They drove back into the city, heading toward the north side. Daphne tried several times to free herself from the uncomfortable zip ties binding her wrists, but with no success. A glance through the window behind her showed a second squad car carrying Nik and Kaz behind them. Beside her in the car sat Regina Volkov, oddly quiet and restrained despite their tenuous situation.

She met the other woman’s eyes and saw both fear and steely resolve. Regina nodded silently, as if to reassure Daphne that everything would be all right. If only Daphne felt as confident. She sighed and sank back against the seat. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Nik could protect her. He’d made that clear in the week or so she’d known him. His hard-edged exterior alone proved he was not a man to be messed with. But she’d also seen the inner man—the softer, kinder, romantic Nik, the Nik who’d swept her off her feet last night in the hotel room and made her feel things no other man ever had. He’d been gentle and sweet and so incredibly passionate that she feared she’d lost her heart to him in those moments and would never get it back. Truthfully, that was what bothered her most.

Honestly, they barely knew each other. She had no business falling for him, especially knowing that as soon as this trial was over, he’d most likely be gone and she’d be back to her boring, lonely life again. If the trial happened at all.

From the front seat, Nolan Hornbull looked back at her over his shoulder, his icy blue eyes and rugged face holding the same ruthless certainty she remembered from the night of the shooting. She’d been so frightened to have stumbled upon such a violent scene—the two men, Tolya and Hornbull, caught in the midst of a heated argument, neither man backing down until Hornbull pulled his weapon and fired. Not once, not twice, but four times—at point blank range—all but obliterating Nik’s friend’s face and chest. Even now, nearly three months later, the phantom stench of gunpowder still stung her nose and the acrid taste of her own terror and adrenaline still coated her tongue each time she remembered the shooting. She’d huddled in the shadows for an hour, maybe longer, scared to move, scared to stay.  Not knowing who was friend and who was foe. Hornbull had been carrying his badge that night and the glimmer of that silver medallion beneath the orange street lights was burned into her brain forever.

“Here we are,” Hornbull said, breaking her out of her thoughts. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

The car stopped in front a nondescript white ranch-style home in the blue-collar Polish neighborhood of Portage Park on Chicago’s Northwest side. Hornbull opened Daphne’s door and tugged her out of the vehicle while his partner did the same to Mrs. Volkov. Daphne acquiesced without comment, while Regina let her escort have it in rapid-fire Russian. She could see where Nik got his inner fire from. Part of her wondered if he’d inherited his loyalty from her as well.

Hornbull dragged her up the front stoop and through the front door of the home into a tidy, if somewhat worn, living room. The beige paint on the walls looked weathered and the brown shag carpet beneath her feet had seen better days, but it was newly vacuumed and neat as a pin. He shoved her down on a threadbare olive green and brown striped couch and told his partner to do the same with Regina. Then Hornbull walked out of the room with orders for his partner to shoot to kill if either woman tried to escape. Moments later Nik and Kaz were trundled in as well, though they were forced to kneel on the floor beside the sofa instead of sitting.

Once the other crooked cops had taken their places beside Hornbull’s partner across the room, Nik whispered to her out of the corner of his mouth, “You okay?”

“Yes.”

He leaned over to his mother next. “All right, Mama?”

She gave him a narrowed glance. “Yes.”

Daphne said, her voice low and her lips barely moving, “Where are we?”

“No idea,” Nik said.

They both looked back toward the hall as Hornbull reappeared, this time with a younger woman, who looked about Daphne’s age. She had the same icy blue eyes as Hornbull, though her skin was paler. Her dark blond hair hung straight and loose around her shoulders and her movements seemed halting, restless, almost as if her body wasn’t sure how to stop itself. Her bone structure was delicate and flawless, indicating she’d once been quite beautiful.

“I’d like to introduce you all to my daughter, Serena,” Hornbull said, his tone a mix of affection and sadness. “Serena, say hello to our guests.”

