Page 132 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

“What are you doing?” she demands.

I ignore her question, cupping her face in one hand. “You held your own in there. You were brave. I’m proud of you.”

She takes a deep breath and accepts the rose I’m still holding out to her.

“Thank you,” she murmurs. Then she sighs heavily. “I can’t believe you came.”

“Aren’t you glad, though?” I ask. “I livened up this boring party.”

“I want to go home now,” she says, staring down at her rose.

I nod. “As do I. Let’s go.”

As we’re moving back through the crowd, I feel eyes on me. When I glance to the side, I catch sight of Rob in close, muttered conversation with a lanky man in an ill-fitting suit.

“Who’s that with Rob?” Olivia asks when she sees where I’m looking.

“That,” I say grimly, “is the man who replaced Rob in the investigation against me. And it looks like he wants to talk.”

31

OLIVIA

My heart is thundering in my chest as the detective struts over to us with Rob in tow.

The man is an FBI agent like my brother, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s a good ten years older than Rob at least, and he moves with an easy, lithe confidence, nothing like Rob’s intense whirlwind of focus.

When he stops in front of us, he smiles pleasantly at Aleks. “Mr. Makarova, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Rob is stiff and anxious, his gaze flitting between Aleks and his colleague, but everyone else appears to be perfectly at ease.

“I’m sure you have,” Aleks replies. “My brother-in-law must have talked your ear off about me. Isn’t that right, Robert?”

Rob narrows his eyes, but looks away from Aleks. “They're opening the buffet soon.”

The detective turns to me. That smile is plastered so tightly on his face that I’m starting to wonder if it’ll crack under the strain. “Is this your sister, Rob?”

“Olivia,” I say, offering my hand because no one else seems keen to make introductions.

He returns my shake, his grip warm and callused. “Lovely to meet you, Olivia. I’m Steven Kennedy. Your brother and I work very closely together.”

“Is that so?” Aleks asks. “Working on anything interesting right now?”

I stare at my husband in disbelief. Is he really goading the man who’s in charge of the investigation into him?

“Always,” Kennedy says with a pleasant nod. “Very exciting case.”

“You think you’ll catch the bad guy?”

I swallow hard.What the hell is he doing?

Kennedy is unfazed. “I always catch the bad guy.”

Aleks nods. “Good to know. The world is safer with you in the mix, surely.”

“I’ll be seeing you around, Mr. Makarova,” Kennedy says. There’s the twist of a gruesome promise in his tone.

Aleks seems amused by that. He nods to both men. “I look forward to it.” Then he turns to me. “We really should be going,moya zhena.”

---