He nods. “Assets, Olive, and when they no longer increase in value, it’s time to sell. It was supposed to be a clean break, an easy way to put an end to things, but you had to fucking survive.”
“How did you know?” It’s not like anyone showed up at our house right after the hit to make sure we were all dead and by the time they might have, the boys were buried and I was gone. There wasn’t anyone for miles. How would he have known I didn’t die with them once the house burned down?
Of fucking course.
Third party proof.
But still, it had to be a few days before they went searching, and finding nothing doesn’t necessarily mean anyone survived.
“The graves,” he says as he gets to his feet. “Who else gave enough of a shit to bury the three of them? It had to be you, which meant your hit was botched. Boris was pissed about that, I was fucking livid, but we managed to work things out.” Hayk grabs the back of his chair and drags it back into the shadows, the metal scraping against the concrete floor with an ear piercing screech. “Then the hunt was on.”
An overhead light turns on above me, illuminating the floor and surrounding area before a series of five more lights follow suit, and as soon as the space around me is lit up, I know exactly why this place feels familiar.
It’s the goddamn warehouse Rune saved us from, complete with scorch marks and blood stains on the floor.
“This was you?” I whisper as my eyes struggle to adjust to the much brighter lighting. “You sent them?”
Hayk nods. “I did. This group of fucking morons, and the other idiots at the strip club. All of them were my men, and they’re why I hired outside hitmen to go after the four of you. Clearly myspecialistsare too goddamn stupid for their own good.”
I still don’t understand.
How did he not only know for sure I was alive, but manage to track me down, twice, as well?
“Such a curious little thing, aren’t you?” He tsks with a grin. “I didn’t know for sure, but there were signs. The graves, the missing truck and lack of cash found. Then I get wind thatbothof Boris’ sons are MIA? The very same men who were sent to kill you suddenly go missing, the first almost immediately after the botched job, the second now but he turns up in Minnesota? I don’t believe in coincidences, Olive.”
Still.“How did you findme, though? I haven’t been with them this entire time.” It’s close with Niko, but I don’t need to tell him that. “You had a pretty good idea I wasn’t dead, but how did you know where to look for me?”
Hayk pulls on a pair of heavy gloves, weighted ones with studs across the knuckles, and shrugs. “I didn’t, not for sure, but I had somewhat competent men on every omega-based business and facility in the state. ThatOmega’s Havenwas great, by the way, easy pickings if we got them before they made it inside, so thanks for that, and when one of my dumbasses swore he saw youandthe Kozlov boy leaving that shelter, I sent more. Then when Boris put out the BOLO for his other son, I just started stringing the pieces together.”
“Jesus. Is there some kind of fucking hotline for you sick, human trafficking bastards, or what?”
Hayk laughs as I hear what sounds like heavy metal wheels scraping along rusted tracks all around the warehouse. “Something like that. When you’ve been in the game as long aswe have, you know whose number to save, and whose ass to keep tabs on.”
“Aw, so Boris is your bestie,” I deadpan, twisting my wrists behind my back in hopes of loosening the ropes. “Do you guys FaceTime when you’re at an auction? Maybe send a few texts back and forth before sampling your products?”
Hayk’s fist connects with my jaw so fast and hard that it dazes me and nearly sends my chair toppling backwards but he catches the arm before it does. “So feisty now that you’ve had a taste of freedom. Breathing that fresh air, getting a train ran on you by as many men as you choose, living the good life as a whore on the outside.” He hits me again, the sharp little studs connecting with my temple and tearing my flesh wide open. “I liked you better submissive and afraid.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I say as I shake my head, trying to clear the fog from the edges of my vision.
“That’s the thing, Olivejan.” Hayk delivers an uppercut that almost sends my teeth through the roof of my mouth, my jaws clamping shut with a pop and crack. “I’m not really disappointed, just pissed, and that means I’m not sure if I’m going to wait for your bonded pack to show up and kill you in front of them, or take you back to New York and put you to work for me again. Either way I win, but I’m trying to decide if I want instant gratification or something more long term. Then again, a bonded omega with the bites to prove it can be a hard sell back home.” He punches me in the head again, spots exploding across my vision before it temporarily goes black. “I do love a challenge, though. How about we let your mates decide.”
I fucking hope it doesn’t come to that.
If they figure out where I am, if they come for me and one of them ends up hurt, or worse, I won’t be able to live with myself.
They jumped in feet first, didn’t even hesitate to help me get my pound of flesh, and for what? A lie. A goddamnmotherfucking lie, and I can’t let them be a part of this shit any longer. Not when I know for a fact they’d risk their lives to help me.
My vendetta was for nothing but bullshit, and my life isn’t worth dying for.
But hoping they don’t rush in and try to save it is all I’ve got right now.
I don’t deserve any of those men, and I never fucking will.
CHAPTER 33
RUNE
LITTLE BIRD - STAR CAST
