“Who the fuck sent you here?” I roar at them.
Distantly, I recognize people on the street are startled and fleeing. I can’t stay here long. The police will be along soon, and even though I have some of them in my back pocket, I know the Italians do too. There’s no saying who will show up, and I can’t afford to be arrested right now. Not when my Bratva is being divided and my top advisor might be betraying me.
Both men get back to their feet and jockey back and forth, ready to fight.
“Get out of here before you get hurt.”
“You leave before you get hurt, old man,” the dark-haired kid says. He pulls out a switchblade, flicking it open, and lunges towards me.
He moves slowly enough that I dodge what could have been a deadly blow and instead feel a burning sensation across my arm. I don’t need to look to know he got me. There is blood on his knife.
I drive my elbow up and over, hitting his arm and sending the blade skittering across the ground and into the gutter. He curses, and I drive my fist into his nose. Blood spurts down his face and over his lip.
“Leave. Now,” I command. “And tell Fedor if he has a message for me, to deliver it himself.”
The second man seems torn between running away and defending his friend, but he settles on grabbing the dark-haired man’s arm and pulling him towards a car halfway down the block.
Adrenaline is humming beneath my skin, keeping me from feeling the ache in my fist and the cut to my arm. I know I’ll feel it later.
Luckily, neither of them landed any punches, so I shouldn’t have any obvious injuries to my face. If I’m careful, no one will know about this.
I turn to go back to my car, the crowd parting, and that is when I see her.
Molly.
She is standing across the street near my car, her hand wrapped around Theo’s, with her friend standing behind her. But all I can really focus on is the shocked expression on her face. And the anger.
A million questions run through my mind in a matter of seconds. What? How? Why?
Then, I see the guards tailing them. And the greasy bag of food in Molly’s other hand.
She told me Hannah wanted to go out for lunch soon. Apparently, they did. Unfortunately, they chose this exact time and place.
I rush down the block towards them, and Theo pulls away from me, partially hiding behind his mom’s leg.
“It’s okay, bud,” I say softly, holding out my hand. My knuckles are bloody, and I pull my hand back, tucking it behind my back. I can’t even look at Molly. “What are you doing here?”
She holds up the diner bag silently.
I take a deep breath. One problem at a time.
I kneel down and hold out my other hand to Theo. “I know that was scary, bud, but those were bad guys. I was just … taking care of them.”
Theo is peeking out at me from behind Molly’s legs, and I don’t blame him for being scared. He has never seen that side of me before. I’ve kept it purposefully hidden from him and Molly, for that matter. If they don’t need to see my violent side, then I don’t want them to. It isn’t my best quality.
“It’s okay,” Molly says, ruffling Theo’s hair.
I’m surprised she is encouraging Theo to forgive me, but then I realize it is for Theo’s sake, not mine. Molly doesn’t want Theo to be afraid of me, even though she knows he probably should be.
Eventually, Theo lays his hand in mine and lets me hold it.
Molly, I know, won’t be as easily swayed.
Hannah is standing behind her, eyes wary. Molly just looks livid. If smoke could come out of her ears, it would.
“Molly, what—”
“Your arm,” she says, nodding to the cut. “You should go to a hospital.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine.”
I want Hannah to disappear. I want to be able to talk to Molly, to explain what she saw. I lost my temper. The thought of Fedor pushing boundaries upset me, but remembering how he invaded Molly’s space and put Theo in danger, that set me off. I lost control and did something stupid, and Molly witnessed it.
“You should clean it,” she says. “It could be infected. I doubt that man cleans his knife very often.”
“I have a first aid kit in my car.”
Molly asks Hannah to watch Theo and then motions for me to follow her towards the car. I’m not concerned about the cut, but I do want to talk to her alone.
We climb into the front seat and Molly pulls out a small first aid kit from the glove compartment. She moves quickly and efficiently, her hands steady.
Hannah and Theo are looking in the window of a toy store on the street. I see the guards in the rear-view mirror, so I allow myself to ease back and focus on Molly for a second.
“Molly—”
“Not now.” She shakes her head and then grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it up. “Take your arm out.”
I do as she says, surprised by that fact. In different circumstances, I’d grab her face and force her to look me in the eyes. I’d pull her brown eyes to mine and make her listen to me.
With Molly, however, I don’t want to push her away.
My fondness for her is a weakness. One I don’t want to be rid of anytime soon.
She dabs a disinfectant to the cut and it stings, but I don’t wince or pull away. I’ve handled far worse pain than this.
“I came here to—”
“Not. Now,” she repeats. Her pink lips are pressed into a thin line, and she tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear before unwrapping a large bandage and placing it over the cut. Blood starts to leak through the bandage immediately, and her brow furrows. “You need stitches.”
“I’m fine.”
Molly rolls her eyes and gestures to the wound. “You might bleed out on the way home, but sure, you’re fine.” Then she looks down at the console. “There is blood all over your car.”
“I don’t care.”
She ignores me and pulls a wrap out of the kit and begins winding it around my arm. The pressure seems to help and after a few layers, there is no more blood seeping through. As soon as she finishes, I reach for her hand, but she pulls away.
“I’m not ready to talk to you,” she admits, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You were supposed to tell me when you left the house.”
She looks up at me, her eyes fiery and sharp as a blade. “I’m going to go.”
“Let me drive you. The guards can take Theo back. We need to—”
“I’m going to take my car.” She pulls away and is out of the door before I can stop her.
9
Molly
Hannah is pale and silent the entire way home.
When we get back to the apartment, I go lay Theo down for his nap and then find Hannah in the kitchen. She is eating some of her leftover French fries that have to be cold by now. She looks up as I enter and gives me a small smile.
“How freaked out are you?” I ask, not wanting to avoid the elephant in the room.
“I’m worried about you,” she says, even as her voice breaks. “That was … quite a scene.”
I don’t know what to tell her.
I could tell her the truth, that Viktor’s life looks like that a lot. It was the first time I’d really seen it firsthand, but I’ve bandaged him up enough times to know he puts himself in harm’s way every day. However, I don’t think that information would comfort Hannah at all.