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“I like this one.” I stare at the tiny pleats that are meant to obscure the nipples.
“Good choice.” Sonya holds it up. “So will Andrei.”
Sonya picks out ten more outfits from head to toe and makes arrangements for them to be sent to Andrei’s home. Correction. My home. While she sits at a desk with Naomi, paying the bill with Andrei’s card, I wander over to a mannequin in front of a mirror on the main floor. I admire the floor-length dress in a floral print that I would have picked over the flashy suits and tight pencil skirts. I reach for the dress and admire the soft fabric.
Something is off. I feel eyes on the back of my head. Nonsense, it’s probably Oleg. I won’t run, or at least, I won’t do it today. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as a chill clutches my spine.
I look up at my reflection in the mirror, and behind me, I see her. A dark-haired woman stares at me from the doorway of a private dressing room. Her hand grips the doorframe, and her long silver nails dig into the wood. She would be beautiful if she didn’t look ready to kill someone.
And her eyes are trained on me.
I let go of the dress and turn slowly. We make eye contact. No one would dare to openly look at a stranger like that. It’s too rude. I confront her with a stern look, but she doesn’t look away. A sense of dread runs through me, and my body freezes in place as if she’s turned me into stone. People will stare, but not like that.
It’s the unmistakable hate lurking behind her gaze—as if I should know why she hates me.
I look over toward Sonya, who is standing up to leave, and walk toward her. I glance over my shoulder, but the other woman is gone. The door is still open, but she isn’t there anymore.
In fact, I don’t see her anywhere.
Was Andrei right? Am I in danger?
Chapter 30
Andrei
“I have nothing.” Dmitri skips the vodka and sits down on the couch in my office. He ruffles his hand through his hair, changing from assassin to confidante before my eyes. “We have looked into the man’s past, but only two people who know how Gerald Reyes knew Sidorenko. Sidorenko is dead, and I doubt Gerald is going to be very forthcoming.”
My plans are not lining up. Have I spent too much time on Reyes and not enough time defending the Bratva? We’ve lost three key men this week while my bride continues to tease me in our bed. Vasily wouldn’t have put up with her games. But he’s not the pakhan anymore.
“The family is not well,” continues Dmitri as if I had asked. “From what we can tell, the chemo is having a limited impact on his illness. And the sister … Emma. She’s plastered posters in their neighborhood with Paige’s picture, and there’s a post on all the social media. The little girl is taking it worse than their father. She was spotted stumbling out of a house party—visibly drunk.”
This time he waits for me to ask, but there are always casualties. We try to keep the innocent out of it, but sometimes they are trapped through no fault of their own. Igor has put us on the defensive, and I hate him more for it. He should be running from us, not the other way around.
“Put someone around the sister’s age to keep an eye on her. Tell them to keep their distance.”
“And the father?”
“Stay the course for now,” I reply coolly. “I am certain her father is of interest.”
The silence resumes.
“Perhaps it would be a good idea to let your wife see her family.”
“Are you becoming sentimental?” I ask evenly.
Dmitri lifts his shoulders and sits up straight. “No.” His reply is low and hard. “Your wife is close to her father, and she can find out things our men cannot, even unwittingly.”
“She knows nothing about her father’s past, or even that he has one.”
“It’s what she has you believe,” he says. “We have made no progress.”
“Talia is out for blood, and she’ll get it. If not mine, then definitely Paige’s. Allowing her contact will lead Talia and Igor to her family if they haven’t already followed us there. And then you’ll have more concerns than a teenage girl sneaking home drunk from a party.”
“Point made, Andrei Vasilyevich,” replies Dmitri. “One other thing my men have noticed. The pattern of attacks seems as if Igor has inside information. He knows not only where to find us, but when the best time is to strike. And it’s always our best soldiers being targeted. Men who aren’t easily ambushed.”
There was a report recently. A new recruit lost his arm in an explosion. There have also been civilian fatalities in a public place, and that will draw attention. “Any thoughts on who might be supplying information to Igor?”
“I would keep an eye on Seryozha. He has been an outcast since the wedding. He keeps too much to himself and extends a hand to no one.”
