Page 29 of Echoes of Sin

She scoffed. “Then maybe one of your associates simply took it upon themselves to do what you wanted them to do.”

“Never,” I stated with absolute certainty. “No one would act without my express wishes, and I didn’t want anything done to you for simply doing your job and highlighting a discrepancy.”

“You were upset,” she accused.

“I am still upset,” I answered honestly. “I believe what you found to be correct, but I haven’t been able to pin down the culprit yet. Only Dmitri and I know what you have found, which creates another issue.” It was the one issue that bothered me as I drove from Envy to Montrose Accounting—how the fuck did anyone else even know what she’d found? I’d chosen the cantina for our meeting in the same way I chose the other venues. A different place every week so that I was not observed to have a routine—and choosing a time when I knew there would be few other diners, and not making a reservation. Perhaps it was paranoia, Winter Valley was not New York City or Moscow, but old habits died hard, and one did not get to my position in the bratva by being careless.

Brooke let out a heavy sigh and took her seat, knitting her fingers together on top of the desk. “I told Ruben what I found after I called you this morning. No one else has access to your files, which are password protected.”

“I’m well aware.”

Her jaw clenched. “Then why?”

“I don’t know, Brooke, that’s why I’m here. I need you to know that I would never send anyone to scare you or harm you.” She looked away, and at that moment I was sure that Ruben had shared with her the rumors that had already begun to swirl about me. The Kuznetsov Group was a legitimate business, but my family’s links to the mafia were for obvious reasons well hidden. It didn’t stop talk and idle speculation though. “I wouldn’t.”

“Then who would, Ilya? I can’t have this kind of, I don’t know, uncertainty in my life. This potential danger is unacceptable.”

Her words were an unanticipated knife to my heart. There could be no hope for us if she couldn’t accept the inherent danger that came with being in the bratva. “You are not in danger. I can promise you that.”

She stared at me, disbelief written all over her face. “I’m not sure how you can say that with a straight face. You don’t even know who this person was. He knew my name and he knew I had—” she stopped suddenly and looked like she was having to calm herself down. “And he told me to call you and say I made a mistake, so, clearly, they knew about the account irregularities. He knew a lot.”

I couldn’t argue with her, so I didn’t try. I rounded the desk until we were close enough that I could see five different shades of green dotted with flecks of gold in her eyes. “I promise to keep you safe, Brooke.”

Chapter Eighteen

Brooke

“What’s for dinner, Mom?” Karina called out over her music.

“Why don’t you come and help me and find out?” I smiled at her annoyed grunt which belonged on a girl much older than seven years old.

“Mom,” she whined.

“Karina,” I called back, still smiling. She wasn’t as sullen as she’d been a few days ago, but she hadn’t given up on the idea of having her father around. Whoever he was and wherever he may be. If she carried on like this, I might have to give in to her demands for a puppy that she’d been asking for since the age of five. That would make me an absolutely terrible mother, but it was the only thing likely to get her to forget about her father. A puppy… or a weekend away with her most favorite uncle in the world.

She gave such a dramatic sigh it drowned out her pop music. “Is it something good or something healthy?”

“Why can’t it be both?” I was proud of the home chef I’d become since becoming a mom. I specialized in making fun food healthy.

She wandered into the kitchen and peered into the saucepan.

“You still wanting to go away with Uncle Ryan and Auntie Ella?”

“Really?” her eyes shone with excitement.

“Sure, sweetheart. I think you’re big enough for a weekend vacation with your cousins.”

She flung her arms around me, “You’re the best Mommy ever!”

I only hoped I didn’t regret my decision. I was going to worry about her every moment she was away.

A few seconds later, the door to the den closed, muffling her music.

I turned my attention to dinner, which gave me too much time to think about my most recent conversation with Ilya. He’d sworn he hadn’t sent anyone after me, and even though I was still furious, I believed him. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that couldn’t or wouldn’t change, but for now I believed him, which only left me more afraid of who had sent the man.

The front door opened, followed by a familiar groan. “My god it smells like heaven in here. Will you marry me?”

I laughed. “You know I would, Lara, but you don’t like women.”

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