“H-hewoo,” the girl said, her speech obviously impaired. Daphne’s chest squeezed with sympathy over the girl’s plight.

“I brought you all here to listen to my daughter’s story,” Hornbull said, helping his daughter into a chair then taking a seat on the arm of it beside her. “Serena, please proceed.”

It was clear from the doting attention Hornbull gave his daughter that he cared for her a lot, but something about the way he directed her every action and controlled the girl’s every word struck Daphne as domineering.

Serena glanced around at all of them, her gaze wary, then sighed and stared at her hands in her lap. “I-I w-was v-vewy p-p-popu-l-l-lar w-w-o-once up-pon a t-t-time a-and—”

“What my daughter is trying to say is that she was always the best and brightest girl in the room,” Hornbull said, taking over, his tone impatient. “She was destined for great things—college, a loving husband, a family of her own. Then she tried pot at a party. The pot led to harder drugs like cocaine. Then one night she was sold some tainted heroine.” He all but spat the last word, his gaze zeroed in on Nik. “Those drugs did this to her. Her disabilities are permanent.”

Daphne’s heart ached for what Hornbull’s family must’ve gone through. In fact, her reality wasn’t much different from theirs. Her recent years had been shaped by caring for her mother. She knew the constant struggle and exhaustion of living with a person who was dependent on others for everything.

Nik, on the other hand, barely flinched at Hornbull’s damning words.

Hornbull stared at Daphne, his expression intense. “Serena is the reason why I can’t let you testify, Miss Allman. If I’m convicted of killing that drug-dealing scumbag there won’t be anyone around to care for my daughter. Not to mention that your boyfriend, Volkov here, and his pals could be pushing their tainted drugs all over the city, harming or killing so many more even as we speak. It’s my sworn duty to get these sick fuckers off the streets for good or more kids will end up damaged like my Serena, or worse, dead.

His words tore through her like claws, sparking anger in their wake. Yes, she pitied his daughter, but that didn’t give him the right to be judge and jury. “That’s why the courts are there, to bring these people to justice. You’re a police officer. Your duty is to protect and serve, not kill whenever you think it’s right.”

“Right?” Fury blazed in Hornbull’s blue eyes. “I think you’ve been spending way too much time with these criminals, Miss Allman. They’ve warped your values, corrupted your soul just like they corrupted their drugs to make a profit.” He stood and began pacing the room, forcing the other cops to step back into the hallway to make room for his frenetic tirade. “I brought you here to help you see the true victim in all of this. My daughter. But now I can see that these Bratva thugs have gotten to you first.”

From beside Nik, Kaz asked Serena, “Describe the dealer who sold these drugs to you.”

“You don’t talk to her, punk!” Hornbull rushed over and smacked Kaz hard across the face, sending him toppling to the floor.

Nik snarled. “You will pay for that crime too, you pathetic shithead.”

Hornbull snorted and placed his foot in the center of Nik’s chest, forcing him to the ground beside Kaz as he drew his gun and aimed between Nik’s eyes. “Yeah? And who’s going to make me pay, huh? Not you, you Russian pussy. You think I’m scared of your Bratva family? Well, think again. There’s nothing you bastards can do to me that would be worse than what I’ve already gone through with my daughter. All I ask is that you leave me alive, so that I can take care of my daughter. That’s all that matters now.”

“D-daddy!” Serena screamed. “N-noooo!”

Daphne fumbled her way over to the girl and knelt beside her in a feeble attempt to calm her. “Please, can you describe the dealer like he asked?”

“H-he s-s-said h-his n-n-name was T-t-tolya.” Serena frowned, blinking, her gaze locked on the floor near her feet. “S-s-small guy. L-l-looked l-like a w-w-weasel.”

“Small?” Kaz said, spitting out blood from his mouth from where Hornbull had hit him. “Tolya was bigger, like Nik and I.”

