Page 58
His eyes grow wide behind his horn-rimmed glasses. “Whoa,” he mutters. He stumbles into a seat. “Thank you. I mean—yeah, jeez.”
I lean against the counter. “And… I heard what happened to your sister,” I tell him. “I’m sorry.”
“How much do you know?”
“That Rafael killed her.”
“He got her hooked on drugs, used her, then killed her,” Owen spits. “And then her so-called boyfriend ran like a coward.”
“He did the same to my friend,” I tell him. “He hasn’t killed her yet. But everything else.”
“He told me once.” Owen gets a distant look in his eyes. “He bragged about it to my face.”
“He’s a monster,” I murmur. I lean forward. “How much do you know about Nikolai?”
“The Bratva prince?” Owen says wryly. My hackles rise for a moment as I wonder if he’s mocking him. That wouldn’t sit right with me. I don’t want anybody making fun of Nikolai in my presence.
But he’s not. Note to self: chill.
“I know he’s powerful. But I also know that DC isn’t Miami. But now that he has the Sokolov brothers…”
“Could he take the Marlin people?”
Owen chews the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know. Possibly. But there’s a chance Rafael kills every Bratva man in this city. And then he’d come after us just for being associated with Nikolai.”
My mind flashes with horror as I think about Zoe, Rosa, Pico, Sasha, and everything she went through. Rafael’s arrogant, flashing silver tooth as he insulted me to my face.
“I think there might be another way,” I say hopefully. “The data you stole.”
“The drive?” He sucks in a breath. “There’s nothing on there. I’ve been searching it this whole time. My sister’s ex was bullshitting me. It’s a miracle it led us to the damn hotel.”
“But Rafael doesn’t know that,” I go on. “He sent men after you because he thinks there’s something valuable on it. You could arrange a meeting with him. Somewhere public where he won’t start a shootout.”
That’s what Nikolai said about the hotel. He won’t shoot there. He’s not an idiot.
Owen swallows, looking terrified. “You want me to meet with him?”
“Us,” I say, feeling the same flicker of fear. “You tell him you want to trade the hard drive for your freedom. But it has to be public. When he arrives, I’ll be there. I know I can rally him up, get him angry, and record everything he says, something he shouldn’t. Something that could ruin him.”
Owen’s lip twitches, almost a smile. “That plan is insane,” he says, shaking his head. “But I think it could work. He loves to brag.”
“We can get him singing for us,” I snap. “And we can avenge your sister. And keep Nikolai safe at the same time. This will work.”
It’s after midnight when Nikolai texts me.
Nikolai: Do you still want to go for our moonlit stroll, beautiful?
I’m accustomed to being awake at this time, so his text doesn’t disturb me. The rest of the house is sleeping soundly. Pico is curled up on the arm of the chair, breathing gently.
Serena: Yes, come and get me, prince. Climb my tower.
Nikolai: Ha, ha. I love how sarcastic you are.
Love—what a word. How can I even be thinking that word after going behind his back with Owen? But I’m doing that for him. Nikolai won’t have to risk his life if this pays off.
I need to focus on doing the right thing for myself and my man.
That feels way too good to think about.
