Chapter 56
1194words
I'm having the nightmare again.
Camila's sweet face, turned pallid from death, stares blindly up at me. I wipe blood from her cheeks, spreading the color until it looks like blush on her dead skin.
Whether I'm awake or asleep, I can't escape the tragedy of losing the woman I love.
A hand shakes me roughly and I sit up, coming awake at the sight of Mikhail standing over me in the darkness of my bedroom.
'What's going on?" I demand.
'Pakhan, it's the dance studio." He shows me his phone. My eyes take a second to adjust, but when they do, I stare hard. Fire twists in a torrid dance around the remaining structure on the screen. The building is blackened by smoke. Red and blue lights from police and fire trucks are flashing. 'It's been burned to the ground."
'When did this happen?" I snarl, throwing my covers aside.
'Just twenty minutes ago. I came as soon as I was notified."
'That long?" I snap, throwing clothing on as I speak. 'Was no one watching?"
'There was a shift change," he explains nervously. Sweat makes the sides of his forehead shiny.
Buttoning my shirt, I give him an icy glare. 'I'll worry about that later. For now, I need information about who did this."
He nods anxiously, relieved I'm not taking my anger out on him. 'Every indication points to Yannick."
'That's what I assumed," I mutter under my breath. Camila is going to be heartbroken. I haven't spoken to her since the van drove off over a week ago. I replay our last conversation … And I think about how Layla convinced me that letting her leave was the best move.
Eyeing the wreckage of her studio, I begin to wonder how wrong I was.
My fingers knot up painfully as I snatch my phone from my bedside. 'Leave me. I want to make this call alone." Mikhail doesn't hesitate; he rushes from the room, shutting the door in his wake.
At first I sit on the edge of my bed. My legs twitch, the muscles bunching in my calves. It's impossible to stay stationary. Rising, I start pacing the room from one end to the other. The phone swings back and forth at my side.
I'm working myself into a froth over what's happened. It's the opposite of the cool composure I should have for this call, but it's out of my hands. Anything that threatens Camila has the ability to slip past my rational brain.
I'll fucking kill him!
Breathing through clenched teeth, I tap at my phone, then push it against my ear. It rings and rings, but I stay on the line. I'm sure he'll pick up. He's been waiting for this.
The ringing stops. There's a soft, breathy chuckle that slithers into my eardrum.
'To what do I owe the pleasure of a call from you at two in the morning?"
Blood slams into my temples. It pushes my eyes forward, so I swear they're going to bulge from my skull and roll across my carpet. My forearm veins, swollen with adrenaline, slither under my skin.
Nothing is going my way anymore.
'You know why I'm calling, Yannick," I grate.
His chortle is rotten as old fruit. 'I'm assuming you saw my latest work."
'What was the point of burning the studio down? What did it accomplish?"
'It got you to contact me."
I go rigid with disgust. 'Fine. Let's talk."
Yannick exhales lightly—he's enjoying this. 'Tell me where she is."
'It's because of who she is, isn't it?"
'If you know that much, then do the right thing." Some of the amusement flees from his voice. 'Give my daughter back to me."
Hearing him confirm the truth of Camila's claim makes me realize something else. He doesn't realize he's tipped his hand. Yannick doesn't know Camila isn't with me anymore. It's best I keep it from him as long as possible. 'I'll never hand her over to you."
'If you don't want me to continue to wreak chaos on this city, you'll give her to me on a silver fucking platter."
'And let you hurt her?"
'She's my daughter, you fucking animal. That makes her your enemy, not mine. Put her on the call; let me talk to her."
'I'm not going to do that."
'Why? She must be awake. Poor thing is probably panicking about her studio."
The way he talks about her sends me to the brink of rage. 'You're the one who burned it down!"
'Details," he sighs. 'Let me talk to my daughter. Now."
My fist punches the wall. The shock wave travels up my elbow, leaving it numb. 'I'll never allow you near her!"
'Why so defensive?" he asks. 'That wedding of yours was fake. Don't play games with me about you and her being together."
'What we had wasn't fake!" I snarl.
He pauses for a long moment. 'Now that's an interesting word … had. It's not that you're not putting her on the phone because of your bullshit desire to protect her from me. You actually can't do it, can you?"
My pulse goes wild. 'I don't know what you mean."
'Oh," he chuckles. The sound grows until it crests into manic laughter. 'My darling daughter isn't with you at all, is she?"
I keep my voice even. 'Of course she is."
'You're not as good of a liar as you think you are." His voice grows lower. 'Well, this is very interesting."
'Stay the fuck away from her." Everything is falling apart around me. Calling Yannick when I was so frazzled was a terrible decision. 'If you dare to touch her in any way, I'll?—"
'Listen closely, you welp," Yannick rasps through the phone. 'You don't get to dictate my actions to me. It will never matter how high you rise or what number of men you lure to your side. You've stolen everything from me. Everything. You're not the only one looking for revenge here, Asher, and I will have mine."
Before I can respond, the call ends. I stand there, listening to the empty line, hearing my own heavy breathing echoing back. Shifting my weight onto the mattress, I drop the phone to my lap and reach for my prayer beads out of habit, finding only bare skin. I shut my eyes. My breathing comes quicker, more desperately, like there's not enough oxygen in the room for me … not enough in the whole world.
Without Camila, I have nothing to use against Yannick. My upper hand in this war has been chopped off at the wrist. There's one thing dangerous men respect in this dark underworld, and that's power.
If I can't defeat Yannick, then I've become powerless.
And if I can't beat him, I can't get Camila back.
With the war hanging over my head, she'll never return to me. I need to create a world where she and our baby are safe. This is all my damn fault, I think, slumping onto my bed. If I hadn't driven her away with how I treated her, I wouldn't be in this situation.