Nik scowled, his gaze still trained on Hornbull’s Smith and Wesson staring him in the face. “There’s only one man I know who looks like a weasel and it isn’t Tolya.”

Eyes wide, Daphne gasped. If Nik’s suspicions were correct and Rezan was selling drugs, then it had to have been Rez who’d sold Serena those drugs. Daphne had thought there was something conniving about him when they’d first met. He was definitely weasel-like. In fact, now that she thought about it, that would explain why Rez had left the door open that day at the safe house too. To lure her out and have her act as bait for Hornbull.

“What the hell are you saying?” Hornbull demanded, cocking his gun. “You’re such a fucking liar.  All of you Bratva boys are. Maybe I should just blow your brains out now and save time.”

“Wait. I propose a deal,” Nik said, his tone cool and measured, as if he weren’t lying in a shithole house with a loaded weapon pointed at his head.

“Fuck you and your deal, Volkov.”

“Hear him out,” Kaz said, trying to sit up. “What have you got to lose?”

Hornbull sneered at Kaz then glared down at Nik as he cocked his gun. “You’ve got two minutes.”

“You shot the wrong man. I know who sold your daughter those tainted drugs,” Nik said. “Rezan works for me, but he’s a traitor. I suspect he’s betrayed me and our entire Bratva family by going behind their backs on this drug deal. I have no part in the Bratva’s drug dealings. I work strictly and legally in the artwork and antiquities. I will give you the cell phone number of my Pakhan to confirm this. That’s why I didn’t realize what Rezan was doing right away. Once I did, I vowed to put a stop to it and him. You let us go and I swear to you that my Bratva will get Rezan to confess. I will take great pleasure in having him tortured to the point of death until he tells the truth about what happened with my friend. I will even get him to confess to killing setting up Tolya and having him killedTolya. That way you can frame the evidence to point to Rezan for the conspiracy to commit murder and get off scot-free.”

“No,” Daphne cried, her world shattering around her. She’d thought Nik was brave and honorable despite his less-than-legal affiliations, but this was wrong. So wrong. “You can’t do that. Please, Nik. Don’t—”

“It’s the only way,” he said, finally meeting her gaze, all his emotions swirling inside his gorgeous green eyes—anger, love, acceptance, determination. “This will get him to stop hounding us and will keep you safe, baloven’. And it will bring the man truly responsible for Tolya’s true killerdeath to justice and restore the honor of my Bratva. That’s all I ever wanted.”

A pang of desperation stabbed through her chest. Her rational mind knew what he was saying was true—if Hornbull took Nik’s deal it would solve all their problems—but her broken heart yearned for her life to go back to normal, like it was before she saw Tolya get murdered.

After a few tense silent moments, Hornbull removed his foot from Nik’s chest and narrowed his gaze, uncocking his gun. “If you’re lying to me, boy, I swear to God I will come down on you and your family so hard you won’t know what hit you. Understand?” He signaled to the guards to cut the zip ties holding Daphne and the others hostage then clicked on the safety on his gun and stowed it back in the holster at his waist. “Now get the fuck out of here, all of you, before I change my mind.”

Nik helped Daphne up while Kaz helped Regina and they all rushed outside to freedom. They walked toward the nearest main street and Nik pulled out his cell phone, speaking in brusque Russian to the person on the other end of the line. Once he hung up, they took a seat on a bench inside a bus hut to wait. “I’ve called my men. They will have a driver here shortly to pick us up. I’ve also told them to get Rezan and lock him up at the old safe house until I can talk to him. Mama, we’ll drop you off back at the penthouse. And Daphne, we’ll take you back to your apartment. Both locations should be safe now since I’ve worked the deal with Hornbull.”

“No.” Daphne said, crossing her arms, her voice belligerent.

“What the hell do you mean no?” Nik asked, his tone edging toward peevish. “I need to know you’re all right until I get things settled with Rezan. I can’t worry about you right now.”

