Connor pushes away from the window. "You want to take my daughter?"
"Yes." I turn to face him directly. "To a place where I control every variable. Where security isn't just forty men with guns, but contingency after contingency built by someone who thinks like our enemy."
"My security is impenetrable," Lorenzo snarls.
"Prove it."
Lorenzo's smile turns predatory. "Go right ahead, Baev. But I'm telling my men to shoot to kill. You breach my perimeter, you die."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." I shrug. "Fair warning, though, you'll end up with a lot of unconscious guards. Might want to call for reinforcements."
"When?"
"Tonight."
The gauntlet is thrown down. Lorenzo's hands flatten against his desk, knuckles white with controlled rage. Connor watches this exchange with the expression of a man watching a train wreck in slow motion.
"You arrogant piece of shit!"
My phone cuts through the tension with sharp insistence. Yuri's number flashes on the screen.
"Da?"
"Anton." Yuri's voice carries a dark tone. "Morrison's been shot."
Chapter 6
Solnishko
Fee:
This has been one fucked up day followed by what promises to be another sleepless night.
I stare at the ornate ceiling of Moira's bedroom, my foot propped on an ottoman.
I'm grateful to be breathing, grateful Shane and Cillian survived, grateful Anton showed up when he did. But disappointment sits heavy in my chest anyway.
When Lorenzo's guard handed me my purse, phone, and shoes three hours ago, I kept expecting Anton to appear.
He didn't.
"Fee?" Moira emerges from the bathroom in silk pajamas, her pregnant belly prominent under the flowing top. "Did you find everything you needed in your room?"
"Yes, thank you." I shift in the oversized armchair. "The bath was perfect. Having to stick my foot out was awkward, but at least the rest of me got clean."
Moira settles carefully onto the sofa across from me, studying my face with those sharp Quinn eyes we both inherited. "Something else is on your mind, Fee. Want to talk about it?"
"I'm fine."
"Fee." Her voice carries that older sister authority despite being only two years ahead of me. "I can tell you're scared. But Lorenzo has an army of men out there and inside this house. Nobody's getting in."
"I asked Lorenzo to put me in the other wing of the house," I say quietly. "If this man somehow makes it inside, I don't want him anywhere near you or the baby."
Moira's expression softens. "He won't get in, Fee. He'll be dead long before he reaches the front door."
"We shouldn't be talking about this." I shake my head. "I didn't come to your bedroom to worry you."
"Fee." Moira leans forward as much as her belly allows. "My husband is one of the most ruthless mafia men on the East Coast. I'm sure half of Providence wants him dead." She gestures around the luxurious room. "It's my reality. I also know he's very good at staying alive. The man's fifty, Fee, fifty, and he's made it this far. He's still breathing."
