stood and odds were that he’d have a better idea. She knew her godfather meant well, he thought she was struggling and honestly there would be no love lost if she had to leave the club.

  “What about my guys?” she asked. “I’m not gonna leave them hanging.”

  Even she wasn’t that much of a bitch to abandon them now and if she was being pulled back in, then she was pulling them down with her.

  “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of stepping on your toes like that. You have your own operation now, I respect that. How long has that been going on?”

  “We’re pretty new. I’d like to apologize on their behalf, I had no idea they’d been doing jobs for Vitaly. I hope we have that mess settled.”

  “Ha! Listen to you, you sound like a boss already!”

  Angel bit the inside of her cheek, it came across as more patronizing than he probably meant, but it was still flattering coming from him. At least he was taking her seriously, so for now she just smiled and nodded. Matvey was too happy with her return to ask too many questions and he didn’t want to upset her and risk her running off again.

  “Do you mind if I ask you what that whole thing with Peele was about? It’s none of my business, but my guys did nearly lose their heads over it.”

  “You’ll have to forgive the dramatics, I never intended for things to get that violent. Vitya is a bit of a show off.”

  “A bit?”

  “The matter itself wasn’t so serious, but the money involved with Peele and the debt your boys owed was.”

  Angel tensed, but Matvey reassured her.

  “Don’t fret about that, as far as I’m concerned the debt is forgiven, we’re all square. I guess I owe them now for returning you to me.”

  Yes, I definitely owe them something for that too, Angel thought bitterly.

  “Thank you for your generosity,” she said, “I’ll be sure to pass that along to them.”

  “Anything for you radnaya. The information I was having Peele gather was something to speak to the deputy mayor about in regards to a few new ventures I’m building here in the city.”

  “Like what?”

  As a front, Matvey’s primary business was owning and operating a lucrative import/export company, dealing in furniture, electronics, cars, anything he could think of both and that was just what was on the books. In any of those shipments he could smuggle massive amounts of stolen goods from booze to cigarettes to jewels. That was how his criminal empire started way back when and it’s success allowed him to expand at a frightening rate. Angel supposed it had only been a matter of time before he set up shop in the states, but she never would’ve assumed he’d come here to do it himself.

  “I’ve been collecting a few properties. A high rise will be going up for our headquarters to work from, as well as a few ware houses and storage facilities. I have plenty of business starting here and I’d like to keep the attention on that while I get to work in Brighton Beach. It’s going to take some time to finish construction and I wanted to speed along some of the formalities in terms of my permits.”

  Blackmail, she should have guessed that from the start. Angel wondered how he was moving things so fast, if he had somebody who could move his applications and forms along quickly and look the other way on some of the more concerning details, he could cut through the red tape in no time at all without formal investigation. Matvey wasn’t even using a front guy, he he was making a statement to the city and the other gangs everywhere that he was here and here to stay.

  Angel never had any reason to fear her godfather growing up, but it was things like this that reminded her why so many others did.

  “That little ‘mess’ wasn’t all that bad. It brought you home to me.”

  As long as her crew’s debts were forgiven they would be safe under her protection. All that was left was for her to bide her time. She raised her glass.

  “It’s good to be home, sir.”

  They tipped their glasses together, the sharp clink ringing in Angel’s ears as she requested another refill.

  Afterwards, even though she declined the offer several times, Angel was inclined to accept a ride home, this time driven by Vitaly which made it twice as awkward. She spent the ride home messaging her friends at La Pearle that she was alright and making sure no one reported her abduction to the authorities. Every now and then she caught Vitaly watching her in the rearview mirror as he drove.

  “It’s rude to stare, you know,” she said, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “And dangerous when you should be keeping your eyes on the road.”

  “Nice to hear that bite again,” Vitaly snorted. “Based on the other night, I swore you were going mute.”

  “You almost sound disappointed.”

  “A little bit actually. I thought you looked familiar, I just couldn’t place you. You’ve… filled out since the last time I saw you.”

  “I could say the same about you. I’m glad the braces fixed your teeth, sorry about the rest of your face though.”

  Vitaly laughed, truly laughed, and Angel wished he’d had this sense of humor the other night.

  “I didn’t think you’d even remember me,” he said, wiping his watering eyes. “You haven’t changed a bit since school, huh?”

  “Guess I haven’t. Good to know I left an impression.”

  “Look… I’m sorry about how I acted the other day.”

  “No you’re not.”

  “Ha, yeah I’m not.”

  “Well, fake apology accepted. Just remember; my guys are off limits from now on. You have business with them, you take it up with me first, got it?”

  “Of course, Ms. Ivanov,” Vitaly smirked. “Or do you still prefer Angel?”

  She rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat.

  “Angel is fine.”

  “Alright then. Welcome back, Angel.”