Page 71 of Shielded Secrets

“You didn’t check that he was dead?” Vik asked.

“I was eight! I was scared and alone. He was about to rape me and kill me, and I just grabbed his gun and aimed.”

“It sounds like you did,” Oleg said, “but he didn’t die.”

“He’s… that monster is stillalive?” she asked, eyes wide with panic.

I nodded. “He’s running for governor but is rumored to be doing poorly in the preliminary polls so far.”

“No. No!” She tried to back up, but I held her close, comforting her. “He’ll find me. He’ll hunt me down and find me and?—”

“No,” Oleg said simply, “he will not.” Nodding at Eva, then Irina, he gave them a cue to take Kelly out of the room. Even I couldn’t argue his instructions. He was the Boss. As much as I wanted to hold and comfort Kelly, I knew those two women, her friends,would do that too. I would help her best by looking for O’Malley to kill him.

Once the women were out of the room and I’d promised Kelly I would get right back to her as soon as I could, the Boss faced us all.

“He will hunt her down and try to kill her,” he said, contradicting what he’d just told Kelly.

“But he won’t get her,” I growled.

“No, he won’t.” Lev shook his head. “You want me to handle this?”

He was our best hitman, but this was on me. I put my hand out and shook my head. “No. I’ll do this.”

Oleg smirked. “Neither of you will. Sending you out to kill the future governor? Are you out of your fucking minds? We wouldn’t be able to handle the news and reputation of assassinating a public figure like that.” He shook his head. “We’ll hire it out. We’ll find someone untouchable, untraceable. Someone who can’t be tracked back to us. You know how much I detest relying on a third-party or independent contractor, but in this case…” He shrugged. “I can’t risk this kind of a hit touching us too close to home.”

I relaxed, glad that he’d act on what she shared with us. This whole night had been one long roller coaster of ups and downs, and it wasn’t over yet. As soon as I was given permission to take her home—with increased security—I would help her work through her emotions as well. It broke my heart how long she’d struggled with that secret. It peeved me a little that she hadn’t told me sooner, but I understood how she might have assumed she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone ever finding out onceJerome, the only eyewitness, was dead. She’d never known that O’Malley had lived through those shots.

“Someone untraceable, you say?” Lev smiled.

Vik did too. “It seems like we might have learned of the perfect man to fit the job.”

Oleg furrowed his brow. “Who?”

“Ben Warner,” Vik answered.

“If we can find him,” Lev added.

“Good.” Never one to linger with emotions, Oleg nodded at them and clapped me on my back. “Go on and keep a good eye on your wife,” he instructed. “Until that hit is taken care of, weallneed to keep her safe.” Then he walked out of the room, leaving us behind to handle this new focus.

Kelly had always been my focus, and I would never give up on the first and simplest promise I’d made to her. That she would be okay. That everything would be all right.

31

KELLY

Eva and Irina comforted me by asking me for more details. They didn’t interrogate me while the men spoke, but they kept me preoccupied explaining more and more about the secret I never wanted to share with them—with anyone. It was just too gross and morbid.

Oddly, the push to keep talking turned into venting. As I unleashed years of pent-up guilt and anger and fury, I felt freer and lighter, no longer weighed down.

Then Rurik came and told me he would take me home. All three men in the room expressed the same clear statement, though. Under Oleg’s command, a hit had been placed on Mayor O’Malley.

At home, instead of having to explain all the shame that kept me in the habit of shielding my secret and the horror of being afraid to trust anyone for so many years, Rurik fucked me.

Hard and fast, with lots of anal play just to shock me.

Then slow and tender, with so many sweet words of praise and devotion that I was moved to happy tears.

All night, into the next day, and following into the night. Like rabbits, we fucked on every horizontal surface in the apartment. In the wake of finally shedding all the stress of hiding that I’d killed—or thought I’d killed—a cop, I resorted to a marathon of sex.

---