Page 23 of Skin Deep

The flush on his cheeks spread a little wider. “I’m just doing my job,” he mumbled and turned away. “Come on. Everyone’s waiting.”

Thestroganoffwasn’tasbland as I expected, but it wasn’t as good as my mamma used to make. War didn’t eat much of his either, spending dinner throwing heated glances my way. Halfway through dinner, I got tired of it and hooked my foot around his ankle under the table. He scowled at me, but I didn’t miss the sudden breath he took as I put my hand on his thigh.

Neither did Tatiana Volkov. Her sharp blue eyes cut to War and then straight to me, calculating, analyzing, deciding.

She’d told me to call her Tatty, but I couldn’t fathom it. I wasn’t a big player in the Columbus crime underworld, but even I knew who the Volkovs were, and Tatiana Volkov was practically royalty. Based on looks alone, I also would’ve hedged my bets that she was War’s biological mother. They had the same luscious gold hair and naturally sharp features. No wonder he was drop dead gorgeous.

“So, Paxton, what do you do?” asked Tatiana Volkov politely.

“Construction,” I answered. “Mostly road construction this time of year, but I do some contracting work on the side. A little plumbing, a little carpentry. If things need fixing, I’m your man.”

“You must be good with your hands, huh?” Xander grinned at War’s scowl.

I chuckled, taking the jab on the chin. “You might say that.”

“What about the other side of things? The murder for hire stuff,” Xavier asked, picking through his plate and only eating the noodles. It was getting easier to remember who was who. It helped that Xavier was dressed all in black and Xander was wearing eyeliner and glitter on his cheeks.

“I don’t actually do it for hire,” I explained. “I do it because somebody’s got to. Wasn’t always like that, though. I was a gangbanger growing up. Went away for assault, armed robbery, possession. Wound up doing eight years after a plea deal. Could’ve been a repeat customer. Would’ve been if not for Maya keepin’ me on the straight and narrow through my probation once I got out. Didn’t leave the life behind until Lettie was born though. Not completely. I knew the minute I held her in my arms that I was done. Being a father means everything to me.”

“And yet here you are,” War said sullenly. “Risking everything.”

I squeezed his thigh. “Here I am. I did try to keep my nose clean, but I live in a bad neighborhood. Lots of people get hurt. I got tired of seeing it, so one day, I decided to start taking out the trash myself.”

River put down his fork, frowning. “And your former gang friends let you do that on their turf?”

“Half the time, they’re the ones who bring me the jobs,” I said with a huff. “People they can’t touch for one reason or another. And it’s not always murder. Most of the assholes I go after are barely a blip on the radar. Motherfuckers who beat their wives, or pimp out their daughters, or terrorize old ladies and steal their social security checks. People the pigs ignore ’cause of the color of their skin or how little money they make. I put the fear of God into ‘em. Break a few bones so they don’t forget someone’s always watching.”

I looked up and realized everyone was staring at me. Ah, shit. I’d gone off monologuing like some super villain. “Pardon my cussing, ma’am. My mamma would wash my mouth out with soap if she heard me swearing at your dinner table.”

Tatty gave me a tight smile. “Well, you’re clearly passionate about what you do.”

“That’s the thing though—I don’t want to do it,” I said quietly. “I wouldn’t have to if other people would do their jobs. But that’s not the world we live in. Ain’t nobody going to protect people like me and my girls. We got to do it ourselves.”

“I will,” War said suddenly.

Xander snickered, making War’s cheeks flush bright red.

War cleared his throat. “I mean, we do. Or we try to. That’s why I think we should go after the ripper. He’s hurt enough people, and the police don’t seem to be any closer to catching him. If they’re interested at all.”

Tatty and Annie exchanged a look before Tatty put her fork down and gently dabbed at her bottom lip with a napkin. “The ripper is a high-profile case.”

“So? We’ve taken out high-profile targets before,” War protested.

“We have, but in this case, we don’t even have a target,” Annie added. “You’re talking about a full-scale investigation, Warrick. We’d need access to the police files, to interview victims, to build a criminal profile, to do all the work the police should be doing.”

“I can get the police files,” Xavier said, sitting forward. “That information is on a secure server, but I can access it if someone’s got a USB planted inside a computer that’s connected to that mainframe.”

I frowned. “Who’s going to walk into the police headquarters and go wherever they like?”

“Nikita,” War said, and turned to me. “My father is a criminal defense attorney. There are dozens of cops on the take for the vory that could give him access.” He turned back to the table. “Shepherd and I could build the profile in an afternoon. After that, it’s just canvassing and interviewing. We’ve taken on bigger jobs for smaller reasons.”

“And don’t forget the hours and hours of analyzing boring crime scene photos.” Xander sighed and stabbed at his plate.

“Theo will do that,” River volunteered. “He likes those sorts of puzzle…games. Things. And he’s got the time. Nikita and Tatty could help since they’d know what to look for.”

“I can pull medical files for review,” War said. “We have half a dozen angles to go at this. We can do it.”

“We’ll need to clear it with Yuri,” Annie said.

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