Page 9 of Tangled Vows

He huffs in frustration and lowers his arms, steadying the bag with his left fist. It stops just an inch from his body, his gaze meeting mine. “I’ll get to that later,” he says in his normal voice. “Right now, I have a question for you. Do you trust her?”

I blink twice to show him my surprise. “Who are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, bratishka,” he demands. “You know who. When you spoke to her back at the safe house...” He pauses, sweat dripping down his forehead. “Did she seem honest to you?”

“I take it you mean Clare,” I tell him, understanding that he’s more than just frustrated. Something’s been festering in Leonid, like a wound that just won’t heal.

“Yeah,” he admits with a nod in answer to the who.

“In a word? Yes.” I’m sure about my response. I’m so sure that I won’t look away or even flinch. “I saw a scared woman back in that warehouse, Leonid. That fear?” I stop talking for a moment. “You can’t fake it. Nobody can. But...” I can’t help but smile as I think about the rest of my answer. “There’s a strength in her. She’s got a certain something the other five women just don’t. A spark, maybe? Who knows, but she’s stronger than she looks.”

“I saw that, too,” he states, his voice a little louder. “There’s more to her than that scared girl. That’s why...”

“You wonder if she’s hiding something,” I finish his sentence, getting another nod from him. “I understand. Most of the time, things are more complicated in our world. I’m with you. So, if you suspect a conspiracy behind all this, the next step would be questioning her.”

“Thanks, Ivan,” he says, his tone lazier as he gives me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You see things more clearly when I can’t. If you read that surveillance report, I have a question for you.”

“I read it upstairs, waiting for you,” I reply. “What is it?”

“Terzian’s top men are out on the streets, asking questions about their missing so-called ‘shipment,’” he goes on. “We can’t have the Armenians sniffing around so close to our safe house. They just can’t find those women.”

“Agreed. It’s a dangerous situation,” I say to him. “I must have missed that question, though.”

“I’ll get to that,” he rebuts, his tone stronger. “Last night, the new Blue Dolphin hostess didn’t show up for work.”

I grunt in annoyance. I hate it when Leonid doesn’t get straight to the point. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“Trust me, it does,” he assures. “The club manager gave me some lame excuses, but I think something else is at play here. Check this out,” he demands, picking up his phone from the bench on his right. He tosses it over, and I flip it around. I can’t believe my eyes when I see Clare’s resume. It’s got a picture and personal information on a document, and I’m left staring at those details like she’s some sort of alien.

“The newest recruit is Clare Jensen,” Leonid adds. “So, what’s stopping me from believing she and that hostess are working for the Armenians?”

I take a moment to let this sink in, lifting my gaze from the screen. When I spot my brother, he’s standing much closer to me, a sullen look in his eyes screaming that he believes this crazy shit. I can’t force a word from my throat.

“Our warehouse damsel will soon be working for us,” he maintains, his tone calm. “I want you to bring her to me for questioning. Nothing forceful, okay?”

I rub my jaw, wondering how I’m supposed to take all this. I tap my fingers on my thigh, not so eager to keep my silence anymore.

“I get why you’d want to talk to her about how she wound up in that warehouse,” I tell him, raising my voice a little. “But interrogating someone for applying for a job? You really want to do that?”

He lets off a deeper exhale, looking away from me. “There’s more to this than her needing a job, Ivan. She showed up in our territory just as the Armenians have started hunting us. How do you explain that?”

“Us or those women?” I wonder, my stare more intense. “Look...” I pause, feeling my pulse pound faster by the second. “The way I see it, Clare’s done nothing suspicious, but if you want a word with her about her being in that warehouse, I respect that. I’d want to talk to her about that, too. But let’s not jump to conclusions, okay?”

His lips curl into a crooked smile. “Look at you. You sound like you actually trust her.” A vision of her gaze comes back to my mind. “I want to believe she’s just a victim in all this. But, you must remember that women have tried to infiltrate us in the past. More than once. I must cover our bases. Better safe than sorry.”

“Fair enough,” I say, glad that he’s finally calming down. “I’ll go get her from the safe house. Should I be here for the questioning? Or do you prefer the privacy of your office?”

“You and your smartass comments!” He chuckles, slapping my forearm away.

I burst into laughter, his relaxed posture telling me he’s not upset anymore.

“OK, I’m bringing Clare back here in an hour or so. In the meantime, try not to demolish the rest of your gym. It cost too much for you to be shooting at your equipment.”

Leonid laughs hard as I stride away from him and head back to the staircase. I’m relieved to leave him like this. He was a mess just fifteen minutes ago. In spite of this, I don’t agree with him. I don’t think Clare is the kind of person that would sell her soul to the Armenians—or anyone else for that matter. Yet, he is right. We can’t be too careful in our line of work. We need to know if she’s trying to play us for fools.

Chapter Six

Clare

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