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When her eyes widen, I know she knows what I’m trying to do.
“Of course, Miss Everett. Please let me know if there’s ever anything else.”
And with that, we go our separate ways. Detective Shanti slips away to read the note, and I take the stairs down to meet Martin and plan our next steps.
I stop midway down, though. I can see him by the main door, chatting with the front desk officer and paying more attention to his phone than anything—or anyone—else around him.
So I grab my phone and pull up my texts.It’s done,I tap out.They’re both done.I almost leave it at that, but something in my gut says to give Bambi fair warning.Tossing this number. I’ll message you from a new one.
I consider throwing the phone into the trash. At least that way, when Martin comes after me—and he will, once Internal Affairs comes gunning for him—I’ll have the excuse of a lost phone that may or may not be found by janitorial staff sometime much later.
But then I see Brenner walking up the stairs. He spots me, smiles, and then—like his partner—notices that I have something to give him.
I quickly remove the lock on my phone and toss it into a nearby trash can. The wads of paper inside cushion the fall, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Have you seen my phone?” I ask him innocently. “I can’t remember where I put it.”
Brenner stares at me for one unblinking moment. Then he shrugs. “I haven’t seen it. But I can let you know if we find it.”
Translation: I’ll know when they come for Martin.
I meet Martin where he hasn’t moved from the front desk and for once, I let him loop his arm through mine and act like we’re actually a couple. Maybe it’s partly to throw him a bone after he actually made an effort to do something marginally ethical.
Mostly, it’s because I need him to grow confident that this is real. We’re a couple, we’re getting married, and there’s no way I’ll ever leave him.
At least, not until the moment is right.
44
DEMYEN
The execution of Oleg Alexei Zakrevsky is announced throughout the Bratva. For his crimes and his treachery, he will be shot to death and then buried in an unmarked grave.
There will be no ceremony.
There will be no mourners.
Worst of all for a man like him, there will be no glory. Instead of dying in the face of dangerous enemies and going out in a blazing ball of fiery infamy, he will perish on his knees from a single gunshot delivered by someone he’s never met.
For a man like him, that’s almost worse than death itself.
Tolya and I arrive back at the Zakrevsky estate the following evening to attend the execution. It’s my understanding that this would have typically taken place the same day as his sentencing, but the fact that he stole from so many people within the Bratva delayed the process via their investigation.
Judging by the additional seven people lined up on either side of him, I’m going to guess that they uncovered how he managed to pull it off.
PakhanZakrevsky nods a solemn greeting to Tolya and I when he walks into the courtyard. “If you have anything to say to him, do it now.”
It’s a rare favor given under these circumstances. We won’t take it for granted.
I step aside so Tolya can have the first say as the eldest. He walks over to where our father is on his knees, gagged and bound.
I’m not sure what I expect Tolya to say.Thank you? At least I’m out now?
No meaningful words are spoken. All he does is spit at the ground in front of Oleg, mutter a curse in Russian, and stalk back over to me.
Fair enough.
Between the two of us, I’ve always been the more talkative one.
