Page 30 of Killer's Obsession
“Because,” he shifts uncomfortably. “You’re… you.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I narrow my eyes.
I know what he means, but I’m going to need to hear him say it out fucking loud.
He looks away. “Nothing.”
I didn’t get my road name for no reason. I am a fucking killer. Unlike most, I sleep like a baby at night. The things I’ve done have been to protect the people I care about. And, yeah, she deserves better than a fucked up bastard like me. Hell, everyone knows it. Still, I’m keeping her.
“Spit it out,brother.” Brother or not, nobody is coming between me and my girl.
“Look. All I’m trying to say is maybe you should trust her with the truth.”
His words hit their mark, and my aggravation vanishes. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should tell her everything—about her father, about Nikolai, about the danger she’s in. I think about how far she’s come in the last couple of weeks and what knowing might do to her. How it might set back all the progress she’s made.
“I can’t risk it,” I finally say. “Not yet. She’s just starting to get her legs under her.”
Zero sighs, clearly not agreeing with me, but he lets it drop. “Your call, bro. But secrets have a way of coming out, and when they do...” He waves a hand above his head as he spins back to his computer.
“What else have you found?” I ask, changing the subject.
I watch over his shoulder as he pulls up a series of images on the main screen. “The Bratva’s trafficking operation was bigger than we thought. They were moving girls across the country through a network of MCs.”
My jaw clenches as I stare at the faces on the screen—young women, none of them looking older than Memphis. “How many?”
“Hundreds over the past year.” Zero clicks through more images, and my stomach turns. “The Talons were just one stop in their pipeline.”
“And Memphis was supposed to be one of them,” I say, feeling the rage building inside me.
“Not exactly.” Zero pulls up a different file, this one showing a grainy image of a man I don’t recognize. “Nikolai wantedMemphis specifically. She wasn’t just merchandise—she was special.”
I lean forward, studying the image. “Who the fuck is that?”
“That’s Viktor Sutton. Memphis’s father.” Zero clicks to another image showing Viktor with a much younger Memphis at what appears to be a graduation. She’s smiling, her green eyes bright with hope and excitement.
The contrast between that Memphis and the terrified woman I pulled from that cage makes me want to hunt her father down and tear him apart with my bare hands.
“And he sold her.” My voice comes out as a growl. “To Nikolai.”
Zero nods. “Looks that way. Owed a fuck-ton of money from gambling debts. Instead of paying it back, he offered his daughter as a trade.”
“Motherfucker.” My fists clench. “You find him yet?”
“Working on it.” Zero turns back to his screens, typing furiously on his keyboard. “He’s gone underground.”
“He’s a fucking dead man.” Because when I find him, I’m going to make him suffer for what he did to my woman. He will pay.
“Nikolai’s looking for her,” Zero continues, pulling up yet another screen full of intercepted communications. “He’s got feelers out all over Florida.”
My blood runs cold. “He know she’s with us?”
Zero shakes his head. “Don’t think so. Not yet, anyway. The Russians aren’t exactly up to speed on the status of every MC in the state. As far as they know, she disappeared during the raid.”
“Let’s keep it that way.” I pace the small space behind Zero’s chair. “We need to tighten security. At the clubhouse, at the shop, everywhere.”
“Already on it.” Zero gestures to one of his monitors showing security feeds from various locations—Heaven’s Door, Saints Ink, the clubhouse perimeter. “Got eyes everywhere.”
I nod, not surprised. Zero’s always ten steps ahead when it comes to this shit.
