Chapter Three
Elena
I inhaled sharply as I stared at myself in the mirror. I never expected a flood of emotion to wash over me when I met Jaxson Volkov face-to-face. I’d seen countless photos of the man, but seeing him in person did something unexpected. It made me doubt what I was doing for the first time ever.
I’d spent years researching the Volkovs, finally had my first encounter, and now I was left questioning what it was that I was after.
Or more to the point, was it worth dying for?
It didn’t help that I felt a strong connection to this stranger, but I was certain that was part of the appeal with these men. One look into his intense blue eyes, combined with an innocent brush of his fingers, and my body responded instantly to him at the bar.
Thankfully, my mind always won when it came to matters of attraction. I was smart enough not to fall for the mysterious spell and shadowy illusions the Volkov brothers conjured. I knew what they were capable of, but I would also do what needed to be done in order to get what I wanted.
A shiver ran down my spine at the last thought.
Everything about Jaxson commanded respect to the point where everyone in the bar felt almost reverent toward this man.
This killer.
He was charismatic, no doubt about it. That was probably how he got away with so much. He charmed everyone to look away while he and his brothers did their dirty work.
My chest tightened as I thought about my cousin.
I shook my head and dabbed cool water over my face. I had to get ahold of myself. After leaving the bar, I’d managed to lose Jaxson and hail a cab around the corner. The cab followed Jaxson’s car to a brownstone and parked for a few minutes. I jotted down the address, planning to look up the residence tomorrow, and we took off.
“You okay?” My sister tapped on the bathroom door, and my shoulders sank in private defeat.
My family already thought my pursuits were a waste of time, and I actually felt my sister’s visit had more to do with trying to convince me to come back to New Hampshire than actually wanting to see the city, as she had implied.
“Just dandy.” I opened the door to see my sister looking back at me.
Concern dotted her gaze, and I pretended not to notice as I walked past her on the way to the kitchen.
“Do you want a grilled cheese?” I asked, already pulling the cheese out of the fridge.
My one-bedroom apartment was small, even by New York’s standards. Since I worked from home and spent a lot of time here, I’d wanted it to feel as inviting as possible.
I’d managed to paint the walls a soft grey and tossed pale lavender throw pillows on the ivory chaise I’d purchased the moment I signed the lease. I hung a pair of matching drapes in both the living room and my bedroom. The kitchen was the only room I hadn’t touched since it had been recently renovated with bright white cabinets and white marble counters and backsplash.
“No. I’m still full from the leftovers.” She smiled, leaning against the counter, separating the kitchen and the living space of the apartment. I think it was meant to be a breakfast bar, but only one person would fit.
“So, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” she asked, noticing I was no longer planning on grilling my sandwich after I plopped two slices of bread on a plate and threw on some cheese. “You left here at the speed of light and wouldn’t tell me where you were going.”
A few seconds of silence hung between us.
“It was to see him, wasn’t it?”
I took a bite of my sandwich and used it as an excuse to only nod my answer.
“Did you find him?” Her dark brows shot up.
I swallowed and got a glass of milk. “I did.”
“And?”
“He slammed a guy’s face into the bar I was sitting at and slid the man down toward me.”
“You’re kidding. Just like that?” She shook her head. “Did you jump out of the way?”
“No. He had to go around me.” Saying it aloud made me wonder if it really even happened.
Her green eyes widened, and she quickly smoothed the strands in her ponytail and tugged on the elastic. “Why would you call attention to yourself? You know what he’s capable of.”
“I think that’s why I refused to move.” I swallowed hard. “I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.”
I walked out of the kitchen and over to the far end of the chaise with my sandwich and milk. My sister sat down on the other end and pulled a lavender throw around her.
“The satisfaction of what?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I don’t even know, Sadie.” The low thrumming at the base of my skull turned into a throbbing ache.
It wasn’t like Jaxson had a clue who I was. He might someday, but he didn’t now, and I had to use that to my advantage.
“I’m worried about you. So are Mom and Dad.”
My mind flashed to my parents. They’d always been so supportive, cheering us on from the sidelines of whatever new activity we’d fallen into. They never dissuaded us from trying something new, no matter the hardship on them. Whether it was enrolling us in ballet, taking us to recitals, watching us at gymnastic meets, or driving us to music lessons, they always supported my sister and me. Even when I told them I wanted to become a writer.
“You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be careful, and if things get too crazy, I’ll stop.” I took another bite of my sandwich that I suddenly had no interest in and put the plate down on the glass coffee table.
“Just like that, huh?” Her lips formed a thin line. “Just stop?”
I nodded.
“You’re putting yourself in danger.” She tugged the blanket tighter. “And for what? A story?”
“Justice.” My eyes connected with hers and doubt flickered through her gaze. “Joe deserves justice, and if the authorities aren’t going to honor him with that, then maybe I can.”
“I wish I believed it was as simple as that.” She sighed, but something on the television caught her eye, and I followed her gaze as she turned up the volume.
A photo of a woman flashed across the screen with the word MISSING in bold red letters above her head.
“It’s awful what’s going on in this city,” my sister muttered as we stared at the television. “I’m glad I’m only visiting, but it doesn’t make me thrilled about leaving you behind.”
“I’ll be fine. Bad things happen everywhere.”
“How many women have been…” She cleared her throat, not finishing her sentence. “Five?”
“I think it was up to six, but this could make it seven.” I studied the photo, noticing the hard lines running across the woman’s once-delicate features. Her stringy blonde hair, vacant eyes, and the dark shadows underneath her eyes screamed addiction. I’d seen it before.
“She looks so young.” My sister curled into herself. “But like someone who’s had a really tough life.”
The screen flashed back to the newsroom, where two reporters were now discussing some city councilman.
