Page 77 of Ivory Ashes

“I could grab coffee.” I raise my left hand slowly and tuck my hair behind my ear. I watch Tommy’s eyes widen as he clocks my truly heinous wedding ring. “As friends.”

“Wow. It really has been a hectic couple days for you,” he breathes.

“You have no idea.”

He sticks out his elbow and gestures to the stairs. “I’d love to hear all about it.”

I slip my arm through his and let him lead me down the stairs.

I meet Pyotr’s eyes through the windshield of the car for only a second before Tommy and I turn and walk in the other direction.

I’m going out with Tommy because it sounds fun and because he deserves some kind of explanation after three years of being neighbors. But some small, petty part of me hopes Pyotr will tell Mikhail about this.

An even smaller, pettier part of me hopes it will tear him up inside.

27

MIKHAIL

The moment my fist connects with the man’s face, it’s like the frustration that has been building inside of me for the last three days has finally found a conduit.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Novikov,” he moans. “I didn’t mean?—”

I pound the words out of his mouth, hitting him again and again.

Fuck, it feels good.

For the first time since I stood on that rooftop with Viviana, her body warm against mine, her lips soft and opening for me, I can think clearly.

Maybe I should keep an asshole who steals from me within arm’s reach whenever I’m with Viviana. In case the tension gets to be too much and I need to release a little pent-up energy.

Blood and spittle fly. My knuckles start to ache, but I don’t let up. I drive the man down to the floor and then follow him. I kneel over his cowering body until his eye is swollen shut and his mouth is a mangled puddle of blood.

Raoul never tries to curb me when I’m doing business, but today, he clears his throat. Only once, but it’s enough.

It’s a subtle reminder. Of where I am. Who I’m dealing with.

Reluctantly, I climb off of the man and he rolls over, spitting blood and half of a shattered tooth onto the concrete. I turn to his two adult sons. They aren’t restrained, but they didn’t make a move to help their father.

Cowards.

“Your father can’t explain himself right now, so maybe you boys can help me out here.” I pace closer, noting the way they flinch back. “You pay me to protect your family business, correct?”

The long-faced blonde on the left nods. “Correct.”

“You sell car parts upstairs and run a gambling ring out of the basement, and I make sure no one comes in and shuts you down. Do you know how I do that?” I ask, not waiting for an answer. “Cameras. A metric fuck-ton of cameras. No one comes in or out of here without me knowing about it. So, explain to me, gentlemen, how a cache of weapons I stored here ended up missing.”

The blonde looks like he’s going to be sick, so I turn to his brother. “Someone stole them. That’s all we know. We came in this morning and they were gone.”

“Except the only people coming and going have been the two of you and your father here.” I kick the father in the stomach just to make sure he doesn’t think he’s going to slip my notice. “Maybe I’m stupid, but that would tell me that one of you three knows a hell of a lot more than you’re saying. So, tell me: am I stupid?”

The blonde shakes his head so hard I think his teeth might rattle loose. “No, sir. You aren’t stupid. But we don’t know what happened.”

I sigh. “Next, you’re going to tell me you don’t know who has been skimming the top of my cut of the gambling money for the last… How long, Raoul?”

“Thirteen months,” he fills in coldly.

I whistle. “My, my. That’s a long time for all three of you to be in the dark.”

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