Page 14 of Defiant Devotion

I soon found out why. Oleg Baranov was in the hospital, and as the boss’s apparent right-hand man, Lev was there often.

Eva was the one who’d let that secret out. When trying to hack into the mansion’s main phone lines, I picked up on her call toIrina. It seemed that Oleg had suffered a health scare, some kind of a cardiac event, and he was being supervised at the nearest hospital. Word hadn’t traveled about Oleg’s health, though. The Baranovs were cautious for anyone to get word that the big leader was declining.

I doubted Olegwasdeclining. Now that I’d adopted a disguise as a health aide to sneak into Oleg’s private suite at the hospital, I saw the evidence of him very much alive, if sedated and asleep. If anyone wanted my unofficial opinion, Oleg could do well with cutting out some of those cigars, but he didn’t seem to be on death’s door. The nurses and doctors there had the same thoughts. Even though I’d snuck in here to confront Lev and talk to him about that job, I wouldn’t dismiss the intel I was gathering about Oleg’s condition while I was at it.

“He is stable,” one doctor told Lev again.

“Then why isn’t he awake?” the Baranov soldier said. He rubbed his hand over his jaw, antsy as he peered at Oleg sleeping in the bed.

“His heart needs to recover. Rest is important and?—”

“But you’re not sedating him as heavily anymore, right?” Vik asked. He was here with Lev, visiting—or overseeing—Oleg’s care.

“Correct.” The doctor nodded as a nurse filed out of the room.

I busied myself with pretending to tidy and organize the medical supplies on the cart near Oleg’s bed. Tubes ran from him and plenty of patches were left as stickers on his skin. The Baranov leader was unconscious and still, but his vitals seemed normal on the panel connected to him.

“He is receiving a lower dose of sedation, and as his recovery continues, we will adjust our plans accordingly.” With one more nod, this one as an acknowledgement or farewell, the man turned to leave.

Without any other medical staff in the room except for me, the two soldiers studied their leader.

“You think this has to do with Boris’s death?” Vik asked.

Lev shook his head. “No. We’ve ruled out any foul play. Boris died because he was an overweight alcoholic. The autopsy proved it.” He glanced at Vik. “Boris wasn’t killed. He just died—no surprise about that. Therefore, it’s ridiculous to worry that someone tried to kill Oleg.”

Vik scoffed. “Ridiculous? Don’t tell Rurik that. He took a bullet from the last time someone tried to kill Oleg.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lev shoved his hands in his pockets. “Someone will always be out to get him. Or us. But I don’t think Boris’s death caused Oleg to have a heart attack.”

Heart attack, huh?I didn’t intend to share this news with anyone, but I felt better to have all the facts possible.

“What about the stress, though?” Vik asked as he crossed his arms then sighed. “If the stress about Boris dying could’ve caused Oleg to have that heart attack.”

“Maybe if Oleg was fond of his brother.”

“Which we know he wasn’t.” Vik smirked. “Oleg tolerated Boris.”

“We all did,” Lev said wryly.

“Then I fear the stress about his search for Sonya is taking a toll on him,” Vik replied.

Sonya?

At the mention ofthatname, I furrowed my brow and dropped a packet of tissues that I was putting away on the cart.

That washername. Sonya was the name, or alias, of my gorgeous virgin who’d been game for a one-night stand with me upstate. I’d been in the area to kill an Ilyin soldier, a simple little hit to pass the time. Sonya had been a pleasant surprise on a boring night in that small town, but it was strange that I still couldn’t shake her from my mind. She was imprinted on me somehow, but I figured it was just because I knew I’d never see her again.

Plenty of women could be named Sonya.

But which Sonya was Oleg searching for?

What is he talking about?

Realizing Lev hadn’t commented on Vik’s remark yet, I lifted my gaze to watch the two Baranov men in the reflection of the glass door to the cabinet on the wall. As I did, I locked into direct eye contact with Lev.

He narrowed his eyes, watching me through the reflection. His lips flattened as he stepped forward, and I reacted. Spinning quickly, I had just enough time to deflect his grab at my arm. Vik was no slouch, though. He had to have noticed Lev’s attention on me, and with my immediate move to defend myself, he snapped to focus.

“You!” Lev scowled. “I thought you looked familiar.”

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