Rip

Nixon moved ahead of the guys and leaned down. “Why didn’t you fight back?”

I rolled my eyes, trying to get to my knees. “Probably because I was shot in the side first, then sucker punched from behind before I had the chance.”

Nixon grunted as he helped me to my feet.

“Thank you.” I leaned against him more than I’d like to.

“Sick ride.” Chase opened the door. “I’ll drive us.”

“Us?” I repeated.

“Phoenix may have let it slip where he was going… and we like killing as a family… it’s more meaningful that way,” Tex said then called out shotgun while Frank kicked at a few of the bodies then pulled out his phone.

“Yes.” Frank nodded. “Five bodies… right next to the ocean, quite convenient… Thugs, an easy accident. Thank you, Chief.” He laughed. “I’ll let him know.”

My ears were playing tricks on me, weren’t they? “Cleanup crew?”

“Hell, no.” Nixon barked. “The cops.”

“You called the cops.” Even as I said it I couldn’t believe it. “Why in the hell would you call the cops? On the Russians? The cops can’t do shit to Petrov. It’s his town.”

“Hah.” Frank climbed in the car next to me. “As of one hour ago, it is mine. We’ve bought six of his ports, turned over evidence to the FBI. We do still have some lovely co

“Who the hell is Bart?” I gave Nixon an apologetic look then ripped part of his shirt and started bandaging myself up.

He shrugged out of it then started helping without as much as a blink.

“Police Chief.” Frank answered. “Known that man twenty years.”

“They golf together,” Chase said in a bored tone. “Every labor day weekend in Florida.”

I bit out a curse as I touched my bruised face.

“Yeah, you look like shit.” Nixon said unapologetically. “Good thing they didn’t kill you, Phoenix would be pissed to have to protect another Russian.”

“Technically…” I panted. “She’s half Italian.”

All talking in the car ceased.

“Shit.” I was starting to black out. “Keep me awake.”

“So, Maya’s hot.” Chase winked at me in the rearview mirror just as I lunged for him, pumping too much of my blood all over the leather seats.

Nixon smacked him in the back of his head. “He said to keep him awake not make him want to shoot you.”

“I’m married. I was kidding, and look, his color’s already better,” Chase argued.

I groaned into my hands. “How did you buy out Petrov?”

“Sergio, snapped out of some of his… uh, funk, and got pissed, like real pissed,” said Chase.

Right. I knew Andi’s husband was an expert hacker who used to work for the FBI, but I also knew the guys were giving him time to grieve.

“The minute you left he started working on locating the last two houses, as you know, and ended up finding a lot of other information that we knew we could find extremely useful…” He paused and then added. “Not judging, but your grandmother is scary as hell.”

“Shit!” I slammed my hand against the leather as my arm went completely numb. “I needed to be at the clinic tonight.”

“In your condition.” Nixon shook his head. “You aren’t going anywhere, and unless you want stitches in the shape of a dick, I’d probably stay awake so you can make sure one of the guys can help stop the bleeding.”

My vision clouded again. “Just text her for me tell her I’ve been shot… hell tell her I almost died, just make sure she doesn’t…” I tried to find the right words, wasn’t sure how much they knew. If Sergio really had dug up those files, then my name was in them, and so was hers, my family’s, all of our secrets. I started sweating for an entirely different reason.

Nixon nodded to me then said in a lowered voice. “The evidence against your family… dynasty…” It seemed he was trying to choose his words carefully. “…was destroyed. Sergio mentioned something about her mental state. I’ll be sure to let Frank send the text. He can handle things more delicately. Where’s your phone?”

I held in another moan while I reached into my pocket, typed in my security code and handed my phone to Nixon. “He does know the definition of the word delicate? Because he just shot four men in cold blood for target practice.”

“Good shots too. Right in the head and chest.” Tex said approvingly while Chase chuckled.

Nixon’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “I’ll send it.”

“To Jac.” I felt shame for my family in that moment, shame and relief, that for the first time in my life, I would no longer have to bear the secrets on my shoulders alone.

“We’ve got you.” Nixon nodded then started furiously typing away on my phone while I gave in to the darkness.

When you meet a man you judge him by his clothes, when you leave, you judge him by his heart. —Russian Proverb

HE SCARED ME. HIS ENTIRE PRESENCE felt… angry, tense. And he also reminded me of someone, something, I wasn’t entirely sure what, maybe it was just the way he moved about the room. He moved like a predator, like he was faking a calm on the outside while a war was being fought on the inside.

“Sit.” Phoenix was leaning back against the white leather couch, his legs propped up on the table, everything about his position appeared relaxed but his face was tight, his eyes piercing right through me. He ran a hand through his semi-buzzed hair and bit out a curse before muttering something in Italian and standing. “You know what? I’ll stand for this. I think I need to stand.”

I sat on the other end of the couch and folded my hands in my lap.

“Wine.” He said without looking at me. “I thought it might be better than coffee.”

“Better for me or you?”

“Both.” He turned on his heel, hiding a smirk from me as he cursed again and then finally sat down, leaning forward on his knees. “I’ll say it once, not twice, so you need to listen and wait to ask questions until the end. It’s the only way I’ll get through this. Know that talking about my past isn’t just something I don’t like doing, it’s something I don’t do, not for anyone but my wife, and only because I love her and know it helps heal wounds that would otherwise fester if she didn’t kiss the darkness away.”

“You know, I think I’ll drink first.” I reached for the wine waiting on the table, gulped down four swallows then set it back.

“Better?” Phoenix asked.

“No.”

He laughed, it sounded fu

I snorted. “So what? You just involved yourself in money laundering? Extortion?”

He smiled. “Would it surprise you to know that most of our families own legitimate companies?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then surprise.” He shrugged. “Our family is not what it used to be, the five families have been forced to change with the times, but when I was younger… my family, the De Langes were the most hated because we were willing to do anything for a profit. And my father, noticing that we were losing the respect of the other bosses as well as money, decided to do something… different.”

I had an idea what different meant, but wanted to hear him say it.

“Prostitution rings and drugs… both of which he involved himself so heavily in that he not only got hooked on his own product but started selling girls, their virginity, to the highest bidder. He…” Phoenix coughed, then hung his head. “He tried to sell my stepsister. And by the time I was ten, I’d seen more evil than people have seen in a life time. It was my comfort, all I knew. Darkness was my blanket, my sanctuary. It became my temple, because I knew if it didn’t, he would kill me for it. There are things you don’t need to know, but what you do need to know is that at one point, my father, did, in fact, sell his own daughter.”