Thief (Boston Underworld #5)(72)

Viktor wants the truth, and the honorable thing to do is give it to him. I will face whatever consequences he deems necessary, but I will not live another day under this oppression.

“Viktor, I can’t marry your daughter.”

His face mottles with red. “What do you mean you can’t marry my daughter?”

“It wouldn’t be fair to her. She deserves more than I can give her. She deserves a man who loves her.”

“Are you telling me that my daughter is not worthy of you?” he sneers.

“Not at all. In fact, I’m telling you that I am unworthy of her. You’ve had your suspicions about the Valentini girl from the start, and I am sorry to admit that you were right. She isn’t Russian, but she’s mine.”

There’s a moment in which I think that Viktor might put a bullet between my eyes here and now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

“I should cut out your stars for dishonoring my family this way,” he says.

“If that is what you must do, then I accept it. I will go to my death willingly, as long as you promise to leave Tanaka untouched.”

He laughs. “And why would I promise that? The whore seduced you. She blinded you. And now you ask to cast my daughter aside and spare the life of the woman who will take her place?”

“You accepted Alexei’s choice. Now I am asking you to accept mine.”

“Ana is in love with you.”

“Ana knows nothing of me. She is young, Viktor. Too young to marry someone like me. She should be with someone her own age. Someone who can give her everything she needs. I am sorry that I hurt her. I am sorry if I led her on, but I did not want to disappoint you. I did not want to insult the honor you had bestowed upon me.”

He lights up a cigarette and smokes it in silence. Perhaps it was not the ideal time to bring it up, but I don’t regret that I did. Even if it means I don’t breathe another day on this earth, I won’t regret it.

“What of Manuel?” he asks. “Have you found the answers you seek?”

“Yes.” I kick the dirt beneath my shoe. This is the part he will not like. “I was correct. He beat and tortured and killed my mother, and Sergei gave him the honor of doing so.”

Viktor shakes his head in visible disgust. “And still you ask to spare his daughter’s life? Where is the justice in that? What about your mother? Will she have died in vain so that you may please your dick?”

“No,” I force out. “I would ask for your blessing to kill Manuel myself, as well as any of the men in his employ who touched her.”

“And your father,” Viktor adds.

“And my father,” I agree somberly.

Viktor tosses the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stubs it out with his shoe. “It would be a reasonable request, if it weren’t for one small matter, Kol’ka.”

“What is it?”

“Nonna called to report that some of Manuel’s men broke into the house while you were away.”

That isn’t possible. That doesn’t even make sense. I glance at the house, but Viktor goes on.

“They took the Valentini girl, and they destroyed your security system. It’s what I came here to tell you.”

I abandon Viktor for the stairs, determined to see it for myself, but the pakhan isn’t finished delivering bad news.

“Before you think about storming into Manuel’s compound, you should know that the feds got him. Everything is cordoned off. You won’t get in there, and you won’t get near him. She is gone, Nika.”





Manuel adjusts the phone closer to his mouth, breathing heavy into the other line. “Do you know where my daughter is?”

What a fucking joke. He is a vile cunt of a man, and if there wasn’t inches of glass between us, I would jam this phone through his skull until his brains decorated the floor.

He wants to play stupid, so I’ll humor him for now.

“You tell me, Manuel.”

He closes his eyes and sighs. “I can’t believe she would do this to me. It’s you. You have turned her against me.”

I silently pick apart his words, attempting to find logic in them. But I know that it can’t be right. He can’t be implying what I think he is.

“A fucking rat. My own daughter.” His mood swings from violent to hysterical in the span of two seconds.

“Are you trying to tell me that Tanaka flipped?”

He levels me with vacant eyes. “It’s fucking Gianni. My own man. I trusted him, and he was a goddamned fed. He’s been playing me all along. They both have.”

My fingers turn white around the receiver as Manuel comes unraveled on the other side of the barrier. He’s losing his mind, but there is still some substance to what he’s telling me. I just don’t want to believe it.

I tap on the glass. “Pull yourself together. I need to know where she is, Manuel. Who took her?”

“Fucking Gianni,” he roars. “It has to be him.”

I shake my head. It can’t be right. He’s out of his mind. He’s delusional.

“You’re next,” he says. “She will flip on you too.”

“That won’t happen.” Tanaka wouldn’t turn on me. Or maybe it’s only what I want to believe.