Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal Book 2) (7 page)

“I don’t know,” Violet finally said.

“You have some time to figure it all out.”

Maya took Violet’s words wrong, but she didn’t correct her. Violet didn’t know if that was in Kaz’s plans, but she wasn’t sure it would be in hers. New York was her home—Kaz’s, too. She just wished she could have him there like she had him here.

That wasn’t a difficult thing to want.

But it was impossible to make it happen.

At least the way things were at that moment.

“Twenty to twelve,” Maya said, lifting up her phone for Violet to see. “Should probably get going, yes?”

She pulled out the cell phone Kaz had given her and checked for any missed messages or calls. Not surprisingly, there weren’t any. Kaz didn’t play on the phone while he was working … or whatever.

“Yeah, we should probably head back to the townhouse,” Violet agreed.

Once Violet was inside Maya’s navy blue Mercedes, and the heat was turned on high, she waited as her friend typed in a message on her phone. Almost immediately after she sent the message, Maya’s phone began to ring. She picked it up, speaking Russian and leaving Violet out of the loop.

She didn’t mind. Her gaze traveled back out the window, looking down the busy Chicago street.

The snowfall and cold didn’t seem to deter the people. They just walked right on through.

Out of the many words Maya spoke, Violet did hear a couple that she recognized.

Kolya
.
Nyet
.
Ostanovit
.

Maybe Violet was picking up things here and there. Even if they were just common and easy phrases, it was something.

However, guessing by those words, Violet figured the conversation was probably not for her to eavesdrop on, so she turned her head the other way, looking out at the parking lot of the park. She surveyed the few cars parked there, covered by snow.

One, in particular, caught her eye.

Only because it wasn’t covered in snow at all.

For a split second, time slowed as Violet took in the man standing at the back of the black car, wearing a long trench coat and a fedora that kept his eyes shadowed by the brim as he bent his head down. His arms were crossed, and his body language spoke of unease as he turned away from a couple who walked past him.

It didn’t matter.

Violet had seen his face.

All that dread she had been pushing down and ignoring during the morning came thrashing right back up with a vengeance.

“Maya,” Violet said quietly.

She was still focused on her call.

Violet looked from Maya in the driver’s seat, back to the parking lot across the street. The man was no longer resting on the back of the car but walking around toward the passenger’s door.

He looked over his shoulder.

Violet caught his eye.

There was no mistaking his face—she had grown up seeing it almost every day.

He smiled when their gazes met and waved two fingers.

Vito Amadori
.

Her father’s underboss.

It seemed her family had found her.

“Perhaps you should lay off the food, brother,” Konstantin said from his spot across the table, eyes on the newspaper he held.

While the brother in question merely glared as he cut into his steak, Kaz paid neither any mind as he sent off a text to
his
brother for an update. Trying to keep up with Vasily’s movements, covering his own, and trying to maintain business was a constant job, one that was taking over every moment of his life.

Even though it was necessary and vital for him to do what he did, Kaz was still beginning to see how it was starting to bleed into his private moments. When he was home, with Violet at his side, his mind still constantly strayed to what he needed to do.

She was worried, he could tell, but he could never give her specifics. And that was just another thing that added to the pile of shit he had to deal with.

But he was close, so he had to content himself with the knowledge that by the end of it all, it would all be worth it.

He just had to make it to the end.

“You’ve ordered twice in thirty minutes,” Konstantin added.

Waving his knife in the air, Kolya asked, “What else is there to do in a restaurant? Should I sit and go hungry?”

“If it means the rest of the guests here have to, then perhaps you should.”

Kolya grumbled something in return, going back to his food. Kaz smiled, his gaze shifting to the front entrance as the doors opened and three men in black entered. Their clothing wasn’t particularly flashy, understated really, but one wore a gold chain around his neck and a gold ring with diamonds on his pinky finger.

Kaz had never seen the men before in his life, but the sight of them made him sit up straighter.

Fuck.

For men like them, one could tell just at a glance whether someone else was a part of this life—just in the way they carried themselves.

And from their coloring, and the way their lips curled up when their eyes cut to Kaz, he knew they weren’t friends.

As they started across the floor, tension already crackling in the air the closer they got, their presence was enough to make Konstantin glance over in their direction. Maybe it was because of the city, or the way one of the Italians kept flexing his fists, but some of the guests in the restaurant quickly dropped money on the table and rushed to leave.

