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I could hear him huffing behind me as he trailed me to my office. I could smell drunkard’s sweat, beer, and whiskey. Every time I got a whiff of it, I had to fight the urge to turn around and turn his mountain of a nose into a foothill.
Once we were both behind closed doors, I turned to him and he stopped short, the two of us standing within arm’s reach of each other.
“What the hell did you pull me in here for?” he demanded.
“I need to know one thing, that I do not want the others hearing. Because if your answer to this question is what I think it is, and they heard it, they would tear you apart.”
I stared into his eyes and saw his rage and bravado waver. He knew which of the two of us was deadlier. Who had more power, even back when we’d been equal in rank.
“What is it?” The strength had gone out of his voice. That just disgusted me further.
“When did you start drinking today, and who among your men helped supply you?”
He stared at me dull-eyed for a few seconds before something clicked in his head. “You think I was off my game today because somebody drugged me? You think they turned one of my guys and he—”
“No,” I said, knowing his elaborations were just to cover his ass. “I think you haven’t been sober all fucking day.”
I watched his face carefully. He went white, then red. Guilt flickered into his expression, followed by fear, and then anger. “I don’t drink any more than any of the other guys,” he snapped.
I took a steadying breath, wondering if my knuckles would break on his face. I would use the heel of my hand instead, hit harder.
“You might be able to lie to yourself about that,” I replied coldly, “but you must be out of your mind to try to lie to me.”
“I wasn’t drunk watching Ivan.”
“Then how did that murderer get past you today?” I demanded. “That isn’t like you. None of this is like you!”
The frustration had crept into my voice, but for some reason, hearing it seemed to calm him some. “Viktor, look, seriously, this all has a really simple explanation. I had a late night, last night. A date went well unexpectedly, and by the time I needed to be back at the hospital for my turn on watch, I’d had, like, three hours of sleep and—”
“A hangover.” I frowned. I still didn’t trust his story entirely, especially with his being so drunk right now. As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t. Ivan was dead because of this.
“Look, when have I ever been this far off my game before?” His eyes pleaded, the belligerence finally ebbing away.
“Not since we were both teenagers.” I sighed, thinking suddenly of those days, back when everything had been so much simpler. Hell, they were simpler six months ago.
“See? Don’t freeze me out. If I’m going to watch over the guys for you, and handle things while you look for a new Ivan, I need—”
“Who was the girl?” I cut in suddenly.
“The…girl?” He blinked at me slowly, disgusting me with his dopey expression.
“The one you partied with instead of sleeping.”
“Oh yeah. Maria.” He saw the look on my face and paled again. “What is it?”
“Where did you meet her?”
“I ran into her at my bar. You know, Horatio’s over by Scollay Sq—”
My brain was already doing the math, and I didn’t like the results. “You met her at a bar you’re known to frequent. That night?” He nodded. “Thought so. What did she look like?”
“Real cute, curvy. Kinda dark.” His wistful smile made me want to backhand him.
“Dark curly hair?”
“Yeah, big brown eyes, big…” He cupped his hands in front of his chest while my blood pressure continued to rise.
That absolute moron.“So a Puerto Rican woman seduces you and leaves you hung over and exhausted while guarding Ivan. And that very day, a Puerto Rican assassin shows up to poison him.”
