Page 65 of Break Me
“Steve. Don’t do it,” Mark told him. “She’s our captain.”
“Yeah, bud. That’s crazy shit, man,” Jeff added.
As if they were finally able to come to my defense. Maybe I was a little bit hurt. I’d thought of several of the guys as friends. Okay,maybe they’d been my husband’s friends first, but over the last year, we’d gotten close.
Or so I’d thought.
“Nah, Captain,” Steve finally said. “I ain’t got nothing to say.”
He finally threw up his hands and I backed away, still glaring at him in anticipation of another attack. Thankfully, he chose not to. Smart move.
Damn, I was in a bad mood.
The others studied me for a few seconds before starting to head out.
“You’re on engine clean today, Steve.” Sure, it was my way of lashing out, but I was his captain.
He groaned as expected but sauntered off. So did everyone else but Mark who leaned against the lockers.
“Don’t say it, Mark. I just don’t need to hear it.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“You bet you were. Just do it.”
His sigh was heavy and he glanced around as if not wanting anyone else to hear what he had to say. “Okay, look. You’re a big girl. You’re right. You deserve to have a life without anyone interfering including photographers or whoever that was that tried to kill you, but let that sink in.”
“Which part?”
“Someone tried to kill you.”
“No, they tried to kill my date.”
Mark’s brows furrowed. “Your date who happens to be a member of the most powerful and notorious Bratva family in the country. That means organized crime. You know, guns. Killing. Violence.”
“The family in their entirety happens to be wealthy and highly respected, not just in Vegas but all throughout the United States. Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t either. There was a reason someone tried to kill him. That’s all I was going to say. You’re an amazing woman, Halle. I’d hate for you to find yourself in the crossfire. People like the folks responsible for the assassination attempt use weaknesses against men like Alexsey Dmitriyev.”
He backed away, concern in his eyes.
Something else I hadn’t thought about.
If someone wanted to finish the job they’d started, they could try to do that through me.
“Are you crazy?” Liam yelled.
“Maybe. For what this time, Liam?” After the long day with four engine calls, including barely rescuing a dog from a burning house, I was finished with being a nice girl. I needed a clean shirt since I smelled like smoke and urine. The poor pup had pissed all over me.
At least he was safe.
Before the last call, I’d been recognized by a woman at the scene of a small electrical fire at a diner. That had prompted two othercustomers to come over and grill me about how Alexsey was. In bed! I’d been shocked.
I placed the phone on the sink in the bathroom, pressing the speakerphone. Other than my cramped office, this was the one place I could usually find privacy and quiet. The other two women firefighters usually worked different shifts.
“Because he’s Bratva!”
“So I’ve heard. So what? That means nothing to me. He’s also a smart businessman.” Which is something you aren’t. I didn’t make the statement out loud, but I was thinking it. My brother-in-law had all but run the bar into the ground. He was more of a partier than a manager.
