Page 36 of Savage Claim

“Sure,” I said, glancing into the box beside us. It held some very large guns that I couldn’t begin to fathom what they were called, but I knew that if someone was shot with one of these things, they would end up a pile of hamburger meat. “What are you going to do with all of this?”

“Sell it,” he said easily. “As quickly as possible to the highest bidder.”

Damian came over to us with a tablet in hand. He handed it to Lorenzo. “We already have five potential buyers.”

“Who are they?” I asked before I thought to check myself. Both men looked at me. “The buyers,” I clarified. “Who are they?”

Lorenzo glanced from the tablet to me. “Do you really want to know?” he asked.

I didn’t. “You said I needed to know more, right?” I asked. “Tell me.”

He looked down and flicked through the tablet. “Three of these potential buyers are cartels,” he said. “One is a private buyer from Ohio, and the last is an organization out of Japan.”

That was a lot to absorb. “Can younotsell to the one in Ohio?” I asked. The idea of a singular “private” buyer getting his hands on any of these weapons made me sick. Not that I wanted to think about what an organization could do with them either.

Lorenzo actually chuckled. “He doesn’t have enough money in his bank account to compete, don’t worry.”

I would worry; I would probably have nightmares about it, honestly. But I couldn’t decide if I was more worried about the damage some fucked up individual could do with this kind of firepower, or if I was worried snipers would be aimingat Lorenzo through the goddamn windows back at the estate. “Japan,” I said. “It’s the farthest away from here.”

“We’ll consider it,” Lorenzo said and dropped a kiss onto the crown of my head. “Benedict,” he called, turning and looking for someone even as his arm slid around my waist.

The younger of my two admirers from before walked over like he was being called to his execution. “Sir?”

“We thought the Russians would be ready to jump on this shipment,” he said. “But there weren't any issues at all?”

Benedict’s eyes flicked to me for a moment. He was obviously surprised that I hadn’t said a word to Lorenzo. “No,” he said. “Damian’s plan went off without a hitch.” His eyebrows furrowed together. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It’s suspicious,” Lorenzo said.

“Our intel was that the Russians were gunning for the same cache,” Damian filled in. “So, why were we able to blow in and blow back out without seeing them at all?”

I didn’t like how any of this sounded. “Are we in trouble?” I asked, looking at Lorenzo. His expression softened. “What?”

“Arewein trouble,dolcezza?” I repeated, adding his usual endearment toward me.

I chuckled at his surprised look and pressed my forehead against his shoulder. “I’m a part of this now, aren’t I?” I asked. “It’s not like you’re just going to stop being who you are because of me.” Both Damian and Benedict went quiet, as if they were surprised by what I said. Even Lorenzo looked shocked. I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m not going to say that I like anyof this,” I said. “But I’m not going anywhere, so tell me the truth, are we in trouble?”

Lorenzo waved Damian and Benedict off before he drew me into his arms properly, kissing me long and deep until my head was swimmy. “We’ll be fine,” he assured me. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I’m not worried about me,” I insisted as Lorenzo’s phone began to buzz in his pocket.

Lorenzo

“Vitali,” I said by way of greeting.

“Lorenzo,” a voice with a deep Russian accent said. “We haven’t spoken in an age.”

Despite the initial gut clench, I relaxed slightly. Nikolai Zakarhov was the head of the Russian Syndicate. While I wouldn’t say that we were on friendly terms, Zakharov and I could be in a room together and not try to kill each other. We were practically best friends.

“Nikolai, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I wanted to thank you for taking care of a perpetual thorn in my side.”

That was…unexpected. “If Artem was such an issue, why didn’t you take him out yourself?”

Nikolai swore in Russian. “Because theublyudokhad too much power. He had a prominent seat in the Syndicate. If any of ushad moved against him, it would have been an all-out war, so I appreciate you taking care of that for me.”

His tone set my teeth on edge. I hadn’t done anythingforhim. I wasn’t a goddamn errand boy. But looking at a still-anxious Isabella, I did my best to tamp down on my anger. “You could haveappreciatedmy efforts with a call before now, Nikolai.”

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