Page 32 of Hunter's Trial

I head down to the couch, a weird feeling stirring in my gut.

A few hours later

Sun is streaming in through the closed curtains all around the living room and kitchen. I shouldn’t have stayed this late. I should have been good a long time ago.

Every minute longer I stay here while the sun is up is a minute closer to getting caught. I need to get ahold of myself and leave.

But maybe some coffee first.

Only, Kate doesn’t have a damned coffee maker. Just an electric kettle to make tea with. But beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. I start the water and start slowly exploring the cabinets until I find the stash of teabags. Not my style. Then again, I used to wake up and do shots of vodka with my father. I suppose this should be considered an upgrade.

I place everything on the counter and start to try to figure out how to make the damned thing work when there’s a rustling sound behind me that I can’t place. My awareness kicks in instantly as I spin in place to look for anything that doesn’t seem the way it was just a moment ago.

There, just in front of the front door is an envelope. A simple manila envelope that looks like it was shoved under the door somehow. What in the hell could that be? If it was one of Alek’s men, then surely there has to be a more efficient way to get Kate information.

Three knocks bang on the front door so loud and insistently that it almost startles me. It must be Horus, or one of the men. There’s no other explanation. I sure as fuck am not going to open that damned door until I know what’s waiting for me out there. I edge closer – not out of fear but out of a healthy dose of caution. Each and every one of those men has a ton of reasons to want to kick my ass.

Hell, some of the men guarding the very house could be my own that Alek stole. Talk about awkward.

But nothing else ever comes. Nobody knocks again. Nobody attempts to jiggle the handle or call out to see if Kate is awake yet. Fucking strange.

My curiosity ends up getting the better of me. I have no choice but to go and see what the envelope is. I should get Kate or ask for her permission – but I can’t help myself. I pull a single folder out of the envelope. It’s some sort of contract or legal paperwork. I thumb through the contents to see the details of a very generous employment offer made out to Kate. A new client.

Hell, money like that could easily set her up for life. I might have even found it within me to be happy for her new job offer if I didn’t know the client so damned well.

The man who wants me dead more than anything.

Fausto Di Gennaro.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

NIKOLAI

Di Gennaro knows that I’m here.

I don’t know how the fuck he got that information, but he has it. He must have built up his web of spies a hell of a lot. From behind bars as he is, I think that I’ve made the fatal mistake of underestimating him. My bad.

This is an out and out threat. If Kate takes the job, I’m cooked. Di Gennaro is going to do absolutely everything in his power to get to me now that I’m out. He failed in his pathetic assassination attempt and now he’s going to ruin my freedom.

It wouldn’t have bothered me before. I would have laughed. Horus and I both would have had a good, long laugh about the sheer audacity of that man. But now I’m just one man working on his own up against the Camorra’s network of associates. Never mind the allied families that are likely still itching for a chance to carve out a chunk of my flesh.

I place the folder on the kitchen table and sink into one of the four chairs there. I rub a hand up and down my face, pulling myself together and hoping that the friction will wake me the hell up. Fausto wants revenge. I need to think. I have to figure this out on my own so that I can make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kate and her daughter aren’t going to be involved in the slightest.

I could leave the country.

Di Gennaro doesn’t have any reach in Moscow.

Sadly, neither do I now. My holdings and properties are in a state of neglect. I don’t even know where to begin. Besides, the damned FBI watch list isn’t going to let me out of the country legally. Which means finding a way to access my fortune off the books.

Moscow might be my only real choice. I will be untouchable there. But my safety be worth losing my chance at happiness here?

I glance in the direction of the room where Kate is still sleeping. I have a feeling that she wouldn’t be so quick to forgive me disappearing on her for a second time.

Karma is coming to get me for the things that I did when I was much younger and it’s not going to be a swift or merciful execution either. I won’t let it bring Kate or her daughter down with me. That’s the matter of utmost priority.

Would it be better if she just took the contract? Perhaps it would. Perhaps that would be the best thing for them. It would set her up financially for the rest of her life. Sure, it might contradict the deal that she has with Alek – but she should choose whatever is going to be the best for Liz and herself. She’s not affiliated with anyone. She’s upheld her end of the deal and that’s all that matters. She doesn’t owe them anything else.

I am wasting too much energy thinking about all of the things that might or might not happen.

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