Page 25 of Killer Love

He smirks and points to the monitor as the men’s room door opens again. The man with my face steps out into the quiet hallway and walks slowly toward the back exit.

“You hear that?” he asks me.

“No. Hear what?”

Markov scrolls back on the footage and slides the volume to full blast. I listen closer, just barely making out the sharp bursts of air parting his lips.

I take a step back. “He’s hissing.”

He nods. “Sound familiar?”

I look a little closer. At first glance, his face looks like mine, but now that I remember him, I see the minor differences standing out. I never forget a face. Especially not one I’ve beat on before.

“They’re setting me up,” I say.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Who have you pissed off recently?”

I chuckle. “I wish I knew.”

“You count cards at the casino again?”

“No, Markov.”

“Stick your dick where it didn’t belong?”

I raise a brow. “Not recently.”

He glares at me and lets out a quick exhale. “The Petrovin family has been looking for an excuse to go after the Lutrovas for decades. If this video gets out, then they’ll sure as hell use it.”

I scratch my head. “Then, what do we do?”

“First, we tell Nikolai.” He holds up a hand as I roll my eyes. “He can buy us some more time before this makes it to the Petrovins.”

“Time for what?”

“Time to gather our allies. If this turns bloody, we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“Like who?”

“Start from the top and work your way down.”

I cringe. Starting from the top usually means the end of the alphabet.

“Gio…” I mumble.

“He’s a brat,” Markov nods, “but he’s a powerful brat. You need him in your corner.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

He waves me off. “Go back to bed. In the morning, you and Yuri will go to Rome for a nice play date with Giovani.”

I stand still, staring off into the dark corners of the room.

Markov leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Unless there’s some reason you’d like to disclose as for why you’ve been avoiding Italy for three years?”

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