Page 21 of Every Last Breath

He tried to convince himself he hated her. If only he didn’t miss her smile, the fire in her eyes, the sound of her voice. Crave her like a man possessed.

And he hated that most of all.

She gazed up at him in the strained silence choking the air. He couldn’t utter any absolution, and she seemed to pay a dear price, holding his stare. The raw intimacy shared in the look, as if they were lovers again, cost him also, for there was no going back.

“What happened to you?” she asked. “Did you really take out thirty-two men? Alone?”

He drifted into the living room, looking at those blank blue walls. His family’s absence at the Vory gathering had caused waves, but the FBI raid the same day had painted his father a traitor.

“My father was murdered because they believed he snitched, Maddox. They marked all of us for death. I did what I had to. Erased the threats to my family.”

He and Ilya had trained in the martial art of Systema since they were boys, brought up learning how to use a knife, a gun, hell, a fucking barstool to defend themselves. Ilya had lacked discipline and focus, choosing to rely on bodyguards, whereas Cole only wanted to rely on himself. His father had forged him into a lethal weapon. Vengeance had put that weapon into play.

“I knew word of what I’d done would reach powerful ears in Russia. So I had to die, to protect anyone close to me.” To protect you. “But I have more questions of my own.”

His cell buzzed in his pocket. He looked at the screen. Linda from Rubicon.

“I need to take this.” He waited, giving her a hard glance that spoke volumes.

“Oh.” She lowered her head. “I’ll freshen up. Give you privacy.”

She went into her bedroom, shut and locked the door. The shower started a second later.

“What did you find?”

Chapter 07

Vienna, Virginia

8:05 p.m. EDT

The threat of the Russians is serious as a heart attack while scuba diving,” Linda said in her croaky voice. “Big mafia bosses want you hacked into little pieces on Russian soil.”

A terrible dread gripped him. The bitter decade he’d spent a condemned soul, damn dead man walking, deprived of a real life, had been for what?

“Perfect start to my vacation. What did the team find out about her?”

The timing of Linda’s call couldn’t have been better. He’d have the truth to weigh against the story Maddox intended to spoon-feed him.

“Not sure you’re going to like that either.”

Whatever Linda had found better explain the passports and cash. He’d lost his way over the years, had done dark things he wasn’t proud of, but he only wanted Maddox to be safe, even if they couldn’t be together. “Tell me.”

“She likes privacy. No social media footprint. Mail goes to a PO box, which made getting her address tough, but you know us.” Linda gave the address of the apartment he was in. “The condo is one of a few properties under the name of a limited liability company established by her late father. The LLC is owned by her, the mother, and a brother. We figured out which property was hers because there’s one utility in her name. Never been married, and if she’s fucking, it’s no one steady.”

The news came with a strange sense of relief, but he had zero intention of psychoanalyzing why.

“For almost six years, she’s worked at Helios Importing and Exporting for Bruce Sydell. He specializes in black market goods, from stolen antiquities to nasty stuff that kills and maims.”

With her art history degree, he’d envisioned her selling paintings in a gallery, not trading death on the black market. This wasn’t the life meant for her.

Had his leaving sent her spiraling down a horrid path? Was she trapped in some shady business because he never came back for her?

“You’re right. I don’t like it.”

“Helios currently has a lucrative contract with a big pharmaceutical company.”

“Any arrests, federal wiretaps, signs of coercion?”