“Amalie,” he says in that damn big brother tone again. “You don’t understand what you’ve walked into.”
“I understand that I got attacked the second I left Roman’s security.”
“Right, a security bubble you wouldn’t have needed if you’d never taken the damn job. Or if you left sooner!”
I shift in my seat. “I didn’t know who he was!”
“You could’ve asked me.”
“You’ve been undercover. I had no idea whether or not I could get a hold of you. Hell, I was surprised to see you here tonight.”
“I was picking up some intel. Good thing too—Roman would’ve snatched you right out of here otherwise.”
“Yeah, good thing I had my big brother here to make all of my decisions for me.”
“You want to go with him? Plunge even deeper into that insane world of his? You got atasteof it today, Amalie. You have no idea how many bodies Roman himself is responsible for, let alone his entire operation.”
I think about that night in the hot tub when we played truth or dare, when he looked me right in the eye and told me he’d killed before.
“And it’s not just thugs he tends to drop,” Kyle continues. “Women around him have a tendency to die, too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looks away, as if he regrets saying it. “It means there are patterns, Amalie. There’s history. And you’re acting like you’re immune to all of it.”
“I’m not acting like anything.”
Kyle’s mouth forms into a hard line. “Did anyone ever tell you what happened to his wife?”
“Just that she died.”
“The case is still unsolved.”
“Kyle…”
He walks away and I have no choice but to follow. When we reach his office, he pulls out his laptop. This is how he’s always been; once an idea gets into his head, he sees it through. It makes him a great detective but a pain-in-the-ass brother at times.
“I don’t want details,” I say. “I mean it.”
“I won’t give you all of them, but you at least need to know a little about what happened.”
He clicks and types, nodding when he finds what he’s been looking for. Then he turns the screen to me. I wince in anticipation, but it’s only words on a police report. I see her name, the date, and a scrawl at the bottom that says, “robbery gone bad.”
He looks up at me. “The official crime was listed as a robbery. They took her purse and her jewelry. It was determined she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we’ve always suspected it was a targeted hit made tolooklike a robbery.”
My stomach tightens. I think about my own attack less than an hour ago.
“That’s all I wanted to show you,” he says, closing the laptop. “It’s all just speculation, but you should know that we never had a suspect for the murder. Whoever did it was good enough to get the goods, kill her, and get away without leaving a scrap of usable evidence.”
I exhale, not sure what to think. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you were attacked,” he says. “And people who orbit Barinov seem to place themselves in the crosshairs. Anyoneclose to him is a way to get to him. And if you and he are involved…” He looks away as if the very thought pains him.
“But I was safe in that house. I was with his son, doing art projects and making hot chocolate. His house is basically a very fancy and expensive bunker. I’m safe there. Nothing has happened.”
“Until tonight. Now that you’re in, you can’t get out without risking your goddamn life.” He runs his hand through his hair, frustrated and angry. “Amalie, I’m not telling you who you can and can’t date.”
“Oh, you’re not? Because that’s been my experience ever since Istarteddating.”
