Page 20 of Defiant Devotion

“Where are the guards? Why is this woman near my sister?” I pointed at the Petrov seated at the table, then frantically scanned the room for Baranov guards who should come running. I didn’t know who this blonde was. Or why Eva would be eating with a Petrov. Maybe they’d taken her? Maybe?—

More restaurant employees rushed forward, eager to get me and drag me out of here. I’d caused a ruckus, disrupting the others eating here so much that the music couldn’t be heard over the hostess and security guards shouting at me.

“Wait—” The blonde tried to grab my arm as I backed up.

More security guards came near, and I saw no sign of my sister, no sign of any of my family’s guards.What is going on?

“Are you Sonya?” the blonde asked, incredulous.

Fuck.She knew me. Or she knew of me. This wasn’t good. I couldn’t risk anyone else recognizing me yet. Not until I reached Eva. Not until I saw my family first and understood what had been happening since I had been taken.

It was foolhardy to come out of hiding like this, without backup or support. How dumb was I to think I could just walk out of that Ilyin property and emerge into the society of the Mafia again?

“I’m…” I backed up more, obeying the instinct to run. I was sick of running, but I couldn’t deny the innate need to be safe. If these women were conning my sister, if this was a setup or sting or something to capture Eva, I couldn’t risk being taken again.

“Sonya? Listen, just calm down and?—”

“No.” I shook my head, backing up faster until I could turn and sprint toward the exit. I couldn’t be impulsive like this. I couldn’t rush up to the first sighting I had of Eva.

I needed more information. I had to approach Eva in a safe setting, not dart out and act like I was a part of her world. For all I knew, she could be in danger already and I’d make it worse barging in.

“Stop that woman! Stop her!”

Tuning out the security men shouting at me, I concentrated on getting the hell away. Slight pain shot up from my heel again, but I dug in and dismissed it as I barreled past the hostess. A shoveat a push bar opened a door back by the kitchen. Leaving all the alarmed shouts and yells from the kitchen staff behind me, I burst out into the alley.

I didn’t stop there. With the restaurant security chasing after me, I ran into the back entrance of the adjacent business, uncaring that the seedy strip club would have to be my next best place to hide for now.

8

BEN

Iagreed to kill O’Malley purely because it was an excuse to stay in touch with Lev and the other Baranovs. All I wanted was information about Sonya, but they weren’t talking about her at all.

I listened in where I could, which wasn’t often because my visits to the mansion where Lev waited for updates from me were infrequent. I didn’t ever check in with whoever contracted me for a kill. There was no point. I didn’t need guidance and hand-holding. I was told who the target was and I eliminated them. End of story.

Besides, whenever I did stop by the mansion, Lev and the other upper men of the family didn’t talk about Sonya. I couldn’t ask, either, because they’d made it clear they wouldn’t reveal a single thing about her until I killed O’Malley.

If I were to ask, that would risk their wanting to know why I was so curious. And I couldn’t admit that I’d slept with her. If they were this protective and possessive of their women, they’d be pissed at the liberties I’d taken with one of their own.

All I could do was kill O’Malley first. Then I’d be hired to find Sonya, and they’d give me more clues.

Unfortunately, O’Malley wasn’t such an easy target. He was never alone, never off the grid, and I bet the bastard was paranoid to always have someone with him out of fear of someone taking him out.

Following him around, I noticed a pattern. He went from one place to another for meetings, but through my long-distance lens, I had ample evidence of him visiting colleagues and lobbyists to snort coke and laugh. A couple of times, while his “assistants” stood outside the closed door of a hotel room, he’d let hookers entertain him.

O’Malley was just another typical corrupt politician, hard to kill when he was so guarded and hidden.

Who he kept as company hadn’t escaped my notice, though.

“He keeps meeting up with Eric Benson,” I told Lev one morning when I wanted to “check in”.

“I’m not surprised. Where one corrupt lawmaker goes, another follows.”

I nodded. I liked that Lev wasn’t stupid enough to argue everything he heard. Acting as the leader in Oleg’s place for this period, he proved that the whole family was one step ahead, always aware of what was going on out there on the streets.

“They meet up mostly to talk about arranging trafficking routes once they are both sworn in to power in their new positions.”

Lev nodded. Vik and Rurik were also in the office, since those three seemed to be something like a team.

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