Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(16)

“Where are you?”

“Off Highway 29. I…I f*cked up and I didn’t know who else to call, but—”

“How far out?” He was already reaching for his boots.

“I don’t know.”

Cradling his phone between his shoulder and ear, Luka pulled the laces tight, tying them off. “Who the hell are you with?”

“No one. I-I kinda took Mish’s Mercedes…”

He paused. “What the f*ck.”

“Luka, I—”

“Stay there. Don’t do shit. Don’t say shit. I’ll be there soon.”

He didn’t wait for a response—pocketing the phone as he stood—searching the room with his eyes to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind.

“Where are you going?”

Luka was so agitated that, while he probably wouldn’t have told her before, he spit it out. “Alex f*cked up. I have to fix it.”

“You know…you always go running when she calls.”

If he’d been really paying attention, he might have heard the jealous note to her tone, but at that moment, he was too busy concentrating.

“I gotta go.”

“Can I go with you?”

He paused at the door, looking back at her. Sometimes, Alex wasn’t the only one he was brutally honest with. “Hell no. Alex hates you. And it’s not your place.” Not to mention that while he chose to ignore it, it was because of him that she did.

“But you may need someone to run interference in case the police are already there.” She’d obviously made a correct assumption from what little Luka had said. “You don’t know what’s going to be out there by the time you make it. I could be useful.”

There was a slim possibility she was right—and he really didn’t work well with law enforcement—but if it was only Alex, Natasha would only make the situation worse.

He didn’t know why, but Luka found himself nodding.

“Okay.”





8

____





Like a Broken Heart





Despite the smoke and the serious damage to the front end of the car, Alex was fine though she knew once Mishca got back and saw the result of her impulse decision, he was going to be pissed, and he might very well take it out on her. He really did love his car.

Thankfully, at this time of night, the highway was rather empty. She was sitting on one of the guardrails—not the one she had slammed into—staring over at the car, an unlit cigarette in her hand as she waited. She felt awful, seeing what she had done, but her hands weren’t shaking because of fear, but the adrenaline still racing through her.

She remembered the power she’d held as she raced down the long stretch of road, easily pushing a hundred and twenty. It was like the faster she went, the more she wanted to conquer higher speeds, to see just how fast and far she could go, racing away from the problems she wasn’t ready to face. It had only taken a blink, a quick second when her eyes weren’t on the road, for her to start the domino effect. She had swerved for several feet—a miracle that the car hadn’t flipped over—before she had slammed into the railing, the airbags deploying instantly.

If anything hurt her, it was those.

The powder had been suffocating and it took every ounce of strength she possessed to get out of the car since she could barely move.

Alex didn’t know how much time had passed as she sat out there alone, still feeling the effects of whatever she had taken though not as strongly.

Twin headlights and a strong sounding engine made her turn her head, relief filling her when she saw the now familiar Wrangler fast approaching. She hopped down, circling the rail as he came to a screeching halt, killing the engine. He was at her side in seconds.

“Luka—”

He reached for her so fast that she was afraid he was about to hit her, but instead he held her face, forcing her to meet his angry gaze. They drifted from her face to the rest of her, as though he would rather visually confirm that she was fine rather than take her word for it.

She had never seen him look so furious, nor did she ever think she’d seen fear in his eyes. Not when he was going out to do his job, or even when he’d come back covered in blood, but he was showing it to her now?

As she attempted to pull his hands from her face, she tipped her head up so he had a better look at her, and as his eyes narrowed, she knew that he knew.

“You been drinking?”

The question was so low that she couldn’t mistake his anger for anything else. As she swallowed, trying to think of a good excuse, he dropped his hand.

“What the f*ck were you thinking?” He hissed gesturing back to the car.

“I didn’t think—”

“No shit you weren’t thinking!” he snapped back, his voice rising. “I’m used to you doing shit, but you could have f*cking killed somebody. Fuck, you could have killed yourself!”

Alex flinched under the onslaught of his anger, but it was nothing she didn’t deserve. He was right, and she should have never gotten in the car, but she hadn’t thought she was too far gone to get behind the wheel.

“I’m used to having to clean up whatever shit you get into, but this is the last time you pull this shit, understand?”