Page 28 of Wicked Knight 2

“Yeah. It’s at the um.” His gaze shifted toward Galina. “It’s not far from here.”

“You don’t want to tell me where I am? That’s fine.” I squinted at him. “I’m a very good detective. I can figure it out all by myself.”

I put his arm down, then checked the other. No broken bones. But as I continued my inspection of him, I found a bruise behind his ears. I’d be willing to bet this was Boris’ handiwork. He knocked the kid around before they showed up in the courtyard. Asshole. But the thing with bullies was that they never acted randomly. What was Boris up to?

“Has he done this before?” I pressed the area around his lymph nodes.

Alexei shook his head.

“Something happened recently?”

He nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked gently. When he shook his head again, I pressed on, “Well, it seems I’ll be here for a while. If there’s anything you want to get off your chest, just come find me. Yeah?”

“Okay.” He let out a sigh as he regarded me intently.

Oh yeah, he wanted to tell me.

“I miss Maxim.” The boy took a spoonful from his bowl and stuffed it in his mouth. With big chipmunk cheeks, he asked, “Why did he have to leave?”

“I hear he had very important Brotherhood business.” I crossed my arms on the table and leaned in. “Why do you miss him?” I asked, though what I really wanted to know was…what is he like? What’s going to happen to me when he returns?

All questions a ten-year-old couldn’t answer.

“He’s good to me. He’s teaching me how to fight. Maxim has the best left hook. I’ve been practicing.” He showed me his move. “He also helps me with my homework.”

“That’s good.” I glanced over my shoulder at Galina, then faced Alexei. “So he’s really not that bad?”

“Maxim is the best.” He beamed at me.

Right. Maxim was the best. Minus his whole quest for revenge, of course. I thought of his mocking last night when he realized I was terrified to have sex with him. He even laughed at me, right before climbing into bed and ordering me to go to sleep.

Whether he was a good guy or not, didn’t matter. I had a whole week to come up with a new plan to get out of here. Would Boris help me escape to spite Maxim and stick it to Papa? If he was in charge of deliveries, he had access to a big truck where I could hide. Shit. The last thing I wanted to do was ask an asshole like Boris for help. But what choice did I have?

CHAPTER10

Who The Hell Is Luca?

Maxim

“If I’d known you’d be this grumpy during our trip, I would’ve ordered your new bride to come with us.” Ivan climbed in the back of the SUV.

Three weeks had been a long time to stay away. Even though I spoke with Belinda daily and had regular updates on Donata, I was excited to see her again. More than that, I wanted her to see the real me. I never cared about looks, or how women liked to ogle at me. But that one night I spent in bed with her messed me up. The whole goddamn night, she spent it coiled in a small corner as far away from me as possible. As if she were afraid to catch some disease. Hadn’t I made it clear that I had no intention of having sex with her?

I opened the passenger door and settled in. The entire drive back to the compound, Ivan went on and on about my fucked-up mood. Now that we were on our way home, I couldn’t remember why I was so pissed off at everything. Though I had to admit, my angry face made our negotiations with the Irish go a lot smoother than I thought it’d be—that and the shipment of rifles we brought from Russia.

“Well, at least now that you’re healed and she can see your pretty face, you might get lucky.” He leaned forward and shoved my shoulder.

The day I told Ivan about how Donata wouldn’t even look at me, I had drunk a lot of vodka. I had no idea why it bothered m, and I couldn’t blame her for being terrified of me. My face looked like I’d borrowed it from one of those weird sea creatures that lived deep in the ocean. Ivan’s words. Not mine. Fuck.

“What’s the hold up?” I asked Tore. “What’s with this traffic?”

“The Italians have been snooping. Papa thought it would be a good idea to double our surveillance.” Tore took a left.

“Wouldn’t that just tell them we have something to hide?” Ivan asked from the back seat. “I mean. Let them look. They’ll never find the compound.”

“It’s good to keep our finger on the pulse. Our biggest allies are the townspeople. I’ll talk to my guys.” I took off my sunglasses and pinched the bridge of my nose.

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