AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Get started on that, then.” I looked to Liam, who nodded. “Take Bridget with you.” Mark made a face but didn’t argue. Smart kid.
“We’ll keep looking for the McDonoughs in the meantime,” Vas said. “I have everyone on high alert. They aren’t getting out of the state without us knowing.” I nodded.
“Kenzi was right about the men at the club,” Dante confirmed, proudly looking at his daughter, who was all but ignoring him. “They didn’t have any tongues, but they did have this.” He pulled out his phone, sharing it to the projector screen. “My men sent this to me about an hour ago. Wouldn’t have known it was there if your black light behind the bar hadn’t been shattered.”
It was the same symbol carved into the canes. What had Ivan called them? The Seal of Solomon and the Eye of Providence.
“Those are two very powerful symbols,” my father pointed out. “From two very different cultures, but both are considered religious symbols.”
“I thought the hexagram was pagan,” Seamus said.
Andrei shook his head. “The hexagram was actually said to have first appeared in a synagogue in Israel in the third to fourth century. It was purely a motif. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that it began to take on a more mystical undertone.”
“Well, the tagline makes more sense now,” Kiernan muttered. “Power over all. God’s all-seeing power. All knowing. Always watching. That is what many people believe the Eye of Providence means.”
“Just what we need.” Liam sighed.
“Let’s stick with what we have,” I sighed. “We know the men link back to the society. Now what we need to figure out is why they suddenly attacked.”
“They were testing you.” Kenzi shrugged. “If they wanted to get rid of you, why not just send an assassin?”
Andrei snorted. “Maybe because the last one didn’t go according to plan?”
Kenzi rolled her eyes. “I’ve been thinking about that too, actually.” She licked her bottom lip nervously. “You said that the woman on the phone sounded exasperated with Kirill. What was her name?”
“Caesar,” I recalled. Kenzi’s eyebrows shot up at the name. “You know that name.”
The brunette nodded. “Anonymity is key with the society. No one knows who anyone is except one person.”
“I’ll give you one guess as to who,” Andrei deadpanned. Kenzi smirked.
“Everyone knows what she sounds like, but no one knows who she is,” Kenzi explained. “I remember rumors flying around the Dollhouse about the great and mighty Caesar. In training, they teach you to worship her. That everything is because of her. That our lives were in her hands. But no one, including Madam Therese, had ever seen her.”
“Your lives have become a soap opera.” Andrei chuckled. “Complete with people coming back from the dead. At this point, I might never return to Russia. This is much more fun.”
“Speak for yourself,” Liam muttered. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Speaking of too old.” Dante yawned. “Let’s take what we have for now and reconvene when we have more information. I’ll have my guys keep a lookout, but right now, I’ve got my sights set on Augustu. He’s up to something, and I don’t think we’re going to like what’s coming down the pipeline.”
I inclined my head at him and shook his hand when he stood to leave. He glanced back at Kenzi with a look of fatherly longing in his eyes, but she was steadfastly ignoring it. It would take time for that bond to heal, if it ever did. Kendra was a large obstacle in their way of truly mending, but there was nothing either of them could do about that.
“Come on, baby.” Taking Ava’s hand, I helped her up from her chair, smirking when she winced slightly at the movement. I had fucked her hard enough that she would feel me for days.
“Do you think this will ever be over?” Ava yawned as we entered our room. Sighing, I closed the door gently behind me.
“I don’t know, baby,” I answered her honestly as I followed her into the bedroom. We both went through our nightly routine in a comfortable silence. Ava snuggled down into the light feathered comforter with her back to my front. Snaking an arm around her waist, I pulled her until she was flush against me. “But know I will never leave your side again.”
“Good,” she grumbled. “Because you still have so many more orgasms to give me before you’re forgiven.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. How had I ever thought that loving Ava was a weakness when all I felt every day was lighter and stronger?
What a damn fool I had been.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Something was buzzing.
A phone maybe? Groaning, I opened my eyes to see my cell phone screen lit up and bouncing against the nightstand. Yep, definitely my phone. Picking it up, I frowned when I didn’t recognize the number. I pressed the answer key and brought the phone to my ear.
