“She’s twenty-one and more than capable of making her own decisions.But that’s the problem, isn’t it?Not that you think I forced her, but that she chose me.”
“I know how you operate.You wouldn’t have to force her if you leaned hard enough on the right pressure points.”
It was a valid argument, and itwashow Dmitri pushed Keira into coming with him in the first place.That changed nothing.“She made her choice.Respect it.”
“I’ll respect it when I believe it was actually her choice,” Cillian fired back.
Her family would never believe it.Even if her feelings for him turned into something real, they’d still doubt and question and chip away at the fragile balance Dmitri had fought so hard for.There was too much history between him and the O’Malleys for them to do anything else.
For the first time, he regretted the plays he’d made—just a little.
“Thank you for the information, Cillian.”He hung up before either of them could say anything further.They would never be friends, but he respected Cillian for the way he treated Olivia and Hadley.
That didn’t mean he’d let the man do whatever he damn well pleased, though.
Dmitri pulled up his information on the Eldridges and plugged the range of coordinates into his system.He doubted they’d stay in one of their publically owned properties, but he knew a number of their safe houses—the very ones Mikhail had been searching.
It was almost impossible to pin down an exact location on a phone that had been turned off or destroyed, but Cillian had noted the towers it had pinged last and created a circle that Mikhail must have been inside at the time.The Eldridges could have snatched him off the street and transported him elsewhere, but there hadn’t been so much as a single sighting since Mae posted bail.He didn’t doubt that Alethea had her people working on her behalf, but the Eldridge territory was on the opposite side of the city from where Mikhail had been.
No, Dmitri’s instincts said that his man had gotten too close to their hiding location.Normally, he’d have the otherman who went missing with Mikhail—Yuri—working on any electronic searches required, but he couldn’t for obvious reasons.Dmitri had the ability to do this; it would just take him longer.
He pulled up the file he had with the addresses of known Eldridge safe houses and checked them against the map Cillian had provided, but none of them were within the range of the coordinates.They weren’t even close enough to warrant Mikhail stumbling on the Eldridges.Dmitri stilled.Stumbling on them.That had to have been what happened.Mikhail was the best there was—he wouldn’t have allowed himself to get caught while confirming a property.They must have caught him unawares, which meant they saw him before he saw them.
If none of their safe houses were in that area, it meant they were staying with someone else.The first thing he’d done when Mae took Charlie was to reach out directly to every single person who might owe allegiance to Alethea and let them know in no uncertain terms that he’d eliminate any and all hints of betrayal.To a man, they’d gotten out of his way.Alethea should have no one to turn to among that group.
He’d still check, but it didn’t feel right.She had to know Dmitri would hunt her down without mercy.She wouldn’t risk herself and Mae by staying with someone who would betray them.The only people she could besurewere loyal was her family, and right now that consisted of Mae, who had no resources of her own.
No, there had to be someone else.
He picked up his phone and dialed from memory.Ivan picked up almost immediately.“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.Why aren’t you still fucking that girl into submission?”
Ivan was the oldest of the Romanov cousins, which gave him some freedom the others didn’t have.Namely, that he talked to everyone exactly the same fucking way—as if he had better things to be doing.“I need some information.”
“That wasn’t even an artful dodge.”Ivan tsked.“All work and no play, and it’s no wonder that your new wife has to act out to get your attention.It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Dima.”
You have no idea.It was achingly clear that Ivan wouldn’t get around to business until he’d satisfied his curiosity, so Dmitri sighed.“It’s nearly ten, Ivan.I have to let her out of the bedroom at some point.We have a reception to plan, after all.”
He snorted.“Last time I saw the girl, you hadn’t consummated your marriage.A fucking waste, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you.”His life would be a lot simpler if Ivan wasn’t able to infer so damn much.
“You should have.We’re family.What’s more, we’ve beenfriendsfor how many years, Dima?And the first I’m hearing about this girl is when you summon me to your residence like some kind of servant.Thensheshows up, this tiny furious package in a gown that couldn’t have said ‘fuck you’ louder if it was written across those pert little tits of hers.”
“Enough.”He didn’t want anyone talking about Keira’s breasts.Fuck, he wanted to go back in time and haul her ass out of that room before the other man got an eyeful.It would have showed weakness, but at least she would have been shielded from Ivan.But no, he’d been too proud, too intent on playing his game, and she’d accomplished exactly what she’d set out to do—chaos.
Ivan chortled.“Got under your skin, didn’t she?Neverthought I’d see the day where the proud Dima is brought low.”
Enough was enough.He injected ice into his tone.“The marriage started off with some bumps, but they’ve been resolved.”
If anything, Ivan laughed harder.“You’re too smart to believe that.You don’t give that girl a purpose, and she’ll bring your house down in flames.”
As if Dmitri didn’t know that.He pinched the bridge of his nose.“I’m working on it.”
“Be sure to keep me updated on how well that goes over.”Another laugh and then, between one breath and the next, all amusement was gone from his voice.“You needed a favor.”
“Less a favor than help recalling a bit of old gossip.Alethea Eldridge is rumored to have killed her husband around the time you were still living in New York.Does he still have family in the city?”It had been before Dmitri’s time, and his father’s files were woefully lacking in information about Clayton Norris and what remained of his people.
“Oh, that.”Ivan grunted as if settling deeper into a chair.“She didn’t kill her old man, though it served her purposes to have everyone think she did.You were too young at the time, and I don’t know that I would have registered it at all, but Clayton Norris owed money to my mother’s oldest brother.The fool liked to gamble and didn’t know when to stop.I think Alethea tried to curtail it, but he just went behind her back to our territory.”
