Page 16 of Crimson Tears

I try to hold back my shock, but realize what he’s doing mid swing. Damien could see I didn’t like Cillian touching Evie, so he’s going to see how Cillian responds when he touches me.

“Hey there, Sunny,” I joke with him and watch Cillian for a reaction out of the corner of my eye.

“Missed you Nessy,” Damien says as he ruffles my hair. We have always been close, but he is pushing it with the hair.

I look at Evie and she shakes her head, clearly catching on. Damien sets me down and throws an arm over my shoulders to mirror Cillian. They glare at each other for a minute.

“So, what’s the drama?” Damien asks, as subtle as a pissed off bull in a china shop.

“You tell us,” Cillian says, pulling Evie closer and making me want to bare my teeth.

What the feck is happening in my brain right now?

“How aboutItell you.” Alexi steps forward, removing Cillian’s arm from Evie and pulling her to him. “Touch my wife again and I will slit your throat.”

Cillian swallows, his face subtly changing as he realizes he isn’t the only predator in the room, even if he does his best not to let his fear show. And touching one of the leaders of the largest criminal organizations in the world while her husband is in the room is probably not the best idea.

After all, we pair up with those we can believe will protect us. How ruthless would a man have to be in order to win the affection of one of the leaders of the underworld?

Damien may look sweet, but I’ve seen him behead men with a sword by accident, and then make a joke about it. Alexi’s violence is never far from the surface, but he’ll wait for his wife’s approval prior to making a move. Evie is one of the best trained assassins in the room and could bring Cillian to heel in a second. The three of them are a deadly combination to interfere with. And Lev may not be here, but he has the power to wipe your existence from the earth with his super computers.

When Boris walks in behind me, Damien notices right away and sticks his hand out for a fist bump before squeezing me and allowing Boris to wrap an arm around my side.

During the whole exchange, Evie and I stare at each other. I’m not normally a girl’s girl, but with her it’s different. Evie found me when I was starting to give up on life. She gave me a family and a future.

I don’t feel threatened by her and Cillian, she has more than enough men on her plate with three husbands. I just don’t likehow he touches her or how easy their friendship is when he only used to be that way with me.

I shove that jealousy aside though because I have no business feeling that way. Things are different now, and I need to accept that.

Boris’ fingers tangle with mine as Evie looks around the room.

“Well, if these men are done with their little pissing contest, think we can get down to business?”

I laugh, gesturing to the living area with a few couches and a large bean bag Damien always seems to claim. Sure enough, he hops right onto it, and Alexi stands to the side as Evie sits in front of the coffee table. Cillian, Boris, and I take up a spot on the couch across from her to look at the papers she’s spreading out.

“Your bug was good,” Evie tells Cillian. “They haven’t found it yet, from what we can tell, and he met with a buyer after the party. Lev was able to use his drones to get us a lot of info on the location they discussed.”

Lev, her other husband, is a tech genius as well as a skilled artist. Evie places pictures of shipping containers onto the table, along with six photos of men.

“Their conversation made it seem like tomorrow night, a shipment of kids would arrive here.” Evie points to the south end of the shipping yard. “This is a property owned by the Prime Minister, he uses it for illegal trade in all sorts of things.”

She throws down a pile of missing persons reports next.

“These are people who allegedly worked for him a few months ago. They all went missing around the same time, which happens to be when a new buyer came to town. We think we might know who it is, but Laney is still working on that information.”

Laney is another close friend. Well, she’s practically family now too. She and I often get drunk and call each other whiletaking bubble baths. I have no idea how the tradition started, but I love it.

“I don’t want her involved in this if we can help it. She has enough going on right now with Arrow’s mother, and I want her men focused, not distracted.”

Evie looks up at me, a frown marring her face. “I don’t know, Ness. Lying to Laney is like…”

“Don’t lie,” I tell her, putting my hand in the air. I don’t like lying to those we are close with. “Just don’t offer information until they have their stuff sorted out. Please.”

She nods and looks back at her men. Damien and Laney are practically best buds so this might be a big ask, but he nods.

“She has enough going on right now,” he agrees.

“Alright,” Evie says, shifting some of the reports. “I think you should go in here. From what we can tell the shipment should land on the south side of the port. If it’s safe and possible to track it, we might be able to find more kids. If not, save whoever you can. Try and capture some guards we can interrogate for more information.”

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