Page 67 of Vicious Secrets
“Pray tell, good man, how the FUCK are we going to sneak you out past your wife?!” Vi throws his hands in the air.
Alic raises his brows and drums his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Ask nicely?”
“Or I blame Alic,” I grumble and run my fingers through my hair. “She likes Cirilla too much to peel his skin off.”
Alic raises his drink up in cheers and tosses it back in a single gulp.
“Alic?Whydoesheget to decide when they die?” Robyn huffs.
I look up from the laptop that’s open on the bed beside me. Whoever has Renzo’s phone knows how to kill the trackers, but they didn’t kill them quick enough to not ping several cell towers along I-70. I called the phone four times and twice got sent to voicemail after one ring.
The phone’s on, and someone’s monitoring it. My intuition tells me it’s Leontiy. For Cirilla’s sake, I hope I’m wrong. I promised Alic she wouldn’t need a gilded cage in Vegas. Not even a month into their new lives, I’ve broken that promise.
Two minutes into “operation blame big brother” and that is failing too.
“Babe, he’s my Consigliere. His job is to advise me.” I suck as deep of a breath as the sutures on my chest will allow me to without turning me into an itchy mess. “And I want to get it over with. The clock is ticking, and Christmas Eve makes sense.”
Robyn sits on her side of the bed near my knees. She nods slowly. “Okay, well, what did he say about my parents?”
I run my tongue over my teeth.
“Oh, no,” she says as her shoulders drop. “He’s going to talk to them, isn’t he?”
“Yes. If it’s just faceless gossip they’re repeating, he’ll encourage them to skip town sooner rather than later. If it’s not, he’ll call me, and we’ll discuss our options.”
“Options,” Robyn says through thin lips as her eyes narrow.
I open my mouth to respond when my phone rings. I snort and answer the call. “Were your ears ringing?”
Alic laughs dryly. “With Chrissy’s crocodile tears and screams of sorrow.”
I raise a brow and tilt my chin to the side as I meet Robyn’s eyes. “That sounds like good news.”
“It is, Boss. The comments were stereotypes Chrissy overheard from Bratva wives. They’re heading east, umm, right now, actually.”
I lean back against the headboard and give Robyn a thumbs-up. She flops onto her back and curses while clutching her heart.
“Did they have anything on Leontiy?”
“No. Oscar’s never seen him or had contact. Vegas is all clear, Boss. Get some rest.”
“You too, Alic.”
I end the call and drop my phone in my lap. As soon as Robyn sits up on her elbows and opens her mouth, it buzzes with a text. I glance at it, and my chest tightens.
I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Watch me keep one by becoming your equal.
Until then, we have nothing to talk about.
Viismybackup.He walks a step behind me as we walk the familiar path to Reg’s office. Ari trails us a few feet back. We all walk with guns in hand, with the safety off in case shit goes south.
Alic and Danny are tracking down my mother. They’ll keep a distant eye on her until it’s time.
I haven’t decided who gets the kills. There is one ideal shooter in this situation… I don’t know if I can convince myself to do it.
I rap my fist on the office door and open it before Reg responds. From the flickering firelight under the door, I know he’s in there. It’s early morning, and last night the temperature dipped below freezing. The desert holds onto a chill like I hold onto a grudge.
The fire is to our advantage. If there are documents anywhere in the house, they’re somewhere within these four wood-paneled walls, maybe behind the fake velvet drapes that don’t cover windows. I’ll burn the entire house if I have to.
