Page 101 of Inked Adonis

I flash him my sharpest smile. “Oh, I know, brother. We’re just getting started.”

The door closes behind me with a soft click that sounds like a promise.

Of violence.

Of vengeance.

Of victory.

Some men need to shout to be heard.

I just need to wait.

35

SAMUIL

“After that little show, you probably don’t need to hear this—” The tires squeal as Myles pulls into traffic. A horn blares behind us, and he rolls down his tinted window to make sure they get a clear view of his middle finger.

“Then don’t bother,” I snarl.

I don’t intend to listen either way. The second Ilya and my father cleared out of the boardroom, my thoughts were back at the penthouse.

I check the security footage on my phone again, but Nova hasn’t moved. She’s still sitting cross-legged on the sofa, two hundred pounds of dog piled on her lap.

Looking so fucking innocent. So perfectly placed in my world.

“—but,” Myles continues anyway, “I confirmed the meeting between Kat and Nova in the park. Their walk, the cell phone—all of it. No deep fake bullshit here. Ilya’s evidence was legit.”

“You were right the first time,” I tell him angrily. “I didn’t need to hear that.”

I already knew it was real. What I don’t understand is why it happened at all.

And why Nova never breathed a fucking word of it to me.

“Okay. Then do you need to hear that this reeks of some sleazy plan Ilya and Kat dreamed up during pillow talk?”

Fucking hell, I knew Ilya was up to something this morning. I knew Katerina’s connection to Nova would whip around and bite me in the ass sooner or later. The question wasn’t when, but how? And how badly?

I have my answer now.

It fucking stings.

Myles grips the steering wheel, anxious energy rippling off of him. “She was cleared, man.Icleared her. I know you’re pissed, and I know I’m probably on that list, but?—”

“Most people are.”

He snorts, but there’s no real humor in it. His head is probably spinning around the same thoughts mine is.

Nova doesn’tlooklike an Andropov spy. If she is, she’s gone deeper undercover than most people would ever dare.

Then again, if Nova is a spy, she’s working with the only other woman whodiddare. There are no lengths Kat wouldn’t go to get what she wants. I’ll be the exact kind of weak man my father claims I am if I don’t assume Nova is capable of the same.

And there’s no fucking chance I’m weak.

So when I see Nova, I’ll do what has to be done. Choke the truth out of her, if necessary—and if the truth turns out to be what Ilya says it is…

Then I’ll keep choking until the threat is eliminated.

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