Cops showing up here is not a good sign.
Especially since the detective doesn’t seem shocked to see us. It’s almost like he expected this. Is he somehow tracking us?
Colvin’s gaze sweeps the near-empty room, taking in the women first, then the men. He knows a few of these ladies. Paige, Jordan, and Chloe, though Chloe never met him.
Paige tenses, and Jordan grasps the edge of the table, her green eyes flicking from Kirill to Colvin and back, probably wondering if her shark will attack. Paige leans across the table to murmur to Aurora, her golden blond hair falling forward.
Nika whips around, clutching a fork and scraping her chair against the floor as she positions herself between their table and the door.
Vanya moves faster, kneeling beside her and whispering in her ear.
“What can we do for you, Detective Colvin?” Alexei stands to draw attention back to himself. “As you can see, we’re having a private gathering here.”
Colvin’s mouth quirks into a faux respectful smile. “Alexei. I hear you’re a big man now. Especially since things have started to quiet down.”
Alexei shrugs. “Can’t say I’ve noticed. My clothes still fit. And I don’t know what you mean about quiet. This is a tea shop. It’s always quiet in here.”
“I doubt that.” Colvin’s expression doesn’t change as he runs his fingers over the white cloth of my table. “Thought you all might like to know that the AG’s office dropped the case.”
None of us respond. In theory, this is a good thing, though in practice, it means Colvin won’t be around to harass us. For some reason, he thinks we instigated the events of Chaos Island.
I can’t help but notice how he’s suddenly admitting defeat after the death of the real perpetrator.
“Lack of evidence.” His eyes dart back to the table he can no longer see with Vanya and Kolya standing in front of it like bodyguards, one casual, one squaring up. “Try to keep it that way.”
With another tip of the hat, he waltzes out the door, leaving just as abruptly as he entered.
The silence stretches for several moments until Artem comes back and nods to confirm that the coast is clear. Vanya drifts over to join Alexei and me while Kolya heads to the other table with Kirill, passing along all the details.
“I’m glad Nika wasn’t carrying. She looked ready to shoot.” Vanya keeps his voice low as he sips the tepid tea on the table.
“She doesn’t like guns.” I push the hot teapot over to him. “She might have forked him up, though.”
A mischievous light sparks in his eyes as he refills his cup. “Neither did Paige, but I got her used to them. Now she’s a crack shot. You just need the right motivation.”
Alexei spins his cup in his fingers, his eyes darting from window to window. “He’s full of shit.”
Vanya drops his jaw, acting insulted.
“It’s not quiet. Colvin’s either trying to get us to believe his lies, or he’s an idiot.” Alexei notices Vanya’s expression and smirks. “Don’t worry, Van. I know you’re full of shit too. But even you know the Antonovs and Falcones are circling.”
“They’re getting bolder. Testing boundaries along our territory. Hell, wasn’t long ago that Gio hired men to ambush Paige and me at the Banya, a fucking neutral zone.” Vanya’s voice goes flat and dangerous. “They think we’re bleeding and plant to move in for the kill soon.”
“They can try, but they’re wrong.” I glance across the room at Nika and the women she instinctively protected. “We have more reasons to be strong than we ever have before.”
Vanya smiles, flashing his white teeth. “And we’ve only added to our strength.”
Nika shoots me a question with her eyes, and I signal that danger has passed. She returns to her ladies’ tea, grinning into her cup while slipping the knife back into the sheath on her calf and the fork under the napkin on the table.
This woman will always keep me on my toes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Epilogue
Max
The suite Roman gave us when he realized Nika kept sneaking into my room at night is three times the size of my old one and brimming with natural light that pours in through the second-floor balcony doors.
Frankly, I’m lucky I survived that conversation. I’ve never seen Roman so pissed. If not for Nika positioning herself between us, I thought I’d wind up on the wrong end of his Makarov. At the very least, I expected to end up on my ass in the driveway.
