Page 13 of Fallen Roses

“I said, where is my brother?” James is angry. It’s as obvious as the testosterone surrounding the two men as they play a live game of chess, one preparing to capture the king.

“He is mulling over the choice I gave him when we removed him from the gutter he fell in and deposited him to a safe house.”

“What choice?”

James is calm but I note the tense set to his jaw and the way he curls his fists and then uncurls them as a kind of coping mechanism.

“Tomorrow, he must choose between joining the military or facing imprisonment for killing Michael’s men in the alley. But I can’t guarantee his survival if Michael’s men seek revenge.”

“But he wasn’t even there,” James says angrily and Mikhail shrugs.

“That’s the beauty of what we do. You see, we write our own scripts that suit our agenda at the time. Your brother will thank us for saving his life and in return we give him the chance to pay something back to his country by way of compensation for the lives he has ruined by selling drugs on the streets to kids and the vulnerable.”

Mikhail’s voice is loaded with venom as he spits, “Your brother has one chance to make it up to you andto the people he ruined. You should be thanking us, not questioning our motives.”

“Which are?”

James flicks a glance in my direction and my heart sinks when I see the animosity directed at me. He believes I set him up, thatweset him up and are using him for something he won’t be happy about.

Mikhail’s voice is loaded with promises of what could happen if he doesn’t play by our rules as he says huskily, “You allow Ana to uncover every fucking secret The Rose Foundation is hiding and you give her free access to all your files and passwords.”

“Why?” James shakes his head. “We’re a charity. There is nothing untoward happening in the business. I would know.”

“Would you, Mr. Warner?” Mikhail leans forward and stares at him with a lethal promise in his eyes.

“You know shit about The Rose Foundation, but you’re right, if there is nothing to hide, this will be an easy trade off for your brother’s life and your possessions returned to you.”

“How long?”

I swear I hold my breath as Mikhail throws a heavy look my way and I return it with a pointed one of my own.

My message is clear and leaves him in no doubt of my wishes and he tears his gaze back to James and snarls, “When we have what we came here for?”

Mikhail stands and throws James a withering look that I’ve seen many times before and probably will again.

“How long is up to you? It’s in your best interest to make it swift because the sooner we have what we are searching for, the sooner you can get back to picking up women in bars and pretending you’re the good guy.”

I swear I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole because what the actual hell?

He knows.

How the fuck does my brother know every single freaking move I make and why do I feel as if I’ve just been caught making out behind the bleachers by the head prefect?

Mikhail turns to me and his eyes flash as he nods and says dismissively, “Work fast, Annabelle Starling, and pray you find the information my family seeks before I deal with you personally.”

I blink as he smiles and winks, his back turned to James who can’t see his expression.

I maintain a blank expression because thank fuck for that. Mikhail has kept the deception in place and made me the victim, along with James. Sometimes I hate being part of this twisted fucked up family, but at times like this, I don’t believe I could love them any more than I do.

CHAPTER 8

JAMES

It’s as if I’ve entered a parallel universe and I don’t know the way home.

If only my head would stop throbbing, I might be able to make sense of what’s happening.

When the guy leaves, I stare at Ana and a million questions are screaming for answers and from the look of her, she is as confused as I am.

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