Page 3 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 2

“Yes,” I whispered, still trying to work through the physical pain.

Viktor’s brows immediately furrowed, and he was looking at me like he could see right through me, and it was the creepiest thing that I’d ever experienced.Even though everything that I’d just said was the truth, it was still all a lie, and I had a horrible feeling that Viktor was aware, though I didn’t know how he could know such a thing.

Viktor’s blue gaze shot over towards his brother, and there was a silent exchange between the two of them, and I’d thought that stuff like that only happened in the movies.Granted, Viktor and Kasimir probably had a sibling relationship that wasn’t like normal people’s, but to know each other well enough that you didn’t have to speak to communicate was rather daunting.

Looking back at me, Viktor asked, “Then what happened?”

“I told them that...that we didn’t have any money, but...but they didn’t believe me,” I answered.“They thought that...that beating us would...would make some money magically appear, but...but when it didn’t...”I had to take a second, the image of my mother getting shot making it harder to breathe.“They shot my mom first, thinking that it would make me talk, but...but when it was clear that they had robbed the wrong...wrong house, that’s when they shot me, too.”

“What did they look like, Zoya?”Viktor asked, his tenor still calm, but his blue eyes didn’t match the tone of his voice.

“They were both dressed all in black, and...and they both had masks on,” I replied tiredly, and I almost closed my eyes, but I knew that they weren’t finished with me yet.

Chapter 2

Kasimir~

Zoya was lying to us.

Or, at the very least, she wasn’t telling us the whole truth.While I was certain that she was accurately reciting what had happened, it made no sense that two men would pick their home to rob.Zoya and her mother lived in a very modest neighborhood, and with not even one car parked in their driveway to steal for parts, their house wasn’t exactly an attractive target.Plus, after the death of her uncle, without the extra money to keep up maintenance on the property, the house really didn’t look like it’d be hiding a goldmine inside.

Now, having lived this life for as long as we’d had, Viktor was also very aware that Zoya was holding back some details, but I also knew that he wasn’t going to press her too much right now.While it was important for us to know everything, she was hurt, tired, and possibly disoriented, and so we just needed enough to keep the police from interfering with Korolev business, and Zoya Kuzmin was definitely Korolev business at this point.

Doing his best not to come at her like the Korolev heir that he was, Viktor asked, “What else can you tell us about them, Zoya?Were they tall?Short?Skinny?”

“They were both tall to me...I guess...maybe six-feet,” she answered.“And they seemed normal, not fat or skinny...just...just regular.”

“Anything else?”my brother asked.

“One had light blue eyes, and the other dark brown ones,” she replied.

Shooting me another glance, I knew that my brother was saying so much with just that one look, and he was telling me that he knew that she was holding something back, that we’d talk about it more later, and that I’d better keep my shit together.Now, while I was fully aware that she was holding something back and that this wasn’t the end of it, I couldn’t promise that I wasn’t going to lose my shit.Just looking at Zoya had my trigger finger ready to shoot everyone on sight, but since I wanted to find who did this to her more than I wanted to take my next breath, I was going to do my best to remain focused as much as I could.

“Okay, this is what’s going to happen,” Viktor said.“When the police come to speak to you, you are going to tell them everything that you’ve just told us and nothing more, Zoya.Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered.