Page 43 of Danger Close
“And I’m the Pakhan of the bratva, and a psychopath.” He shrugged, unapologetically. “But her? No digital footprint? Not even a Kohl’s reward card? That’s highly suspicious.”
I’d considered getting Facebook, because I had a kid, and stalking her was becoming a pastime. But then I just… couldn’t be bothered.
“She has no boyfriend, no lover. She doesn’t seem to text at all.” He blinked, slow and purposeful. This was all a part of his performance. “There are frequent calls to one Trinity Guerro, though. Ever heard of her?”
He lifted a sarcastic brow. I rolled my eyes. His jokes aren’t funny.
“No boyfriend, you say,” I said idly, opening the folder and pretending to read through papers. My eyes honed in on the relationship line that said “no significant other”.
“Most of her calls go unanswered. In the past month, her outbound calls have tripled in frequency. However, thereceptionhas remained the same. My niece rarely answers.”
Hisniece. Notmydaughter. Possessive bastard.
Jericho was a selfish egotist. But he was also weirdly selfless. He took family seriously. That was how he roped me into the fold. It’s why he kept such a protective arm around our sister, Yuliya.
When Jericho was uncharacteristically silent, I lifted my head from the papers and flinched when I saw his furious expression.
“What?” I asked, when he didn’t say anything else.
“I just find your lack of curiosity so…fascinating.” His smirk was menacing. “After all, you said she was the love of your life.”
“How I felt three decades ago isn’t reflective of how I feel now.”
Except it was. My feelings had not changed one bit.
Thelookon Jericho’s face was skeptical, smug, and condescending all at once. But he did not respond to me.
“What now?” My head fell backwards from the power of my eye roll.
“Nothing.” Jericho clamped his mouth shut.
I knew it wouldn’t stay that way long. He was preparing to give me an earful, and the longer he thought about it, the longer the lecture would be.
My brother, of course, did not disappoint. He launched in on me with a fury. “You kept me and Yuliya away from our niece for thirty years—”
“Youdidn’t stay away,” I barked. “You were there when she got her green beret! You were there when she got her Combat Infantry Badge—”
Things which I had not been there for because I was respecting the life her mother had built. Or, at least, the life IthoughtTeri had built.
“No thanks to you!” He interrupted, slamming his hand on the table as the wood creaked under the pressure.
If he thought that would scare me, he had another thing coming.
“No, you did it inspiteof me!” I yelled back, my hand in a fist. “She’s my child, andyoumade sure you were there when I couldn’t be!”
“That wasyourchoice!”
“That washerchoice! Teresa’s!” I gestured to the folder on his desk as a means of indicating that this was what Teri had wanted. Or, at least, what I hadinterpretedto be her wishes. “I was respectingherdecision. I was respecting the mother of my child.”
“Did you ask her? Did you reach out and tell her that she hadn’t been abandoned? Did you try to fight for it? For your family?” He knew the answer, but he asked it anyway just to make a point.
It was the same old song and dance. The reason why I never came home.
“She filed for divorce, that was pretty fucking definitive.”Except, maybe it wasn’t…
“You just let it happen.” The scorn in his tone prickled my skin.
Many, many times in my life have I wanted to punch him in the throat. His smart-ass demeanor, his meddling, his infuriating way of popping up and sticking his nose into something I wanted to keep to myself was enough to drive anyone crazy.
