Page 41 of Vow of Silence

Tell me what happened here,

he types into the notes app with thick thumbs.

Take as long as you need but tell me everything you remember.

“I don’t know if I can.” Fuck—I can already barely make out the embankment before us through the blur of my unshed tears.

Cry. Scream. Yell. Do whatever you need to, Stas. I’ll be right here.

He kisses my temple.

Any little detail can be the breadcrumb that leads us to the end prize.

He hesitates before adding,

I want them dead. For you.

A vicious thrill runs through me as I read his words—twice—before the cursor backspaces the evidence away. I shouldn’t wish for the death of another. Especially a person I know nothing about. Those men might have families and children. I could wish for somebody’s father to die.

But when I lift my gaze to where the trees still bear the marks of my car’s descent mere nights ago, I get the distinct feeling that given the choice, I’d choose a lifetime of guilt over knowing Caroline’s assassins walk free.

My throat hurts with the thick restriction, tongue dry when I try to form clear words. “I saw the car at the intersection first.” I reach out with my left hand and gesture back to where we came from. “They only had their park lights on, which is what made me look twice.” Benito huffs behind me. “It could have beenblack, navy, or deep red. I don’t know. There wasn’t enough light or time as we sped by.”

I stare down at the hillside just beyond the toes of my boots. A strange urge takes grip to move forward that little step and let myself slide languidly down the embankment until I rest where we stopped that night. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps to be closer to Caroline? To feel as though I met the end I deserved?

My father doesn’t want me at his table. I mean nothing to the Bratva hierarchy. All I am is a pawn for him to reel in a man who he feels could fill the role better than I would. So, why then did he agree to marry me to Benito? A man who he wants no input from?

I frown and fold my arms, resting my hands on Benito’s muscular forearms. “It had four doors.” I glower at the spot where my car stopped in the undergrowth. “I saw that much. A sedan with a curved profile. The trunk wasn’t sharp angles,” I detail. “It had smooth lines. Modern.”

He rests his cheek against my temple as though he wants to encourage me. Reward me for my bravery in reliving the pained memory. I don’t seek his affection. I don’t need his love to feel complete. But to have that contact, that assurance… that support. I’ve forgotten what that feels like since Mama passed.

“The men were the same height.” I lean forward in his embrace and set the side of my hand to my thigh. “My front grill met this part of their legs when they stood beside the car. But then, the vehicle was on its side.”

Benito types out his response.

That’s good. I can measure that. Get an estimate.

He relents when I pull from his hold and pace the side of the road. “They parked here.” I gesture to the spot with flat palms. “And when they left…” The air leaves my lungs.

Benito pushes off his vehicle and strides to where I stand frozen, staring toward the remote community. He stops to my right, matching my stance while seemingly trying to see what I fixate on.

He won’t find it. Not when the detail is at the forefront of my mind, invisible to the naked eye. “They droveintothe estate.”

Why the fuck would they do that if they were after me?

If Caroline was collateral damage?

EIGHTEEN

Benito

This bullshit makes no sense. The only way out of here, back toward the city, is to take the road in. Heading toward the Redwood-flanked community ahead makes no sense if they were outsiders.

I rest my hand on Nastasya’s shoulder to break her from her thoughts and gesture to the Land Rover. We’ve got all we need from here for now. I have new places I’d like to investigate.

She follows back to the car, silent while I hold her door and then make sure she’s safe in her seat before I spin on the inanimate forest behind me and drag both hands over my face. Somewhere out there—possibly close by—are two fuckers who thought they could take her life without consequence or remorse. And I have fuck all to go on.

How the hell am I supposed to keep her safe when I don’t know where her monsters hide?

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