Page 53 of His Hold

Instead of responding directly, I pull out my phone and swipe to a photo of Irina. I hold it out to Kirill. “Do you remember her? Irina. The girl you sent on a mission.”

Kirill’s expression hardens, suspicion glinting in his eyes. “What’s this about? You know better than to ask questions that don’t concern you.”

“It concerns me now,” I counter. “What did you send her to do? And what does it have to do with Alina’s death?”

Kirill’s stare is piercing, assessing. “What are you implying, Nikolai?”

“I have strong reasons to believe her disappearance is connected to Alina’s death.” I keep my voice low. “The recent attacks around me happened when someone close to her started hanging around me. The person seems to strike when I’m there.”

“And who is this person you speak of?” Kirill presses.

“No one you know. I know where my loyalty lies,” I say, holding his gaze.

“Do you?” His smile is razor-thin. “Make sure you remember that.”

Ignoring him, I go on. “I saw a tattoo on one of the men talking to Irina,” I continue, my voice even. “A snake wrapped around a rose. Does it mean anything to you?”

His expression tightens, a flicker of surprise quickly buried beneath his usual blank mask. “Why are you asking about that?” His voice is cool, but there’s a hint of something beneath it—something sharp and wary.

“Because I’ve been running into it more frequently. And if it means what I think it means, then we might have a problem.” I watch him carefully, noting the slight twitch of his jaw. Whatever that tattoo signifies, it rattles him.

“Never seen it,” Kirill says flatly.

Liar.

“Are you sure?”

“Careful with your accusations, Nikolai. You’re treading on dangerous ground. Now does this certain person you started hanging out with seem to be the cause of your distractions lately?”

I throw his words back at him, unflinching. “Shouldn’t ask questions that don’t concern you. Now, are you going to tell me what Irina’s mission was or not? Because it’s clear the case is connected.”

Kirill stares at me for a long moment, his stare dark and calculating. He knows I usually don’t speak to him like this, but on the few occasions I have, it’s never been him on the winning side. Finally, he exhales, his shoulders sagging slightly.

“Irina did a job for me,” he admits, his voice clipped. “I needed her to get close to Roman Druzhinin.”

“Who was that?”

“Dmitri Sokolov’s son. Your former boss.”

I stand in front of Kirill, the air heavy with cigar smoke, his desk littered with papers and a half-empty vodka bottle. My pulse races, Irina’s name a weight on my tongue as I face the Bratva boss, his eyes cold, unyielding.

“What was the job you wanted Irina to do?” I ask, my voice steady, but dread coils in my gut, knowing his answer could unravel everything.

Kirill leans back, his chair creaking, a cruel smile twisting his lips. “I wanted her to kill both Dmitri Sokolov and his son,” he says, words like a blade, slicing through the silence. “Clean hit, no traces—father and heir, gone.”

My stomach drops, the room tilting. “Dmitri and his boy?” I choke out, shock numbing my hands. “Why Irina? She’s no assassin, just a girl caught in your web.”

He shrugs, sipping vodka, eyes glinting with malice. “She had fire, Nikolai, but not enough. She balked, couldn’t pull the trigger. Weak.”

I clench my fists, anger flaring, Irina’s face flashing—scared, trapped. “Weak? You set her up to fail, Kirill. Where is she now? Dead for your games?”

He laughs, a hollow sound, and leans forward, voice dropping. “What does it matter? The job got done, Nikolai. You want to know who stepped up?”

My heart pounds, my fear spiking. “Who?” I demand, voice cracking, bracing for his answer.

“Katya,” he says, the name a gunshot. “Her sister. She killed them both—Dmitri, his son—blood on her hands, not Irina’s. The girl you’ve been running around with like a dog in heat—she’s the one who pulled the trigger.”

I stagger back, Katya’s face burning in my mind—her passion, her questions, her body under mine. “Katya?” I whisper, betrayal cutting deep. “She’s… a killer?”

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