Page 54 of Ten

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t break the vow of silence he had made to his blood brothers. Nikolai had softened since marrying, but he didn’t abide by rule-breaking. A promise was a promise, and he would have Ten’s blood if he broke it.

“I didn’t know it was Tony,” she said finally. “I didn’t realize that’s why you went to prison.”

“No?” He was surprised. “I always assumed you knew.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t really with it during that time. You know what I mean? The trauma and the trial and postpartum depression. I was on all sorts of medications and going to intense therapy in Dallas. There’s a place there that does inpatient psych treatment in a sort of resort setting. I was in an apartment basically.”

“I see.” He had wondered whether she had been in a mental hospital after all the horrible shit she survived. It seemed like the safest place for someone in her predicament to go.

“I didn’t have access to the internet or newspapers. Uncle Nicky kept my flow of information tightly controlled to protect me. I didn’t mind,” she assured him. “It was nice to be in that safe little bubble.”

“But you didn’t know about Tony or me,” he said. “And you never wanted to look online? After I started flirting with you?”

She shook her head. “Definitely not.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to learn something that would change my feelings toward you,” she admitted. “I knew you were dangerous, and I knew you were wrong for me, but I liked the attention. I liked the way you made me feel. I wanted to live in that fantasy a little while longer.” She bit her lower lip. “And, now, it’s reality and I know the truth.”

“And?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her answer.

“And I don’t care,” she confessed. “I don’t care that you killed Tony. If he was really involved in molesting kids? He deserved it.”

“He was truly involved in it.” That was one part of that night that wasn’t a lie. “He and Adrian were up to no good. They were fucking monsters, and I wish I had been able to get my hands on Adrian, too.”

“Was there...? I mean, the way Kostya described the situation, it sounded as if there was a boy there.”

“There had been,” he confirmed. “He was a friend of Danny’s. Younger kid. His mom worked at Samovar. She was a good lady. Worked hard. Tried to keep her kid off the streets.” Ten’s jaw clenched. “That was how Tony picked them. He was this big, dumb friendly guy, right? Everyone liked him. Everyone trusted him. He would find these kids from broken homes, the ones who saw their moms working two jobs, who were alone all the time. He would offer them money for work. You know—mowing the yard, helping move boxes. Stuff a kid would think was normal.”

“And then he’d hurt them,” she guessed.

“He and Adrian would get them drunk or drug them first.” Ten inhaled sharply. “And that’s all I’m saying about that.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore,” she assured him. Then, cautiously, she asked, “Was Kiki in their videos? Was he involved?”

Ten didn’t want to tell her. He really didn’t. “Yeah. From what I heard, Kiki was in very special videos that Adrian sold to specific collectors of that sort of horrific shit.”

She took a moment to digest that news. Eventually, she said, “It doesn’t surprise me. Not knowing what I do of Kiki. Although, I am surprised he wasn’t tried for those crimes.”

“They probably figured they had nailed him dead to rights on the murder charges and it wasn’t worth going to trial again for the videos.”

“Or maybe they had another case going? Maybe it’s still going.” She glanced toward the window and shuddered. “Maybe the sicko fans of those videos helped him break out of prison.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Ten agreed, thinking that was as good a possibility as any other. Feeling dirty after talking about Kiki, Adrian, and Tony, he said, “Let me make some phone calls and then we’ll shower. Yeah?”

“Sure. I’m going to feed Wilford.”

Unsurprisingly, Kostya was one step ahead of Ten. It occurred to him as they discussed the situation with his PO that Ten’s spiders must have been listening in on his call. It was a gross invasion of his privacy, but he understood that it was to keep Nisha safe. He let it slide.

“Ilya will be there in...” Kostya’s voice faded out as if he were checking his watch. “Eighty-three minutes.”

“Right.” Ten hated how precise Kostya always had to be. “Nisha wants Eric here.”

“It’s not a bad idea.”

“It’s not a bad idea to have Eric fucking Santos in your hideout?”

“Well, it’s not a hideout anymore, is it? Maybe I’ll let Holly put it on Airbnb when you’re done with it.”

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