Page 61 of Devious Secrets

“See how his eye gets a little twitchy?” Kaz smirks.

“You’re gonna lose your teeth if you keep it up,” Ivan says with a pointed finger at our younger brother. “And I’m not gonna stop him.”

“Not my fault the man has finally found something other than work to occupy his time and he won’t admit it.”

Ivan steps in front of Kaz, blocking my view of him.

“You said she’s not a threat. But what if DeAngelo is looking for her?”

“Is Rurik here yet?” I’m not going to explain this mess any more times than I have to.

Kaz looks behind me. “Just walked in.”

“You are lucky.” Rurik strides through the lounge and joins us as the bar. “I was just getting ready to head to the airport when your text came through last night.”

“Oh?” I grab a bottle of whiskey and pour him a drink, sliding it across the counter toward him. “Are you in the middle of something?”

He takes the glass. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

“What’s going on exactly?” Kaz leans against the edge of the bar. “Why are you dragging Rurik into this mess if she’s no danger to us?”

“Because our friend here is the best hunter I know.” I pour myself a drink and throw it back. It does nothing to dull the irritation that my life has turned into since finding Megan standing in the records office wearing that fucking cat mask.

“You’re sending Rurik after Marco DeAngelo?” Ivan questions.

“No.” I pull out my phone and open the picture of Mira I grabbed from Megan’s cell.

“Which one?” Rurik leans over the bar to look at the image. “The black hair with the white stripe or the curly-haired one with the birthmark on her cheek?”

I have to look at the photo again; I hadn’t noticed much about Mira other than she wasn’t Megan.

“The one with the curls. Her name is Mira Pierce and she’s been gone for six months now,” I explain and point to Megan’s smiling face. “This is Megan, and they’ve managed to get themselves in trouble with Marco DeAngelo. I have Megan handled, but Mira has been in hiding.”

“What did they do?” he asks as I pick up the phone and open the photo, cropping out Megan before sending him the pic.

“They did nothing exactly. Mira’s boyfriend, however, was stupid enough to start dealing for Marco. Somehow, he managed to lose his supply and when Marco came for the money, he decided to make an example of him and killed him.”

“Fuck,” Kaz groans. “And your girl’s involved in this shit?”

“No.” I shoot him a glare. “She had nothing to do with that, but Mira was there. She saw it. Marco gave her the option of ending up like her boyfriend or getting him the money owed. She opted for a repayment plan.”

“But she’s been gone for six months.” Rurik frowns. “Did she skip town and let your woman take the heat?”

My woman. It’s a pleasant sound hearing that from someone other than me.

“The two of them together decided it was safer if she left. There’s a detective that has been asking questions and Marco was starting to get suspicious. She’s been sending the payments owed while hiding, but the money didn’t show up last month or this month, and Megan hasn’t heard from her.”

“Maybe Marco got her and is just using Megan for the rest of the cash,” Ivan points out.

“That’s what we need to find out.” I look at Rurik. “I have nothing other than her picture, her name, and the place she went when she left town. I went through my usual channels for information, and it’s all come up dry.”

Rurik rubs his chin, scratching just below his beard.

“I’ve found people with less. If she’s alive, I’ll find her. And if she’s not.” He shrugs. “I’ll find that out too.”

“What about the money owed to Marco? If she’s been paying monthly, he’s going to come looking for it soon.” Ivan points out.

“We’ll deal with him soon enough.” The idea of handing over even a penny to that fucking prick makes my stomach turn. We’ll need to make him understand it’s not her debt, and that anything that was owed to him was paid in full when he took out Nico.

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