Page 128 of Vow Of Fire

Apparently I’d been yelling Dante’s name, because he’d held me tight and told me I didn’t have to worry anymore. That he had my back.

Rationally, I knew it was only because of him, and people like him, that I was in this position to begin with. But irrationally, his words comforted me. I’d never had anyone watch my back before, and it felt good.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to give that up, even once this was all over.

I nodded and stood up.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Vincent said, and headed back to his office.

I followed Chloe back to the gallery. Mikhail Orlov stood in the center of the room, his expression grim enough that I knew immediately this wasn’t a social visit.

“Mikhail.” I forced a smile as I unlocked the door. “Nice to see you.”

“Can we speak privately, Evelyn?”

Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.

“Of course.”

I led him down the short hallway toward my office, conscious of Chloe watching us curiously from the reception desk. Vincent’s accounting office sat one door farther down, the storage room beyond that.

“Please,” I said quietly, gesturing toward the chair opposite my desk. “Sit.”

Orlov lowered himself into the seat, studying me carefully before speaking.

“I’ve received some concerning information,” he said at last.

My chest tightened. “Nothing’s happened to Sergei or Alexei, has it?”

“No, no. They’re fine,” he told me, his expression softening at my concern. “It’s simply that business between us has become… complicated lately. I wondered whether there was a reason for that.”

I looked away, letting silence stretch just long enough to seem reluctant.

“Evelyn,” he said more quietly, leaning forward. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

I drew in a shaky breath.

“I’m being blackmailed,” I whispered.

He stared at me.

“Blackmailed? By who? The Marcellis?”

“No, not Dante.” I swallowed. “It’s the Colombians. I think they’re cartel-affiliated.”

Even saying it aloud made my pulse spike.

This was the point of no return. I hated lying to Mikhail. Before all this, I’d genuinely liked him. Trusted him, even. But trust had become a luxury I could no longer afford. If I didn’t do this, I was going to lose everything. Maybe even my life.

Now I was getting my own back. This was an act of self-preservation, I told myself. If I didn’t do something, I was either going to die in a lead storm or lose my gallery. Probably both. And I’d be damned if I was going to let that happen.

“What makes you say that?”

“This man came into the gallery a couple of months ago and asked me if I wanted to sell. I said no, obviously.” I gazed across the desk at him. “You know how hard I’ve worked to get the Agora where it is today. No way was I going to sell.”

Orlov looked at me sidelong. “And this made you suspicious?”

“Not in itself.” I paused just long enough to add weight to what I was going to say next. “But my apartment was broken into. Luckily I wasn’t home, I’d… gone away for the weekend.”