Page 140 of Wicked Vows (Suvorov Bratva 2)

He’s lucky Liya is here.

Mr. Austin struggles for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Willow is the one who found out that our friend, Zoya, was squatting on one of your properties.”

He frowns. “Which property?”

“The one in Prospect Heights.”

He nods, releases a slow breath, and then settles into his desk chair. After folding his hands on the desk, he says, “Yes, I remember someone mentioned that a woman was squatting in it.” His eyes flare with indignation. “I thought my daughter wanted to look into it to take initiative, not to help criminals.”

I almost open my mouth when Liya squeezes my knee.

This woman knows me better than myself.

“Who had the listing originally?” Liya inquires. “Surely you have some information about that. Please, Mr. Austin. We need to know.”

His eyes gloss over for a second. Then he clicks around on his computer. The sounds are so normal that for a second it feels like we’re just visiting an old friend for some information.

But Clayton Austin isn’t a friend. He’s just a lead. Nothing more and nothing less.

He means nothing to me. And in this moment, I don’t think he means anything to Liya either. But I can’t read her expression right now. She’s wound up so tightly that her nails are digging into my flesh.

The pain doesn’t bother me.

Seeingherin pain does.

Finally, Mr. Austin clears his throat. “Bill Johnston originally was the realtor in charge of that property. When Willow put herself on the listing, he filed an informal complaint, but I ignored it.”

“Informal?” Liya repeats. “I wonder why.”

He shrugs. “Probably thought that he might lose his job if he picked a fight with me. Probably thought I put Willow up to it.” He narrows his eyes at us. “That’s why he didn’t officially file the complaint with HR. He didn’t want to ruin her name.” He shook his head sadly before he glared at Liya. “Unlike you.”

I stand and try to button my blazer. I grab cotton instead and realize I’m wearing a simple white button-down shirt. It looks like I’m on vacation.

I hate it.

“Thank you for your time,Mr. Austin,” I say. “We’ll be in touch.”

He stands up. “Where are you going?”

“You’ve been very helpful,” I say.You fucking asshole.

I gesture for Liya to leave with me. As soon as she’s on her feet, I wrap my arm protectively around her waist and guide her to the door.

“Wait a damn second. Just what thehellis going on?!” Mr. Austin bellows. “You can’t leave without telling me what you two are planning to do!”

Liya freezes up.

That’s one time too many he’s disrespected my wife in front of me. As I turn around, I reveal the stern expression on my face, watching as the sight of it causes some of his strength to diminish.

“The less you know,Clayton,” I say as I open the door. “The safer you’ll be.”

Liya touches my chest. She’s looking at Willow’s father with a sympathetic frown. “We’ll tell you when we find her.”

“That’s not fair! You can’t do this! I’ll go to the police!”

“No, Clayton, you won’t.” I shake my head. “I’m certain that the reason your daughter got snatched was precisely because Bill Johnston went to the police. So I’m going to let you in on a secret: the NYPD don’t belong to people like you. They belong to people like me.”

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