Page 106 of Scarlet Secrets

He just smiles, but his eyes are flat and cold. “Perhaps it might be in your best interest to send a message to Sergio,” he says as I fill him in on the conversation Pavel didn’t hear. “A man like Sergio might not be the same level of coward Niko is, but he’s a coward. And he’s hungry. I think we need to make sure he understands you’re not to be messed with.”

I take a swallow of the vodka. “Call your police contact and arrange a raid on one of Sergio’s more profitable ventures.”

“He has the wine bar and gallery that works to launder money.”

“It’d hit him hard with pride, but it’s a small fry. No,” I say. “That strip club, the high-end one, the big one he runs the prostitution ring through, as well as the major money laundering operation. Bring it down.”

“Consider it done,” he says.

Chapter Twenty-Six

ERIN

“It’s not a big deal.”

I stare at Demyan as I sit in the middle of the bed, watching him get dressed. This is the third day he’s going out. And from the early hour, I’m betting it’s a repeat of the previous two days.

He won’t be back until after midnight.

“I can pretend everything you do is legal, Demyan, that you’re not some kind of crime boss and the fact Max’s death wasn’t in all the papers and on TV, and that there aren’t armed men crawling all over your fortress. I can even pretend that you canceled all our activities outside your fortress for the foreseeable future only because you’re overly cautious about Sasha.”

I look at him, willing him to look at me, but he doesn’t.

Yet from his deliberate movements—because I’m learning to read Demyan—he’s utterly focused on me.

“However, I’m not about to believe you when you say your right-hand man, Ilya, moving in here isn’t a big deal. He’s in the mansion. Not even Olga or Magda are in here.”

“Because they come in each day.”

“What’s going on? Is this over Max?”

Finally, he turns. “Yes.”

“So we’re in terrible danger?” Fear grips me. “If Sasha’s in danger, then I should be far away from here. This isn’t our fight. Demyan; he’s only two. Send us somewhere, a long way from Chicago.”

“No.”

“We’ll be back when this is over. You should send Alina with us.”

His expression doesn’t change, but the temperature seems to drop and the air pressure increases. “No.”

“Demyan…”

He starts swearing in Russian. At least, it sounds like swearing.

But he comes over to me and he deliberately flips down the thin straps of my lingerie, pulling it down so my breasts are on display to him.

I go to grab the sheets, but he pulls those away, too.

“If you’re forcing me to be late, then I want some eye candy.”

And my traitorous nipples harden.

“Ilya’s just working from here; it’s easier.”

There’s nothing in his tone to say he’s lying, but I can feel the lie down deep in my bones.

“I’m getting close to bringing down Max’s murderer,” he says, “so Ilya here, working, means you are all safer. That’s all.”

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