Page 35 of Resurrection

Her eyes always remind me of whiskey, and they’re filled with uncertainty even as she grasps my hand. “Seems too good to pass up.”

I wink at her. “That’s ’cause you aren’t going to win, anyway.”

“On your right,” Jay calls out, as we glide up to Valeriya’s building.

The concierge comes out with a valet to park our vehicle.

We climb out and take the elevator up to her fancy apartment. As the doors to her floor open, a tingle of unease skitters up my spine. On instinct I draw the gun Jay slipped me earlier fromits spot on my lower back. Carys has her gun in her purse. At my movement, and perhaps sensing the same thing I do, Jay removes his gun before we step out of the elevator. Down the hall on our right, two burly guards stand outside Valeriya’s door.

“Those are her father’s men,” Carys says, from behind us.

We slow our approach when the guards see us and draw their own weapons. Carys or Jay need to take the lead, or I’ll shoot first and worry about the consequences after.

“We’re here to see Valeriya,” Carys says.

“With guns?” The taller of the two men raises his eyebrows. “Why guns?”

“Jay and Finn didn’t recognize you.” She slips past me and leads the way.

Jay holsters his gun, and I dam up a flood of annoyance because she’s out front again. Reluctantly, I slip my gun into the waistband of my jeans.

“What’s going on?” Another voice emerges from inside the apartment.

“Demid.” Carys rushes toward him. “We were here to see Valeriya.”

A tall, broad man with blond hair and light-blue eyes similar to his daughter appears in the doorway just as we arrive. “She’s not here. I have not heard from her in a few days, so I came to check on her. She’s not answering her phone.” He leaves the entrance to let us in.

Carys goes in first, and the tide of my annoyance rises.

“I don’t know. The door was locked, but her keys are here.” With his fingertips, he lifts them off the side table. “Her phone is gone, but her purse is in her room.”

She frowns and glances at me. I’ve been so busy cataloging the security mistakes she’s made, I haven’t been listening.

“She’s missing?” She scans the room.

“Yes.” Demid gestures to the immaculate apartment.

“Where’s her phone? Did you find it?” I search the main room, checking the logical places it might have been left. Without waiting for an answer, I go through the main bedroom too.

“I did not see it,” Demid calls.

“Has she been acting oddly lately?” Carys says, from the other room.

“No more than normal. Why? What do you know?”

The defensive pitch of his voice isn’t a good sign, and I come out of the bedroom to stand at the entrance of the living room.

“Nothing. Just trying to help.” She seeks me out over Demid’s head. Is she thinking about how we threatened Valeriya yesterday?

“One of my men is getting the security footage for the last twenty-four hours,” Demid says.

“She seemed fine yesterday when we saw her.” I lean against the doorframe. “Visiting a boyfriend? A friend out of town?” That’s not what I think, though. She took her money and got the hell out of town, maybe out of Russia. But where did she go? Who did she go to?

“You were here yesterday?” His voice is sharp, and he glares at Carys.

“We’ve been having problems at our warehouse,” she says.

Demid’s gaze rakes over her and then shifts to me. “I recognize him.” He points to Jay. “You. You look familiar but not from here.”

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