Page 63 of Devious Madness

My jaw drops. “They can do that?”

“They can do a lot of things. Like intercept wire transfers. I think he found the money being sent to Megan. Sasha’s doing a little more looking into that.”

He walks past me, down the hall, and disappears toward the kitchen.

“How did you know the police were here? That alarm, what was it?”

“I told you; I own the building. Men who work for me live here and also provide security. There’s an alert if the police ever try to enter the building.”

“Why didn’t security stop them downstairs then?”

We’d come up through the private elevator from the garage, so we didn’t pass any security desk. But in a luxury building like this, I’m betting there’s more than just a doorman down in the lobby.

“A conversation with the detective was inevitable, so my men knew to let him up if he arrived. That permission has been pulled. He won’t be back.”

“What phone call did he get? How did you make him go away?”

“I have connections in every branch of the government.” He fills a glass with water and drinks half of it down.

“You have men who work for you, and you have government informants?” I sink back onto the stool I sat on earlier. “You said you didn’t work for the Volkov family.”

“I don’t. I work for myself. Occasionally that means doing a favor for a friend, like Alexander.”

“You’re an independent contractor for the mob.”

“The men who work for me help me with jobs I take. I’m not the head of a family. I do the jobs that pay well.”

“Like getting that iPad from that guy?”

He pauses then nods. “Information pays well.”

“You should have just left me with Megan. That guy is like a dog with a bone. He’s not going to stop just because you scared him tonight.”

“I’m going to find out what that bone is. Why does he want Marco so badly if he’s a homicide detective? Marco has influence with the police department; he can make shit like this go away with a snap of his finger. So what is this guy really after?”

A sour sensation hits my stomach. It would be smart to come clean now. Tell him everything and let the chips fall, but I’m not that brave.

“I’m tired. I think I’m going to go to bed.” I slide off the stool.

“Mira.” He calls to me when I’m at the stairs.

When I turn back to him, I’m sure he can see the guilt written all over my face.

“Good night.”

“Yeah. Good night,” I say, spinning on my heel and rushing back up the stairs.

I barely make to the bathroom before I vomit up my dinner.

“Stop staring. I’m fine.” I pull my jacket tighter around me.

Rurik’s eyes have wandered to my side of the car half a dozen times since we left his penthouse to meet with Alexander and Megan.

“You didn’t eat very much this morning.”

“I wasn’t hungry. Just leave it alone.”

Rurik misses nothing. After I lost my dinner, he found me sitting on the bathroom floor. I just wanted to make sure the panic had eased enough to keep whatever was left in my stomach down. But Rurik went straight into overdrive when he realized I’d been sick.

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