I nod.
“You’re going to clean up all the blood before you call this in. I don’t give a fuck what you say to the police. If you don’t do exactly what I say, I will come for you. And there is nowhere you can hide from me.”
He gives me back my phone, then limps out of the office through the narrow hallway. Glass crunches under his feet as he steps through the mess. The sound fades as he moves further away until I can’t hear anything at all.
What the fuck just happened?
My hands go to my chest. I feel myself down to my legs just to make sure I’m still alive. Sweat soaks through my shirt at the collar.
I back up until I hit the edge of the chair and drop into it with my mouth still open. I can’t close it. I just sit there staring at nothing.
Why am I still alive?
Chapter 2
Alexei
What a fucking disaster.
I sit down with a groan, tilt my head back, and pop two painkillers into my mouth. Then wash them down with a shot of vodka.
I drop my head against the back of the couch. Getting shot in the stomach hurts worse than I expected. I’ve been shot before but never there. Felt like something ripped open from the inside.
Turns out I can’t trust anyone, not even my brothers. I have four of them, and none are useful. Mikhail and Daniil, the younger two, scouted the warehouse and came back whispering about weapons being moved. Not a working brain cell between them. My father sent me to confirm it since apparently suspicion is all they could manage.
In and out, quiet. Get eyes on it, report back, then we move properly. Simple.
Apparently not simple enough because I got shot.
I pull out the ID card. Didn’t know anyone worked nights there. Just needed to stop bleeding before I dropped. Passed out anyway, and he still didn’t call the cops.
Either he’s stupider than he looks, or he’s got his own reasons to avoid law enforcement.
His photo’s grainy, expression flat, but the dimples are still there. Same ones he had when he smiled after pulling the bullet out of me. His hair doesn’t show properly in the picture, but I remember the color—sandy-blonde, a little wavy. Freckles across his face. Eyes bright green that looked like sea glass in the fluorescent lights.
Kelly Francis Mackey. Five-ten, twenty-seven—same age as me.
I snort. What kind of parents name their son Kelly Francis? Sounds like they wanted him to get his ass kicked in school.
I should have killed him. I know exactly how mistakes like him end. That’s the truth. I made the call, and now I’m paying for it. I don’t leave loose ends. Ever.
Though I can’t shake the way he looked at me. The way he showed me something close to kindness while I gave him nothing back.
The front door opens, and I shove the ID into my pocket and get up from the couch with a groan. Everything goes gray for a second. I grip my stomach and limp toward the sound, steadying myself against the wall.
Mikhail and Daniil are late, which pisses me the fuck off. I move down the hall and catch them at the door, kicking off their shoes. Daniil’s hunched under his hood, head down. Mikhail doesn’t bother looking at me until I’m right there.
One glance and I know. His pupils are blown wide, eyes glassy and red-rimmed.
Mikhail’s the most dangerous of my brothers. He has temper issues and zero self-control. The drugs make him unpredictable in the worst way, and right now, he can barely keep his eyes open, which means he was useless on the job that got me shot.
I move toward him, ignoring the sharp pull in my side where the stitches are still healing, and grab the front of his shirt. Thenslam him into the wall so hard the mirror rattles next to us. Then I wrap my hand around his throat and pin his shoulders back.
“You were supposed to make sure the warehouse was clear. Instead, I got shot in the stomach. Want to explain that?” I snap.
I let go of him and punch the wall beside him. My knuckles split, and the drywall cracks. He looks at the damage, then back at me, eyes narrowing.
“You got shot?” He blinks. “But you’re alive and dramatic as fuck, so what’s the actual problem? We checked that place twice. You’re standing here yelling at me, so clearly, you’re fine.”
