AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe.” Shane rubs a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “We weren’t sure if you were followed, but Chester and his men didn’t spot anything to suggest that either. Then what happened?”
I take a deep breath. “Then these two huge Russian guys came into the parlor and started telling the other customers to leave. That’s when Hayden started crying. He said he didn’t know this was going to happen. He didn’t know they were going to hurt me.”
“Anything else?” Conor asks.
“And that they threatened to kill him?”
“But he didn’t say who they were?” Liam asks.
“No. He didn’t get much chance to speak because they walked straight over to us and then everything happened kind of quick.”
“What did the Russians say?” Shane asks as he stares at me. This is his process. Firing questions and trying to put all of the pieces together in his head.
“They called me Miss Ivanov and one of them had a hypodermic needle, like he was going to inject me and knock me out, maybe?”
“Anything else?” Shane asks.
I screw my eyes closed, trying to picture the scene from earlier today. I replay the conversation in my head. “I told them my name was Mrs. Ryan,” I say and Conor gives my thigh a squeeze, making me turn to him and smile. “But that was it. Then one of your men shot them. They didn’t know Hayden was involved and when they were focused on me, he made a run for it. One of the guards was going to shoot him, but I asked him not to. I want to know who threatened him and why. I’ll be able to track him down.”
“How quickly can you do that?” Shane asks and I wince.
“What?” he asks with a frown.
“I mean, he’s just a kid. It will be easy enough…”
“But?” Conor says.
“I kind of taught him how to stay off-grid.”
“Jessie!” Liam snaps.
“Well, I didn’t know he was going to pull something like this, did I?” I protest, but Liam narrows his eyes at me. Of all of the brothers, he probably trusted Hayden the least. He would have predicted this if I’d have listened. I love the fact that he doesn’t say this out loud but instead glares at me so intensely that I squirm in my seat.
“Fuck!” Shane hisses.
“It won’t take long for him to make a mistake though. I promise. I mean this whole world is all new to him. And in the meantime, I think these tattoos are the key to finding out who those Russian guys worked for. It’s just a pity that the photographs aren’t great. You think I could get another look at their bodies?”
The brothers all share a look that makes me feel like I’m missing something here.
“That’s not an option, Red,” Mikey answers for them. “They’re already ash.”
I roll my eyes. “Your efficiency at disposing of dead bodies is kinda scary, you know that?”
“You fucking love it,” Conor chuckles as he plants a soft kiss on my cheek.
I can’t help but smile at him. “There is one man who could help me ID these men,” I suggest.
“No Bratva,” Liam and Conor say at the same time.
“But we can trust Vlad,” I insist.
“This could be something to do with Vlad,” Shane says.
“No. Vlad has no reason to want me dead.”
“You’re the legitimate heir to the Ivanov empire that he now reigns over, Red,” Mikey reminds me.
“Still… He could have killed me a long time ago. Why now? It doesn’t make sense. At least let me call him. Please?”
