Page 76 of Alik

I shake my head. “Her death was in our best interest. I only thought the Pakhan would wait to allow the Irish to take care of it. But if you weren’t given the order, I assumed I would be taking care of it. It’s my job to keep track of these things.”

“Right.”

I scoff. “You don’t believe me?”

Instead of answering, he gazes around my apartment while bringing the beer to his lips. At the same time, both pairs of our eyes seem to lock onto the panties carelessly left on the living room floor next to the couch.

Fuck.

“It’s such a shame one of your men died while she was being rescued. Lucky it wasn’t you.”

I don’t respond. All my effort goes to keeping my expression neutral as Finn looks at me with a smirk that tells all.

Hedoesknow.

He figured it out.

Probably before he saw those panties. Before he even showed up here.

Did he tell his boss? How much time do I have?

How much time doesOlivehave?

“We’re friends, right, lad?”

My face unchanging, I nod.

He grins. “I did you a real solid, giving you the scoop on that girl, didn’t I? I mean… Imagine if the boss knew I was colluding with a Russian.” He whistles through his teeth and shakes his head.

He didn’t give me shit on Olive. But that isn’t what he’s saying anyway.

“I owe you,” I say because it’s what he wants. A favor stuffed inside his pocket for later. It might buy his silence temporarily, but I wouldn’t trust Finn with any long-term agreement. The only reason he’s agreeing to keep his mouth shut now is because there isn’t any reason for him not to. The second he finds a reason…

He licks his bottom lip and nods, his eyes roaming again. “Uh-huh. I’ll be remembering that.” He wanders into my living room, and I almost snap at him to stop when he reaches my bedroom door, but my mouth stays shut. He’s only baiting me. He runs his finger over the wooden door then peers at imaginary dust he swiped up. Lifting his nose, he sniffs.

“You should think about cleaning out your apartment. It smells like you have a rodent problem.”

His canines gleam as he grins at me and slaps the door a couple of times before pushing away and heading to the exit.“Welp, gotta go. Take care, friend. And happy hunting for that Italian.”

He whistles a tune on his way out, his hands tucking into his pockets while I stay facing the bedroom door. It’s a sucker punch to the stomach to know how easily he knew the truth. How confident he was in it.

She isn’t safe here.

She isn’t safewith me.

Once the front door shuts, I’m still frozen for several moments, my chest feeling tight. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and allow my muscles to thaw.

I walk to my bedroom door and carefully open it to avoid startling Olive. When I don’t instantly see her, I flatten myself on the floor. She’s lying under my bed, curled up on her side with her shaking knees pulled to her chest. My T-shirt covers her torso from me, but her legs are bare.

“He’s gone.” I hold out my hand for her. “You can come out.”

“Who—who was that?”

“Just a friend. It’s fine.”

She doesn’t take my hand nor make any attempt to crawl from beneath the bed. Her wide eyes hold so much fear and don’t show a flicker of relief at my lie.

“You’re okay, Olive. I promise. He’s gone.”

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