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“He’s in Boston,” Lom finally tells me, and I immediately try to figure out why he’d be in Boston. It doesn’t make sense to me because the O’Deas run Boston completely, and they fall in line under the Mackenzies, who are loyal to me. I know if any of my allies were going to turn against me, it wouldn’t be the O’Deas. They’re great allies to have and ones I’d never go against.
“Great, we can get deeper into that in a moment. I want to know what the stipulations the old man had with giving you this information.” There’s no way he would’ve given the info for free. When you’re in positions like I was, you use what you can to grant your freedom. I tried using my checkbook, which the old man didn’t take too kindly to. There was something more valuable there which was Anzor’s whereabouts.
“He lost his damn mind, brother, that’s what. He thought if he gave me the information we were looking for…” Lom pauses for a moment and lowers his voice to a mere whisper, “that I’d let him live. Can you believe it? It sounds ludicrous. Then he gave me what we were looking for, and it was so fucking easy.”
Ah, so the old man finally understood what it was like to be in my shoes. Good. I only hope he suffered greater than I ever did.
“I do need to tell you something else, Ruslan,” Lom pipes up, and I’m listening very closely.
“Go on.”
“I found a photo of the old man with our father. It was old, in a photo album in storage. I kept thinking the old bastard looked so familiar, so I started digging through photographs. Sure enough, I found one.”
“Why would our father be in a photograph with an Armenian?”
“I don’t have the answer to that yet. But I am looking for some sort of answer for us.”
“Good, he’s still alive. You can press him for more answers and get more information. If his life is as valuable as he thinks, then he can give us more information.”
There’s a long moment of silence before Lom speaks, and I know I’m about to have a bomb dropped on me. “He isn’t, Ruslan. I got the information we needed on Anzor’s whereabouts, and then I ended him. Why the man was in a photograph with our father isn’t a reason to keep him alive. I can find that information out somewhere else.”
Every blood cell in my body starts to boil, and steam is coming from my ears. I’m certain of it. “Why in the actual fuck would you do something as stupid as that?” I snap at him, unable to control my rage. He found a photograph of the old man with our father and thought it would be a good idea to kill him. How stupid of him!
“It didn’t seem important at the time. He hurt you, took your finger, scarred you. I wasn’t letting him live.”
“It wasn’t your choice to make, Lom! You fucking know that! I’m the head of the family, not you. Sure, you hold some power as my second, but you are not the one who makes those decisions. Do I make myself clear?” I scream into the phone and decide I can’t speak to him any longer. I hang up and rise to my feet, then throw the phone on the couch.
What was he thinking?
I understand he was probably mad because of me being captured, but there’s no reason to kill someone when there’s more valuable information we could’ve used. Lom fucked up today, and he fucked up incredibly.
I need to get my mind off my brother and his royal mistake, so I grab my phone from the couch and look up private investigators in the area. I won’t hire anyone, but I want to make sure the person I do hire is exceptional at their job.
It’s apparent to me that Amelia thinks this identity theft case is going to hang over her head forever, so I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen. No matter what it takes, I’m going to help her.
Chapter Eleven
Amelia
With everything that’s happened over the last few days, I’ve been a bit shaken up. I find myself looking over my shoulder a lot, even after Ruslan and I spoke about it. He assured me I’d be safe, and I know he believes I will. I want to believe it too. I want to believe it so badly, but what if I’m not safe? What if Danill gets shot one day, and I’m taken?
I didn’t use to think about these things before, but since I know what kind of work Ruslan’s involved in and his family’s status… everything has changed. I’m no longer so careless and confident. Now I’m much more aware of the dangers this life can bring. Add in the fact we ran into Carter at the park the other day, and I’m on edge. Then that night at work, I was being watched. It totally screwed with my head. I know it would mess with anyone, but still.
I’ve been keeping a low profile the last couple of days, mainly staying in Ruslan’s suite at the hotel. He had maintenance from the hotel in his place doing some work yesterday, so Ruslan and Danill stayed with Emily and me at our apartment. Danill opted to sleep on the couch, and it looked hysterical. He’s tall and lengthy, and the couch isn’t very big. His legs were hanging off the end by a couple feet, so I sent Emily out to get the poor guy an air mattress. He seemed really happy with the choice when Emily came back with the improvised bed, a new pillow, and a blanket for him.
Come to think of it, without Emily, I don’t know what I’d do. It’s crazy how we just became close again when I was going through another rough patch. I don’t really have any other friends, and I’ve noticed that throughout my life. I did when I was younger and when my dad was still alive. After he passed, things were much different. In a way, I think because my mother became so money hungry and greedy, I dropped a lot of people. I was afraid of them trying to do the same thing she was, so I isolated myself. It was a way to keep me safe, but it ended up hurting me in the long run.
Emily and I said we’d go out to get coffee together after her morning class, so I’m a couple miles away from her campus at a mom-and-pop coffee shop. It’s called Rise N’ Grind, and the inside is so homey and inviting. The floors are super simple, painted cement in a light gray, and the ceilings are wood. I don’t know what type, but they’re very narrow and long, with the stain of the wood ranging from dark espresso to bamboo.
The ordering station is off to the left, and it’s made up of repurposed metal from barn roofs back in the early 1900s. I’ve seen enough farms on the outskirts of the city to recognize it. It looks just like the metal roofing on the old, abandoned ones. The display case is above the metal, stretching maybe twenty feet in an L shape. There’s a glass wall about three feet high, so the food doesn’t get breathed on.
They have fresh pastries like scones, muffins, donuts, bear claws, apple fritters, and so much more. Plus, they have a variety of breakfast burritos, deli sandwiches, soups, and freshly made salads. Emily told me this was one of her favorite places to get coffee, and I think I understand why.
On the wall behind the counter is their menu board, and it looks as if it’s been made with thick, white chalk. The handwriting is a mixture of cursive and regular font, which gives it an eclectic feel.
“Hey lovely, what can I get started for you?” the blonde-haired woman behind the counter asks.
“Could I get one of those raspberry scones and a hot medium chai tea, please?”
