Page 4 of The Bratva's Christmas Bump
“We’re not killing her?” Rex’s raised brows catch my eyes as Toto moves past me, dragging the motionless body with him.
“No.”
“Maxim, you know the rules?—”
“I’m acutely aware, thank you.”
“No witnesses,” Rex presses. “Your father will?—”
“I knowexactlywhat he will want.” I cut through Rex once more. “I know his rules. And I’m telling you, no.”
Rex sighs and crosses his arms over his broad chest. “So we’re playing it like this?”
“Yes. We are.”
“Fine. What about him?” Rex jerks his head down to the dead body on the floor. “We have to clean this up. You also have to make an appearance at your father’s Thanksgiving, and you ordered me to remind you not to miss dinner with the girls. We don’t have time to babysit.”
Rex is right, as always. We’re on borrowed time as it is, but the thought of killing an innocent woman for stumbling into the wrong restaurant curdles my blood. Moving past Rex, I follow Toto’s path into the office and pass him as he leans against the doorframe.
“Take Stu and clean up,” I order curtly.
Toto nods once and dips out of my sight.
He’s placed the woman on the worn fabric couch situated parallel to the office desk. Her head is to the side covered by her hair, one arm crosses her abdomen, and her legs rest askew on the armrest.
A short, pleated skirt ruffles around her golden brown, bare thighs. Black knee-high boots hug shapely calves and her woolen coat lies open, showing a floral blouse that hugs tightly at her chest and flares out toward her waist. A silver pendant rests around her neck, coiling into the hollow of her collarbone. Approaching, I lightly grasp the bottom hem of her skirt and straighten out the fabric to cover her thighs, then I lower to my haunches and very gently start pushing strands of her thick, wavy hair away from her face.
It’s as red as a Christmas bauble. More and more of her face reveals to me, and just as I tuck the last strand behind her ear, careful of her glittering earring, familiarity hits me.
I know her face.
The soft slope of her nose with the little bump in the bridge. Her lips with her upper lip being fuller than her lower. Her apple cheeks are so soft and round when she smiles, only now, one carries a rapidly bruising handprint courtesy of Stu.
I met her some time ago before I had to leave the country on business. Back then, her hair was a deep blue and she’d crammed her delicious body into a silver dress that rode up her thighs with every step she took in these gorgeous black heeled pumps.
But what was her name?
It sits on the back of my tongue, a distant thought that refuses to come forth no matter how long I stare at her peaceful face. I know it and yet it escapes me. I slowly reach forward, expecting her to wake up at any second, but she doesn’t stir as I press two of my thick fingers to the slope of her neck to check her pulse.
It’s there. Strong and slow.
As I count just to ensure everything remains normal, it’s alarming how easily my entire hand could seal around her throat and crush the life out of her without my having to even break a sweat. She’s as small and lithe as I am tall and broad. And her presence here is alarming.
No one should walk in on us, least of all someone I’ve had previous contact with. Is this some kind of setup or an honest to God mistake?
Following the law set out by thePakhan, my father, I should torture her to be sure this was just an accident and then kill her. They won’t find her body until the river thaws, and by then, any possible evidence will have been eaten by the ice and the current. That’s how Dad deals with everything. If it bothers him, he gets rid of it. No exceptions.
I can’t do that. Not now. Not ever.
Happy that she’s alive, I return to Rex out in the kitchen. The body of my target has been removed, leaving behind a pool of blood that Toto is in the middle of cleaning up.
“I want this kitchen deep cleaned,” I say as a spattering of blood on a nearby cupboard door catches my eye. “Top to bottom. This place has to look brand-new before we reopen, understand?”
Rex, with his arms still crossed, nods. “And her?” He nods past me to the open office door. “You know what we should do.”
“I do. But I’m not going to.”
“Why?” Toto peers up from amid his scrubbing. “We’ve done it before.”
