Unwilling Pawn by Measha Stone

Chapter 11

Christian

“You’re sure?” I asked. I couldn’t make a move without certainty.

“Positive.” Lukas nodded. “The little prick didn’t take the news well. He was overheard saying he’d get his hands on her one way or another. Then he’d make her marry him. He didn’t need Dudek’s permission.”

“He’s not going to get to her here, that’s for sure.” I sank back in the leather chair and balanced my drink on my knee.

“I wouldn’t put it past him to use the authorities.”

“Call the cops?” I asked with a raised brow. “He’d be insane.”

“He’s more desperate than we thought. Apparently, he’s blown everything, Christian. He has nothing. Without Amelia’s inheritance and her father’s help in getting the licensing he needs, he’ll most likely be dead.”

Finally, some good news.

After years of waiting for Sebastian Gorecki to make a bad play, it was finally coming to reality. I could use this. This was good for us.

“Why dead?”

“He owes money to the Romanovs,” Lukas explained.

“Fuck.” I grinned. “He really must have made a mess of himself. So, getting his hands on Amelia really is a matter of life or death.” I paused a beat. “Let the Russians kill him.”

“The Russians are like sharks; they smell the blood in the water, and they could easily swoop in and save him. They might get involved if they find out about the inheritance.”

“Why would they be so stupid to save a piece of shit like Gorecki? He’s hanging on by a damn thread, why not let it be severed and watch him die?”

Sebastian Gorecki was the last of his line. His great grandfather had made a name for himself back in Poland. He’d grown his family in both power and notoriety. But as the generations passed, the Gorecki men became weaker, more afraid of taking the same chances their ancestors had. They’d lost power, and when they’d expanded to America it had been a last-ditch effort to save their family. And now, with Sebastian pinned up against the wall, it seemed they’d finally die out like the little slimy nightcrawlers they were.

“They can use him. Even when he’s penniless, he’ll still have connections back home. And the Russians are always looking for new avenues to run their guns. He uses Amelia’s cash to link up with them, and he could crawl back out of the sewer,” Lukas explained.

A problem easily solved.

“I want to know if that’s a viable option. If they’re even hinting at that sort of alliance, I want to know about it.”

“You want to get in bed with the Russians instead?” Lukas’s eyebrows shot up.

“Depends on the family, on the terms. But if it keeps Gorecki down and out, I’d consider it.”

“You’d get into bed with that scum?” Lukas sounded disgusted just from thinking about it. I probably would too if I were him, but I didn’t have the luxury he had. I had memories of what the Gorecki family had done to ours. Very vivid memories that plagued me. I had been too small and too weak to stop what happened, but I could finally make things right.

“I said I’d consider it.” I clenched my fist. Agreements made by old men nearly a generation ago had tied my hands from doing anything outright aggressive against Gorecki. But this wasn’t outright war. This could finish him and keep my hands clean at the same time.

Lukas shook his head. “And what about Amelia? Does she understand her role in this?”

“She understands she’s marrying me. What else is there for her to know?” I asked, fishing my phone out of my pocket as it buzzed. “Your sister,” I growled and shot back a text.

“You can’t keep Hanna locked up there forever, Christian. She’s going stir crazy.”

“She’ll stay where it’s safe.” I said and stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

“And your wife? You’ll keep her locked up too until it’s safe?” he asked with a raised brow.

“Amelia will do what she’s told to do.”

“And she has no idea about the other stuff? You’re going to keep it from her, just like the old man?” Lukas already knew my answer, but my younger brother was trying to make a point. I was no better than the assholes I dealt with.

I never assumed I was though, so his attitude did nothing to sway my course.

My phone buzzed again repeatedly. “Leave Amelia to me.”

I put my finger up in the air when he started to argue, as I answered the call.

“Dudek’s gone,” Darek said from the other end of the phone.

“What?”

“He’s not at the house. The housekeeper let us in to get your girl’s stuff like you said, but Dudek isn’t here. He packed a few bags last night and took off. The housekeeper doesn’t know where he is.”

“Why would he run?”

“Don’t know. But he’s not here and the housekeeper has no idea when he’ll be back.”

“Okay. Find him. I want to know what the fuck spooked him out of town. Tell that housekeeper if she hears from him, I want to know about it. And get someone over to his brother’s house, ask him where the fuck Kacper is hiding. Call Judge O’Malley for me and get it all set up for tonight. But I want it quiet. Not a fucking word to anyone.”

“You got it.” Darek hung up.

“Set what up?” Lukas asked.

“I have to find Amelia. You go pick up that cousin of hers. It might help smooth things over.”

“Why? What are you doing?” Lukas asked as I turned to leave the room.

“I’m getting married, brother.” I raised my hand in dismissal and set off to find my fiancé.

* * *

I found Amelia easily, as I only had to follow the sounds of the piano keys being struck. She’d found Piotr’s library, a small room, set far back in the east wing of the house. The old piano didn’t compare to the one she’d been playing at the party the first night we’d met. But the music she created from it made the cold, damp room warm with life.

The door was open when I approached, and her back was to me while her fingers glided over the keys. While I would have expected to find her playing classical melodies, instead a tune I’d heard my sister play over and over again back home formed.

