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“Ms. Walker had testified against the boss of the vory v zakone. They are unforgiving son of the bitches if you ask me. When they send vors out to hunt, those men make sure the victim is dead before disposing of their body. They usually cut the fingers of the victims and pull the teeth to make identification impossible. They call it ‘professionally processed’. They have men that specialize in disposing of bodies. The fact that Ms. Walker only suffered a concussion makes her very lucky.”
“Maybe she got away.” Yeah, right. Three bullet wounds. Broken bones. Numerous cuts and bruises. Eva was an extremely lucky girl.
“I have another favor to ask you,” Liam said. “Perhaps you could go to her apartment and pick up several of her things? Sentimental items, like her photo albums, diary, and such? If that’s no trouble for you.”
“No trouble at all.”
“I figure Eva would like those mementos to help with her recovery.”
“Of course.”
“I assume you’ll be very careful about this? I’d hate to think that the men who did this to her might be watching her place.”
“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Caderyn, but you know I’m a professional.”
“I imagine snooping on a mob victim isn’t like being a chief of security officer. At least corporate spies aren’t inclined to cut your fingers or remove all your teeth.”
“You never know what one will do to cover up a secret, sir. Well, if there’s nothing else, I’d like to get going with my work.” Anderson Cod rose from his seat.
Liam stood up and shook his hand. “Thank you for helping Eva.”
“No trouble at all, sir.”
Liam saw the private investigator to the door. “Call me if you find something new.”
Cod nodded.
Chapter Three
After a bowl of chicken soup, a chicken salad sandwich, and a cup of ice tea, Eva felt sleepy. But she didn’t give into the temptation to curl back in bed and take an afternoon snooze. Instead, she went to the bathroom to take a long bath. While waiting for the tub to fill, she raided the dresser for clothes other than Liam’s ex-wife. She didn’t understand why she didn’t have personal belongings in this house. They were married right? Albeit newly-weds like he said. She should have some clothes in the house where they were living together.
The realization made her pause.
They were married and she didn’t even sleep in Liam’s bed. Judging from the lack of male possessions in this room, she was sure this wasn’t even their bed. Was this a guest bedroom? What kind of marriage were they having?
Eva spread her fingers in front of her. Suddenly she wanted like to cry. She didn’t even have a wedding ring. She didn’t know why she felt weepy. She was sure she wasn’t all mopey and whiny like this. Since when did she become a wuss?
Eva took a deep breath of exasperation.
Were they really married?
Ugh.
Biting her lip, she yanked open the bottom drawer. She found white men’s undershirts and boxer shorts. Ha! She looked at them with triumph. Liam’s clothes. She grabbed a pair and shoved the drawer shut. Liam shouldn’t mind if she borrowed his things. There was no way she would put on his ex’s clothes. And after her bath, she would march out of this room and find him and demand explanations. She didn’t care if she was trying too hard to remember. These unanswered questions were driving her insane….
After the bath, she put on Liam’s boxers and undershirt, combed her hair, and set out to find him. She was about to turn the doorknob when Liam beat her to it. He stood speechless in the doorframe. Apparently, he was amused by her choice of fashion. A smile blossomed on his handsome face.
“Lovely,” he said.
Eva looked down and saw what he meant. Her lush boobs tented the shirt, leaving little to the imagination. She pursed her lips. Her cheeks heated. “Well. There’s no way I’d wear her stuff.”
It took him seconds to realize what she meant. “I’m sorry, love.” He entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Why don’t we talk about this?”
“Sure. Just the things I’d like to ask you. I don’t feel that we’re really ma…” Her words trailed off when he held out his palm. Well, not actually his palm…he had something in his palm. Something gleaming. Rings. “What are those?”
Liam settled himself in a chair and hooked an arm around her waist. He pulled her closer. Eva sat on his lap.
“These are yours.” He took her left hand and slipped a platinum ring with a big Ceylon sapphire surrounded by glittering diamonds on her finger. “This is your engagement ring. It was my mother’s. And this…“ He slipped on another ring, a simple gold one with one paved diamond, “…is our wedding ring. I thought you’d like to have them back.”
