Page 7 of Broken Promises
My mouth dropped open as I mindlessly placed the coffee cup onto the table and pushed up and out of my chair. Howhe knew I had siblings—and what I was supposed to do with that information—was the furthest thing from my mind. Almost on instinct, I grabbed the handgun I kept tucked behind some books on the bookshelf against the side wall of the dining room. The whole house was armed, and it was the only thing I could think to do.
As I raised the gun and pointed it at Rhys, I felt like my life was spinning toward the edge of a cliff and I was powerless to stop it.
Chapter 3
Rhys
The smile that erupted on my face felt good as I watched Hannah do exactly what I hoped she would. I was aware she had weapons tucked everywhere, and I needed to push her slightly to see how deep her need to survive was. The world I was about to pull her into wasn’t for the faint of heart, and if my hunch was correct, being Sergey’s child was going to test her limits.
“What did you say?” she asked as a small tremble in her hand caused the gun to shake.
I wasn’t afraid of her shooting me, but I was worried she was going to hurt herself. Cautiously, I pushed back from the table and stood. She kept her eyes locked on me as I used two fingers on each hand to lift my shirt. Words weren’t going to diffuse this situation, so I wanted her to see I was unarmed. Turning in a circle, I let her see the entirety of my waistband before looking back at her.
“I’m unarmed, Hannah, and I’m not here to hurt you, so would you at least point the gun away from me, if you feel better holding onto it,” I requested, and she nodded before lowering the gun to her side. “Can we sit and talk?” I asked, and again, she nodded.
Hannah retook her seat, and as I looked at her across from me, I was struck by how beautiful she was. Brown wavy hair with ice blue eyes looked back at me, and while I could see some Lenkov traits in her, she was distinctively different. I saw that the first night we met her, when she was at the lowest, mostvulnerable moment in her life. I hadn’t seen her actual attack, but I’d witnessed the aftermath.
She had fire in her eyes and seemed more pissed than upset. Maybe that’s what drew me to her, or maybe it was something else, but one thing I knew for certain—I wasn’t going to make a move on her. Not only was she still healing from her ordeal, but her newfound familial connections would make anything more than this difficult.
“I know you have questions, but I want to start by saying, until recently, no one had any idea who you were,” I began and could see her relax her hold on the gun now resting on the table. “It was only after . . . that I . . . we had any idea.”
“Explain to me how you even know any of this, please.”
“A long time ago, my best friend made a pact with the devil and went undercover in a group called the Syndicate to try and destroy it. For years, I watched the group get torn apart, and honestly, I thought they were long gone. That’s until Rylee was kidnapped and we discovered you and the other girl.”
There was no need to bring the teenage girl into all this mess. She was safely relocated with her father, they have new identities, and someone is watching over them to ensure their safety.
“And how is this connected to your best friend?”
I didn’t believe in lying to someone, and manipulations were wrong, so I chose to be honest. Lucian was aware of what I was doing, and I could only hope Devlin and Stella were onboard. Once I explained everything to Hannah, I was going to schedule a meeting between them. Something deep in my gut still said we were missing a key piece of information on why this all started up again after so many years of being dormant.
“My best friend is your brother.”
Stunned silent for a moment, she asked with confusion written on her face, “How is that even possible?”
“Some of what I’m going to tell you is classified, but you deserve to know the truth, and not what you’ve been reading online.”
Hannah tilted her head slightly, and at that moment, I could see the Lenkov part of her analyzing my statements. She caught my admission, and I was sure she would ask about it, but for the time being, I skipped over it. Not a lie but an omission. There were many ways to split a hair, and I was a master of them all.
“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” she suggested, and I exhaled, knowing I was going to have to fill her in on everything.
“You’ve got questions, so maybe you should ask them, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Stop sidestepping and tell me what the hell is going on,” she demanded, and I was witnessing her temper push to the surface.
Now wasn’t the time to see how deep her anger ran, so I decided to drop back and start over. “A little over fifteen years ago, I worked for the FBI, and there, I met my best friend, Lucian Lenkov.” Her eyes grew wide as I continued to explain. “He went undercover with the Syndicate, an organization of criminals ruled by mafia families across the country. He’d found his way into the inner workings in hopes of destroying it and stopping his demented father from causing any more pain. Without going into too much detail, he was initiated into the group and began to make a name for himself.”
“How was he initiated?” she asked, and I took a swallow of the lukewarm coffee before answering.
The last thing I wanted to do was damage any future relationships she and the others could build, but I wasn’t going to lie.
Carefully, I explained, “The night we rescued you was an initiation.”
Her forehead crinkled briefly before she snapped her eyes to me. “Are you saying he did to someone what . . . he did that to someone?”
“Before you get the wrong idea, please know the woman who was chosen for him was Rylee, and he made sure she was warned and protected before, during, and after the . . . evening.”
“So, that’s what she meant by she’s been through it and her warning not to fight them.”