“The person you need to be worried about is yourself,” Daphne countered. “This deal you’ve made with Hornbull is stupid. Yes, I know it would solve all our problems, but what about you, huh? If you can torture and kill a man without giving it a second thought, then you’re not the man I thought you were.”

“She’s right, Nikolai,” his mother said. “Even your father would tell you this is not good. There are other ways to get Rezan to confess, ways that will keep you from getting blood on your hands.”

“Why don’t you just turn him over to Hornbull?” Daphne asked.

“Because then I would still have blood on my hands, which I do not want. Even from a snake like Rezan. Besides, that is not the Bratva way.” He raked a hand through his hair and stood, staring out across the street. “And who’s to say killing Rezan would stop Hornbull from carrying out his own brand of justice anyway. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed in me, baloven’, but perhaps I’m not the man you expected. Maybe I never was.”

“I don’t believe that,” she said, her eyes stinging from unshed tears.

Nik looked back at her at last, the sorrow in his eyes nearly her undoing. “And that’s why you don’t belong in my world, with me. This is why, for me, there is only one life—my business life. I cannot be in this business and have the life with you that you deserve—I cannot keep you safe. I must handle Rezan myself for the same reason that you work at a job you hate to care for your mother, Daphne—because it is my responsibility. Because I will do anything for my family and for those I love. Because I would risk it all to keep them safe and secure. Those are the reasons I must do this.”

Daphne wanted to argue, wanted to rally against the truth in his words, but couldn’t. In a last-ditch attempt to stop this madness, she turned to Kaz, who was slumped in the corner of the bus hut, watching them all with detached interest. “What about you?” she said to him. “Can’t you talk him out of this?”

“I wish I could.” Kaz shook his head and straightened, clapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You see, there’s something I think even he hasn’t considered.”

“What?” Nik snapped, glancing over at his brother.

“You can’t kill Rezan without proof of his crimes.” Kaz exhaled and walked around to stand near the curb. “We need to ensure that he talks, that he gives a full confession to everything you promised Hornbull back there or none of us is safe. Not you, not me, not Daphne and not our mother.”

Nik cursed under his breath and lowered his head. “I’m so sorry, Mama. I never meant to drag you into all this. Papa managed to keep you out of his world and safe for all those years and I turn around and bring you right into the middle of it all.”

His mother snorted. “You honestly think your father never asked for my help while he was alive? If that’s the case then I did a better job of sheltering you boys then I realized.” She smiled fondly at her sons and shook her head. “A marriage is a partnership, in all aspects of that word, my sons. While I did not approve of all of your father’s activities for the Bratva, I was always there to support him when needed. Healthy disagreement is good for a relationship, but when the chips were down, we were a team, no questions, no excuses.”

As Daphne listened to the other woman’s logic, an idea occurred. “I think I know how we can get Rezan to confess to dealing tainted drugs and setting Tolya up without torturing or killing him.”

“How?” Nik and Kaz asked in unison.

“I remember the first day I met him, he kept watching me. He did the same thing when he’d bring me groceries at the safe house. Like he wanted to see me naked or something.” She shuddered. “It creeped me out, but what if we can use it to catch him, get him to confess? He won’t see me as a threat.”

“Nyet. No, I won’t risk your life,” Nik said firmly.

“Wait, brother,” Kaz said, his expression thoughtful. “This could work. She is Rez’s type, so I could see how he’d be infatuated with her. We could use her to tempt him, get him talking, then intervene before things escalate.”

The Bentley pulled up in front of the bus hut and Nik helped his mother into the backseat first. “Absolutely not. I will not risk any more lives over scum like Rezan.”

“Except your own,” Kaz said, his stare flat. “We don’t want to lose you either, brother.”

Daphne slid into the backseat beside Mrs. Volkov, then waited until they were all seated and the car was heading back to the penthouse. “Please, Nik. Kaz just said you can keep me safe by intervening and I want to help. Please let me do this, for you, for all of us. Then, if it doesn’t work, you can still go through with your plans.”

