Page 116 of Scarlet Vows
Finally, he nods and then moves, getting into my face. His is a storm of anger and fury.
“It’s a very bad move to accuse me of something so fucking serious without a shred of proof. Good men are hard to come by. The only lambs I’m interested in are ones I eat, not the sacrificial human sort. I’ve killed men for less.”
“So. Have. I.”
Santo’s eyes narrow. “You called me. You asked me. Youmade a deal with me. And yet through incompetence or the work of a rat, you lazily blame me. Again, not a good move. Not smart, Ilya, and you strike me as a smart man. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the fuck off my property. Now. Before I shoot you and take your wife for me. Get out.”
I’m seconds from killing him. Seconds. But I don’t.
Instead, I glare at him. “This isn’t over. I assure you.”
“Bring it on.”
“Fuck you.” I turn and leave.
Thing is, I know Santo is behind this. There’s no one else it could be. My men might have problems with me, but that’s a trust curve, like Melor has said. Besides, this all came from Santo. He had a man inside. He’s the one who apparently wanted Simonov gone.
It has to be him.
I know it’s him, and I’m going to make him pay.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ALINA
The next morningin Isla’s little apartment, her eyes widen. “You slept with him.”
“Just the one night,” I say, trying to brush it off, even though when she asked if I wanted to bring Albert over to say hello, I was bursting at the seams.
Heat burns over my skin, and I bite my lip as my smile breaks free.
The noise at Ilya’s last night sent Albert diving under my covers. It just sounded like the kind of ruckus that happens at Demyan’s, or did happen. I put earplugs in, hugged Albert, and went to sleep.
I hope he understood the note I left in his room, saying that it was late and I was tired, but I did miss him. And that tomorrow—today—we’d spend time together when he was done with work.
“We could have met at a café,” I say, trying to distract Isla.
Because now that I’ve said the truth out loud, it sounds so real.
I wait for the wave of guilt to wash over me. I won’t deny there’s a touch of it there, like I cheated on Max, but it’smild. And since this is so new, I’m not shocked I feel it. The thrill of sex and intimacy and turning a page onto chapters full of possibilities with Ilya far outweighs that feeling.
Of course, Isla isn’t one to be distracted. She rolls her eyes.
“Girl,” she says, “I’m meant to be working from home today. Iamworking from home, but I had to meet Albert. And now that you’ve spilled the beans, you can’t deny me all the filthy details.”
My face, I swear, almost bursts into flames.
“That good?” She grins. “Go, Alina!”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I beg.
“Who am I going to tell?”
“The whole world,” I say, “considering you basically have a megaphone and will shout it from the windows.”
“I’m sorry, but out of everything, I didn’t think you’d do that yet. And don’t get me wrong, if it’s what you want then you should be doing it. You and Ilya finally did it? Wow.” She grins. “But seriously, how was it? Is he hung? Did he know what to do with it? Did he rock your world?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Isla!”
