Vik (Shot Callers 2)

It was funny, and that was the reason I turned to hide my smile, but it was so lame that his brother groaned out loud. “You gotta stop saying shit like that, Caz. You’re letting down the brand.”

“What?” The man shrugged. “She’s laughing. She liked it. It was funny, wasn’t it, sweetness?”

“Yeah, well, she’s a hostage, and she’s pregnant,” Pollux said bored-like. “I don’t know how much trust I’d put in her word. And she’s Roam’s, so, you know. Don’t get too attached.”

Jesus. I did not even want to think on that.

And his brother’s face turned solemn. “What did she do?”

I responded curtly, “She did nothing. She doesn’t even know why she’s here.”

The man blew out a long breath. “Bummer.” He came forward and held out his hand to me. After he saw my hesitation, he uttered a soft, “Go on. Take it. I’m the nice twin.” When I looked up into his eyes, all I saw was kindness. He sort of reminded me of Vik. I took his proffered hand, and he squeezed it before saying, “I’m Castor. Or Caz, if you please.”

“Nastasia.”

Castor sat on the wingback next to mine, turned to face me head-on, then leaned in and asked curiously, “But seriously, honey. You can tell ole Caz. What’d you do?”

My gaze lowered to his nose, and I noticed two small silver studs on either side.

Okay, so…

Pollux = septum piercing.

Castor = stud in each nostril.

An easy identifier.

I thought about it and answered honestly, “I think I’m collateral.” My eyes met his as I said, “I guess Roam took offense to something Vik said or did—”

But Caz stopped me by placing his hand up. “Vik? As in—” He made a face. “—Viktor, the fucking Russian? That Viktor?”

Confusion swept through me as I confirmed weakly, “Viktor Nikulin.”

Pollux sat up and looked me dead in the eye as he muttered, “Well, that explains things.”

And Caz’s brows rose. “Oof. Now I know why you’re here. Roam ain’t too happy with your boy.”

Oh really? I couldn’t half tell. “Yeah. I gathered as much, hence the whole kidnapping business.”

My sarcasm hung in the air between these two brothers, and while Caz grinned, Pollux snuffled out a quiet laugh through his nose.

But one question lingered in my mind. Part of me wanted an answer, while a separate part of me already knew it.

“Are you going to kill me?”

Pollux did not answer, but his passive face said it all, thus giving me my answer.

Meanwhile, Caz took his time responding, but his sober reply was far more chilling than his brother’s, because he looked me in the eye to deliver it. “If Roam asks me to.”

Okay.

I knew where I stood. Unluckily, it was on rocky ground.

“What can I do?” I asked quietly.

And while the brothers shared a look, I looked between them, silently begging for a thread, pleading for a crumb of information that could help me. Castor threw his brother a look, and Pollux shook his head, shooting him a deep frown.

So, when Castor let out an exhale, starting with, “Look—”

Pollux cut him off with a terse, “Castor.”

The man beside me drew into himself, his jaw tight, and when I glanced at him with sadness and desperation in my eyes, he rolled his and uttered a very slow, very deliberate, “I can’t help you, honey. No one can. But if you ever feel like you’re in danger with Roam…”

“I swear to God, man,” Pollux cut through.

“…just tell him you’re hungry,” Castor ended gravely.

That lead to Pollux shouting out an irritated, “Caz. Fuck!”

The kinder twin began, “If need be, I will put a bullet in your head, baby be damned.” My stomach dipped at the words, but he reached out to pat my knee and finished with a sincere, “But I really hope I won’t have to.”

With that, he stood and walked out of the room with his brother scowling at him. And when I glanced over at the man on the sofa, his hard stare landed on me with the weight of a truck as he ground out, “My brother has a soft heart.” Jaw tense, he looked away, picked up the remote, and flicked through the channels while he stated, “Unfortunately for you, mine is hard as diamond.”

Right.

Unease washed over me as I settled back into my chair.

Good to know.

33

Nastasia

Pollux wasn’t much as far as company went, but he kept me out of my cage for half the day. Unfortunately, after dark, I was placed back in my prison, and it didn’t take long for me to go stir-crazy. I did what I could to pass the time, going through Roam’s clothing in hopes of finding a weapon, but all I found was stacks of cash, condoms, and a bunch of Zippo lighters, all engraved with the same unique skull logo.

By the time I was done snooping, I realized I couldn’t remember where everything went. After a small amount of reasoning with myself, I decided to plunk all of what I’d found onto the black leather ottoman bench seat in the center of the closet. After all, I was pretty sure Roam knew I’d be searching his shit. Hence why I found no weapons.