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One word had been cut into the thick leather with a serrated knife.
DIE
“Yeah? Do you know the last time a single location where I lived had a breach in security like this?” His anger was only increasing. I shot him a look before returning my attention to the bag.
“I have no clue but I’m certain you’re eager to tell me.”
Huffing, he started pacing the floor, waving the weapon around more carelessly than I was used to. “Never.”
“Maybe that’s because you spent most of your time at the Kozlov estate.”
“Fuck you! That’s my job. Fucking a mark shouldn’t be one of yours.”
I bristled, my tension soaring. “What the hell do you mean a mark?” He looked away, visibly cringing.
“You heard me. Old man Kozlov has no intentions of allowing that girl to live if the shit with the casino goes south.”
His words seemed like a challenge. Dimitre knew better than to ever issue me a challenge. “I’m going to give you approximately three seconds to tell me what the fuck you’re talking about before you and I are going to have words.” When I walked toward him, he flicked on the safety, shoving his weapon behind his back into his waistband. Maybe he was afraid I was crazy enough or pissed off enough to end our tense words in gunfire.
“Alexei. He told me point blank last night there would be a hit placed on that girl if you didn’t do something about it.”
It. The woman wasn’t an ‘it.’ Either Vladimir had lied to me, or Alexei was stepping in the middle. The man enjoyed tossing around his authority, another thing that pissed me off about him. My relationship with the second in line to the throne was rocky at best, but this could tip it over the edge. He usually let me do my job and I stayed out of his shit, but his project was in the crosshairs, and he wasn’t in control. The construction project was the single overlap where our duties were concerned for a reason.
One day we would kill each other.
The realization that Alexei was out to strip her away from my life only made me gravitate toward wanting to keep her. As I’d told most of men under my command, they had to think with their head, not their dicks. What the hell was I doing?
“Did Alexei say anything else?” I was more demanding than before.
“He didn’t have to. You know how he is.”
Yeah, I knew better than some. I’d thought of him as deranged, but my opinion didn’t matter worth shit. “I’ll deal with Alexei on my own terms. Any idea who got in?”
“Well, they didn’t leave a second love note, if that’s what you mean. No. I got here a little over an hour ago. That’s when I called you the first time. I guess you were too busy.”
I was beginning to dislike his attitude. “How I spend my time is my business, Dimitre. I suggest you remember that.” I was driven back to the thought that she’d provided someone with a layout of the apartment, but given they’d entered for a single purpose, in my mind it was all about keeping us going in different directions, never able to focus on who was playing us.
Everyone in the fucking family as well as those closest were all on edge. What I knew about the slice in the bag was that it was a personal message directed at me.
“Yeah, I hear you loud and clear. What the fuck did you do, beat the crap out of someone?” he asked, pointing toward my knuckles, grinning as if my battered hand was a badge of honor.
“It’s not important.”
“Nothing ever is with you. By the way, staying in this apartment is bullshit.”
“But in a good location.”
“As if you’re going to spend another night here.”
“That’s not up for discussion. We might have a possible leak regarding the attack.”
His face brightened. “Oh, yeah? How so?”
“Vassily secured someone with information. That’s where I’m headed next.”
“Maybe I’ll join you. I need to get rid of some rage.”
“Suit yourself,” I hissed then took another good look around the living room. “First we find out information. I don’t need another bloodbath. If this asshole had anything credible, then I want it. Do you understand me?”
