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“You are the daughter of a powerful politician,” I remind her.
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t remind me.”
“Someone your father made mad could go after you to settle up.”
She shakes her head. “I’ve been separate from my family for years. Until the other night I hadn’t seen my parents in over four years.”
“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”
Charity chews on her bottom lip considering my words carefully. “I suppose you’re right, but I don’t understand why. My father doesn’t care one bit about me. Well, except recently he’s decided to try and marry me off.” She frowns and shakes her head.
“Marry you off? What does that even mean?” I snap. Anger roils through me at the idea of another man coming close to her. She might not be mine, but I sure as fuck want her.
She rolls her eyes. “My dad has it in his head that he’s going to arrange a marriage between a business associate and me. One of those join our houses kind of things like back in the olden days. Barbaric.”
“Do you know who this man is? Could he be the one watching you?”
She shakes her head. “No, we just met the night of the gala, and this all started before that.”
“Tell me more about this man,” I demand, not just for professional reasons. I hate to admit that, but there is no denying my attraction and desire to have her.
“His name is Dima Sokolov, and he’s a friend of my father’s. I honestly don’t know much about him other than he’s older than me… like my father’s age,” her nose turns up in disgust, “and he gives me the creeps.”
My spine stiffens at the name. Dima Sokolov is the head of one of the biggest mob families in the city. He’s been a suspect in several disappearances, drug trafficking, and a great number of murders, but the police have never been able to pin him down for any of it.
“Do you know who Dima Sokolov is?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. I just met him. I could go the rest of my life without seeing him again. Though I have a feeling it won’t be that easy to deter him. He sent me flowers the day after the gala. I still don’t know how he got my address. My parents don’t even have it.”
My eyes narrow at that. Yeah, Sokolov is suspect number one in this situation. It might’ve started before she actually met him, but he definitely has the means and the wherewithal to make something like that happen. Her father didn’t just accidentally introduce her to this man. If Sokolov is part of this, it’s a dangerous situation. Much worse than Charity even understands.
“It’s worth looking into.” I leave it at that, not wanting to scare her any worse than she already is. She’s putting up a tough front, but I can tell she’s concerned. Maybe even fearful, though she’s laughing it off as paranoia, she’s got too good of instincts to believe that. The fact that she’s here proves it.
She shrugs. “If you think so. I honestly just came to make Darlene feel better. I don’t want to waste your time. I’m sure you’re busy.”
I frown at her. “When it comes to your safety, it’s never a waste of time.”
“Your clients must appreciate that.”
She doesn’t even realize how serious I am about it beinghersafety I’m concerned with. I don’t care about anyone else right now. At this moment, Charity is my only concern, and I will make sure she’s safe.
I’ve definitely fallen down the rabbit hole with this one. “I’ll need your schedule and address. I’d like to come by and check out your place, make sure it’s secure.”
“Okay.”
The rest of our time in my office is spent going over her schedule. Getting her address and phone number. I give her my contact information, and by the time I’m walking her out of my office, I’m even more obsessed with her.
“She’s awfully pretty,” Lori says with a Cheshire cat grin.
“I didn’t notice,” I grunt.
“Sure you didn’t.”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
Lori laughs but drops the subject. The woman is a menace, but she’s a damn fine assistant and I couldn’t find better if I tried.
I spend the rest of the afternoon contacting my old partner and asking questions about Dima Sokolov and what he’s been up to recently. I won’t dismiss him as just some creep her dad is trying to set her up with. He’s trouble and I don’t like that she’s even sort of involved in anything he’s touched. It also makes me wonder what her father’s business is with him. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.
