“Hey. I’m Kiril.”His Russian was flawless – he was a native. Not like me.
“Who are you?”My tone was suspicious, not polite, as I finished my water and sat up more, flexing out my aching limbs and attempting a mental calculation of injuries.
I gave up pretty quick. Everything hurt, and I was covered in stitches and bandages. It was probably easier to figure out what wasn’t injured and seeing as I wasn’t dead; I didn’t particularly care about how bad a state I was in. Nothing mattered other than figuring things out and finding the people I loved. Partly so I could feel better and get a hug, mostly because I needed to touch them all to see they truly weren’t dead.
That I hadn’t lost anyone… other than Malone.
Kiril flashed his Red Diamond tattoo at me, which helped my confusion a bit but not enough seeing as I knew all the faces of my gangsters and he had never been one of them.
“Beau’s known me for years and he took me on when you were… gone. He asked me to come here too so I could meet you and work here instead of back home.”He said.“I’m here today specifically because I was asked to make sure the girls were okay whilst Beau stepped out to grab some food.”
Knowing Beau had picked him made me trust the guy implicitly, but I was not in the mood for being normal. I was suspicious, and wary, and a little afraid that some maniac would steal me away again. So it was only right I questioned the stranger further and didn’t just take his word that he was a friend and not another monster out to cage me.
I scowled.“Why?”
“I killed my father and his men; they were gangsters.”Kiril spoke without emotion.“I’m also twenty-one. My mother was a stolen girl like a lot of the ones you know, but my father deemed me worthy of being a gangster as opposed to a whore. I can shoot, but my preference is fighting with my hands; I’mgood with stuff like that. And I’m good at killing. My birthday is in January, and I think coffee is disgusting but still drink it because it keeps me awake. Oh, and my favorite color is blue, and I’ve always wanted to adopt a Doberman and call him Tiny.”
He was almost listing his resume to me, except there was no handful of months in a shitty coffee shop. It was his list of kills and all the important things he’d done for the man he called father and a whole heap of random facts that were just enough to make me think he was messing with me a little.
I liked that, even if I was wary about danger still.
“You need protection from retaliation.”It was the most obvious reason for him to be here.“Your daddy had bad men working for him who would be happy to slaughter you. Or perhaps other family that would enjoy it out of revenge?”
“Pretty much.”He shrugged like it was no big deal that a bunch of bloodthirsty lunatics would want his head.“Plus, we’re kind of family. My dad and Beau’s mom were cousins, so like… I guess we are semi cousins too? I don’t know. But we share some blood and Beau thought you might prefer to have me in your gang instead of dead.”
“Family?”I perked up a little at the thought.
Even though it was foolish of me to care, the idea of having a family made me happier. After all, my family historically had only brought death, but it was comforting to know that my bloodline wasn’t completely extinguished. There was a horde of Montana’s now, even if some of them did not carry my surname and most didn’t have my blood.
“Yeah. Family.”
Sighing, I made the choice to play nice.“Okay. I won’t kill you then. Not unless you piss me off.”
Kiril snorted.“Good to hear it. And in that case, would you like me to do anything for you, boss?”
“Find me some food, clothes, and a phone? I need Beau.”I needed my men too, but not yet – first I needed my… I wanted… fuck, I wanted my daddy. But he wasn’t here. I’d desecrated his body. Then his mutilated corpse had been burned by my fire and left behind without a second thought. Instead, I had my other daddy. The one whose nightmare I had beheaded for him and who my mere existence caused him suffering.
Just fun things, you know.
Kiril came toward me and chucked a black duffle bag onto the bed, showing I had clothes inside, slid his own phone next to it, and headed off to find something to eat for me. That meant I could concentrate on other things; mainly the two girls who were still ribbing each other, which wouldn’t have been anything of note in the slightest except for one minor detail.
“You could die without witnesses. There is nobody on the ride home but us and Kiril – he wouldn’t care if I started stabbing you to death.”Yumi hissed at Delilah, her eyes burning with the temper I just knew she had.
Delilah laughed even harder as she spotted what I was doing, and hurried to open up my bag, yanking out clothes for me to pull on.
“That’s the spirit. Keep up that anger and you’ll get really far in life.”She replied something to Yumi in the same language the little girl spoke, much to my surprise.
“You speak different languages? I thought just Polish.” I yanked a T-shirt over my head, ignoring the twinge of my stitches for one reason and one reason alone.
It was Price’s shirt. The material was big and worn and comfy. It had his scent, his aftershave, and his undeniable aura – it had the wordsalpha maleon it in massive pink letters, right in front of a rainbow and a fluffy ginger kitten.
I instantly burst into tears the moment it covered my body and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why.
Delilah gently squeezed my hand, but lovingly pretended I wasn’t having a meltdown as I sniffed a shirt. I appreciated her.
“I’m fluent in Polish, but I know enough Japanese to talk to her. That’s why I’m here so Yum Yum can feel a little less confused about all these weirdos you have around whilst she was in hospital, too.”
Wiping my eyes with my hands, I tried to get a grip on things so I could figure out more details and work on the next steps of what the hell I was supposed to do today.