A small muscle ticked near Nik’s jaw as he stared out the window. “I hate this. And I swear, if he harms a single hair on Daphne’s head I will end him. Understood?”

Her battered heart leapt. Maybe there was hope yet. “Understood.”

“Right then,” Kaz said, giving her a quick wink. “So, here’s what we’re going to do then…”

* * *

“I don’t like this,” Nik said as he wired Daphne for a hidden mic while Kaz kept a lookout for Rezan. They were back at the old safe house, since Kaz felt that was the best place to trap Rezan in his own mess. The fact his brother was right about that didn’t make Nik feel any better about sending Daphne into harm’s way. Alone with Daphne in the apartment behind the lounge, he finished taping the wires to her lower back, doing his best not to allow his touch to linger too long on her silky skin and failing miserably. With a muttered curse, he tugged her curve-hugging emerald green dress back and zipped her up, his breath catching at the scent of her floral perfume at the back of her neck. Since the night in the hotel, he’d been unable to forget the sweet taste of her mouth, the softness of her sighs, the warmth of her gentle touch on his body, the way she’d stroked his tattoos like they were the most beautiful things she’d ever seen.

Being a practical man, Nik wasn’t ready to go overboard and claim that what he experienced with Daphne was love, not yet. But it was more than he’d felt for another woman in a long time, perhaps ever. Whatever it was, whenever he thought of her his blood heated and his emotions and body swelled and this thing between them was definitely… something.

He waved a dismissive hand and stepped away from her, hoping the distance would clear his head. It didn’t. If anything, it only made him want to pull her into his arms, protecting her against Rez or Hornbull or anyone else who tried to hurt her. He frowned. “No. I don’t like this plan at all.”

She gave him a look over her shoulder as she studied her reflection in the mirror in the bedroom. “Well, I guess that’s karma then.”

Nik frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that I didn’t appreciate you putting yourself in harm’s way back at Hornbull’s either.” She sighed and turned to face him, arms crossed. “You are the most stubborn, bossy man I’ve ever met. But I also happen to care about you.” She shook her head, her expression adorably exasperated. “Don’t ask me why. We barely know each other.”

“We know each other quite well, in my opinion,” Nik said, trying for levity. The truth was, she was becoming more and more his partner every day. Then there was the bombshell his mother had dropped about helping his dad with his work for the Bratva. He’d always assumed his father handled business and his mother waited at home for him with dinner on the table, a complete separation of the two worlds. Now, he realized that what he’d always thought was true about his parents’ relationship wasn’t actually true at all. Things blended, got messy, but still they’d stayed true to each other and the love they’d shared.

“I’m not talking about sex,” she said, her tone annoyed. “I mean that was good, don’t get me wrong. Beyond good, actually. More like great, wonderful even.”

“Earth-shattering,” Nik offered, brow raised.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she snorted, then looked away, her cheeks heating a delightful pink. “Okay, fine. Yeah.” She covered her face with her hands before fluttering them away. “Anyway, my point is that I care about you now. I don’t want you to get hurt or killed. I want you to be safe too and when you take risks like that it makes my heart ache, okay? In fact, you scared the crap out of me back there.”

Unable to resist any longer, Nik stepped forward and pulled her close, threading his fingers through her soft blond curls as he pressed her cheek to his chest, right over his heart. He kissed the top of her head, eyes closed, inhaling her now-familiar, calming scent. In front of his men, he was hard, tough, the brutal Bratva enforcer he’d pledged to be. But with Daphne, his Daphne, he could let down his guard, let his emotions free and just dwell in the moment, with her. “I’m sorry I frightened you, baloven’. I would never want to do anything that harmed you in anyway. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Trap Rezan?” Daphne asked, lifting her head to meet his gaze. “Absolutely. If it ends this nightmare and brings justice for your friend, I’m all in.” Her blue eyes flickered to his lips before returning to his gaze. “And after this, maybe we could start over again, if you want. Meet just as two people, get to know each other for real, try out a real relationship between us.”

