Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
NATALIE
There’s a stench of gasoline and rain, but I’m too focused on something else. My eyes remain narrowed onto the street, watching the cars as I stand hiding behind a window in one of my father’s apartments—an abandoned one, really.
There’s no furniture in here, just a few boxes collecting dust and a dirty brown sofa by the window. It’s old, and it creaks loudly as I shift my weight from one leg to another, watching the street.
“What if they are not coming here?” Nina asks me, pressing her elbow against my shoulder as she raises further up to look more down from the window.
The apartment is on the eighth floor, and opposite the building, there’s another building—the Krem Tower, which is nearly fifty stories tall.
The Karpovs own an apartment there. It goes back thirty years to when they got that apartment and my father got in this building.
Whenever they come into town, this is always their first stop. There’s a club downstairs, one they control, and if anyone ever wants to find a Karpov, this is the place to look.
“Well, that’s what we are here for—to find out if they are coming or not,” I tell Nina before looking back at the window.
All I see is an alleyway where the club is. I can see the front of it, the bouncers, and a couple of cars parked up in front near the bins, but I can’t see what I’m looking for.
It’s still raining, and I can feel the water dripping from my hair onto my shoulders.
I lean back from the window and wait a few more minutes.
Nina fidgets beside me, clearly impatient. Her fingers tap lightly on the cracked windowsill, and I can sense her annoyance.
She’s never been the patient one, and neither have I, but today—today is different. Today, we need to be sure.
“They always come here. Always. Every single time they visit, they stop here.” I remind her.
Nina snorts. “Typical Karpovs. Always so dramatic.” She folds her arms across her chest and leans against the wall, her eyes flicking between me and the alleyway below.
It’s true. Every time a Karpov steps into the city, it’s a big fucking deal. They never make a move unless it’s something big unless they know it’s going to have an impact. And showing up here, in their old stomping grounds, means they are either feeling nostalgic or planning to fuck up someone’s day.
Or both.
The last time they were in town was nearly nine years ago. But that was the whole family then. Occasionally, some Karpovs came and went but none truly stayed.
Which was good.
I bite my lip, and glance out of the window again. The rain hasn’t let up, it continues and it blurs the neon lights of the club’s sign.
“What time were you told?”
“Ten.”
“It’s way past ten.”
“I know,” I trail my eyes across the street and then stop. “We’ll wait till midnight, and if there’s nothing, I’ll tell Robert to take us home. Deal?”
“Yes.”
The low growl of a car’s engine breaks the silence that follows after Nina’s word. Both our heads turn toward the direction the sound comes from, and I watch as a sleek black SUV comes into view.
It drives into the alleyway and stops right outside the club.
Another car pulls up in the back.
“Do you see the plates?” Nina asks me.
I squint but I’m unable to make out the plate numbers. “No. We’ll ask Robert later. He’s in the front, he probably saw the plates.”
The first SUV door opens, and I instinctively pull back from the window, motioning for Nina to do the same.
A tall man steps out of the car and straightens his suit jacket. I can’t see much of his face, but he looks older, with grey hair and a beard.
“Who’s that?” Nina wonders.
“Don’t know.”
“One of them?”
“They don’t have beards—tradition or something.” I quickly tell her. “No beards. No long hair, either. It’s probably someone else.”
“Someone else from the city?”
“I guess.”
Another man gets out of the car. This one is taller, and his face is unclear to me from the distance.
I hear Nina click her tongue. “Is that Vadik?”
I shake my head again. “Vadik is short—well, he was the last time I saw him. He barely came to my shoulders. I used to look down at him.”
“Maybe he grew? You did see him when he was just twelve, right?”
“Eleven.” I correct her.
“Still, maybe he’s taller.”
“Nope,” I say, glancing at her. “That’s not him.”
“So that’s not the entire family?”
“Probably not.”
I look back outside, spending a little time more to see who it is who has come into this area. With the rain and the darkness, it’s hard to tell. And it does take me a while before I notice one thing.
The only one that seems out of place.
The silver band that shines against the streetlights every time the man raises his arm.
“It’s him.”
“Who?”
“A Karpov.”
“The eldest?”
“The heir.” I step away from the window and grab my things from the side of the couch.
Nina follows me quickly, grabbing her own things, too. We reach the door, and I open it before stepping outside.
“We didn’t even see how many of them are there. We had to get that at least back.” Nina says, as she steps into the hallway while I fumble with the keys to lock the apartment.
“We’ll see.”
I reach the elevator and we head straight down to the lobby where I see Robert in the car parked outside. He’s waiting for us to return. But we’re not going into the car right now.
I take a turn toward the other exit, the one that leads toward the backside of the building and onto the alleyway.
“You’re kidding me.” Nina reaches up to me as I pace across the wet and dirty pavement.
“I want to see.”
“See what? We saw. That’s enough, right?”
I give my head a shake, “Not enough.”
Nina groans, but she knows better than to argue when I’ve made up my mind. My heart pounds in my chest as I get closer and closer. I can’t explain it, but I need to see him up close, to see the person who has caused me nothing but misery.
Zor Karpov has haunted my life for as long as I can remember, and now, with him so close, I can’t walk away.
I slow down as I come near the corner and carefully step closer until I’m only inches away.
I see him standing by the car, talking to someone—the other taller one, who I do recognize now.
It is Vadik.
And he sees me, and he freezes mid-sentence and looks right at me.
And then his brother looks at me.
His face twists in a dark smile, and he takes a step closer. ”Natalya,” He purrs, and I hate that he pronounces it the right way, the way I have never heard it spoken out loud by anyone except him. ”Kakoy krasivyy syurpriz."
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Zor’s smirk widens as he walks forward, his hands casually buried into the pockets of his tailored coat. His accent thickens with each step, the Russian bleeding through the words. “Forgive me, I thought your papa would’ve taught you some words by now.”
He stops a distance from me and looks down at me.
“What are you doing her—”
“You still keep a gun like a cock.” he cuts me off, abruptly, his eyes fixated on my pants.
Where I keep my gun tucked.
“And you still like to talk a lot.” I snap back, ignoring the insult.
"Natalya,”
“Natalie—”
“You’re going to shoot me, Natalya?” He tilts his head slightly and stares at me, pouting.
“Depends. You planning on dying tonight?”
His hands move out of his pockets, and he spreads his arms wide, taking a step forward. “Not tonight. I just returned to my favorite place in the world. How can I die on such a fine night?”
The years have toughened me and turned me into the person I am today. But Zor? He has always been something else entirely. He didn’t need a gun to be scary. His smile was enough to scare most people, and his words did the rest.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” I say, clenching my jaw. “You don’t belong here.”
“This city was never yours or your papa’s. It’s just been waiting for me to take it, and I think I’m going to,” He replies, taking a step back as someone comes out from the club. “I’ll see you around, Natalya. And that cock you hide in your pants. You better put it to good use before it gets taken away.”
