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The people nearby gasped and half of the bar came to a standstill, assessing the situation. And I knew exactly what they saw—the help decking one ofthem, one of the elite. The untouchable were suddenly touchable because some riffraff had overstepped and that wouldneverdo at a place like Dalton’s.
A couple of guys got up and ran over, helping Ken to his feet. Holding his face, he still managed to grin at me in a way that made bile burn its way up the back of my throat. “You’ll be back. Youalwayscome back to me.”
“The fuck I won’t.” I spun on my heel and stormed away from him. My right hand hurt like hell and I smelled like fucking limes but at least the crowd gave me space and didn’t try to keep me there to be hauled out in cuffs.
Jude rushed out from behind the bar, trying to stop me on my way to the front door. “Marek! Wait. Are you ok? Where are you going?”
I didn’t slow down. “Tell them I quit. I’ll pick up my check on Friday.”
“Come on, man! Don’t do that! Everyone saw him grab you first.”
“It’s too late. I gotta get the fuck out of here. Someone probably already called the cops.”
My face was on fire from everyone fucking staring, whispering, making wild guesses as to what would makemesnap like that. Not, what would make him put his hands on me in the first place? Of course, they wouldn’t questionthat.
One gaze, in particular, felt tethered directly to me on my humiliating trip across the barroom. Mystery Man was still there. He was on his feet when I passed, his blond brows drawn over his narrowed gaze and an unreadable expression on the rest of his face.
Great. Just what I needed on top of everything else. If he knew whoIwas, he’d have no fucking problem finding out who Ken was—if he didn’t already know. And if Mystery Man teamed up with Ken, my life would become even more of a living hell than it already was.
I shook my head and kept going, shoving through the oblivious crowd at the front to escape out the door into the humid August night.
Fuck that guy.
Fuck Ken.
And fuck everything about my worthless life!
3
MISHA
“Tell me who you work for,”I repeated, rolling my head in slow circles in a vain attempt to work out the stiffness in my neck. I was overdue for a chiropractor appointment and I made a mental note to schedule one as soon as I left my current interview.
The man groaned weakly but didn’t offer up a name. Hanging from his wrists, he twisted in the air, trying to get his toes to make contact with the bloody cement beneath him but they kept slipping in the crimson puddle. Every minute he delayed, the puddle grew larger.
I glanced at Valery and nodded.
Valery pulled his fist back and unleashed it into the man’s kidney so hard I grimaced inwardly. My outer expression, however, remained devoid of emotion.
The man howled, thrashing, but still no name.
“We’ll make this last an eternity if you don’t start cooperating,” I warned him. For my sake alone, I hoped it was a lie. My head was pounding and each of his screams echoed off the concrete walls, making it thump harder. The headaches were becoming something of a problem again but I had work to do. I couldn’t let something as trivial as a TBI keep me from doing my job. Not whenmylife hung in the balance.
Valery caught my eye over the man’s shoulder and I raised my brows at him, a silent question. Blood dripped off his knuckles and his light blue shirt was stained with sweat and blood alike. He’d been working on the man for nearly an hour. It seemed his professional pride was on the line and he wanted to move on to more convincing methods, namely the jumper cables laying nearby.
I nodded, trying to mentally prepare myself for the cacophony that was about to begin, and let him get to work.
My cell phone buzzed in my jacket pocket, giving me a much-needed distraction. I slipped it out, turning my back to the gruesomeness while I answered. “Yes, boss?”
“How is your conversation progressing?” Sergei asked.
Electricity sparked to life behind me. The man screamed.
“Slowly,” I admitted when he was done shrieking, knowing full well Sergei could hear him.
“Whatever it takes, Misha. Profits are down in that sector of the city. Put a plug in it so we can all forget the recent unpleasantness.”
A bitter smile curved my lips, so it was good that he couldn’t see me. Unpleasantness was one word for it, although the one I had in mind was decidedlylesspleasant. “Yes, boss.”
