Page 95 of Dark Alliance
What the hell did Connor do? “Jesus, Nino.” I pull a first aid kit out of a cabinet and take out the antiseptic before wetting a cotton swab. I reach up for Nino’s brow. “Here, let me?—”
He nabs it from my hands. “I got this.” Nino winces as he presses the swab to his open wound, a clear slit from a knife. “If you really want to help, you can pour me a drink while I call Oleg.”
“Sure.” No part of that sentence brings me comfort, but I do as he bids. No sense in poking the bear.
I assume he means vodka, a new staple on our counter like the homemade red sauce in the freezer and the twenty-five-pound wheel of asiago in the fridge.
I grab a tumbler and give him a couple of shots on the rocks. By the time it’s ready, he’s on the phone with Belinski, bitching about the alleged assault. He doesn’t mention Connor by name, but I know exactly who was involved.
They’re talking in shorthand now, and their familiarity with each other churns my stomach. I wonder how long it’ll be before my brother picks up Russian.
I hate this. I hate this so much. I want to snatch the phone and toss it in the blender. I want to grab Nino by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. This man—who’s friends with untrustworthy Russians and drunk on vodka and cruel to his only sister—isn’t my brother.
But letting him see any of that will only push him further away from me. Nino’s all the family I have left, and I can’t bear the thought of losing him too.
My heart would shatter all over again. I set the drink within arm’s reach of him on the counter and inch my way toward the door, exiting as if I were never here.
Then, because Connor’s got some explaining to do, I hop in my Cayenne.
As soon as I enter the safe house, I spot the Irishman in question at the island, papers splayed out on the counter in front of him.
“Cat. It’s so late, babe. What are you doing here?” He meets me by the kitchen with open arms.
His bruised, bloodied knuckles tell their own story. I fall into his hug, sparing a moment to breathe him in, letting his smoky scent calm my nerves before pulling back and gathering his hands in mine. “What the hell is this? I told you to stay away from my brother.”
I should probably just be grateful they’re both alive and no one’s locked up in a cage.
When Connor pauses, my breath hitches.
Please don’t lie to me again.
After a moment, he huffs. “He started it.”
I sigh, relieved that he didn’t try to invent a story. “You sound like a child.” I stride to the drawer with the first aid kit. Apparently tending the scrapes of the out-of-control men in my life is what I do now.
“Come on, Cat. Don’t be like that.” Unlike Nino, Connor sets his hands on the counter so I can apply antiseptic.
At least one of my out-of-control men still has some reason.
Carefully, I dab at the small cuts on his knuckles. “He wants you dead. He had you locked up in our basement. Why would you go near him?”
“To catch him in the act.” He raises his free hand like the answer’s obvious.
I set it back down so I can give it the same attention as the other. “Catch him doing what?” I wipe both hands free of blood. Though they’re scraped up, they’re not bad enough to need any butterfly stitches.
“Doing psychopathic Nino things. Thanks, that’s better.” He flexes his knuckle, then grasps my wrist and tugs me over to the island. “I need you to see this.”
I walk over and glance at the documents. “What is it?”
Connor points to a John Hancock scrawled across one of the pages. “This is a wet signature. Your father’s.” Smirking, he crosses his arms over his chest. “I grabbed this out of the vault when I was going for the diamond.”
“Hold on.” I study the cursive. That’s definitely my father’s signature. I snag another page, and then another. “This is his will…” With the date of the gala at the top of each page.
My stomach tenses, and ice trickles down my spine.
“And look at this.” Connor slaps a hand on the page farthest to the left. “The most important part.”
My legs wobble. Connor must suspect something’s wrong, because he slides a stool under my butt. I sit, grateful, and review the section he wanted me to see.
