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“What are you saying, this was personally motivated?” My chest seizes and for a moment I can’t breathe.
“Or someone was looking to get lucky,” Cain replies. Declan’s voice buzzes in the background, slightly deeper than his brother’s before Cain continues. “Declan’s already looking into Grigoriy’s closest circles—”
The rest is drowned out by a roaring cloud that descends over me. The phone flies from my hand, shattering on the wall near the fireplace as rage flushes rampant through my body. Sienna and Dante flinch in the corner of my eye as I stand, beginning to pace around my chair.
This is my fault. If that bomb is personal retaliation… It's my fault Callahan is dead.
“Killian!” Dante snaps, “talk to us.” His voice is strong, demanding but I can’t form the words. Every muscle in my body winds up so tight I’m sure I’ll burst out of my suit at any second.
The fucking Russians. Howdarethey? I hold nothing butdelightin my heart for Grigoriy’s death and retaliation is expected but a half-assed bomb that nearly killed mywife?
Dante steps in front of me, blocking my route of pacing, and places his hands on my shoulders. The contact is too hot, too restrictive and I nearly wrench myself free but the hard look in his eyes stops me.
“Killian, talk tome.”
I take a sharp, deep breath.
“Cain had the bomb examined. It was Russian but not the kind we’re used to. It was a cobbled-togethermess, effective but still.” As I speak, the roaring in my ears begins to fade and Dante’s hands remain firm on my shoulders. “The Russians are at the end of their tether and it was either a desperate attempt to get a kill or— or someone has taken Grigoriy’s death personally and it was an unsanctioned hit.”
Neither possibility brings me comfort.
Dante releases me after a comforting squeeze and he exchanges a silent look with Sienna. They can say more to each other in a glance than in a conversation.
“So,” Sienna says calmly and she returns to her seat, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. “We’re at war.”
I slowly lower back into my seat, resting on the edge as I clasp my hands together and run the information through my mind. If the bombingis a desperate retaliation then they must have been watching the car and assumed that Cara and I would be driving back home together. A correct assumption but the wrong vehicle.
“I don’t want a war, we’ve already lost too many people.” Dante settles on the edge of his desk and my lips part with a retort -how can he let this slide?!Then he continues. “But if that’s what they want then that’s what they’ll get. We tried to take the high road but if they won’t fall back in line, we’ll wipe them off the face of the Earth.”
“All of them,” Sienna decides and there’s tiredness in her voice. They’ve both worked so hard to bring us back to glory and keep our people safe, but I have no space in my heart for sympathy right now. Even though I recognize what this means…
It’s open season on the Russians.
I glance at the shattered remains of my phone on the floor and my heart lurches into my throat.
Stupid. What if Cara needs to contact me?
“Go home, Killian,” Dante says, apparently reading my mind. “Go home to Cara.”
Looking up at him, Dante offers a tight, comforting smile. The best he can manage at least.
“I’ll call Cain, see what we can do to help him find out more about Grigoriy… and I’ll get you a new phone.” He scoffs slightly. “But you should go home.”
“Go be with your wife,” Sienna adds around a sip of her glass.
“She doesn’t want me around her right now,” I reply bitterly but I can’t blame her. How will she react when I tell her that her father died because I killed that piece of shit Russian? Will she understand that such risks are expected? Or will the softness in her eyes harden into hate?
“She does,” Sienna replies, “she’s in shock. Grieving. No one really knows what they want when hit with something like this. She needs you, she just doesn’t know how to ask for it.”
“Her friends are there,” I reply and my entire chest caves in on itself slightly. I shouldn’t be fighting the prospect to go home. Cara is the only thing in the world that soothes me, but I fear seeing her in pain will fuel me to charge right back out into the street and kill every Russian I see.
Which wouldn’t end well.
“Friends are important,” Sienna nods and she leans forward, using the glass to indicate to me. “But nothing compares to the comfort a spouse can provide. She’s just lost her father and the funeral is tomorrow, she needs to know you’re there for her.”
Dante slides from the desk and moves to Sienna’s side, placing a warm hand on her shoulder and she smiles faintly even as she holds my gaze.
They’re right. I know they are but it doesn’t stop my chest from constricting. Facing Cara means I won’t be able to hold my tongue about where she was that night.
