Page 83 of Beautiful Vengeance
It sounded too good to be true, which meant it likely was.She frowned.“Why?”
He chuckled.“As I said before—smart girl.I have my reasons, which are no concern to you.Suffice to say that allowing you to escape unscathed suits my current purposes.”
Meaning he had a plan and would leverage her safety to get what he wanted.She didn’t like the sound of that…but Dmitri had her backed into a corner despite the fact that she held the gun.She gritted her teeth.“If I see you again, Iwillshoot you—and that’s not even going into what Jude will do to you.”
He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.“It’s been a pleasure.”He rolled up the window before she could decide whether she should shoot him anyway, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel a bit of relief as his car pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.
She belatedly realized she was still holding the gun in a neighborhood where that sort of thing would be reported and lowered it.
“Sloan.”
She jumped, and then mentally berated herself for jumping.Micah stood in the doorway, a truly impressive bruise blossoming on the side of his face.She tensed, starting to raise the gun again, but he shook his head.“There’s a phone call for you.”
“What?”She took the phone from him, though she kept ahold of the gun in case it was a trap.“Hello?”
“Start walking.”
She obeyed before she registered that it was Aiden she was talking to.Sloan shot a glance over her shoulder, but Micah was nowhere to be seen.“What’s going on?”
“Do you choose Jude?”
That, at least, she had no confusion about.“Yes.”
“He’s the one you want—truly want?It’s not some Stockholm syndrome like Teague claims?”
She picked up her pace, reaching the end of the block and crossing the street.“I love him, Aiden.I won’t have anyone but him.”
Aiden cursed long and hard.“If you change your mind, you call me.I don’t care what time it is, or what I’m doing—I will come for you and I will get you out safely.”
Hope burst in her chest, and she found herself grinning like a fool.“You’re letting me go.”
“Yes.I can’t speak for Teague, though, so you need to get your ass to Carrigan’s.She’ll protect you until Jude comes for you, and then you two need to get the fuck out of Boston.Don’t come back, Sloan.I won’t look for you, and I’ll have Cillian erase any path you do leave, but that’s all I can promise.You won’t have a safety net to fall back on.”
“I don’t need one.”She’d miss Boston.She already knew and had made her peace with that.She even understood why Aiden was only offering this much.In the grand scheme of things, a sister’s happiness ranked lower than the safety of the family.She didn’t want to be the thing that pushed the situation in Boston into a full-blown war any more than Aiden wanted her to be.“I love you.”
“I love you too, little sister.Be safe.”
“You too.”She hung up and flagged down a cab.Sloan dropped the phone in the trash can on the corner and slid into the backseat.“Southie.”She rattled off the address Carrigan had made her memorize after they landed in Boston, and patiently waited for the cabbie to stop trying to talk her out of it.“I’ll pay double if you get me there in half the time.”
“You got it, lady.”But he shot into the street and headed for Southie.
She sat back and wished she had taken the time to call Jude before she threw the phone away.It was too risky, though.The longer she had the phone, the greater the chance one of Teague’s men would track her down.She had to trust that Jude would come back to her safely.
Worry battled with the hope still trying to take hold.She forced herself to set both aside.It could wait.Everything could wait until Jude was back with her.He was safe.
He had to be.
***
Jude walked into the O’Malley residence without knocking.Aiden knew he was coming and he didn’t have the time or patience for a pissing contest with the hired muscle.He stopped in the foyer, taking in the place.Dark wood dominated the room, bold accents creating a look of understated elegance.It wasn’t in-your-face, but the whole place reeked of money.
A man stepped out of the hallway leading deeper into the house.“Aiden is expecting you.”
Jude nodded and followed the guy into the shadows.He led them to an office that was decorated in much the same way as the rest of the house, though the walls were a dark green that seemed to be present in every high-powered office in the country.Aiden sat behind a large desk, and he didn’t stand when Jude walked in.“Sit.”
He waited for the muscle to leave and close the door behind him before he tossed the file he’d brought onto the desk.“There’s everything I know about Dmitri Romanov.”
Aiden didn’t touch the file.“I could pay you a significant amount to remove him from the equation.”
