going to have a nice conversation with him. I’m sure the little chat you two will have will clear up any confusion regarding what I’m about to say.”
Taking a deep breath, Anton sighed. “Tonight, you will go to work. It’ll be your last shift. Then, you’ll go home to your father and tell him you both are moving out of state. I don’t care what excuse you use, or how much he argues, you’re to make him understand without bringing up my name. There isn’t a soul who would believe you if you did, anyway. Tomorrow afternoon, you’ll go to the university and unregister from your classes. I want you gone. I don’t give a fuck if it’s the next state over so long as it isn’t New York. That man over there will write you a check. Name your price. Everyone has one.”
“I can’t leave,” Vanessa said feebly. The slight sniff at the end of her words mixed with the tremble in her hands told Anton she was terrified. That was good. It was exactly how he wanted her. “You can’t just make me—”
“What’s the price of your life worth? One million? Two? Believe me, there isn’t a number big enough that I won’t pay so I can feel assured you will never look in the direction of Viviana Avdonin again. Say it, and I will have it paid by tomorrow night.”
Vanessa’s mouth popped open. “You’re serious.”
“You’re goddamn right. Name your price.”
*
“Boss, we’ve got a major problem right now.”
Anton cursed as he zipped up his leather jacket. He hadn’t even made it out of the gym and already there was something else going wrong. Why did his life have to be so stressful?
“What is it?” he asked Joe as he walked out of the locker room. “Surely it can’t be that bad. Isn’t Viviana with Sasha visiting Daniil?”
At least, that’s where his wife should have been. There wasn’t much trouble to be had in a hospital.
“Yeah. But, uh … well, maybe you should get over here to the hospital, Boss. And hurry up about it.”
Anton’s heart leaped into his throat. “Is Dad …?”
“Not that I know of. He seemed okay when I was up there a few minutes ago. Tired and groggy because of all that Demerol they’ve got him high with.”
“Well, what the fuck is it, then?”
“Boss, really—”
“Let me talk to Rory,” he interrupted angrily.
Joe swore severely. “Can’t, Boss. He’s in the hospital with Vine.”
Anton’s mind stuttered over what his wife’s bull was telling him. “Do you mean to say neither one of you were outside watching her car?”
After the bomb incident that nearly killed his wife, unsupervised vehicles only served to make Anton nervous. It wasn’t hard to check if they’d been tampered with, but it was dangerous. He made sure his guys knew to never leave Viviana’s car unattended when it wasn’t parked in their secured garage.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Boss. Rory’s phone must have died. I couldn’t get a hold of him so I went upstairs. You need to get here and fix this before Vine comes down here and sees it first.”
“What happened?” Anton asked. It’d be the last time he did or Joe wouldn’t like the consequences.
“Somebody slashed her tires,” the bull replied quietly. “Every damned one of them.”
It took Anton half of the time it normally would for him it make it to the hospital. In the underground garage, he found Joe standing next to Viviana’s new black Bentley. Sure enough, every white-letter tire had a large gash and the car was resting on nothing but useless rubber and five-thousand dollar rims.
It wasn’t that Viviana would have a freak out over the damage, but more so that someone had done it at all. That was Anton’s problem, too. How likely could it be that someone randomly chose her tires to slash out of all the cars in the hospital’s parking garage, never mind that it just happened to occur when her bull left the vehicle for a few moments?
Not likely at all , Anton thought.
The remnants of Tatiana’s previous
Taking a deep breath, Anton sighed. “Tonight, you will go to work. It’ll be your last shift. Then, you’ll go home to your father and tell him you both are moving out of state. I don’t care what excuse you use, or how much he argues, you’re to make him understand without bringing up my name. There isn’t a soul who would believe you if you did, anyway. Tomorrow afternoon, you’ll go to the university and unregister from your classes. I want you gone. I don’t give a fuck if it’s the next state over so long as it isn’t New York. That man over there will write you a check. Name your price. Everyone has one.”
“I can’t leave,” Vanessa said feebly. The slight sniff at the end of her words mixed with the tremble in her hands told Anton she was terrified. That was good. It was exactly how he wanted her. “You can’t just make me—”
“What’s the price of your life worth? One million? Two? Believe me, there isn’t a number big enough that I won’t pay so I can feel assured you will never look in the direction of Viviana Avdonin again. Say it, and I will have it paid by tomorrow night.”
Vanessa’s mouth popped open. “You’re serious.”
“You’re goddamn right. Name your price.”
*
“Boss, we’ve got a major problem right now.”
Anton cursed as he zipped up his leather jacket. He hadn’t even made it out of the gym and already there was something else going wrong. Why did his life have to be so stressful?
“What is it?” he asked Joe as he walked out of the locker room. “Surely it can’t be that bad. Isn’t Viviana with Sasha visiting Daniil?”
At least, that’s where his wife should have been. There wasn’t much trouble to be had in a hospital.
“Yeah. But, uh … well, maybe you should get over here to the hospital, Boss. And hurry up about it.”
Anton’s heart leaped into his throat. “Is Dad …?”
“Not that I know of. He seemed okay when I was up there a few minutes ago. Tired and groggy because of all that Demerol they’ve got him high with.”
“Well, what the fuck is it, then?”
“Boss, really—”
“Let me talk to Rory,” he interrupted angrily.
Joe swore severely. “Can’t, Boss. He’s in the hospital with Vine.”
Anton’s mind stuttered over what his wife’s bull was telling him. “Do you mean to say neither one of you were outside watching her car?”
After the bomb incident that nearly killed his wife, unsupervised vehicles only served to make Anton nervous. It wasn’t hard to check if they’d been tampered with, but it was dangerous. He made sure his guys knew to never leave Viviana’s car unattended when it wasn’t parked in their secured garage.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Boss. Rory’s phone must have died. I couldn’t get a hold of him so I went upstairs. You need to get here and fix this before Vine comes down here and sees it first.”
“What happened?” Anton asked. It’d be the last time he did or Joe wouldn’t like the consequences.
“Somebody slashed her tires,” the bull replied quietly. “Every damned one of them.”
It took Anton half of the time it normally would for him it make it to the hospital. In the underground garage, he found Joe standing next to Viviana’s new black Bentley. Sure enough, every white-letter tire had a large gash and the car was resting on nothing but useless rubber and five-thousand dollar rims.
It wasn’t that Viviana would have a freak out over the damage, but more so that someone had done it at all. That was Anton’s problem, too. How likely could it be that someone randomly chose her tires to slash out of all the cars in the hospital’s parking garage, never mind that it just happened to occur when her bull left the vehicle for a few moments?
Not likely at all , Anton thought.
The remnants of Tatiana’s previous
Similar Books