And then the very brownstone I was at earlier tonight sprang onto the television.
I let out a little gasp as a cold chill skated over my flesh.
“What?”
“I was there tonight.” I pointed at the television and motioned for my sister to turn up the volume.
“Is that where Jaxson lives?”
“No. He went there after the bar though.”
“You followed him?” Her voice rose alarmingly high.
“Yes. In a taxi. He had no idea.”
“You’ve got to knock this off.” She shook her head frantically. “You don’t know that he’s as clueless as you hope. If he’s involved—”
“City Councilman Rick Harner hasn’t released an official statement as to the disappearance of his niece,” the woman continued.
“His niece?” I shook my head. “His niece is missing?”
“What would that have to do with the Volkovs?” my sister questioned.
“I have no idea.”
“Why would Jaxson be at the councilman’s home?”
“I have no idea,” I repeated, keeping my eyes on the TV.
The story switched to something new, and I sat back on the couch with my nerves spinning into a tight web of unease.
“See what I mean?” My sister tried again. “I don’t want you to be one of the women who winds up missing because you’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“I’d be surprised if the Volkovs had anything to do with the missing women. Females are their one soft spot.”
“I don’t put anything past them, and you shouldn’t either.”
“I’m not saying they aren’t capable. I just don’t see them operating like that.”
My sister’s gaze fell to one of the gossip magazines and my stomach dropped. The moment she picked it up and opened the pages, she’d know why I had it.
Jaxson Volkov was featured inside as one of the city’s most eligible bachelors, and he had given an interview to the NYC magazine.
That was the problem with these men. They were everywhere. Whether it was proving to be the highest bidder at a charity auction or donating some apartment building to the homeless crisis, they created a seamless image of doing good everywhere they landed. One of them even opened a soccer camp for the underprivileged, for heaven’s sake.
They owned Wolf Industries by day and did all of their dirty work by night under the guise of the V Mafia.
Sadie reached over and picked up the magazine, throwing it open to the first page where the table of contents featured a large photo of Jaxson.
Her eyes darted to mine.
“Yes, I know.” I laughed. “My only hope was that you wouldn’t pick it up.”
“You’ve never been all that lucky in life.” She chuckled and continued looking at the photo before flipping to Jaxson’s article, which also featured his other brothers, Devin, Blake, and Drake.
“They’re all attractive, aren’t they,” she stated as a matter of fact.
“Yes. They are.” I sank into the cushions a little deeper.
“Their eyes are such a distinct blue. Or is that only in the photographs?” She looked up at me and flipped the page.
“No, their eyes are that color in person too.” I leaned my head against the back of the chaise and took in a deep breath as my mind raced with reasons Jaxson was at the city councilman’s tonight. I knew it wasn’t a coincidence.
Before I left the bar, Jaxson had implied his night was merely getting started, and in his line of work, I fully took that to mean cracking more men’s heads open or whatever he did for pleasure.
“What did you see when you looked into his eyes?”
My sister’s question surprised me, and I stayed silent for a few seconds before lifting my head back up, but I knew why she was asking. We’d both known a man who was evil, and his eyes truly were the opening to his soul. We saw the wickedness before he ever had to act upon it.
“You did look him in the eyes, didn’t you?” she asked again.
“I did.”
“And did you see pure evil?”
I shut my eyes, and Jaxson Volkov’s sapphire blue eyes settled into mind.
“No. On the contrary.” My eyes blinked open. “I didn’t. I saw a man full of determination but not evil.”
And I saw more kindness than I cared to admit for someone who’d just beaten up another man and still held a twinkle in his gaze after all was said and done.
I thought back to my earlier encounter. It was pure luck. There weren’t many minutes in a day when he was ever alone. Whether it was his driver, security, or his brothers surrounding him, he was rarely by himself, and I couldn’t have asked for a better chance meeting.
He didn’t strike me as a man who went around the city terrorizing women and pleading with politicians to cover his own tracks.
On the contrary, Jaxson reminded me of a man who’d fix the politician’s problems because of the women they may have terrorized.
“Why’d you get so quiet?” She placed the magazine back on the coffee table.
“I feel like things are about to get a lot more interesting.” I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a deep sigh.
From the moment my cousin’s killer had walked away a free man, I became determined to expose the Volkovs the only way I knew how. I had to write about them.
I’d let their bad deeds speak for themselves in the pages of print, but first, I needed as much proof as I could get. If political motives and law enforcement injustices could be woven together, it would make the story even more sensational, get more eyes on it, and allow the public to see what these Volkov men were capable of.
“You want to watch a movie?” my sister asked, checking her watch. “It’s only eleven.”
“Yeah. Let’s do it. I’m so wired, I need to unwind before I can even think about going to bed.”
“Well, good then.” She started running through the free cable movies, and I chuckled.
It was nice to have my sister here. It had been months since we’d last gotten together.
“How about this one?” she asked triumphantly.
It was a Rom-Com, and at the moment, that sounded like the perfect escape from today.
“Great. I’ll make popcorn.” I jumped off the couch and made my way to the kitchen just as someone knocked on my door.
My body instantly froze.
Another knock.
My pulse skyrocketed, and I looked over at my sister, who looked as startled as I felt. No one, not even my neighbors, had a reason to come to my door this late.
Sadie shook her head as she clutched her cellphone in hand.
With my heart hammering in my chest, I tiptoed over to my door and took in a deep, shaky breath.
Other than the fact that it was really late at night, there was no reason to feel as terrified as I did. I put my eye to the peephole and jumped backward as if the door had electrocuted me.
“What?” my sister hissed softly. “A neighbor? Should I call the police?”
Not believing my eyes, I took a step forward and looked through the hole again to see Jaxson Volkov staring back at me with his brilliant, cold blue eyes.