She’d braided her hair since I’d seen her at breakfast. Two thick plaits ran down the back of her head then trailed down her back. Her head tilted to the side while she continued to stroke the keys and move with the melody she played. She was completely lost to the music. I bet if I could see her face, I’d see her eyes closed, her features soft. She’d look at peace.

Her finger slipped and she hit the wrong key, dragging her out of the song. Instead of continuing on, she slammed her fingers over the keys and created an awful, dark sound. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her hands to her lap.

“It sounded great, you shouldn’t stop just because of one slip up,” I said, walking into the room. Her spine straightened and her back tightened at the sound of my voice.

“I didn’t realize you were there.” She looked up at me. Her eyes were soft, relaxed.

“I doubt you would have noticed anyone coming in while you were playing.” I reached out to her cheek and picked up a strand of hair that had fallen from her braid, rubbing it between my fingers. “You get lost in it when you’re playing.”

She blinked, as though she wasn’t really sure how to respond.

“I like that song you were playing,” I said, enjoying the war between irritation and confusion on her face. She didn’t know what to make of me and I wanted to keep it that way, at least a little longer.

“You know it?” she asked, sounding unsure.

“I don’t know the name of it, but it’s one of my sister’s favorites. She plays it a lot. I got used to it.”

“You have a sister?”

I laughed. “Don’t look so shocked. Even monsters have siblings. You’ve met my brother. You’ll meet Hanna when she comes home from school.”

Guilt passed over her. Maybe hearing I had a little sister made me more human to her. It would be a mistake to assume I was anything other than what she saw before her.

“Did you need something? Were you looking for me, or am I not supposed to be in here?” She asked, gesturing toward the piano.

“It’s not as good as the one you played that first night.”

“It doesn’t really fit here in the middle of the room. Upright pianos sound the best when they’re positioned against an inner wall. Was this one used for something in particular to be put in the middle of the room?” she asked, running her fingers over the top board. Made of a dark wood, with golden trim along the boards, it appealed to my ignorant eyes.

“My cousin probably paid a lot of money for it and thought it should take center stage.” I answered.

“It is well crafted, but it needs tuning.”

For someone who took no formal training, she was well versed not only in the mechanics of the instrument but the playing of it as well.

“I’m sure Lukas can take care of that.”

“Your brother.”

“Yes. He’ll be staying here once we fly home.”

“Your home is in New York.” She slowly brought the lid down over the keys, softly tucking them away. “Mine is here in Chicago.”

“My home is your home,” I said flatly.

The piano seat slid over the area rug as she moved to her feet.

“Whatever.” She angled herself as though she would bolt from the room if I was to make any wrong moves. Didn’t she know, I’d catch her. Every single time, I’d catch her if she tried to run from me.

“Maggie is coming over,” I said, catching her full attention again. “There’s been a change and I thought you’d appreciate having her here.”

“What change?” she demanded, fear already leaking into her expression.

“I told you the sooner we’re married the safer it is for you, and there’s been a development in that area. A judge will be here within the hour to see it done. It’s not safe to wait until tomorrow.”

Her eyes went wide, her eyebrows shot up. “Within the hour? But my dad’s not here.”

“And he won’t be,” I stated firmly. Aside from the fact that he’d tucked tail and ran, Dudek couldn’t be trusted. A man who had as much debt and as much to lose as he did, could not be relied upon to stick to his word. He’d probably stay in hiding until he received the money I promised for Amelia’s hand. “I’m sorry, but we can’t wait.”

She recoiled from me, anger warring with fear in her green eyes.

“I need more time,” she insisted.

“For what? This afternoon, tomorrow morning, next week, nothing would change,” I pointed out. Maybe she still deluded herself that she had options here.

“I don’t want this, Christian,” she said, dropping her hands to her sides.

“So you’ve said.” I tried to sound bored, because I should have been. She’d made the same statement so many times, she was basically stuck on repeat. Her pleas should be falling on deaf ears.

I checked my watch, though I knew damn well the time. “Lukas went to pick up Maggie. She’ll be here soon. I’ll have her brought up to your room when she gets here. If you’d like to get ready—”

“You don’t want to marry a girl in leggings and a t-shirt? It’s a bullshit situation, Christian. Why put a dress over a pile of shit?”

“I don’t like the language, Amelia.” Cursing didn’t usually irritate me, but to hear the vulgarity slip from such delicate lips as hers grated on my nerves.

“Well, I don’t like you.” It was a petulant comeback and by the look on her face, she knew it.

“I’ll have Maggie brought up.”

She looked ready to launch herself at me and claw out my eyes. And if Mrs. Kowalski hadn’t shown up at that moment, she may very well have made the attempt.

“Sorry, but there’s a Judge O’Malley here for you?”

I leveled my eyes on Amelia, hardening myself to her plight. “Yes. Thank you. Put him in my office, I’ll be there shortly.”

Once Mrs. Kowalski left us, I stepped up to Amelia and dragged my knuckles over her jaw.

“Remember how good it was for you last night, when you were good for me. And remember how bad it was when you disobeyed me.”

She jerked away from me again, raw anger boiling in her darkened green eyes.

I waited for a tirade. Nothing came.

She raised her chin, holding her head high and her back straight and marched out of the room. Depriving me of the fight I wanted from her.

At least for the moment.