Page 154 of Fuckboy Psychos (Scarlett Force 1)
“Why aren’t you—” I start, but I don’t even finish that sentence because it’s too dumb. Why aren’t going to the police with this? Duh. What did Emma Jean just tell me about the Springfield Chief of Police? He’s in bed with the mayor. Alexei hates the entirety of that crowd. He might not trust the police, at least not the ones in Springfield. “What about going to the FBI or something?” I add, but he shakes his head, reaching up to rub at his face with his gloved hands.
“I need to know if my father’s family is involved in this before I do anything drastic,” he continues, lowering his voice to a whisper. His family? Like … the mob? That’s what Nisha told me this morning, that Alexei’s father had mob connections in New York. “If they’re involved, and I go to the authorities, they’ll find out about it.”
“Why tell me all of this?” I ask, utterly stunned. Of all the things I thought he might ask me for help with today, I did not expect this.
Alexei pauses again as the waiter drops off my scallops and I place a dinner order—a big, fat juicy filet mignon with grilled asparagus and goat cheese mashed potatoes. A girl’s gotta eat, right? Even—or especially—one who killed a thug today. Not just any thug. The mayor’s thug. The mayor’s thug sent after a reporter who’s digging into Ash and Aspen Kelly.
Fuck my life.
This is exactly why I don’t like to get involved with rich boys. What the hell have I opened myself up to?
I notice the waiter doesn’t even offer to get Alexei anything; he must recognize him.
“I want you to help me kill the men involved,” he explains, and I set my drink down hard on the table, hard enough that Alexei has to pause and check to make sure we still have privacy. He glances back at me. “Not only that, but I want to figure out who else knew about last night. It was clearly a planned hit.” Here he pauses, swallowing hard and closing his eyes tight as he struggles to control his breathing. Alexei reaches up a hand to his forehead and rubs at it like he’s exhausted. I notice now as I really look at him how big and how deep the purple circles under his eyes are. “Oh, Papa …”
“Why me?” I ask, trying to figure out what I could’ve possibly said or done to make him think this was a task worthy of me. I mean, it is. My crew has handled situations like this in the past. Thing is, who killed the rich and powerful CEO of the Borisov Group? That’s nuts. As I wouldn’t get my girls involved with the mayor, I can’t bring them into this either.
“Because you despise those people,” he explains, almost pleadingly, but then, I’m not sure if Alexei Grove is capable of such a thing. “Because Ash Kelly shot your friend and you’re looking for him anyway, aren’t you?”
“What does your father’s death have to do with Ash Kelly?” I’m thoroughly stumped now, pushing the small plate in front of me aside and pulling the entire plate of scallops close. I stab a fork into one and lift it to my lips, taking a tentative bite to see if I like it. The maple flavor of the bacon mixes well with the mild sweetness of the scallop; the texture is buttery and smooth.
Well shit.
Good deal.
I take a huge bite and Alexei shivers, reaching up to scratch at his temple with a gloved finger. He closes his eyes, too, so that he doesn’t have to watch me eat, apparently.
“Because he was shot by the police chief,” Alexei explains, eyes still closed. “And the mayor and the police chief—”
“Are good buddies?” I add, and Alexei opens his eyes.
Holy. Fucking. Crap.
I am in deep here. I’m in deep, and this is big, much bigger than I’m used to dealing with.
My instincts tell me to run far and fast and ignore all of this, get the hell out of Prescott with whatever I have left from the money I won when I raced Aspen. This is … I can’t even process this shit right now.
“How did you know that?” Alexei asks and then, as if he’s thought better of it, waves the question away with a sweep of his gloved hand. “No, don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter. You knew and that’s what’s important. You’re just the person to help me with the job; you and your crew.”
I’m shaking my head already because I can’t drag my girls into this. No way. Look what happened during a simple ‘traffic stop’ with Ash Kelly. He fucking shot Evelyn. And his father is involved with the police chief who killed Alexei’s dad? A rich, billionaire type with mob connections?