“A bit rude, gentlemen,” Konstantin called out, dropping his paper on the table, “to show up where you’re not invited.”

One man stood just a bit farther in front of the others, the one with the gold chain. He barely offered a sneer in Konstantin’s direction before his sole attention was on Kaz. “Your time is up.”

Kaz had known, though he hadn’t wanted to consider the possibility, that his father would reach out to Alberto Gallucci—he had once, a long time ago. The Italians couldn’t have found them otherwise.

But hadn’t he planned it that way?

He knew his father wouldn’t make a move himself—it would have been suicide—but this … this, he hadn’t expected.

But it was just what he needed.

“As fun as this would be,” Kaz said as he got to his feet, “I don’t have the time.”

“What the boss wants, the boss gets,” he returned. “And right now, that’s your head on a plate and his daughter back home—whatever it takes.”

“I hate to state the obvious, but that’s not going to happen. Now, I’ll do you a favor,” Kaz said meeting the man’s eyes, wanting to make sure he heard his next words. “You turn back around, walk back to whatever shithole you crawled out of, and I won’t break your fucking knees. Stay there and you’ll see just how creative I can get when I’m fucking pissed.”

The man smirked, looking far too amused for Kaz’s liking. “Look how easy it was for us to find you. You think we can’t find the boss’ daughter? We have orders, you see. And unlike you, we do what we’re told. So when the boss says to ‘find them and kill anyone with them,’ that’s what we do.”

“Sorry?”

Kolya’s voice cut through the air, bringing everyone’s attention to him. Up until that moment, he had continued eating, a napkin tucked into the collar of his shirt like nothing was out of the ordinary, but when the Italian finished speaking, he had stopped, a fork in one hand, a knife in the other.

He looked almost confused, as though the man’s words hadn’t made sense. “Tell me again what you said.”

“On your right, Kaz,” Konstantin said casually, out of the blue.

It took a moment for the Italian to focus his attention on Kolya, but when he did—and probably sized him up for the first time—he lost that playful edge to his words, as though he needed to make sure Kolya understood he wasn’t to be fucked with.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Setting down his fork and knife, Kolya picked up his beer bottle, one that had been left untouched since the moment it was set down in front of him. He seemed to be studying the label for a moment before wrapping his fingers around the neck of it as he pointed at himself. “Me? Fuck me, I’m not important. Repeat what you said—your orders.”

“Find them,” the Italian said, not realizing the danger he was in. “And kill anyone with—”

He didn’t get to finish the statement before Kolya was lunging across the table, shattering the bottle on top of the man’s head, and then dragged him back by the collar to slam his face into the table.

Kaz had quickly understood what Konstantin meant as he swung on the man to the right, even as the man tried to draw the weapon at his waist.

Minutes at most passed before each of the Italians was on the ground, all except for the one Kolya still had a hold of.

“There are lessons to be learned here,” Konstantin said to the man who was bleeding profusely from both his nose and mouth. “Never threaten a man’s wife.”

Kolya slammed his head once more before letting the man drop to the floor in a lump. Kaz wasn’t even sure the man was still breathing.

“These Italians,” Kolya tsked as he fished money out of his wallet, sighing as he pulled out more than a few hundred-dollar bills. “I thought there was respect for one’s wife. Animals, the lot of them.”

There was no way the Italian who’d done all the talking could have known that it was Maya with Violet and not just one of Kaz’s people, but in Kolya’s head, that hadn’t mattered.

Fucking
crazy
.

“It seems you have visitors,” Konstantin said as he pulled out his phone and called a number, asking for a sweeper—whatever that was—before hanging up once more. “Your timetable has to move up. When do you want us to make the move?”

“Tonight.”

But before he did, he had to check on Violet.

He didn’t have a missed call from her, but he knew, just as the Italian had said, that it was only a matter of time before they found her too.

He just hoped he found her first.

A faint whisper of relief washed through Violet when a familiar contact lit up her phone. Almost at the exact same time as she answered her call from Kaz, Maya’s phone began ringing in the middle console.

Violet tried to focus on her own call and not Maya’s when she connected it to the Bluetooth, and Kolya’s dark voice echoed through the car’s speakers.

“Where are you?”

Violet blinked.

The question had come from both calls.

Violet answered Kaz one way; Maya answered Kolya with an actual place.

“With Maya,” Violet said.

“Coming out from the Heights, Kolya.”

“And you’re … okay,” Kaz said quietly.

“We’ve got a problem,” Kolya said.

Violet wasn’t sure whether she should be amused or irritated by the situation. Kaz was the type to keep Violet calm until he had her close and could explain whatever was going on.

Apparently, Kolya was not.

Violet decided to cut the bullshit. “I saw Vito—my father’s underboss—about five minutes ago.”

Kaz swore severely on the other end of the call. “Did he approach you?”

“No.”

“He’s going to try,” Kaz said, surprising Violet at how frank and clinical his words came out. “We are about twenty minutes out from your spot—” His words cut off for a second, and mumbling sounded in the background before he was back. “Fifteen with the way Konstantin drives like a fucking maniac.”

All Violet could think to ask was, “Where’s the Porsche?”

“Too many cars right now,” Kaz explained. “Fewer are better.”

“Kolya?”

Maya’s soft question drew Violet’s attention from her own phone call to her friend’s face.

“
Da, dushka
,” Kolya replied, less gruff than before. “I’m almost there, yeah?”

“I know,” Maya replied, glancing into the rearview mirror and then hitting the gas a little bit harder. “Drive faster, okay?”

“It’s to the floor, Maya.”

“Put it to the pavement, Kolya.”

She looked in the rearview again.

Violet wondered what the fuck she was looking at, only to find a familiar black car following behind them with windows tinted so dark, she couldn’t see through the fucking windshield.

Shit.

“Violet?” Kaz asked.

She passed Maya a look, who seemed a great deal calmer about the situation given their current circumstances.

Violet wasn’t quite sure what to do—whether she should take Maya’s lead and keep quiet that they had someone on their ass or tell Kaz what was happening.

“This is why I can’t let you out of my fucking sight,” Kolya muttered.

Maya laughed lightly. “You worry for nothing. We’re fine.”

Violet had a realization then.

Maybe it wasn’t a matter of keeping the situation calm until they were in better circumstances, but rather, the way different men handled the same situation.

“Kaz,” Violet said quietly, hoping whatever Maya was telling Kolya at that moment would override her low tone, “Vito is behind us.”

Kaz relayed that information to whom Violet suspected was Konstantin.

“Ten minutes,” Kaz said. “Don’t hang up the phone. Don’t open the door if they force you to stop. Don’t say a thing if they get you out of the car. Understood?”

“Yeah,” Violet said, her anxiety climbing higher, “I got it, Kaz.”

Beside her, Maya cussed in a hiss, shooting another look into the mirror.

Violet glanced through the back window to find the black car was mere inches from their back bumper. While they’d hit the highway, Violet didn’t think the roads were good enough for this kind of fast driving.

“What was that?” Kolya asked.

“I broke a fucking nail when I shifted into last gear,” Maya snapped.

Kolya went deadly silent.

Out of the corner of her eye, Violet watched Maya frown and glance down at her fingers wrapped tightly around the steering wheel.

Her nails, natural and clipped short, were fine.

“Where are you now?” Kolya finally asked.

Maya rattled off a location.

“Next exit is in two miles,” Kolya said. “Take it and hit the safe house.”

“Kolya—”

“I watched you take your nails off last night,” he said quietly. “They’re too short to break. You really shouldn’t lie to me,
dushka
. Hit the safe house.”

The call clicked off, and Violet’s grip on her phone tightened.

“Is that Kaz?” Maya asked, never taking her eyes off the road.

“Yeah,” Violet replied.

“Can I have the phone, please?”

Violet handed it over without asking why Maya wanted it.

“Kaz,” Maya said, her usual cheeriness gone as she spoke, “let Konstantin know that if he’s behind Kolya, he should probably pick up the fucking pace.”

With that, she handed the phone back to Violet.

“Sit tight and hold on to something,” Maya said, “I don’t have time to slow down for this exit with the way he’s on my ass right now.”

“Everything is fine,” Kaz said, his dark tenor calming Violet’s frayed nerves.

“Is it?” she asked.

“It will be.”

That was the last thing Violet heard him say before Maya was taking the curving exit ramp fast. Right behind them, the black car followed. Just as their car hit the sharpest point of the turn, Violet felt the hit.

It lurched their car forward with enough force to send the back end spinning sideways.

