Page 48 of Seek Him Like Shelter

“Clearly, Saff doesn’t like this one,” Rico said, shooting her a smirk, the kind a brother gave a pain-in-the-ass little sister. Which, admittedly, was what Saff was to him sometimes. Since Saff often acted before thinking of the family first. And Rico was a family man through and through.

“But the other option is to see if we can turn him, make him double-cross the Russians. See if we can get some decent intel out of him, since just surveilling isn’t going to cut it when they’re so careful.”

I nodded at that.

“Which way are you leaning?” I asked, looking at Renzo.

“So, is this some Soylent Green shit going on around here now?” Dav’s voice called from the back room, making all of us let out a chuckle as he made his way toward us. “Because I’ve been buying the meat assuming it wasn’t human, man,” he said, smiling at Rico.

“Human would be cheaper,” Rico admitted, sighing hard, and it was interesting to see him worrying about anything other than the family itself. “Short of it is this fuck is working with the Russians. We’re trying to figure out if we kill him, or we turn him into our spy.”

“Want me to take a few rounds with him?” Dav asked, a wicked look rising on his face, conjuring up images of him on the floor on top of one of Cinna’s attackers, his finger digging into his eye sockets.

“If I want him blind, I’ll know who to call,” Saff said, lips curved up slightly.

“As opposed to having his balls chopped off?” Dav shot back.

“That was one time!” Saff insisted, narrowing her eyes at him. “And he had it coming. You don’t want to get neutered, don’t act like a dog. Simple enough.”

“Focus, you two,” Renzo said, shaking his head. The light in his eyes, though, said he was amused by their banter.

“So, did you need something from me?” I asked, wondering why I was here when they had more than enough hands on deck.

“Seems like he’s working directly with Dimitri,” Rico told me.

“That’s… pretty high-ranking,” I said, brows lifting.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “So we want to know if you think it’s possible to use this guy against them, or if it is too risky with it being Dimitri.”

That was a good question.

On the one hand, this was likely the only way we would ever be able to get this close to one of the fuckers without holding a gun to their backs. On the other, I’d heard various people claim that the guys at the top of the Bratva were practically human lie detectors.

“If you think he’s smart and calm enough to pull it off, I think it’s worth the risk. But if there’s a chance that he’s too jumpy or a shitty liar, just end it now.”

Rico was nodding at that when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I ignored it, figuring it was just one of my men sending me some update or another. Or maybe my sister wanting to know if I was going to be coming to family dinner that week or not.

It wasn’t until I was making my way out the back door when I finally reached for it. Then felt my heart lurch in my chest.

It was Elizabeth.

Asking for help in all caps.

And I’d fucking ignored her.

“Yo,” I called to Coal, “you’re with me,” I said as I shot off a text back.

Coal banged on the door twice, then took off at a run to follow me as Dav moved out to stand guard at the door, his brows pinched, but knowing better than to ask what was going on when shit was looking emergent.

“You gonna tell me what the fuck I’m getting myself into or nah?” Coal asked, climbing in my driver’s seat as I took the passenger, wanting to be able to text Elizabeth and get more details, to reassure her that I was on my way.

“Got a girl who Bratva enforcers keep trying to kill,” I told him, getting a nod. Nothing fazed the kid. “She’s hiding in the library after getting chased through the middle school.”

“Middle school?” he asked, shooting me a look.

“She’s a grown-ass woman,” I said, rolling my eyes. “She was there for a press conference or some shit, I guess. She works for Senator Westmoore.”

“That fuck,” Coal scoffed.

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