Page 29 of Wrapped in Silver

“Hey!”he shouts again. “I don’t care what you do to me, just make sure she’s not brought into this.”

“Do you have no confidence in your police force? Surely now they’re on alert,da?”

“It’s not them. It’sher. Too smart and too nosey for her own good. She was always supposed to be on the force, but I couldn’t let my baby girl put herself in danger like that.”

That checks out, honestly.

“Captain, let us say we of the bratva let you free so we do not have pig blood on our hands. What then?”

“Hah. I wasn’t born yesterday. You aren’t letting me go…”

“Humor me, pig man.”

“Hmph. Fine. I’ll tell you what happens. I go after the bad ones. Patrovski’s brother,” he says without hesitation. “Seems like that could be a win-win for both of us.”

If I were Russian, perhaps it would be. Unfortunately, that would fuck up Castor DeMatteo’s gold import business,big, considering Yuri Patrovski handles all of the connections at the ports. Or… maybe it’s an opportunity. Another fucking variable to be discussed with Donny.

“Could be, pig man. Could be.”

I give him another five minutes to scarf down his sandwich before I aggressively tie his arms around the back and double-check the rope. Not too tight to cut circulation, and not too loose where I could have an escape on my hands.

“Hey.Hey,” Patrick calls when he hears my footsteps getting farther and farther away. “Must I still really be blindfolded? Just turn me around and let me face the wall. Give me a crossword puzzle or something.”

“It is better this way, pig man.Sit tight.”

This is a fine mess I got myself into.

Chapter 9

Quinn

It’s been days since I’ve heard from Silver.

I’m going mad wondering the fate of my dad, and swooning over Silver’s unexpected visit a few nights ago. Secretly, I’ve hoped for another one—where he’ll tell me Dad would be released the next morning, and then we make out while the rookie idiot waits in his car outside.

Everything’s going to work out…

I tell myself that, and yet every time I do, my heart sinks a little deeper into my belly.

Whatever. I’ve been doing busy accountant work at home for the past few days. My managers have been surprisingly accommodating since the situation, which is nice, but trying to review journal entries and tax accounts while living in this state of mind made me realize how much I dislike the work.

This was never my calling…

Spare time sends my mind wondering about my support system, or lack thereof. This whole ordeal is making me realize I want a partner in crime, or something. God, that’s corny. But is it? Ineedsomeone I can trust, dammit.

Thinking back a few years… to my second adult relationship with Jason Sawyer in college. Look, he had the best head of hair and the whitest teeth, but he missed my birthday,twice, for starters. Trying to get him to get off his ass and find a job was like pushing a rock up hill.

Lazy. He’d rather play Xbox than hang. And taking three classes a semester hardly counted for part-time anything. The only thing he had was a set of balls to ask me out. Some initial attraction counted for something, I guess. But rest assured, justlike everyone else, he’d fold when the tough questions were asked.

“What kind of career do you expect to have?”Dad’s voice plays in my head.“If you’re going to provide, best start now.”

Jason would say the right things back, but then go back to playing with his friends while I busted my ass for money so we can go on a nice date here and there. I mean, c’mon, if you’re going to suck,at leastmake a girl feel special once in a while.

As I tap away on my laptop, the bell rings.

My body goes numb for a millisecond as if it shut down and rebooted.

Silver?

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