Page 21 of Defiant Devotion

“If not for trafficking, then for drugs,” Vik said.

After I left their place, I checked the tracker I’d placed on one of O’Malley’s cars and followed wherever he was headed. It came as no surprise that the former cop-turned-governor-elect was visiting a strip club again. He was either a pervert or a faithful customer of Viagra pills.

Inside the club, I kept my distance but maintained a view of my target. Like every other time I spotted his pudgy face and got near enough to witness his coming and goings, he was flanked by two beefy guards. I could take them on, but there was always the pesky matter of witnesses.

Eric Benson greeted O’Malley near the hallway that led off to private rooms. It’d be impossible to get into a room if they moved their “meeting” into one of them, but I was in luck. Both men sat at a low table that was positioned off to the side of the large room where music thudded, alcohol was consumed, and naked women danced and showed off their bodies.

Here we fucking go again.

Eric and O’Malley had met up at a strip club five times already this week. I wasn’t sure if they thought it made their conversations more of a secret or if they were both that desperate to see a pair of tits. Each time I followed O’Malley and found him at a club with the younger man, they talked about those trafficking routes. Sure, they spoke in a code, but I got the gist of it as I read their lips from a distance.

Keeping my focus on the two men talking, I grew bored, knowing I probably wouldn’t have a chance to get close enough to kill O’Malley. It wouldn’t be hard to get my gun out and just shoot at him, but again, I’d have witnesses. I’d considered using a sniperrifle, but that didn’t seem wise either. The asshole wasalwayscovered. I’d have to shoot through a guard.

As I sat there and watched them talk, my thoughts wandered again to these Mafia Families who were interested in these politicians. If it were up to the Petrovs or the Ilyins, these guys would be allies, but to the Baranovs, they were nuisances to deal with.

It all seemed so stupid, the grudges and wars. If Igor or the Ilyins succeeded in ending the Baranovs, it wouldn’t make them invincible. Both of those families would still ruin themselves one way or another.

I couldn’t help but imagine those two families killing each other off. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t be a challenge to side with the Baranovs.

Lev was a hard ass, but he treated me fairly. All the men seemed decent, as decent as they could be as killers and criminals. I’d heard about Vik helping Irina Petrov and saving her brother. Just like I’d heard more about Rurik saving Kelly. I’d prefer to stick with people like them instead of idiots like Igor or an Ilyin. I would never be able to stop killing. It was part of who I was, but it’d be nice to continue that vocation with the Baranovs’ alliance than without it.

Eric ordered another drink, and I sighed. They were really settling in here. O’Malley seemed more interested in the dancers while Eric seemed to search for something to say about their slight argument over money and campaign donors.

Before I could groan at how much longer I might need to sit here and spy on them, a blur of someone running by snagged my attention.

“What the…” I furrowed my brow, turning my head in the direction of where the person had rushed by. In a dark shirt and tight jeans, the woman sprinted with an athletic grace. She moved with the desperation of escaping, too, and I was instantly curious.

What’s going on?

This club was a shithole, but there were security guards hanging around here with the purpose of keeping business running smoothly.

I sat up, following the woman as she collided with a server bringing drinks out to the guests. The tray in the server’s arms wobbled, and drinks spilled.

“What the hell?” She scowled at the woman cutting through the room. The brunette turned slightly, stopping herself from falling from the collision.

In that blip of time, in that second of her facing more my way, I saw her.

Her.

It was Sonya.

Months had passed since I saw her, but I was confident. It was her! The same long brown hair, those plump lips and smooth skin. Her slender physique and sharp gaze.

Sonya?

It made no sense why she would be running through here, of all places. Of all times, she’d happen to be here when I was?

Shooting to my feet, willing it to really be her, my feet moved of their own violation. I had to reach her. I had to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

Walking after her as she continued down the hallway, further rushing through here as if someone were chasing her, I didn’t tear my gaze off her for a second. Locked in on her brown hair swaying as she hurried away, I dropped into a jog after her.

Sonya?

It was on the tip of my tongue to call out for her, but I refrained, following her as she wove around other people coming out of private rooms.

She slipped into one, and I closed the distance between us, intent on cornering her and figuring out why the hottest one-night stand of my life was a vision like this, slipping in and out of my life in the most mysterious pattern.

9

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