Page 124 of Nine Months to Bear
“Unless you turned rat.”
“I have kids!” he whimpers. “Emma’s seven. Jake’s five. They need their father.”
“They needed a father who didn’t steal from me.”
“I never stole?—”
Taras moves fast. Devon’s head snaps back from the punch, blood spattering the cream carpet. A broken tooth skitters across the hardwood.
“Try again,” Taras suggests pleasantly.
Devon spits blood. “Okay. Fuck, okay! Small amounts. Nothing you’d miss.”
“I miss every fucking penny,” I snarl.
“They were for Emma’s medical bills,” he insists. “She has asthma. Insurance wouldn’t cover the specialist?—”
Taras delivers another punch. This one drops themudakto his knees.
“Devon?” A woman’s voice comes floating down from upstairs. “Everything okay?”
We freeze. Devon’s eyes go wide with panic. “F-Fine, honey!” he calls back, voice strangled. “Just, uh… watching TV.”
Footsteps on the stairs. Mikayla shifts position, hand moving to her weapon.
Haley Manizer appears in the doorway. Her blonde hair is thrown up in a messy bun and cartoon cats ogle us from her pajama pants. Her smile dies when she sees her husband’s houseguests.
“… Devon?”
“Go back upstairs.” Devon struggles to his feet. “Please.”
But she’s already taking in the blood. The tooth. The three strangers in her living room.
Her hands fly to her face. “Oh, God.”
“Mrs. Manizer.” I stand slowly and turn to face her. “Your husband and I are discussing a business matter.”
“You’re him.” Her voice is barely audible. “Safonov.”
Even kindergarten teachers know my name. The reach of fear.
“Haley, take the kids and go to your mother’s.” Devon tries to move toward her, but Taras blocks him. “Please.”
“I’m not leaving you!” she cries out.
“You have to?—”
“I said I’m not leaving!”
She runs down and plants herself next to her husband. Five foot nothing of suburban mom facing down the king of the Bratva. There’s something magnificent in her stupidity.
“Your husband stole from me,” I tell her. “Then sold information to federal agents. Do you understand what that means?”
“He made mistakes.” Her chin lifts. “But he’s a good man. A good father.”
“Good men don’t betray their employers.”
“Good men don’t murder people in their living rooms, either.”
