Billion Reasons Why

Chapter 21

*Note: Short Chapter

Chapter 21

 

I was in trouble. The men who had been shooting at us were pulling Vitaly and me out of the car. I could now see Vitaly’s guy who had gotten out of the car to give us privacy—he was lying on the ground. One of the shots had gotten to him. I looked at him in horror, the panic I had been feeling before increasing.

“Vitaly…” I whispered.

His arm went around my waist, pulling me to his side. I expected him to be as freaked out as I felt. Instead, Vitaly was looking down at the ground, at his fallen man, with pissed off eyes.

He was speaking. I was sure the words weren’t directed at me. He used his cool, low voice. One that I’d only heard him use before when he was upset. Vitaly was not the kind to yell. He was the kind who looked threatening with just one glare. He was speaking Russian.

We were surrounded. There were at least ten of them. One of them was standing ahead—replying to whatever Vitaly had said. They still had their guns drawn. People around the area, I noticed, were walking away. Everyone looked panicked, yet no one was trying to intervene in what was happening. They were not even attempting to help us.

“Vitaly…” I whispered again.

He looked down at me, his eyes apologetic. “Forgive me for this,” he said, squeezing my waist softly, and pulling me impossibly closer to him.

Vitaly continued to talk to the man in front of us—he was definitely upset. The man was loud and harsh with his words. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know how to react. My mind felt numb even though a part of me realized that the situation was insane.

Vitaly and the man—they must’ve spoken for about ten minutes, which felt like a lot longer. I kept watching the group distrustfully. At no moment did they try to lower their weapons. It was just two of us, unarmed, against all of them.

I had a bad feeling.

The only reason I didn’t go into full-blown panic mode was because Vitaly stayed calm.

“Who is she?” the man asked.

“Leave her out of this. This is between you and me.”

“She’s a beauty. What’s her name?” he asked Vitaly. His arms tightened around me.

I knew he was trying to taunt Vitaly—to rile him up. So far, Vitaly had kept calm. That was until the man—he was young, probably around Vitaly’s age—asked about me.

It seemed to be what he wanted.

“I am warning you, Ronan. Do not play games with me.”

“I am not playing games. I want you out of my area. You do not do business here, and we don’t have a problem, Vitaly,” Ronan replied, but his eyes were still on me.

He was rough looking. He wasn’t necessarily unattractive, but there was something about him that really unnerved me. I could tell he had no problem with killing anyone that got in his way.

“You killed one of my men. I will remember this.”

“You are doing business in my city,” Ronan retorted, angrily.

His English was perfect. I had no idea why he had been speaking Russian to begin with. I wondered if he was Russian or American. He obviously knew Russian, but his English was better than both Vitaly and Yurik’s. He sounded American.