Stunned, Nik stared at her, blinked. He’d never considered the possibility that she might want to stay involved with him after this case. Deep in his heart, he’d wished, hoped, but he’d never actually thought she’d want to be with a ruthless thug like him. She was smart, funny, gorgeous. She could have anyone she wanted. It staggered him to think she might want him.

She apparently took his silence for rejection, however, and pushed away from him. “It’s fine.” Daphne walked away before he could stop her. “It was a crazy idea anyway. Forget I mentioned it.”

He opened his mouth to tell her that he would love spending more time with her, but she held up one hand, the other on the handle to the door. “Ready to do this?”

Before he could stop her, she was walking out into the lounge and Nik was cursing himself for acting like such a bumbling idiot. Jaw clenched, he double-checked his weapon then followed her out of the apartment.

Kaz sat on the sofa against the wall, his normal bottle of Jameson in his hand, while several newer Bratva associates—or Shestyorka as the family called them—milled about trying to look cool or tough or otherwise useful. All the men’s gazes locked on Daphne as she crossed the room and headed for the fridge to get a bottle of water. Fists clenched at his sides, Nik headed to the bar instead of pulling his weapon and taking them all out for staring at his woman.

He stopped, blinked.

My woman?

“Shit,” he muttered as he pulled out his bottle of Stoli from behind the bar.

Kaz got up and joined him, wearing a small amused smile. “Don’t look so homicidal, brother. She’s a beautiful girl.” Nik growled and Kaz backed up a step, hands up, grinning. “And obviously taken. She hasn’t taken her eyes off you since you two walked in the room.”

His brother’s words made him feel a bit better. Nik took a swig from the bottle then froze as Rezan entered the lounge. The man scanned the room, as if sizing it up, then headed for the Volkov brothers, his glance darting toward Daphne in the corner.

“You wanted to see me, Avtoriyet,” Rezan said, bowing his head slightly in deference.

The move only served to stoke Nik’s already taut anger. He’d considered Rez a friend, a confidant, an ally. To know that this man had betrayed him, betrayed their Bratva family, betrayed them all by selling tainted drugs, setting Tolya up to get killed and then lying about it, made his blood steam.

His fury only grew stronger when Daphne approached and smiled warmly at the little weasel of a guy before them. “Rezan.” She smiled. “Long time, no see.”

Rez’s stare lingered a bit too long at her boobs for Nik’s liking, but he reminded himself this was all for the greater good. After they got the confession they needed, he might even resort to the bloodletting he usually avoided and beat the shit out of the guy for looking at his woman that way.

“You’re looking beautiful as always,” Rez said to Daphne. His pupils were dilated and his hands were shaking slightly, beads of sweat dotting his forehead in the cool air of the bright room—all signs he was high on his own poisoned product.

“Thank you.” She batted her eyes at him then slipped her arm through Rez’s. “Why don’t we go sit over on the sofa and catch up. I’ve missed seeing you every day with my grocery delivery.”

The guy looked astonished for a moment, then quickly acquiesced with only a brief look at Nik. “Of course.” He led her over to the sofa while Nik did his best not to draw and fire his gun right then and there.

“Patience, brother,” Kaz whispered from beside him. “She knows what she’s doing.”

From the way she was fawning all over the enemy and Rez’s sudden infatuation with her, Nik suspected Daphne just might be more adept at this than he’d thought. Didn’t make him like it anymore though. He took another gulp of vodka, gaze narrowed and never leaving the couple on the couch. Daphne had leaned closer to tell Rez something and he laughed, the sound rough and dirty. Then he shrugged and patted his side where his weapon was holstered.

Good girl, Nik thought. Get him talking. Get him to confess all his sins.

