Since I agree with her, I wordlessly give Trey his marching orders, scoffing when he instantly denies my request with a brisk shake of his head. I thought Landon was anal when it came to ruling the roost. Clearly, there’s a new contender in town.
Confident he won’t defy Nikolai’s orders as well as he does mine, I switch on the faucet in the shower before spinning to face Justine. “Why don’t you shower while I get you something to eat? Once you’ve filled your belly and taken a nap, your confusion may lift.”
“TBIs don’t work that way, Maddox,” Agent Machini grumbles in my ear.
I make atut-tutnoise with my teeth, warning Agent Machini to back the fuck up before I stick my head under the water pumping out of the showerhead.
When she gets the hint by replicating the sound someone would make while zipping their lips shut, I run my hand along Justine’s arm. “We’ll be just outside.”
I’m planning to give Trey the same orders I just handed Agent Machini, but before I can, he’s up in my face, spitting out venom like he’s Justine’s keeper. “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at? She doesn’t have time to have a nap. If she’s concussed, the worst fucking thing she could do right now is sleep. Furthermore, she may be the only person who can tell us where Nikolai is.”
There it is. The real reason for his seemingly caring composure.
“That’s my sister in there,” I spit out after hooking my thumb to the partially closed bathroom door. “Her well-being comes before anything and anyone.”
“If you truly give a fuck about your ‘sister’…” he air quotes his last word, “… you’d know that theonlyperson she needs right now is Nikolai.” He works his jaw side to side before asking, “Are you here for Justine, Maddox, or to claw your way into a sanction you have no right to be a part of?”
Hello, pot, I’m kettle. Nice to meet you.
It dawns on me that Trey has looked into me as closely as I have him the past three days when he asks, “Did you and Dimitri have conjugal visits during your four-year stint at Wallens Ridge State Penitentiary? Or did he have you suck his cock in front of everyone, so they knew whose bitch you were?”
“You’re better than this, Maddox,” promises Agent Machini when I fist Trey’s shirt in preparation to knock his smug grin right off his fucking face. “More violence won’t fix anything.”
Since I agree with her, I try to release the black hatred charring my veins with words. “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”
“I’d like to see you try, twat-face.”
“Big breaths, Maddox,” Agent Machini encourages when Trey pushes me away from him by shoving his hand into my face.
I’m at the end of my teether, about to blow my fucking top when Justine enters the room in nothing but a teeny tiny towel. “We were attacked, bombarded without warning. Men came from all angles. They were wearing balaclavas and knew things about Nikolai not many know.”
“What type of stuff?” I ask at the same time Trey says, “Then what?”
Trey’s influence over Justine is undeniable when she answers his question before mine. “A battle ensued. Nikolai and Rico were outnumbered, but they held their ground until...” air whizzes between her cracked lips when she rubs the bump I pointed out to Trey earlier, “… a man grabbed me. He was so large, he didn’t need to extend his arm to hoist me from the ground.”
“That’s good, Justine. Keep going,” Trey encourages, mimicking the recommendation Agent Machini whispered in my ear.
Nodding, Justine does as suggested. “Nikolai threatened him, told him he’d kill his family if he didn’t let me go. That’s when another man entered the equation.” Her eyes flicker as she struggles to unearth her memories in the vault they hide in when they become too much to bear. “Maxsim. Nikolai called him Maxsim.”
“Maxsim?” Trey asks, his tone making it obvious he’s heard of the name before. “Are you sure?”
Justine bobs her head so fast, any concerns she has a head injury flies out the window. “If he’s Alexei’s son, then yes, I’m sure. They argued about Nikolai killing Alexei and how Maxsim was going to use Eli to take Nikolai’s place.”
“How did Nikolai respond?”
“Umm… he said he had changed the rules, that Anatoly’s rulings were no longer relevant.” She licks her lips in an endeavor to divert the focus from the wetness welling in her eyes. “His reply angered Maxsim so much he signaled for his goon to hit me.”
As her chin quivers, she sits on the edge of a bed I’m shocked belongs in the bedroom of a mafia prince. It’s the size of the one in my childhood bedroom. I never switched it out for a king because I like the way it couldn’t force a massive gap between Demi and me.
I stop relishing the memory when Trey asks Justine, “Do you know what happened to the men Nikolai and you traveled with? Roman? Rico?”
She stops shaking her head when I add, “Dimitri?” I’m not being a snoop. I am testing the cognitive functions of her brain as per Agent Machini’s request. She said if Justine has an undiagnosed TBI, her brain will repress information surrounding the time of her injury.
Agent Machini grunts out an impressive hum when Justine says, “Dimitri was shot.”
I drift my eyes to Trey when he discloses, “Dimitri is under watch at an undisclosed location. He was found by the Feds surrounded by numerous deceased members of a Russian association. They’re seeking the death penalty.”
I keep quiet about his outdated information. Even a novice in this industry can tell when their integrity is being placed under the microscope. Trey has been testing mine for days, and Justine gives his a workout now. “What aren’t you telling me, Trey?” His lips barely twitch an inch when Justine snaps out. “Don’t lie to me, Trey. You know the consequences if you do.”
