Page 22 of Fixate
“Pharrell. Why are you calling and not my lovely niece?”
I sighed over the line. “It’s hard to call someone when you’re dead.”
Silence.
Utter silence.
Then the line was filled with shouts — all in Russian and only with a few words I understood. Pip leaned forward; his eyes wide. He snatched the phone away. It was on speaker the next instant. He put his finger to his lips as he listened to whatever was being said.
By the time English was brought back into the conversation, Pip wore a menacing scowl that made me more than a little nervous.
“Why is my niece dead? Did you not protect her? What is the meaning of this?”
“Your niece betrayed me and my family. She sold us out to Domenico Romano. They were having an affair, and she was giving access to our shipments to others. I’ve had problems for months. All of it traces back to her.”
I wasn’t absolutely sure about the last part; however, I knew there was something more going on. Even without proof, Stasia’s actions spoke volumes about her loyalty.
If it had only been about her fucking the asshole Domenico, I wouldn’t care. She had needs and so did I. This was worse though. We’d lost good men with those attacks. And the products and income destroyed — it was a clusterfuck.
“That does not give you a right to murder! This is going to be considered an act of war. Where did this happen? What happened to her body? We deserve the right to bury her.”
The request is not surprising. I knew they’d want to know where her body went. Stasia had told me early on in our union that she and I couldn’t be buried together due to certain traditions in her family. I didn’t feel bothered by the fact.
“I will have someone contact you to coordinate her arrival. I made sure she was able to get back to you. It’s what she would have wanted.”
He replied with a dark laugh. “As if you care about what she wanted. I knew she shouldn’t have married you. Fucking f?—”
“That will be enough of that. No need for us to have bad blood over this. If you found a traitor in your midst, you’d have handled this the same.”
I didn’t even tell him that I wasn’t the one to kill her. It wouldn’t matter. Passing the blame would only put a target on my friend’s back. Since we were in our own partnership, I refused to do so.
He switched to Russian, then the line went dead. I turned to Pip, my brow raised in question.
“Picked up some of the language over the years. I wanted to make sure I heard what he was spewing,” he said. “It’s not looking hot, Rel. The guy was talking about taking you out and showing us what the Bratva was truly about.”
“Us?” It was the most interesting part of the information. Pip didn’t deal in ‘us’ or ‘we’ ideas.
He stood, a smile coming to his face. “Yes, I meant we. Sounds like you might need me to stick around a bit longer. Not sure Henny and JJ can take care of everything. I’ll even give you a discount on my rates.”
I laughed at the way he grinned widely. Pip might be a psychopath with a deep love of blood and destruction, but deepdown, he had a good heart. Even offering up the information he’d had today was proof.
“I’d appreciate it. I could use all the help I can get.”
My phone buzzed on the desk, drawing both our attention. I snatched it up when I saw it was Ricardo who’d texted.
Ricardo:Did you make it back safe? How are things there? I can help if you need it.
I ignored the message,not quite sure what to make of it. Why would he want to know all that? He didn’t owe me anything.
Sure, he’d been there to see my immediate reaction to Stasia and all that went down. I might have been a bit distant as I processed the facts.
But I was better now.
I was home, and I’d figure the rest of this out. It wasn’t for him to deal with.
Tucking the phone away, I ignored the hollow feeling ignoring him brought out. I didn’t want to think about what it meant.
CHAPTER 9
