Phoenix's Revenge

17.

Phoenix POV

We sit on the couch and watch a movie. I begged him to let us watch Mean Girls, but we settled on Only The Brave. By the end, we stare stunned at the television.

Fuck. That. Movie.

A phone ringer breaks the silence and Nikolai picks it up.

"What." He snaps at whoever is on the other line.

"You're kidding, and you can't fucking handle it?" He growls as the other person responds.

"I'll handle it. Oh and Marco? It's on sight when I see you." He hangs up.

"What's wrong?"

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, getting up from the couch.

"A smaller mafia is at the club. I have to go."

I get up and move to go get ready.

"You're not going."

I laugh in his face. Who does he think he is? I've never let anyone tell me what to do and I'm sure as hell not starting.

"Cute." I say as I head up the stairs. I throw on a black, silk slip dress and black strappy heels. I strap my knives to my right thigh and my gun to my left.

I head down the stairs and we walk out. As soon as we're in the car, Nikolai turns towards me.

"These guys are small, which makes them dangerous. They have nothing to lose so they're very unpredictable. You have a concussion. Do not do anything stupid."

I roll my eyes. Me? Stupid? No.

He doesn't let up and I nod. He grabs my hand and we head into the club, his body slightly in front of mine. As we walk through, some musty ass man gets handsy.

"Hey! Watch it." I yell. Nikolai stops and turns towards the man.

"Did you touch her?" He asks. His voice is laced with venom but his demeanor is calm. The man quickly backs up and shakes his head. Nikolai looks ready to pounce, but I hold my hand up to his chest.

"Not worth it."

He looks at me and nods, sending the guy a nasty glare. He turns to walk away and I quickly yell at the man.

"The only reason you're still living is because of me. You should say thank you." I say as I walk backwards.

"Thank you, ma'am." He grits out. I send him a wink and let Nikolai walk me to the private section. We enter and a small but stalky man sits in a chair across from us having a stripper give him a lap dance.

He doesn't budge as we walk in. Nikolai's jaw sets as his fists clench by his side. The gentle man I know is gone and replaced with the ruthless one everyone else knows.

Sexy.

"You're here to ask something of me, yet you show no respect?" Nikolai calls out. The man finally looks over at us as he moves the girl off of him.

He stalks towards us as he reaches out to shake Nikolai's hand. The man stands about 6 inches shorter than Nikolai and is boringly average looking.

Yawn.

They shake hands and he moves towards me, taking my hand in his and attempts to do the stupid 'she's a girl so I'm going to limp wrist her' thing. I correct him by gripping his hand tight, making him wince. We all take a seat as the tension in the room builds. The man breaks the silence.

"We know the Italians are moving in on us. We need to protect ourselves and for that, we need a small loan." Limp wrist stares while taking a swig of his drink.

"Why would I help you?" Nikolai scoffs.

"Because I know things." The man says with a smirk. I tense and slide my hand by the knives on my thigh.

Nikolai remains stoic as he lights a cigarette and leans back in his chair. To the untrained eye, he looks cool and unbothered. By the tension in his shoulders and the way that his eyes flash, I know he's completely prepared for this to get violent.

"Do you, now?" Nikolai questions.

The man's smirk grow wider.

"I do. I know about you and your little ladies stay with them. I'm thinking some incentive on your part to keep my mouth shut would be beneficial, otherwise I may have to switch sides and let them know that the great Nikolai Petrov has a weak spot. What's his name? Right. Tommy." I go stone cold still, as does Nikolai. Before my mind catches up, I'm grabbing a knife and hurling it into his shoulder. I walk towards him and twist as he screams.

"You fucking bitch!" He yells in pain.

"Yup and this is just the beginning." I remove the knife and slam it into his thigh.

"What were you saying about betraying us?" I hiss. The fucker looks up at me and narrows his eyes. I twist. He screams.

"I'm not doing it for nothing!" He grits.

"You had your chance to bargain but you decided yo pull threats out. So now, it's you keep your mouth shut or you die. Hell, I may just kill you for the fun of it."

His eyes search my face, silently calling my bluff.

Misogynistic creep.

I bring my knife up to his throat.

"No no! Wait I'll be quiet I swear." He pleads. I look over my shoulder to Nikolai. He stands leaned up against the wall with a smirk on his lips, eyes ablaze.

"We can't be fighting a war on two fronts, unfortunately." He says with a disappointed sigh.

Damn.

"Give me your word." I grit out, pressing my knife further and drawing blood.

"You have it." He winces. I grab my knife and wipe his blood on his T-shirt.

"Can't wait to meet again." I whisper into his ear as he glared.

I walk to Nikolai and grab his hand. He looks at me.

"I kinda love you right now."

My heart skips a beat and my heart rate rises as I look up at him.

"You better." I say with a smirk. He smirks back knowing what I truly meant.

I love you too.