“Did you say, Hayk?”
DIMITRI
“Yeah, why?”
“And Thief River Falls?” I ask with a frown as I stab out my smoke on the bottom of my boot then pull out another. “Minnesota?”
“Yes,” Liv says slowly. “Should I go get the crayons so I can draw you a picture?”
I ignore my girl’s jab as I strike a match and light up.
Why does that sound so fucking familiar?
Maybe not the name as much as the city.
It’s not like Hayk is very common, not where I’m from. It’s not Russian and since ninety percent of the people in my father’s Bratva have names that were given to them in honor of the motherland or before they left it, it makes sense that I don’t know anyone who goes by that. I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard it before, actually, but I’m questioning it right now.
Then again, Boris could have worked with him.
If that bastard was basically pimping Liv out for over a decade, I’m sure he shopped around at auctions and god knows where else. The chances of him crossing paths with my father is higher than most people’s for that alone. He always knows where the biggest and best shipments come in and how to weasel his way into a VIP seat if he wants it, and while he doesn’tusuallygo to them himself, the rare occasion would strike and Boris would make it a point to show his face right along with the otherbig players.
Not that this Hayk was necessarily a big player.
“Was it just him?” I ask, channeling my inner Leon, I guess, by talking right over my omega so I can follow my train of thought before it derails. “He wasn’t working for anyone, or running a territory?”
Liv blinks a few times before her brows raise. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“But he wasn’t part of some crime family or anything?”
“No,” Rune grunts, the big guy crossing his arms against his chest as he shifts my focus. “The business was his. He had a big clientele, though. Mostly rich assholes with some level of power.”
I forgot that’s how he met Liv.
Well, it’s how he scented her and knew they were matched. She was only seventeen and they didn’t have one single interaction, but that’s how Rune found our girl.
Never saw her face, barely heard her muffled voice, but he could smell her eucalyptus and peony, and that was all he needed to know that he matched with her. Rune was completely head over heels from then on.
He harbors a lot of guilt over that, not getting her out immediately, but that’s not his fault and none of us, not even Liv, blames him for it. Rune was a victim in that situation, a victim of circumstances just like she was. Things happened the way they did for a reason, it’s just a matter of time before we get him to accept it.
The little bit of insight he has that Liv might not have is helpful, though.
If this Hayk guy was his own enterprise, that probably increases the chances of him dealing with Boris at some point in time even more. Everyone who had quality product did.
I close my eyes and shake my head as I exhale my smoke.
Liv isn’t, and was not aquality product.
I mean, that’s not how I look at her, or how I would ever look at her. I hate that I even implied—if only to myself—she is or was something bought and owned, property traded amongst shitty fucking alphas who used and abused her for years. She’s my omega, my soul bond and one of the people in my pack that I’m fortunate enough to be able to love for the rest of my life. Liv was nothing like the omegas Niko and I saw at auctions, simply because she means everything to us, and I’m an assholefor thinking that way even if I didn’t mean it. It’s hard not to slip back into the mindset of using that kind of terminology when these topics come up, though. Especially after staying with Alexei for so long.
But it definitely doesn’t make it okay, and I need to get my shit together.
I’m such a bastard.
Despite that, Hayk flagging somewhere in my brain means very little after growing up in an environment where douchebags like him were a dime a dozen.
“We had a house. Property. I thought I was finally going to be free.”
I blink a few times as I turn back to Liv, my chest tightening over the sadness in her voice. “You are free,kotenyk.”