The surprise tap from the black car scared the fucking hell out of Violet, and she dropped the phone to the floor. Her heart found her throat as Maya somehow managed to keep the fucking vehicle from falling into a total spin, and then corrected it so they were straight again and coming out of the ramp into a more residential area.

Violet wanted to grab the phone, but she would have to take her seat belt off, and given that they had just been hit from behind, she seriously believed it could happen again. She did not need to be unbuckled when that happened.

But the phone call was still connected.

That she could see.

That was all Kaz asked for.

Violet’s gaze snapped back and forth between the phone on the floor, the road in front of them, and the car driving way too close to their ass end. Maya never once took her eyes off the road as she took turn after turn, weaving through street after street.

They passed neighborhoods and apartment complexes.

A schoolyard with children playing safely behind a chain link fence.

“Almost,” Maya murmured, more to herself it seemed.

The black car wasn’t giving up, apparently. It didn’t matter how fast Maya drove or the many streets she took in what seemed like an effort to confuse their pursuers, the car behind them never faltered.

Violet knew at least one person in the car was Vito.

She wondered who else was with him.

Was it someone who knew these streets like Maya did?

Someone who knew Chicago?

Another minute passed, and Violet realized they were in an area a lot less dense with houses than it had been. More trees, more space between homes, and more privacy.

“How far behind us do you think they are?” Violet asked.

Maya didn’t even ask who she meant. “Kaz and Konstantin? About five minutes. And they’re not coming from behind.”

“And Kolya?”

She didn’t answer, her gaze cutting from Violet’s face to the road ahead of them before she jerked the wheel hard to the side, taking them off the road and onto the large patch of gravel.

Violet blinked and took a hard breath at the sight of a black Hummer coming straight at them.

Except it bypassed them.

Even as Maya hit the brakes, and the tires slid and screeched on snow and gravel, she still heard the smash of metal as the Hummer hit the black car head-on.

“For fuck’s sake.”

The curse was out of Kaz’s mouth as they drove up to the scene in front of them. A totaled car sat in the middle of the road, while Kolya’s Hummer was some feet away with barely a scratch. As Konstantin rolled to a stop, Kaz could better see that Violet and Maya were safe from the wreckage.

They were barely out of the car when Kolya threw his door open. The man came stumbling out, his eyes going back to his wife first, and then turning on the car he had practically turned into a pretzel. His intent was clear as he walked right up to the car, forcing the door open on the driver’s side. With a knife, he cut through the seat belt then dragged the man from the wreck.

But he didn’t stop, not until they were further out of sight.

Fucking hell.

“Kaz!”

He heard his name a moment before Violet came barreling into him—a moment before the first scream of pain rent the air.

“Don’t worry,” Konstantin said to Maya as he glanced back to where his brother had gone with his prey. “He won’t be long.”

That was up for debate. It seemed there was no off button for Kolya when it came to Maya.

“How did they find us?”

Violet’s question brought him back to the present, his attention now on her. He had planned to tell her later when they were back at home and he had a chance to think about what he was going to say and how he would say it. But he was out of time, and there was no easy way for him to explain this.

“Vasily reached out to Alberto.”

Violet looked horrified, as though the thought wasn’t even plausible. “Why would he do that?”

She probably thought, as he had, that Vasily would never seek the aid of someone like their father, if only because they were enemies. There was no doubt she had grown up hearing the disdain for the Russians from her family, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to ask a favor of a man he hated.

“Because he can’t show his face here. There’s no issue with the Italians here.”

“Yet,” Konstantin called out.

There was genuine worry in her eyes, now more than usual, but he couldn’t get her mind off that, not when she was still standing next to the proof of just how close her father had gotten.

“Let’s get you home, yeah?”

Kaz looked at Konstantin—who was already nodding. “We can take care of this. Maya will go with you.”

“But—” Maya protested, still looking at where her husband had gone.

“You know he doesn’t like you to see this,” Konstantin said, a little firmer. “I’ll make sure he calls as soon as we’re done.”

Reluctantly, Maya nodded. “You always do. Be careful, Kon—and make sure he doesn’t go too far.”

There was a warning in her tone, a story only the pair of them knew, but Konstantin nodded and headed to the mangled car. There was another person in the passenger seat, his face bloody as he hung helplessly. Konstantin didn’t cut him out immediately; he merely crouched down so they were nearly eye level and pulled out a cigarette to fit between his lips.

No, Konstantin was in no rush at all.