Page 8 of The Pakhan

CHAPTER 3

Caroline

I’d always been afraid of the man up to this point.

Who wouldn’t be? He was huge, at least six foot four, his arms, chest, and back covered in colorful ink. He had a husky, deep voice and piercing ice blue eyes. When he gave you a gaze, you knew you were in trouble.

While he’d never done anything overtly nasty or horrible to me or to his two daughters, that didn’t mean he wasn’t the most intimidating man on the face of this earth.

But the moment I’d walked in the door, I’d also admired his incredibly good looks more than I ever had before. It wasn’t like I’d never noticed his chiseled jaw or the fact he had rock-hard abs, but there was something entirely different about being in his house as a woman and not a girl.

That made me even more uncomfortable that I’d ever felt.

Especially when he was looking at me as if he didn’t believe me.

Sofiya had cried on my shoulder when her father had been shot months before, terrified she’d lose him. I’d never learned many details, other than someone had gunned him down at one of his favorite restaurants. The only saving grace of the man getting shot three times was that his two daughters hadn’t been with him.

From what I’d heard, he’d spent a couple of weeks in the hospital recovering, lucky to be alive. I’d also heard he now walked with a limp. I couldn’t imagine how badly that went over with his rank and file. Oh, what did I know about crime syndicates other than the fleeting stories my bestie had told me or the crap Joshua had spewed out to get me to take the job in the first place?

“How do you know, Caroline, and don’t fuck with me on this.”

It was the first time that I could remember the man growling. To me the sound was sexy. To his enemies, I had a feeling it sounded threatening.

“I found an email directing someone to finish the job.”

“From whom?”

I wasn’t certain I wanted to answer. I could tell he was already annoyed with my behavior. However, I was smart enough to realize I wouldn’t get away with not answering him, not after dropping the bombshell. “Stefano Marino. I think so anyway, although his name wasn’t used.”

His eyes opened wide and he looked away almost immediately, immediately scrubbing the coarse beard covering his carved jaw. Even that was sexy. Swallowing, I was starting to regret coming here, but what choice did I have?

“And what in God’s name were you doing snooping on Stefano Marino?”

“Because he was my required mark.”

Yeah, he didn’t need to tell me I obviously had a death wish. My behavior had been reckless. And full of arrogance.

“Do you have any proof?” he asked almost far too casually.

“Yes. I collected the information on a jump drive and was able to bring that with me.” I wasn’t ready to tell him about the audio file. What good would it do anyway since I hadn’t been able to download it? Why should he believe me?

He walked to the window, staring out at the darkness. I took a few seconds to wipe both my face and hair, gulping another half glass. Whiskey wasn’t my usual choice of alcohol. Maybe I’d wanted to impress him.

Or drown my stupidity in an alcoholic haze.

He said nothing for a full two minutes, his shoulders rising and falling as he thought about what was best to do. I could see the wheels of his mind churning.

When he turned around, he had that stern expression I’d seen as a kid when Sofiya and I had almost wrecked the house.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Caroline. We’re going to take this a day at a time while I think about how best to handle this situation. But I don’t mind telling you that you put yourself directly in the kind of harm’s way that will be difficult if not impossible to get you out of.”

“I understand that, sir.” I’d been reduced to being a child required to give the man respect. I hated to see disappointment in his eyes. It hurt me, more than being chased and almost murdered.

“I’m glad to hear that because with every misguided behavior there are consequences, often ones we do not want and don’t expect. That’s why bad decisions have consequences. Don’t you agree, Caroline?”

I wasn’t entirely certain what he was trying to tell me, but his tone of voice indicated I was in serious trouble. “Yes, sir. I could have gotten myself killed.”

“Exactly.” He walked closer, moving to the edge of his desk and sitting down. His legs were even longer and more muscular than I remembered. The man was a powerhouse of sex appeal. “To that end, when you cause significant danger to yourself and your future, that deserves punishment.”

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