Page 203 of Silenced

Cassiopeia snorts, unoffended. “Yes, you were always the crazy one in college. I was the smart, sensible one.”

“You weren’t so sensible today when you dropped forty grand on that camera setup.” Savannah winks at me. “She’s got expensive tastes. I taught her well.”

I slide my arm around Cassiopeia’s shoulders. “Whatever she needs, she can have.”

O’Donnelly grunts. “What sheneeds,” he drawls, “is a dead husband. Is that asshole dealt with? You didn’t see the damage after he’d beat the fuck out of her.”

My eyes narrow with remembered fury. “He’s dead. And I made sure it hurt.”

O’Donnelly smirks at me. “Misha told me that you have alligators… Is that true?”

Misha shared such things with the Irish? I’ll have to beat the fuck out of him the next time I see him. “You know my brother well?” is my response.

“Not well, but from dinners with Savannah’s family,” he concurs.

“I have an alligator sanctuary, yes.”

“Interesting. Easy way to get rid of the evidence.”

I tip my chin up, neither confirming nor denying that, then offer, “I thank you for giving Cassiopeia a safe place to stay.”

“You don’t have to thank him. You didn’t even know me back then,” she mutters, her cheeks blooming with heat.

I can’t stop myself from cupping one and swiping my thumb along the blossoming red that’s trickling down her throat. “No, I didn’t know you back then, but you were still mine. He protected you, kept you safe for me until I came in to take over, and for that, I owe him.”

Something flickers in her eyes, but when she licks her lips, I know she needed to hear those words.

“A token?” Aidan muses, his interest clear before Savannah drops his arm and this time, she doesn’t squeeze him and kiss him—she tuts.

“No, Aidan. No token. She’s my friend. No favors. She needed help and we gave it to her.” With a huff, she snags Cassiopeia’s hand then, in a snit, declares, “Men!” and drags my woman away to the kitchen.

As I watch her go, amused by the hapless shrug she shoots me, I murmur, “Regardless, the offer remains, O’Donnelly.”

“No, she’s right. It was the least we could do.” His gaze locks on mine when I cast him a surprised glance. “What’s going on with Maxim Lyanov, Veles?

“Officially, I don’t care but Misha won’t say a fucking word. I know he’s stopped being Bratva and has started being a Forgotten Boy or whatever the fuck that is.”

“Your intel is correct. However, I’m no longer Bratva either.”

He eyes me up and down. “You’re as old as me which makes you too long in the tooth to be any kind of ‘boy.’”

My smile morphs, darkens. “You were raised in New York City with a silver spoon between those orthodontic-set teeth in a school that the children of senators attended, O’Donnelly. I was bred on the streets, lost to society, and forgotten by everyone other than the family I collected for myself.

“You can take the child off the streets, but you can’t take the streets out of the child.”

O’Donnelly tensed at my initial retort, but slowly, he nods. Then, he holds out his hand again. “Truce?”

I shake it.

This time, there’s no pissing match.

“Truce.”

56

CASSIE

A Little Bit Yours - JP Saxe

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