Page 50 of Devious Secrets

“The detective brought her in knowing Marco would get the information.”

“That’s what I thought, yeah. So, after some discussion, Mira and I decided she should leave town. Marco didn’t just want the money, he wanted her. She needed to get away before that happened.”

“And now Marco is coming after you?” His voice hardens like he’s angry at Mira.

“Yes. When the cops didn’t go after Marco, we thought he let it go. But the detective kept coming around, kept wanting to talk to Mira. It was too dangerous for her to stay.”

“If she lies as horribly as you do, he probably figured she was hiding the truth,” he butts in.

“Of course I’m horrible at it; this is my first time having to deal with the mafia. I wasn’t raised to lie and steal and kill!”

“Tell me more about Mira.” He skips over the accusation of him being a murderer, probably because he’s murdered people and can’t defend the accusation.

“She wanted to stay, but I insisted she leave town so the detective couldn’t get to her and Marco might drop it. She had no idea Marco would come after me.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a slow breath.

“Have you talked with her since she left? Where is she now?”

“I don’t know where she is. At first, she’d gone to stay with a friend from high school. But after Marco showed up at our apartment the first time, we figured it was better if I didn’t know where she was.”

His jaw keeps tightening as I talk, but he remains silent, letting me get through it.

“She left her friend’s place and didn’t tell either of us where she was going. She’s been sending money. Every month she sends two thousand dollars so I can pay Marco for her. As long as he gets his money, he won’t chase her. But if he doesn’t…” Both of us are on the hook.

“But she stopped sending the money. That’s why you missed the payment last month?”

“Yeah. She’s supposed to check in every other week, but six weeks ago, she stopped. The next payment she sent was only half the usual amount, and then the money stopped altogether. I have no idea where she is or if she’s okay.”

“And you’re sure Marco hasn’t gone looking for her?”

“I’m not sure of anything.” I sink back into the couch, wishing it would just suck me in and transfer me to some other dimension where none of this was happening.

Six months of worry and stress bubble in my chest. The tears I’ve been fighting back for months finally win and slip down my cheeks.

Alexander wipes them away with his thumbs.

“How does the flash drive play into all of this?” he questions softly.

“Marco asked me to get the drive. He said if I was able to get the drive, then Mira’s debt would be paid.” I take a shaky breath. “Then she could come home and things would be normal again.”

He sighs, probably because of how naive I’ve been. Nothing will be normal again.

Nico is dead.

Mira’s been in hiding for months.

And I’ve been kidnapped by the Volkov family.

“You should have told me this at the start.” He leans in as he wipes the rest of the tears from my cheeks.

“The first time I met you, you bent me over a desk and spanked me! Then you showed up in my apartment in the middle of the night.”

“If you had told me, I could have helped.”

I grab his wrist and stare up at his eyes.

“Helped? You threw me in your trunk. You hunted me through the woods. Literally hunted, with a gun! Why would any of that make me think you would help and not make it worse?”

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