AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The elevator doors open. The girl moans, slouching against Quinn as her feet drag along the hallway floor. I give the front door a swift kick, followed by another when it doesn’t open a second later.
Alek’s tense face finally greets us. I swear, if I didn’t have this girl hanging between me and Quinn, I’d punch Alek in his chiseled jaw. He narrows his eyes.
“Who the fuck is that?”
I fire off a glare and push past him with Quinn and the girl. Stopping short, I stare into the concerned faces of my brothers, Luka and Taras.
“What the fuck are you wearing, V?” Taras eyes my outfit. “Do I even want to know?”
“Trust me, you don’t,” Quinn mutters.
After laying the girl on the couch, I jump at my brothers, burying my face in their shoulders. They hold me tight. Nobody speaks. A gaggle of tears forms in my throat. I choke it down. No room for weakness during this next part.
I finally break free from their arms, smiling through the tears that make my mouth quiver. Then I spin around to face Alek.
“There are so many things I want to scream at you right now.” My voice is tight, laced with disgust. “You fucking sent me into that club, had me do things that I will never be able to erase from my goddamned memory. And I was set up at every fucking turn.” I stomp toward him and smack my hand against his chest. “Did you even wonder if I’d make it out alive? Did you fucking care?”
Alek grabs my wrist. “I did what I needed to do to get you close to Branko. That’s all I’ve been doing for the past seven years. Helping you get your fucking revenge and redemption.”
“Your friend Mercer sabotaged me. He said I’d be taken to Branko. But there was no Branko. Nobody had ever heard of him. Instead, Denis Stepanov showed up. Told me I’d been lied to for the better part of the last fucking decade. That my father married me off to Dmitri as a way to protect his own ass, not to keep tabs on the Stepanovs.”
“It’s not the truth.”
“Truth?” I scream. “What the fuck is truth? I haven’t gotten a sliver of it since I’ve worked for you, isn’t that right? You give me little scraps and I gobble them up, hoping one day I’ll get the full story. The real story. But it never comes. The ‘truth’ only unravels more and more. And pretty soon, there will be nothing left.”
“You fed her so much bullshit over the years, didn’t you?” Quinn spews. “Like you want to lead her far enough to make her think she was getting close, but she never was. You did it to keep control over her. You knew she’d always be an asset to you if you kept giving her something to hope for.”
“Fuck you, Mulligan,” Alek roars. “You don’t know shit about this. You’re only here because I needed a warm body. That’s all. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re worth anything more to this job.”
“You’re a pathetic piece of shit who hates being beaten at his own game. And you tried to stop me from getting to Val tonight with your fucking stupid electric car. Why?” He walks toward Alek. “Were you afraid I’d actually be able to help Val find out why you’ve been lying to her for so long?”
I choke on a gasp and flip around to face Quinn. He doesn’t move his eyes from Alek’s face, though.
“Come on, Sev. Let’s be honest. You always knew there was more going on than you told her. How fucking deep do the lies go?” He waves his hand to my brothers. “Tell us all. What the fuck have you been hiding?”
Chapter35
Quinn
“Alek, what is this guy talking about?” Luka asks.
I jerk my head in Luka’s direction. “Maybe Branko isn’t alive after all. Nobody at the club knew his name. All of them said Stepanov was the boss.” I turn back to Alek, every cell in my body screaming at me to lay him the fuck out. “Is that true? Have you been sending Val on a wild fucking goose chase all these years while you kept tabs on Stepanov to see what he was gonna do next?”
“Stepanov was the face of that sex ring. As the primary investor, he appeared to be in control. But Branko is very real and very much alive. He always pulled the strings from behind the scenes. He’s the one with the real motive behind the destruction of Red Ladro.” He glowers at me. “And you’re just a borrowed pawn, Mulligan. Don’t ever forget that.”
Val clenches her fists. “Red Ladro. I knew it. You never gave a damn about my family at all.”
“Not true.” Alek rakes a hand through his hair and walks over to the bar. “But this is bigger than just your family.” He pours himself a double shot of vodka and it disappears in one long gulp before he answers again. “The reason why I’ve been on this guy’s tail for so long is because he’s made threats against every family in Red Ladro… to me. He’s got surveillance on everything and everyone that only started getting sent after that safety deposit box in the Bahamas was uncovered.”
“What are you talking about? We found what was in it.” Val furrows her brow. “He knew we had everything.”
“Except we didn’t. We don’t.”
“More stories. It helps you buy time, doesn’t it?” I sneer. “All the bullshit you weave together.”
“Fuck off, Mulligan. Your family stands to lose plenty, too. And when you went after El Azul, you opened everyone up to this fucking mess.”
“So again, you’re blaming me.” I throw up my hands. “Can’t you take any responsibility for the fact that you’re a liar? That you hold shit back for your own gain?”
