Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1) (33 page)

But six months in a cell was still fucking torture for him.

“You came here for a reason, Vasily,” Kaz said, taking a
drag from his cigarette. “What do you want?”

“I’m offering you a chance for you to move on once you’re
out—to focus on what’s important. If you want it, your position will still be
yours, and there will be no bad blood between us and the Galluccis. Alberto is
willing to let you be free.”

Laughing without humor, he shook his head. “And what makes
you think I give a fuck what Alberto Gallucci is
willing
to give me?”

“Kazimir—”

“Understand something. The second you arranged this,” Kaz
said gesturing to the number stitched on his uniform, “was the very second you
were dead to me. Did you think you were punishing me? Sticking me in here for a
few months? Was this supposed to be my
lesson
?”

“Your actions have consequences, Kazimir—whether you like
it or not,” Vasily retorted, that familiar fire entering his words. “You are
not above my rules, boy, or have you forgotten your place? This was nothing
new. Playing the victim will get you nowhere.”

“Is that what you think this is?” Kaz asked. “Me playing
the victim?”

“No, I think you’re acting like a child that got his
favorite toy taken away.”

It took great focus to keep his emotions in check, but Kaz
had had a full month to prepare for this face-to-face, and he wasn’t ready to
tip his hand just yet.

“I honestly believe that’s what you think, too. Violet was
never a toy. She wasn’t a fucking possession that I fucked around with when I
was in the mood. She meant something to me.”

“Meant?” Vasily questioned. “Does she not mean anything to
you now?”

“Why did you come here, Vasily?”

“Is it such a foreign concept that a father would want to
check on his son?”

Kaz smirked. “Only when that father was the one that did it
to him.” Taking one last drag from his cigarette, he flicked the butt across
the yard, watching it skip along the pebbles before settling. “You’re a fan of
your warnings, no?” Kaz asked as he looked back to his father. “Here’s one for
you. When you looked into the abyss, it didn’t stare back—it winked.”

Vasily shook his head. “What does that mean?”

Kaz tapped his throat on either side with two fingers,
smiling even as Vasily glared. “Watch your back.”

Leaving him standing there, Kaz headed back into the
building, holding his arms out so the cuffs could be put back on him, and he
could be taken back to his cell. He didn’t doubt that he had gotten his point
across.

Besides the meeting with his father, the rest of his night
was rather uneventful, much of it spent counting down the minutes, first until
dinner was over, then showers, and finally, when it was lights out.

Then there was always that hour in between that felt like
it took the longest, that the money he’d been shelling out ultimately meant
nothing. But just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard footsteps, then saw
an arm appear in front of the bars, slipping the device through them.

Kaz had the small cell phone in his hand, dialing the only
number added as a contact inside before the guard could even walk off.

His heart beating fast, his mind in shambles, he waited,
listening to each ring like it would be the last, and then finally, after the
fourth ring, the call connected.

The voice was soft, tentative, almost afraid, but the sound
of it was enough to make him feel like he could breathe again. “Kaz?”

Smiling, he rested his head against the cinderblock wall,
closing his eyes as he said, “It’s good to hear your voice,
krasivaya.
”

Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to
three very young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada
where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her
boys under her feet, a snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a spouse calling over
his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something ... when she can find the
time.

Find Bethany-Kris at:

Her
website
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or on
Facebook
,

on her
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or on Twitter - @BethanyKris.

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With a degree in Creative Writing, London Miller has turned pen to
paper, creating riveting fictional worlds where the bad guys are sometimes the
good guys. Her debut novel, In the Beginning, is the first in the Volkov Bratva
Series.

She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two
puppies, where she drinks far too much Sprite, and spends her nights writing.

Find London at:

Her
website
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or on
Facebook
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or on Twitter - @LMAuthor.

Copyright
© 2016 by Bethany-Kris
and London Miller. All Rights Reserved.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted material is illegal and punishable by law. No parts of this work
may be reproduced, copied, used, or printed without expressed written consent
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eISBN 13: 978-1-988197-15-9

Editor: Nina S. Gooden

Proofreaders: Eli P. & Tesrin A.

Cover Artwork © London Miller

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations,
corporations, locales and so forth are a product of the author’s imagination,
or if real, used fictitiously. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.