AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good for you,” I huffed, impatiently waiting to eat. Sue me. I was hungry. If they wanted a docile prisoner, they shouldn’t have taken me. “But any cop who’s willing to take bribes and squirrel away your misdeed for cash isn’t a good cop.”
“Says who? You?”
“Everyone?” That didn’t come out as confident as I hoped.
“And who is everyone, little one?” Dashkov raised an expectant brow at me. “Your politician father and his friends? Those men and women are just as corrupt as some of my police officers. More so, if you ask me, since they don’t need the money. Most of them have less regard for who they are screwing over than Monty does. And believe it or not, he was worried about your safety.”
Doubtful.
“He swore an oath to uphold the law.”
“So did your father, and those he holds in his grasp like Polly Pockets,” he pointed out, taking a bite of his sandwich. My mouth watered. “Monty needed the money to pay for his son’s chemotherapy. Something his insurance refused to cover. Now, I’ll admit I have some shady cops who do shady shit on my payroll, but Monty is not one of them. Sure, from time to time he might pass along information he finds relevant. Might steer an investigation away from me, but he’ll never mistreat innocent people, nor will he plant evidence or put drugs on the street where they don’t belong.”
That was amusing. I also found it amusing that he was painting my father to be the bad guy. The villain in his story.
“What do you call what you did to Elias Ward, if not evidence planting? Those women were in too clean containers to have been kept there for long. And he may not put drugs on the street himself, but he knows you do. He’s still complicit.”
Matthias smiled. It was scary. Like a predator smiling at his prey.
“We didn’t plant those women or guns. We simply relocated them.”
“Elias had another set of storage containers at the port listed under an alias.” Ava spoke up before I had the chance to begin my rebuttal. “The women had been held in those containers for nearly a week without any food or water. We knew that if we wanted to take Elias down, we had to move those assets where they could be linked back to him.”
“Thought of that plan herself.” Seamus smiled proudly at his sister before he leaned over to whisper in my ear. “You can eat now, wildcat.”
Thanks for the permission, jackass.My inner bitch bristled. Grabbing the loaded sandwich with two hands, I took a large bite, making a show of shoving it in my mouth, sneering when his eyes danced with amusement at my childish behavior. The table grew silent as everyone ate, too consumed with devouring their lunch to bother with any more conversation or banter.
The food was a culinary masterpiece for being something so simple. The mixture of herbs and spices that had been mixed with the mayonnaise assaulted my senses. The crisp smell of bacon and freshly baked bread made me understand the true meaning of food porn. The potato fries were freshly cut and fried, served with a side of ranch dip.
I couldn’t remember a time that I had actually enjoyed eating. Dinner in my house was a formal affair, and my food was often restricted for “image” purposes.
The silence surrounding the table wasn’t awkward or stifling, and once everyone had begun to finish up their plates, a low hum of voices began to rise. Nan, who had been sitting quietly next to Dashkov, was currently chatting up the twins’ sister in quiet conversation, while the burly Russian sipped his drink, pretending not to listen to the pair.
On either side of me, the twins were shoveling food into their mouths like it was their last meal. My eyes fell on their father. He glanced up from his plate, his gaze flitting to mine before shifting to Ava, who had asked him a question too low for me to hear.
“We need to solidify a plan for the gala.” Dashkov spoke up, pushing his plate away. Within moments, the server had cleared it from the table. He leaned back in his chair more comfortably, an ankle resting on his knee.
“We’ve already gone over the plan.” Seamus glared at him. “Several times.”
Talk about tension. None of the Kavanaughs seemed particularly fond of theBratvaleader, even though he was married to their kin. I wondered idly what the story was between them. The Irish and Russians had never been allies before, and it had me wondering if Ava was the reason behind the sudden alliance.
I didn’t recall Ava’s name ever being mentioned in Kavanaughs’ family tree, yet he’d introduced her as his daughter.
Dashkov nodded his head. “Yes, but we’ll need to alter them now that your twin resembles Mike Tyson with that nose of his.”
Ava snorted.
“Can’t say he didn’t deserve it,” I grumbled under my breath. Ava cackled from her chair, hand bracing itself on Matthias’s shoulder. The surly Russian also seemed amused. Or his lips were having a minor seizure.
It was anyone’s guess.
“Moving on from whether my son deserved his black eye and broken nose,” Liam rubbed at his temples and sighed, “Matthias is right. Kiernan won’t be able to attend the gala with his broken nose. It should be healed up enough for the auction, but with the gala only being a week away, Seamus will have to go in alone.”
“His crooked snout wouldn’t be easy to cover,” Ava teased. Kiernan lifted his gaze to glare at her. “But a little concealer would cover up his bruising.”
“I won’t be wearing any of your girly shite.”
Down girl.
