I stand at the window watching the snow pile against the glass. Somewhere in this lodge, Holly is no doubt plotting her escape. Cursing my name. Killing me a thousand different ways in her head.
The thought makes me smile.
"It's done," Dmitri says from behind me.
I don't turn around. "The body?"
"Disposed of. No trace. No witnesses other than Holly."
The man I shot yesterday was a professional. Clean clothes. No identification. A gun with the serial numbers filed off. He knew what he was doing, which means someone sent him.
And I know who.
I turn from the window and face my oldest friend. Dmitri has been by my side since we were boys running through the streets of Moscow, stealing bread and dodging fists. We rose through the ranks together. Bled together. Buried men together. There is no one I trust more in this world.
He’s sitting in the leather armchair by the fire, his broad frame relaxed but his eyes sharp.Always sharp.That's what makes him invaluable. Dmitri sees everything and misses nothing.
"Do we know for sure it was The Wolf who sent him?" he asks.
Yuri “The Wolf” Orlova. Pakhan of the Orlova Bratva. Ruthless. Emotionless.Soulless.
He’s a part of The Six.
Someone I know very well.
"It was him,” I say, moving to the chair across from Dmitri.
"Holly witnessing you eliminate the threat is going to make your plan a lot harder to execute," he says.
"The plan is still on track. We took a detour. That's all. But we're exactly where we need to be."
He raises an eyebrow. “You've got her locked up in your lodge. She hates you. She's terrified of you. And she watched you put a bullet in a man's skull less than twenty-four hours ago." He pauses. "Not exactly the foundation for what you have in mind."
"Fear fades," I say. "Hatred can be redirected. And what she saw yesterday? That just proves I'm a man who protects what's his."
"And if she doesn't cooperate?"
"She will."
"You sound confident."
"I am."
He shakes his head slowly, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You always did like a challenge."
I think of Holly. Of the fire in her eyes when she told me to go to hell and called me an asshole. The way she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders even though she was trembling.
One thing I know for sure, Holly might not be a pushover, but she is vulnerable. Recently dumped by the man she was dating. No luck previously with men.
Breaking her will be easy.
"So what's the plan?" Dmitri asks. "Now that you have her?"
“Exactly what it’s been since I learned of her existence.” I turn back to Dmitri, and I know my smile is cold. It’s the smile of a man who has already seen the end of the chess match while everyone else is still studying the opening moves. "I'm going to marry her.”
11
HOLLY
