“Is that her?” When I nod, Lia’s smile heats my cheek. “I see in her eyes what Rico saw in yours. She’s not lost. She just needs to learn not all crowns are made out of rhinestones and gems; some are from determination and courage.”
I nod again, agreeing with her. “I can see the fire in her eyes. She just needs someone to relight it.”
I realize I said my comment out loud when Lia says, “You can do that for her, Nikolai. You did it years ago, and you can do it again, except this time, you’ll get more than the admiration of your big sister for your efforts.”
When I roll my eyes, Lia’s breathy chuckle fans my neck. She knows she is treading water in a shark-infested ocean, but since she’s also aware Adrian will have her bags packed before she’s returned home, she is willing to test the waters.
“Call me if you need anything.”
She waits for me to jerk up my chin before planting a goodbye kiss onto my cheek. Her lips barely touch my skin, but her contact is enough to burn jealousy through Justine’s veins. She watches us from across the room, the bag of groceries held close to her chest incapable of hiding the frantic thrust of her lungs.
Jealousy has never looked so good.
After watching Lia’s trek out her front door, Justine returns her eyes to mine. I could act ignorant to the possessiveness flaring through her unique colored eyes. I could pretend the same annoyance isn’t knocking at my chest from my men eyeing her like she’s a feast they’re about to gorge on, but since this is as new to her as it is me, I slant my head and arch a brow, placing the ball back into Justine’s court.
When she returns my serve with a dramatic exit, I attempt to follow her. I barely make it one foot when the woman I see in her eyes stops my feet as quickly she does my heart. Her scorned stare is wicked, and proves what I’ve always known. Only a woman worthy of a throne can switch from being numbed by jealousy to straight-up gangster in under a second.
My focus shifts from the swinging kitchen door to Roman when he stops at my side. His brows are dotted with sweat, and his sleeves are rolled-up to his elbows. With his suit jacket nowhere to be seen, I’m going to assume he got blood on it while moving Officer Prentice’s body from the alleyway of Justine’s building to his final resting place.
“Everything good?”
Roman jerks up his chin. “He won’t be found anytime soon.”
“And the surveillance we uncovered?”
He tilts closer to me to ensure we don’t have any unwanted ears listening to our private conversation. “Trey is placing it into the right hands. If the rumblings are anything to go by, his colleagues will consider his quick death merciful.”
My jaw ticks. I hate that his death was quick and unsatisfying, but Viktor had advised he was on route with Justine, so I didn’t have much choice. I doubt jealousy would have heated Justine cheeks if she knew I had murdered a man for her.
Some of my annoyance slips away when Roman discloses why the men who worked alongside Officer Prentice won’t mourn his death. “One of the girls on the tape was Bill Hammond’s niece. She wasn’t a prostitute. She merely took a shortcut down an alleyway on the way home.”
A grin tugs on my lips. I’m not happy Detective Hammond’s niece was assaulted, but it feels good knowing one less rapist is on the streets.
My smile slackens when Roman hands me a sheet of paper. “What’s this?”
He keeps his eyes front and center. His face gives nothing away. “You asked for additional information on Maddox’s arrest. With his criminal record doctored to the point of being worthless, I dug a little deeper.” He drops his knowledgeable eyes to the sheet of paper I’m grasping. “This isn’t exactly what you were after, but I figured you’d be interested in what I uncovered. There could be rules in play here we were unaware of.”
Through fettered brows, I take in the document he handed me. It’s a grainy photograph, however, no amount of pixilation can hide Justine’s alluring features. She appears a few years younger than she is now, and her shoulders aren’t weighed down with burden. She’s standing across from a man with eyes as icy as mine, and blood tainted with just as much evil.
“Is this it? A shared umbrella on a rainy afternoon?”
The chances of me ignoring my tightening jaw fly out the window when Roman shakes his head. “No. There were a handful of dates. Dimitri seemed to have quite the fascination with her.”
I work my jaw side to side to loosen up my next set of words. “How long ago?”
“A couple of years.”
With Roman not getting to the point as quickly as I like, I force him there. “Around the time of Justine’s hospitalization?”
He waits a beat, unsure how to confirm my suspicions without sending me into a rage. “It appears as if they were on a date the night of her admission.”
Air whizzes out of my nostrils as I suck in deep breaths, endeavoring to cool the fire incinerating my veins. “He hurt her.”
I’m not asking a question, I’m stating a fact.
Well, so I thought.
“No. From the intel I’ve gathered, Dimitri isn’t at fault here.”
