Page 79 of Devil's Rage

But Danny didn’t answer right away, and Kir’s lip curled. “The alternative is that I reveal you spurned my generous offer to settle our blood debt, Daniel. And we go to war.”

“Danny,” Ty warned. “Don’t pick now of all times to be stupid.”

To my surprise, Danny laughed, and the tension broke in the alley as Kir and Ty looked at each other.

“Asshole,” Kir said with affection. “You got me.”

“Same,” Ty said with a shake of his head.

“Sorry, I had to fuck with you a little,” Danny said. “And fine, fine. It was getting boring anyway.”

“Ah, there’s one more thing.” Kir smiled and looked at me again. I sucked in a breath and gave him a warning glance, and his grin widened. “You keep your woman happy, no matter what it takes—and marry her, too.”

“I’m—I’m not part of this,” I spluttered.

Ty, Kir, and Danny all laughed, causing my stomach to swoop. “Oh, Sara,” Ty said. “You’vealwaysbeen part of this.”

“You’re welcome,” Kir drawled and swung around, hands in his pockets. “I’m sure you’ll find some way to make it up to me.”

I woke with a start, confused, and patting around my hands. I was in my own bed, in my apartment, and the sky was brilliantwith the afterlight of sunset. Dizzy, I glanced at the clock and noted it was around 8:30 p.m. Rolling my neck, I padded to my door and peeked out.

But it was all quiet and shadows in my apartment and I drew back, tears gathering in my throat. Danny had gone.

We’d left the North Shore a few hours ago, and that was when all the adrenaline had begun to wear off, shock and horror setting in. I’d been a mess, struggling not to cry, and holding on to Danny in the back of the car. Artie and Heavy had brought us here, and we’d all gone inside. I’d tried to eat as they made calls and checked on things, ensuring that things weren’t unraveling because of what had happened.

It turned out that Sal’s muscle had been a higher-up in theSons of Celt,so Heavy had gone off at some point to help Kir with that. Meanwhile, Pasquale and Artie had offered to watch the street, while Danny worked on his laptop.

He’d persuaded me to take an Ativan to help calm down and nap, and I’d dozed right off.

I’d thought Danny would be here, but he’d taken off again. After all that.

No happily ever after for me—wasn’t that what I’d told him? Why did it hurt so bad? Why had I thought he’d be here?

Shutting my door, I went to the bathroom and stripped off my clothes, trying not to cry even as my heart shattered. Maybe I’d understood wrong, maybe he wasn’t leaving, maybe he was just not going to be boss and help Kir. Or maybe he just hadn’t wanted Lia’s friend to die.

All the events of the day crashed through me, and my emotions swung as I scrubbed off the grime of the day, sometimes sobbing through my teeth, other times feeling a vindictive pleasure that Zakary and Sal were dead.

Finally done, I got out, and glared at my reflection. My hair was too long to let air dry, and the heat of the summer meant that I’d regret it if I didn’t do something now.

With a sigh, I did two messy French braids and tried to focus on what was coming next. Packing, moving, and—

A faint buzzing sound came from the other room, and I heard a creak, then a quiet laugh. Heart pounding through my body, I crept up to the door, and peeked out.

Two big, broad men were standing by my bed, looking over my vibrator collection, and swapping jokes. I sucked in a breath and Danny turned first, his green eyes lit up with diabolical amusement and lust as he ran his thumb over the top of a massive dildo.

“I was just about to come get you, beautiful,” he purred in a voice that made my nipples go tight. “We’re both pretty impressed by your collection—and trust me, we’ve seen some shit.”

I clutched my towel tighter and stared at Danny, not understanding why Kir Volksov was in my room, when the man turned and looked me over. My legs pressed together as he regarded me with frank, dizzying lust.

“Am I—dreaming?” I whispered.

“Do you often dream about two mobsters fucking you?” Kir asked and raised an eyebrow. “Because I can help with that.”

Though my head felt a little fuzzy, the floor was cool, and the towel was pressing into my hand in a way that told me I wasn’t dreaming.

“What’s happening?” I whispered.

“Technically, you owe Kir a blood debt, too,” Danny said with a wicked smile. “But also, for just this once, I think it will help. We’ll make you feel better.”

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