My mouth tightens. “When he makes his move, we’ll handle it.”
Niko shakes his head, leaning forward in his chair. “You don’t understand, Ronan sent his men after my father. You and Ace interfered, killing them, and as far as the Volkov are concerned, you killed my father, too. Those men were Ronan’s, so this is personal for him. When he goes after someone, he doesn’t just kill them; it’s a game to him. He gets off on the hunt.” Niko’s mouth curves up into an appreciative smile. “He likes to play with his food before he eats it.”
Could Ronan be the one behind the recent sabotage? Possibly. I certainly can’t rule it out, though disaster started long before Aidan and I took out those men.
“He wants to meet with you.” Niko takes his fresh drink from the waitress and points a finger at me.
“Ronan?” I ask, surprised.
“Da.”Yes.
I narrow my eyes. “He has a price on my head…”
“One night truce,” Niko says with a shrug, which has me questioning whether or not I can actually trust him.
“Fine. Set it up.”
Niko raises his glass with a nod, and I see his eyes rove over Briar again; my grip on her tightens.
“Was there anything else, or?—”
“How’s my sister?” Any remaining trace of amusement on the new Pakhan’s face is gone now, and his light blue eyes have slid over to my brother at my side, who has been unusually quiet.
Aidan’s jaw flexes. He’s been watching Niko like a hawk since we walked in here. “She’s fine.”
Nikolai scoffs, “Fine? I’m going to need a hell of a lot more than that,puckboy.”
Niko may have helped Rory escape her father, but Aidan and Niko still have a long way to go as far as trusting one another.
Aidan’s fists tighten, and he leans forward in his seat, temper flaring, but I reach up, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“Rory’s safe,” I assure him. “Maybe we’ll invite you over for dinner one of these nights.”
He huffs out a genuine laugh, “Da, if we all live through the month.” He stands, and we do the same. Niko reaches across the table to shake my hand, his blue eyes sliding over to Briar one last time. “Ronan’s out for blood,” he says, holding my eye. “Keep your loved ones close.”
57
RULE NUMBER ONE
BRIAR
Then…
“Do you really have to tell him, though?” Lily is practically running to keep pace with me as I power walk off the subway and charge up the stairs, bypassing the escalator to street level.
“Yes, I have to tell him,” I insist, to her and to myself, remembering how I spent most of last night pacing my bedroom while wrestling with this very decision. “It’s the right thing to do.” But Rí will probably tell me to get lost, the fucking asshole.
He still deserves to know.
“We’re closed!” the guy behind the bar calls out as I push through the front door of Last Call; his Irish accent is thick. I pull up short at the sight of the wide empty space. Lily follows in after me, crashing into my back, not prepared for me to have stopped so quickly after stepping inside.
“Sorry,” she hisses, but her eyes dart around the club the same way mine did.
“Hey! Are ye deaf?” The guy behind the bar sets down the rag he’s using to clean it and straightens, giving us a hard look. “I said we’re closed.”
Lily and I both exchange a look, and she takes a pointed step back toward the entrance, only to sigh when I head for the bar.
The man’s frown deepens when he sees me coming.
