She cracks a small smile and steeples her hands in front of her. “Let’s be honest. You didn’t try to negotiate a meeting with me just to eat Chip’s Doughnuts and sip on cappuccinos. So … are you less certain than you’re claiming that you aren’t going to get whacked by the Bratva? You need to disappear?”
“I don’t think the Bratva uses the term ‘whacked,’” I say with a grim smile. “No, not exactly. But I do need to disappear. And not just me.”
“Are you taking a boyfriend?”
“No. A child,” I say.
She pauses and glances down my body. “I never saw you as the type to have kids, but I could see you being good at it. Why didn’t you bring them over?”
“That’s the problem,” I say. “It’s a long story, but she’s in foster care right now.”
Jenny leans forward, carefully scrutinizing the doughnut selection. I know she’s trying not to show her surprise over how much of a complex situation I’ve dropped in her lap, but I don’t have a choice. If Maksim wants me to get out of the city, I know better than to test his patience, but I’m not going to leave without my daughter. No one is going to take Lily from me again.
“Cass,” she says. “You helped me out of a couple of jails, a few bad boyfriends, arguments with my mother … I owe you a lot. I do. But—”
“I’m not asking you to do this just out of a sense of reciprocation,” I say. I take a sip from my cappuccino. “I’ll find a way to pay you back. You know my word is good.”
“I’m not worried about the cost,” she says. “I’m worried about you taking a child out from under the supervision of the government. If you go alone, I can give you a good chance that not even the Bratva will find you. If you take a child—especially one that is under the guardianship of the government—your chances sharply decrease. I’d say you’re guaranteed to be found. And that’s not even considering what you’d be putting the child through.”
“She’s in foster care,” I say. “She shares a house with eight kids. I could do so much better for her. Even if we lived in a motel or something like that, she’d have more of her own space and I’d give her all my attention. You know what it’s like to be ignored, Jenny.”
Jenny picks out a chocolate-frosted doughnut. She takes a small bite out of it. “I know your heart is in the right place, Cass. You acted like a mother to me. I know you’d be a great one. I just need to forewarn you that I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I get it,” I say. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”
She grimaces. “I’ll make some calls.”
I park a street away from Lily’s foster home, so if someone is questioned about her disappearance, there won’t be a dozen witnesses talking about my car. As I walk toward the house, I keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. After I reach their street, it occurs to me that I’m the suspicious one—I’m the criminal, I’m the wife of the Bratva boss, I’m the one preparing to kidnap a child.
My life has skidded off the tracks. It was thrilling for a while, but I’m going to regain control now.
When I take my daughter back, it’s not going to be cloak-and-dagger. I already called the Neals to ask them if I could take Lily out for ice cream. But I’ll skip the ice cream parlor. I’ll just keep driving until we’re out of the city, then keep going.
Lily will ask me where we’re going or why we didn’t stop for ice cream. I’ll begin to explain everything. I’m prepared for her to hate me, but I’m confident she will forgive me. On some level, she will have to understand that I didn’t have a choice and she’s hinted before that she wants Maksim and me to adopt her. She’ll just have to adjust her daydream and eliminate Maksim from it.
I’ll have to do the same.
As I’m nearly to the foster home, I see two men standing in the middle of the sidewalk. It’s not an uncommon sight, but these two are too serious and as I keep approaching, they both turn to look at me. They don’t catcall, they don’t say anything, and they don’t look away.
I don’t recognize either of them, but nearly all of Maksim’s men that I knew are deceased, so it makes sense he’d send new men.
“You can tell Maksim that I’m leaving town,” I say. “I just want to have some ice cream with this girl before I leave.” When I’m less than two feet in front of them, the blond one steps forward, grabbing for my arm. I jerk backward, preventing him from getting his hands on me.
“You’re not going to stop me from seeing her,” I say. He reaches for me again. I hit him as hard as I can, my fist slamming into his jaw. He reels back. I hit him again, hard enough that his body drops to the ground. The other one lurches at me.
In my mind, all I can think is that, if I don’t deal with these men, I’ll never see Lily again.
I jab my fist into the second man’s throat. His hands jump to his neck as he gasps for breath. The blond grabs me by the arm, yanking me closer. As I catch my balance, I raise my foot and stomp down on his knee. He yells, falling. A fist comes out of nowhere. I fall. The taller one grabs me by the neck, his grip tight enough for fear to strike through me.
But I’m
