Page 133 of Tempt Me (Dark Odyssey 4)

“I can’t rest. There’s too much to figure out. Too much to go through in my head,” I reply.

I look to Salvatore, who sits forward.

“Vin, they wanted her dead. So, they’re going to still want her dead, and I’m guessing anyone else helping her stay alive. That’s the first part we need to think about.”

I stare at him. It’s an extension of the conversation we were having earlier. The question of why I’m doing this. Why I’m digging.

That was hours ago. That was before I knew she was in so much danger. Before she tried to escape.

When Pierbo called me and told me he lost her, I could have just let her go. After all, with a handful of days left in my care, so to speak, what was the big deal in her leaving early? It could have been goodbye. Except for the worry in my heart.

It’s still there. Had I not gone after her and got the secret squad to look for her, she’d be dead. They would have killed her.

So… now I’m involved, the question is, do I want to be? Do I want to save her?

“I can’t let them kill her,” I answer.

Salvatore looks to Gabe, who stands, and Nick cracks his knuckles.

“We can’t either, and we always have your back,” Salvatore answers. Nothing is truer than that.

“I don’t want to get you guys involved in this. It’s not right to. Fuck knows what the fuck I stirred up today with the Bratva.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re here,” Gabe says.

I look at the faces of my brothers, from one to the next, and feel in complete awe at their support and love for me.

“Thank you. I thank you. I am grateful.” I bring my hand to my head. It hurts like a mutha, but I’ve got to figure things out. “There’s a reason they want her dead. I need to know what that is. I need to know what that is before we do anything else.”

I haven’t had the chance to bring everyone else up to speed on what Gibbs found yet, but Salvatore knows.

“The details on her past are off… completely off,” Salvatore points out. “And it doesn’t exactly tell us much. Not to mention the fact that we saw Uncle Dearest today, and he looked like he definitely put the show together.”

I never missed that part at all. Ilya was in the back of the car I drove on. I saw his face. Hard and horrible. Now I really wonder why it is he wants his niece dead.

“She must know something. She has information,” I say, and he nods. “Salvatore, please show Nick and Gabe the stuff Gibbs found. I–”

The phone rings. The phone on my desk.

It never rings because I don’t give out the number to people. I just have it for the sake of it.

When strange things like my phone that never rings, rings, I can only jump to the conclusion it points to.

I answer it and am surprised by the deep Russian accent that answers me.

“Ilya Lobonov here, Vincent Giordano.”

We’ve never spoken before. He sounds exactly the way I expected him to sound. Like a fucking prick.

“Well, hello, there. I’m so glad I had this opportunity to tell you, you can go fuck yourself. Clearly, we aren’t agreeing to any kind of alliance with you.” Tomorrow was the meeting. It feels so liberating to tell his ass no.

He chuckles. “You’re turning us down? Really? Like we’d want to sign up with you after the shit from this week. First you ruin my virgin market, now this,” he growls.

Fuck. Virgin market.I’ve heard it all now. “How do you know that was me you ruined your market?”

“I fucking know, boy. You do not know who and what you’re messing with. You don’t know, so don’t try to think you and I are the same. We aren’t.” This fucker is the kind that loves the sound of his voice. I have news for him. “Give me the girl. Give me the girl, and we will spare your lives.”

“No… there will be no such deal.” I look at my brothers, who now look tense. They must have figured out who I’m talking to.

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