Page 82 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

“They’re my family,” Michael snaps. “Have some respect.”

Lev chuckles dryly. “Easy, Mikey. Remember the objective.”

Sheriff Van Pelt clears his throat. “The Konstantinov gentlemen are here to make sure Elise is okay,” he explains. “It seems there have been some incidents in town, events that you and your partners are familiar with.”

“It’s why I’m here, Sheriff. Why we need to talk,” I say. “Someone’s out to hurt her.”

“Who?” he asks.

I nod at the Konstantinov men. “Igor Konstantinov.”

“Now, hold on right there,” Lev says.

“We just want Elise back safely,” Andrei says, trying to intervene.

Lev shakes his head. “I would never hurt her. I raised her as though she were my own!”

“We know she’s here,” Michael adds, his brow furrowed. Damn, he looks a lot like his sister. “Whatever it is she’s dealing with, we can talk about it; we can help.”

“Tell me something, Mike,” I say, smirking. “You’ve spoken to her over the phone, right?”

He gives Lev and Andrei a quick, guilty glance before answering. “Yeah.”

“And each time you spoke to her, what did she tell you?”

“That it’s safer for me if I didn’t know anything.”

“Yet here you are with the very people she’s been hiding from.”

Van Pelt interjects again. “Roman, dammit, you need to fill me in on what’s been going on here because I’m a little blindsided and therefore unable to help.”

I turn to the sheriff. “Elise came to Rustic in search of a safe place to hide from her husband, Igor Konstantinov.”

“Igor loves Elise,” Lev says.

“Is that what he told you? Who ordered the hit on her parents?” I ask the old man. “Was it you? Or did Igor do all of that on his own and you just covered for him because he’s your son?”

Silence falls over an already tense room. Lev glares at me. There’s a spark of doubt festering in the cold pools of his eyes along with confirmation of something he already knewor perhaps only suspected. If he wanted Elise dead, he never would’ve set foot in this office and Kara would’ve never requested our protection. There’s a different agenda at work here, and it’s not theirs.

“What is Kara doing in town?” I ask.

Andrei lowers his gaze. “Fucking hell,” he mutters. “This is worse than we thought.”

“What do you know about Elise’s parents?” Lev asks me, his voice low, his breathing growing heavier.

“I know her father worked for your organization and that he and his wife were shot to death, apparent collateral damage during a turf war between your men and another gang,” I say. “I also know that Elise found and took evidence implicating Igor directly in their deaths. Hence her decision to run.” I pause and look at Michael. “It’s why she wanted you in the dark about all this. She couldn’t protect you if you knew the truth.”

“I don’t believe it!” Michael shoots back. “Igor loves us. He’s been like a big brother to me over the years. He loves Elise!”

“He wants her dead. She has proof against him.” I nod toward Lev. “She couldn’t trust you with it. Why’s that?”

Lev exhales sharply and collapses into one of the guest chairs, cursing in Russian. Andrei doesn’t move, but he doesn’t take his eyes off him, either. Michael is already shaken to the core. I can tell he’s conflicted, but his love and confidence in his sister trump everything, even the Konstantinovs.

“Did Mrs. Konstantinov ever go to the police about any this?” Van Pelt asks.

“It’s Morris. She doesn’t use her married name,” I tell him. “She tried to speak to Chicago PD on multiple occasions about her parent’s murder, but they seemed to be in one Konstantinov pocket or another. She got bounced back to Igor every time, who grew more and more controlling, more paranoid. Violent.”

“Violent?” Lev gasps, giving me a troubled look. “Fucking hell, Kara was right to be concerned.”

---