Page 54 of The Enemy Protector

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Kirill and I are on our way to one of the Baranov warehouses when my phone vibrates. I glance at the screen and see Nelson’s name.

He’s on Sofia tonight. Everything in me goes still. If the Ghost got to her… I don’t let the thought finish forming.

I ignore the rush in my ears and the pounding in my chest. Deep breath. Control.

“Talk,” I answer.

“Shooting. Drive-by. Outside the club on West 28th.”

My palms go slick. A wave of nausea rolls through me.

“Ghost?”

Kirill jerks the wheel and hits the brakes, his eyes on me.

“Don’t think so.”

“Dead?”

“No.”

I nearly drop the fucking phone. Relief so strong it would have taken me to my knees if I wasn’t sitting.

I hate that one word about Sofia can put my heartbeat in my throat.

“Get to her. Get her inside.”

And then my call waiting beeps. I check the screen. It’s her. She’s calling me.

“That’s her. Get to her. Now.”

I end the call and answer Sofia.

And then Kirill is running up on sidewalks and driving like a madman. He knows. He understands the urgency. Nelson is good, but he needs backup.

Of all the goddamn places in this city, she picks that one. Not my club, but I know the owner. I know the layout. I know the neighborhood’s been simmering the last three months.

And she walked right into the middle of it.

Kirill drives while I stare out the window, jaw clenched so tight my teeth ache.

“Not him,” Kirill says. “He wouldn’t miss.”

“This time.”

“Old hit is still out there. The woman has a fucking bounty on her head.”

“She won’t survive.”

I don’t say it to be dramatic. It’s the truth. It doesn’t matter that I hate it. She will die.

“Nelson’s good. He’ll keep her safe until we get there.”

I don’t respond. I’m too busy having an internal conversation with a ghost. NottheGhost, but the other one that’s been haunting me for too damn long.

You said she was smart,I tell Elena silently.You said she’d be careful.

I can almost hear her laugh.

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