Page 78 of Alik

“An organization like the Irish.”

“What organization? If I tell my dad, maybe he can fix it.” Her voice grows quiet. “I should’ve done that all along.”

My eyes close at the sting of her words. She doesn’t say it out loud, but I catch her meaning.

She should’ve trusted him… Instead, she trusted me.

And she shouldn’t have. I don’t know why I let her trust me. Or why I still want her to.

Or why it hurts so badly that she knows it was a mistake.

“He can’t fix it,” I say.

“You don’t know that.” Her words hold a bite of frustration to them. “Just tell me who they are.”

“No.”

“Why?” Her voice grows louder.

I don’t answer.

“Alik.”

I turn to face her and blow out a sigh. “If you tell your father to fix this, and he fails, it could backfire horribly for you. I recognize that I’ve let you down, but right now, I need you to trust me. It’s better for you if you don’t know.”

And … better for me. For my organization.

Loyalty to the Bratva.

It’s all I know, isn’t it?

Her body deflates, hunching her forward, and the sight pushes the air from my lungs. I get the urge to go to her but stand still, not quite sure what to do.

“Okay,” she whispers, staring at her lap. “I trust you.”

Don’t.

I almost say the word out loud. Somehow, those three words she mutters produce both a stroke of reassurance and a sharp plunge of guilt.

My lungs tight, I go to her and lower to one knee on the tile so she’ll look at me.

“Is there somewhere safe you can go?” I gently ask.

She stares at me while her eyes glaze for a long time. “I don’t know… My family has a house on Lake Mead, but … do you think those people will know to look there?”

I hang my head while letting out a sigh of relief.

A lake house.

It’s secluded. Out of the city. And a place I can tell the Bratva I’ve already searched.

Perfect.

“No.” I shake my head, my lungs expanding. “I don’t think they’d look for you there. That would work great.”

“You’re sure?” Her eyes dart over my face. “I could try another hotel, maybe under a different?—”

“No. No hotels.” I soften my voice when her face falls. “If it’s nice enough to need a credit card and ID, they’ll find you by that. If it isn’t, it means the place is seedy enough to know not to fuck with crime organizations. One of the first things they’ll do is hand out your picture to the front desks of those hotels.”

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