Until the End (Volkov Bratva #2)(11)

Rob and Piper were exiting a restaurant—one that Lauren had wanted to go to since she moved to New York—hand in hand, acting every bit of the sophisticated couple they were pretending to be. Grudgingly, Lauren could almost understand Rob’s twisted view of what kind of girl he should be with.

Piper was everything that Amber wasn’t and that seemed to work for him, not that his opinion really mattered to Lauren. She would have chosen Amber over Piper any day.

“Let’s just go,” Lauren said so that Amber was the only one that could hear her.

“I’m fine,” Amber muttered holding her head up, the sadness radiating in her eyes.

It seemed their movements attracted Piper’s attention. She slinked closer to Rob, holding onto him like she thought Amber was going to attack her at any moment.

Rob leaned down, whispering something in Piper’s ear that had her laughing softly. Amber was trying to put up a good front, but Lauren could see the tears brimming in her eyes and she had had enough.

“Time to move on,” she said in a voice laced with steel. “I’m sure you have something better to do.”

Piper tried to look down her nose at Lauren—an act that was hard to do since Lauren was a few inches taller—as she pulled away from Rob. In her mind, she assumed Lauren was the more passive one which would make her the easiest target, but she couldn’t possibly know that in the span of a few months, Lauren was no longer the same girl.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Piper asked, actually getting in Lauren’s face like she wanted to fight.

It was for the crowd of people waiting in line behind them, Lauren assumed.

“You got what you wanted, no?”—Shit, now she sounded like him—“Why don’t you leave.”

“Or. What?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Lauren challenged. “You think because you have his attention for a few minutes that it’ll last? Please. You’re the pretty little gem whose shine will wear off in a week tops. Get over yourself, Piper. I’m sure your mouth isn’t all that great despite what you can do with it.”

Her face mottled with red as the bystanders around them broke out in laughter. It even managed to get a smile out of Amber. Never in her life had Lauren been so bold, but she hated seeing her friend hurt, and alcohol could make anyone brave enough to speak their mind.

Piper raised her hand, as if she meant to actually hit Lauren, but Amber was done with her shit. In the blink of an eye, Amber balled her fist, slugging Piper in the face.

Amber yelped in pain, cradling her hand. Piper cried out, stumbling in her heels as she touched her face, sobbing dramatically. Lauren didn’t doubt that the hit hurt, but she was sure Piper was just making a scene.

“Call the police!” Piper shouted, reaching for Rob, but he was too busy trying to talk to Amber to notice.

“Let’s go.”

Lauren grabbed Amber’s arm, dragging her away in case someone was actually calling the police.

“Amber! Can we just talk about this?” Rob called after them, his hands in the air.

“Screw you!”

Just their luck, there didn’t seem to be any taxis in the vicinity. Her next option? Finding somewhere crowded enough for them to blend into without being noticed for a while.

Music was pounding through the walls of a building across the street, scores of people standing outside it. Perfect. Lauren hurried them across, checking behind them to make sure thy were no longer the subject of attention.

They weren’t even on the sidewalk yet when the bouncer unclipped the rope, waving them ahead. The first couple of patrons in the line complained, but Lauren was too grateful to care.

Passing the rope, however, she felt strange, like this was the last place she needed to be.





As soon as they were inside the club, Lauren understood that sense of foreboding that filled her. She had only been to this particular club a handful of times, but the interior was one she would never forget.

Same sleek, white furniture. LED-lit shelves, making the bottles of alcohol resting on them glow blue.

It seemed she had stumbled her way into Mishca’s club.

Club 221 was an exclusive spot and now that she thought about it, there was no reason for the bouncers to allow them in, neither of the pair were dressed for a night out on the town…unless they recognized her. She couldn’t help but wonder if the bouncer had already used his walkie-talkie to alert the owner.

Glancing around, she quickly hunted for him in the crowd of people, but with so many people, she couldn’t spot him anywhere.

Trailing behind Amber—who seemed oblivious to their surroundings—they made a beeline for the bar, and when she passed Lauren a shot, she happily gulped it down, wanting to dull the apprehension blooming in her chest.

Realistically, she could get out of there, talk Amber into waiting a few minutes before they left again, but a nagging voice in the back of her head reminded her why she was at the bar, in direct view of the office above.





In a corner office above the sprawling dance floor of Club 221, Mishca Volkov sat at his desk, holding a framed picture in his large hands, briefly tracing over the girl’s smile with his thumb.

For months he had left it in the bottom drawer of his desk, but even without seeing it, he could practically feel it hidden away and worse than that, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.