Page 76 of Brutal Promise

“Milan.” She acknowledges my guard and turns to Erik. “I don’t know you.”

“No, ma’am. I’m Erik. I’ll be your bodyguard.”

Izzy surveys Erik. He’s six-two and under two-hundred pounds. She nods her satisfaction and sits on the barstool beside me.

“What’s happening today?”

“You’ll go shopping with Anya, my brother’s wife. She’ll be by later today. You should become familiar with the house. Charlotte will be here in a few minutes.”

“Who’s Charlotte?”

“Our housekeeper.”

“Oh,” Izzy murmurs as she sips her drink. She’s dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved dress shirt with gold buttons on the front. Her hair is in a messy bun, and I’d love to unravel it and make her come undone at the same time, but it will have to wait.

I’m pleased she’s not insisting she does everything at the house. Frankly, it’s too big, and we have too much to do.

“I have to see my brother. You stay with Erik.” I give Izzy a warning with my eyes.

“Fine,” she huffs.

I nod. “Good girl.” I look at Erik, and he stands a bit taller. He’s been trained by me. I know she’ll be safe.

“We’re off. I’ll leave you to get settled.” I kiss her full lips before grabbing my laptop and coat.

Milan drives while I sit in the back seat of the SUV. We’re both silent, no doubt shocked by the turn of events in Vegas. Nikolay still needs to be told.

“What if your plan doesn’t work? Have you figured out a contingency plan?”

“No, I’m not sure there is one. But this house is hidden under a shell company, so it’ll be difficult to find. Did you double-check the security team on the perimeters?”

“Yes.”

“Great, we’ll see Nikolay, and then we have errands to prepare for the wedding.”

I gaze out the window at the morning sun shining on the dew-covered greenery. The weather is still cold and won’t warm up until June. We can’t wait that long. Every day, these murders get closer to my love.

I call her my love when she’s really my soul. She saved me from the depths of darkness, and I can’t let anything happen to her. I made her a promise, and I made a promise to myself; whoever touches her dies.

“You could be right about Izzy. What if she is Moretti’s granddaughter? Who could her father be? How could Maria carry on an affair under her father’s nose?”

“Girls, they find a way, just like boys who want to get laid. Get a friend to cover for you, and you stay off Daddy’s radar?” he shrugs.

“I see your point. We need photo albums of her high school class and see if we can get a work history of her.”

“That was a long time ago, boss.”

“If you shake a tree, something will fall out. Please keep an eye on Alexsei’s wife at the wedding. I don’t trust her. He stays hidden, and I think she’s the power behind the throne. He’s Russian-American. Her family is from the old guard, and her parents were with the KGB. They’re very cunning.”

“No more than the current organization,” he muses.

“Just the same, have someone shadow her during the wedding.”

“Fine, consider it done.”

We arrive at my brother’s house, and their housekeeper lets us in.

“Do I hear my brother?” Nikolay greets us in the foyer. We hug and exchange greetings in our native language.

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