Page 22 of Bluff

AINSLEY

As I ride in the backseat, heading toward campus for my first class of the new year, I think back over the wedding. Looking down at the rings on my finger, I smile. Mikhail tried to give me a beautiful wedding on short notice. He had our patio area decorated, and the pool covered. My sister Lennon was there to stand with me, along with Sparrow. He had Andrei and Dmitri stand with him. I wore a beautiful off-the-rack, off-the shoulder ivory matte satin dress. The long lace sleeves were sheer and sparkled, just like the rest of the dress. It hugged my figure and was alluring but still sexy. He was dressed in a tux that made his muscular tall body look even sexier.

My gift to him was a beautiful, long lace gown that I wore for him when he came into our bedroom later. He showed me how much he loved the gown, and I swear he was trying to say more to me with the look in his eyes. I can’t help the soft smile that spreads across my face at the memory of our lovemaking.

Tonight is my first class of the new semester, and Mikhail is at the Russian Cardroom, preparing for an exclusive poker game they’re hosting in February. I have two guards with me, plus Damir. Mikhail said I should be safe, but he’s still very protective, especially since the shooter from December still hasn’t been found.

Damir sends one of the soldiers with me into the building as he takes a call. But after a moment’s hesitation, he tries to stop me.

“I’ll be okay,” I tell him, shaking him off.

As we head down the hall, a man walks toward me with determination. His stride long and powerful. I’ve never seen him before, but it’s a large campus—he could be new. He has dark hair and is clean-shaven, but something about him feels familiar.

His hand swings from behind his back, and I see the gun seconds before he fires. I quickly move to the side. Blood splatters me as the soldier next to me grunts and hits the floor with a thud. I’m grabbed by my hair and lifted up from my crouched position.

“You never should have been born,” he growls in my face as he presses the gun to my upper right shoulder. He fires just below my collarbone. A sinister smile spreads across his face as I scream in pain.

“Why?” I ask.

His fist slams into my face, and everything goes dark.

I come awake to the shouting of voices as I lie on the cool cement floor. I keep my eyes closed so he doesn’t know I’m awake yet. I can feel the blood oozing from my body. The pain is so intense, but I bite my tongue to hold the groan in. I need to figure out who they are and why they’re after me.

“Johnny, this wasn’t the plan. You promised you wouldn’t hurt them, just that you’d talk them into not claiming anything from our father,” a male voice says.

Our father?

Realization clicks. These must be Jimmy Duncan’s sons. Jimmy never let Lyric and me meet our half brothers. He always said his wife would divorce him if she ever found out about us, and he couldn’t risk losing his connections to the Irish mob.

I’m lying on my stomach and slowly inch my eyes open. I stare at my surroundings through my lashes. The men are behind me, so I can’t see them.

“Jordon, as long as they live, they are a danger to us. To me. They could inherit what’s mine. They could cause the boss to forsake me more than he has. Paddy already doesn’t treat me the same as he does JJ,” Johnny, the man who shot me, says.

Johnny and Jordon. These are the middle and youngest of Jimmy’s three sons.

I’m so glad Lyric is safely in Hawaii. I’m scared I won’t live to tell Mikhail I love him. That I’m happy I married him.

I hear the scuff of approaching footsteps, growing closer. I’m kicked hard in the side, and I scream. Air rushes from my body when he kicks me again. I roll away and push up with my good arm.

“Stop hurting her,” Jordon shouts. “I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t want to be the reason she dies. The Bratva will come after us, and Paddy won’t be able to save us. Family is off limits.” He tries to protect me.

“Don’t worry about that. This is the plan. She has to die so the war can start. Besides, I have someone who will help us.”

I rise to my feet, taking in both of them. Jordon is young, with dirty blond hair and a lean, swimmer’s body. Johnny is stockier. Jordon looks closer to Lennon’s age, and I remember Lyric mentioning Johnny is only a couple of months younger than she and I.

One word gives me pause, though. War? The families have all been getting along better than ever, even after everything my sisters and I did. The only wild card is the Chinese, but they won’t rock the boat after Dmitri shot the boss’s son. Still, could Johnny have someone on the inside with the Chinese?

“Our father wouldn’t want you to kill me,” I say, hoping to calm him down by bringing up Jimmy. Make him think Jimmy cared for Lyric and me, when the truth is he only used us.

“Our father. Our father. He was my father,” Johnny shouts. He pushes Jordon out of the way and fires his gun at me.

I’m hit in the side as I dive away from him. The gun clicks empty when he pulls the trigger again. He throws it at me. Jordon moves back between us.

“Get out of my way, Jordon.” Johnny’s voice sounds off. I turn when I hear metal scraping and watch Johnny pick up a long crowbar. “She will tell us where Father is, then I’m going to kill her. That’s the plan.”

“No,” Jordon says. “I called JJ. He’ll help us.”

I watch in horror as Johnny swings the bar at his brother. Jordon raises an arm to block the blow, but there’s a sickening thud, and his arm hangs limply, twisted at an unnatural angle. I scream as Jordon collapses to the floor, his head snapping against it. Blood begins to pool where his bone is exposed.

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