Page 72 of Alik

“You said what you needed to say. I’m not interested in sticking around for your cock fight. Kill the girl if you must, but if you want a bit of friendly advice, I’d recommend leaving her alone.”

Cormac starts up the ladder while Settimo’s men watch. After a few moments, Lorenzo puts a hand on Settimo’s shoulder.

His nostrils flaring, Settimo pulls himself away from Nikita and storms toward the exit.

Then it’s just Nikita and I, his murderous aura sucking the oxygen from the tunnel. I stand with my hands clasped and my expression neutral when he turns around to face me, his shoulders heaving with rage.

He goes to stomp past me but grabs my shirt collar to yank me toward him before growling low in my face. “Find Vitaly… Then find thatbitch.”

18

ALIK

My apartment is silent when I get back home. I don’t know if it’s a good sign or bad, but stepping across the threshold of my entrance, I’m cautious. My eyes dart around in search of the woman inhabiting Olive’s body.

I find her asleep on my couch, fully nude without even a blanket to cover her. With my eyes locked on her like she might jump up and strike at any moment, I shut my front door and walk toward her, but something by my computer catches my attention.

The bottle of tranquilizer. It’s sitting on my desk, along with a note tucked beneath it.

My cheek twitching, I look between Olive and the bottle. It feels like a trick. Like she left it so I’ll think she’s asleep, lower my guard. It’s ridiculous, but so is she.

Still, my curiosity gets the best of me, so I walk to my desk to retrieve the note beneath the bottle.

I scan the neat, cursive handwriting through pinched eyelids. There’s an address, then,Sometimes all you need is a fresh set of eyes.

I study the address, trying to make sense of the Russian territory listed.

She means…

She found him?

No.

I toss the note down before wiggling my mouse to wake my computer. My heart beats fast, too fast as I punch in my password on my lock screen.

I shouldn’t be this hopeful. It’s too much faith to put in a psychopath.

But what pops up on the screen is an image she never exited out of. And it’s him.

My eyes widen and jaw slackens. I lower to my computer chair and run my gaze over the screen, taking in the image of a much more rugged Vitaly than the one I knew. His hands are in his pockets, and his head is down. It’s dark, only the camera’s flash and a blue glow like the neon lights of a bar illuminating the people in the group photo, but I still catch his familiar face in the background.

How did she get this?

When I click off the photo, I find her trail along with a nice little note she left for me. Olive was right. She likes to leave clues.

Sorry, baby. You were looking at the wrong cellmate.

The correct contact’s name is typed, a cellmate he’d had who got out two years ago, along with his information, including the address to the bar his uncle owns that the photo was taken in. The group had tagged the bar on social media.

Vitaly’s mugshot is pulled up, along with his extensive list of tattoos he never had when I knew him. This information, I already had. She’s just being thorough. Trying to do my job better than me.

Succeeding.

I turn my head to eye the woman sleeping on the couch, not sure who I’m truly looking at. Who the stunning vixen will bewhen she wakes up. For a moment, the shortest moment, lasting only a blink, I question if I want it to be the evil one. She’s certifiable, but she’s … useful. And intelligent. And a little too much like me.

She tried to tell me that before, but I couldn’t see it.

She’s always watching, always reading the situation, always planning her next move. She’s capable of violence unimaginable to most without blinking an eye, and while it may be a little unhinged, with some guidance…

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