He clenched his fist and then forced himself to release it.Losing his cool right now might be satisfying in the short term, but he had bigger problems than his and Aiden’s pissing match.“Mae Eldridge is free.”
That seemed to bring Aiden up short.“The fuck she is.”
“She was released on bail this morning.Her attorney claimed she was entrapped by the FBI, and the judge bought it.”He had to take a few seconds to fight down the curses that threatened to escape.“She and Alethea have dropped off the radar.”
Aiden was quiet for several long moments.Probably living through those long hours in between when Mae took his woman and he was able to rescue her.Hours when theycouldn’t be sure Charlie was still alive.“She needs to be stopped.”
“I concur.”In addition to doubling the manpower he had on the search, Aiden’s help would ensure the O’Malleys didn’t move against him for marrying Keira.Two birds with one well-placed stone, though he would have rather traded barbs with the man if it meant Mae was safely locked up.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“See that you are.”Dmitri hung up and turned to Mikhail.The dark-haired man waited patiently as he always did, the ultimate hunter.“Find them.Alethea’s too smart to have gone back to the family home, but we can’t take for granted that she didn’t.”Bailing Mae out was a calculated risk.Alethea had to know that both O’Malley and Romanov wouldn’t rest until the threat to their respective women was eliminated, so she wouldn’t have made that decision lightly.Mae was brutal enough to last in prison for some time unscathed, which meant there was a deeper game being played.
Now it was just a matter of finding outwhat.
A pounding on the door had him fighting a sigh.Only one person dared make an entrance like that.Sure enough, when Mikhail opened it, a tall redheaded woman stood there scowling.Always scowling.Between her coloring and size, she could easily pass for a lumberjack—and she had the shitty attitude to match.Dr.Jones.
Her thick brows lowered at the sight of him.“She’s through the worst of it.”
He didn’t let himself sigh, because any outward sign of emotion was handing ammunition to the enemy.Dmitri had no illusions—the second the doctor left here, she’dcall Aiden O’Malley and report everything.The only reason she’d taken his call to begin with was because she’d been on the O’Malley payroll for years.Keira might be married to Dmitri, but she was still an O’Malley in the woman’s eyes.He’d called, and she’d come to New York to help see Keira through her withdrawal.
Dmitri crossed to his desk and wrote out a check for the agreed-upon amount.Dr.Jones wasn’t a fool—she’d ensured herself a nice bonus for being inconvenienced.He’d readily agreed to it because, even out of her mind, Keira was more likely to trust a doctor she had experience with than anyone on his staff.“Anything I should know?”
“She’s going to be out of sorts for another week, at least.Depressed, anxious, something else along those lines.No telling how it’ll present, because everyone is different, but she won’t be back to anything resembling normal even though she’ll think she is.”
Fragile.For all her fire and spikes, his Keira was so goddamn fragile.
“I’ll take it into account.”
She gave him a long look.“I’d also remove or lock up all the alcohol in the place, and whatever other drugs you might have lying around.She didn’t choose this, so chances of relapse are high.”
He’d already accounted for it.Keira would find no easy pickings in the household, and the men were under severe threat if they supplied her with something Dmitri had forbidden.All of that wouldn’t matter a damn bit if he couldn’t convince her that she had a good reason to stay sober.
Dmitri didn’t lose.
He sure as fuck wasn’t going to lose when it came to Keira.
CHAPTER FOUR
Keira woke up restless.She tried to go back to sleep, but unfamiliar energy coursed through her, demanding she get out of bed and do something.She started by peeling off her clothes.They weren’t the ones she’d worn to Romanov’s—or ones that she’d packed—and she had no memory getting dressed in the first place.Did that goddamn Russian do it?
She wasn’t sure what bothered her more—that he’d seen her naked or that he had seen her when she was defenseless.
Needing some armor back in place, she wandered into the bathroom.It was as big as some people’s bedrooms, with a tiled walk-in shower and double sinks with a counter large enough to sleep on.The dark gray coloring was accented with deep red, and brought the worddecadentto mind.
A second doorway led to a large walk-in closet filledwith clothing.She rifled through it, her eyebrows inching up.All in her size, down to the shoes lined up like little soldiers in their cubbies.High-handed Russian.That was his MO, though, so she wasn’t exactly surprised.Dmitri Romanov was god of the world he moved in, and he didn’t hesitate to bend people to his will to suit his purposes.
He wouldn’t find her nearly as bendable as the others in his life.
Keira considered dolling herself up, but he’d see right through the ploy.Dmitri had home-court advantage, and he would use it without mercy.Her only chance to get one up on him was to act against expectations and use his surprise for her gain.She didn’t knowwhatshe wanted yet, but she wasn’t going to roll over and play Stepford wife just because she’d said yes at the altar.
If Dmitri had given her half a chance, she would have givenhima chance.
Instead, he pulled high-handed shit that was right in line with her brother, and then locked her in a room for… God, she didn’t even know how long it had been.Long enough for her to lose her damn mind and sweat out every single drop of alcohol and whiff of weed in her system.Another choice she might have considered making on her own but that he’d taken from her hands.
He’d pay for that, the same way he’d pay for the threat he’d leveled to draw her out of her home and into that god-damn chapel.
She took what was supposed to be a quick shower… right up until she realized how gross she felt.Both the shampoo and soap were expensive and smelled faintly of roses, and the water pressure eased tension from her shoulders.Giving up all pretense of rushing through it, shesoaped herself up several times and then stood under the water, her racing thoughts slowing for the first time since she’d walked out of the O’Malley house and climbed into Dmitri’s car.
