“Well said, Scarlett! You’ve been saving up for the swear jar to let that one rip,” Morgan says approvingly. Her smile fades as she looks at me. “What happened?”
“Kyle called me into his office and introduced me to this man as his sweet little sister,Scar.”I shudder. “Frost - Kholodov, I mean, got really excited, he didn’t want me to leave. He…” Squeezing the back of my neck, I try to rub away the memory of his spidery fingers on my skin. “Hetouched me, he traced one of my- He said, ‘I understand scars, I appreciate them.’”
Morgan picks up the photo and looks stricken. “This is the man who sleazed through my shop. I should have described him to you.”
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, woman,” Michael says. “You’re lucky he dinnae kidnap ye for his butcher shop-”
“Shut yer mouth,” Wallace cuts him off. Wrapping his arms around me, he whispers comforting nonsense as the rest of them digest this news.
“Thanks to the intel, we’ll be able to anticipate his moves and crush him every time he tries to pivot,” Dmitri says. “Xavier must have realized the plan was compromised. He would immediately think Kyle turned on him and that’s why he killed them all.”
“So, sending The Gadfly in to shoot my father makes sense,” Wallace says. “Xavier needed us to be busy protecting Dad and dealing with the attacks against the Taylor operations.”
“He dinnae know then, that we MacTavishes can multi-task,” Michael says.
“There’s more to this,” Roman’s eyes narrowed, darting back and forth like he’s playing a particularly fierce game of Fortnight. “With the rest of the Banners dead, once the false chargesare dropped - and we all know they will be - Scarlett is the sole heir to the Banner fortune, her trust, and the syndicate. Arranged marriages in the Bratva are ironclad. If he kills you and takes Scarlett,” he gives Wallace an apologetic nod. “He’ll have it all.”
Wallace is tense under me, every muscle like stone, but I can feel his rage. “He canna find enough firepower on this planet to make that happen.”
“Speaking of firepower,” Michael seems eager to change the subject. “Logan and Kai are flying in the shipment of weaponry ye confiscated from that Isle of Skye job. We can distribute the goods to your soldiers here. That’ll help control any more skirmishes if Kholodov is suicidal enough to stir up more trouble.”
“You entrusted a huge shipment of military-grade weaponry to Logan?” Dmitri starts laughing.“Logan?The same man who sank the wrong yacht?” He turns to Roman. “Remember this? He sank the president of Lithuania’s ship off the coast of Italy instead of the targets.’ It was supposed to be Morales, the Columbian drug lord’s superyacht.”
“To be fair,” Michael inserts, “Logan blew up the drug lord’s yacht the next day, so the job was done.”
“I wonder if any normal person listening into this conversation could find it anything but acutely horrifying.” Morgan shakes her head. “You’re talking about murder, attempted assassination, arson, kidnapping… And you’relaughing.”
She thinks about it. “Not that it isn’t funny.”
“Try to look at it this way,” Wallace says, absently petting Murder Mittens as she settles on top of us. “If we thought there was a real threat of Kholodov getting what he wants, there would be more guns and less talk. But my wife is protected by a security force that's likely bigger than King Charles.’ We will be wiping Xavier Kholodov and his Bratva off the face of the earth.”
“Now, we just need to find him, aye?” Dmitri adds. “I think he’ll either race back to Moscow like a whipped pup, or if he’s desperate enough, he’ll come here.”
“Then we’ll be ready for him.” Wallace holds me closer. “He’ll never touch ye, wife.”
“I think we should go raid the fridge and find all these meals the chef made,” Morgan says. “Talking about death and destruction is making me hungry again.”
“I like a woman with a strong appetite,” Roman purrs.
“For feck’s sake, Dmitri.” Michael wearily rubs his eyes, “Put a leash on your brother before Morgandrinks his blood.”
“I’m a witch, not a vampire,” Morgan says. “But blood-lettingisa talent of mine.”
“Okay, we’re going into the kitchen,” I announce, standing up. “Before you people kill my appetite.”
It’s already gone, though. I remember Xavier Kholodov’s fingers on my skin, the menace he radiated like a toxic cloud.
I don’t think he’s running back to Russia.
Avtoritet - Leaders of the operational brigades who work for the Pakhan of a Bratva
Chapter Thirty-Six
In which there is time for what is desperately needed.
Wallace…
Another day of fire.
