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“Rome.” It was Max, calmly saying his name. Telling him to come back.
Roman eased up on Adam’s throat. “What were you going to tell Olivia?”
Adam gasped, taking big gulps of the air in the dank alley. “That… that Ruby just hadn’t come back.”
“So you were going to tell Olivia that her mother had abandoned her,” Roman said. “You were going to let your daughter live with that.”
“I didn’t think—”
Roman removed his hand from Adam’s throat and grabbed a fistful of his hair, then slammed his head back against the brick. “No, you didn’t. So I’m going to think for you. You’re going to pick Olivia up from school. You’re going to be nice to her, take her for pizza, ice cream. Then you’re going to tell her that Mommy’s coming home very soon, that Mommy’s going to call her tomorrow after school. And when Ruby makes that call to your phone, you’re going to be pleasant, like a fucking adult. You’re going to give Olivia the phone. You’re going to let her talk to her mother as long as she wants.”
“What if—”
“I’ll tell you when I’m done!” Roman roared, slamming Adam’s head against the brick again. He sucked in a breath, trying to calm the bloodlust surging through his veins. “And then, every time Ruby calls to talk to Olivia — and she’s going to be calling a lot — you’re going to let them speak without interference.”
“And if I don’t?” Adam rasped.
Roman had to hand it to him. The motherfucker had a death wish.
“If you don’t, my men are going to meet you after work next time, and they’re going to do all the things to you my father’s men didn’t get to do to Ruby. And when they’re done, they’re going to tie a cement block around your ankle and dump you in a very deep body of water so Olivia can go live with her grandpa and aunt. And honestly, that’s a pretty fucking tempting proposition, so you should probably accept my terms before I change my mind. What do you say? Do we have a deal?”
“Fine.” Adam tried to nod but couldn’t with Roman yanking on his hair. “Yes.”
“And one more thing,” Roman said. “If you want to keep breathing, you won’t say a single negative thing about Ruby to Olivia. And you’ll be nice to that little girl. No more yelling at her during drop-off. No more making her cry on the way home.”
“How do you—”
“I know.” Roman slammed Adam’s head against the wall, saw a trickle of blood creep down the brick. He took a deep breath, forcing his voice steady. “I know. You bet on the wrong horse. Now it’s time to pay up.”
He relinquished his hold on Hale’s head, stepped back, and lowered his gun.
“I could report you,” Hale said, his eyes bright with newfound freedom.
“Go ahead,” Roman said. “I look forward to seeing the press coverage about the police officer who partnered with a Mob boss to have his ex-wife kidnapped and killed. I’m guessing you weren’t too careful about covering your tracks.”
Men like Adam Hale — and Roman used the wordmenvery loosely — never did.
They didn’t think they had to cover their tracks.
Roman was willing to bet Adam had asked a buddy on the force — probably someone from the organized crime beat — about Roman and his father. Any lawyer worth his salt would subpoena those officers and Roman was pretty sure none of them liked Adam enough to lie under oath for him.
Roman turned his back on the man, another insult.
“Let’s get out of here,” Roman said to Max, his weapon still pointed at Adam. “This place reeks.”
23
Valeriya
Valeriya poured her father’s vodka, then poured a double for herself before removing the vial from her pocket.
She drew in a breath, her heart hammering in her chest.
She’d been sick — unable to sleep, unable to eat — in the days since Roman had dropped the vial into her bag at Saks. She’d tossed and turned in her bed, running over the situation over and over again.
But she always came to the same conclusion: if her father remained alive, she would be forced to marry the detestable Erik Kalashnik, so unremarkable he couldn’t even be called a shadow of his older brother, and a drug addict besides.
She would be the daughter-in-law of the contemptible Igor and his disappearing wife, something that might have been bearable had she been married to a man like Roman.