Kaz pressed his hand to his ear where the tiny receiver was that was attached to Daphne’s mic and gave a curt nod in Nik’s direction, indicating she’d gotten Rez to talk about the night Tolya was shot. Several more minutes passed and the pair on the sofa drew closer together while the knots of unbearable tension in Nik’s gut tightened. Finally, Rez placed his hand on Daphne’s thigh and the already frayed tether on Nik’s control snapped.

He plunked the bottle of Stoli down on the bar with one hand and drew his weapon with the other, snarling as he charged across the room to where Rez sat, his focus solely on the man who’d murdered his friend, the man who was now fondling the woman who belonged to Nik.

“Remove your hand from her now, you pathetic shit, or I’ll remove it for you.” Nik cocked his gun and held it between Rez’s eyes. Daphne scrambled back into the corner of the sofa, her eyes wide. “I know you’ve been selling shit drugs. I know you sent that dirty cop after Tolya and let Tolya take the bullet, you fucking liar. Now, we have your confession on tape.”

Rez scowled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never had anything to do with killing Tolya. I wasn’t even there--”

“Stop lying,” Kaz said, moving in beside Nik. He removed his earpiece and held it up before Rez’s eyes. High or not, the guy would pay for his crimes. “We have you recorded. We know what you did. Now the world will know too.”

Desperation written on his face, Rez moved fast, barreling into Nik and Kaz in front of the sofa. The momentum knocked them off their feet and Nik’s gun fired wide, the bullet ripping through the wall near the ceiling. The next few moments were a blur as a struggle ensued.

“Get Daphne!” Nik yelled to Kaz. “Keep her safe!”

Rez had pulled a knife now and stabbed blindly at Nik as they tumbled across the floor. A sharp sting issued from Nik’s left bicep as Rez’s blade glanced off his arm, slicing through the fabric of his suit and into his skin. At last, Nik managed to land a hard punch in Rez’s stomach and roll over so the scumbag was beneath him. With his knees pinning Rez’s shoulders to the ground, it was only seconds until Nik had wrenched the knife from his opponent’s hand and turned the tables.

Rumpled and out of breath, Nik grabbed Rez’s right wrist–his shooting hand—and held it up, placing the knife blade against the base of his trigger finger. “Tell me how that tainted smack got into our supply lines.”

Rez spat then grinned up at Nik, his eyes wild and his grin maniacal. “Fuck you!”

The knife dug into flesh and tendon and Rez screamed. Nik forced words out past his constricted throat. “Tell me, or I swear to God you will lose all of your fingers and toes!”

Daphne wrenched free of where Kaz held her near the wall. “Don’t, Nik! Please! You don’t have to do this. We have his confession, enough to lock him away. Enough to give Hornbull.”

“Hornbull?” Rez asked, going still beneath Nik’s weight. “You’re working with him?”

“Not working with him, but we have a deal,” Nik said, pressing the knife deeper into the guy’s flesh. “Either way, this is not ending well for you, Rezan. And I thought you were my friend.”

“I was your friend,” he howled. “I am your friend. I just…” He panted. “I just wanted a tiny piece of the action for myself. So I started making my own mixes of heroine. Hornbull and his pals were happy to look the other way as long as my boys kept delivering cash to line their pockets, until his daughter got hold of a bad batch and fried her brain. Now he’s got some vendetta against me.”

“He’s not the only one.” Nik spat on the floor beside Rez’s head then pushed off of him, cursing as he jammed the blade of the knife into the wall. “You’ll be lucky to survive the night. If Hornbull doesn’t kill you, the Bratva will. But I won’t. I won’t stoop to your level. Not anymore.” He gave Kaz a look over his shoulder and his brother took off to deliver the recording to Hornbull. “I treated you like a brother, Rez. I would’ve died for you. Now, I can’t stand the sight of you. Go!”

Rez struggled to his feet, his bloody hand clutched to his chest as he inched toward the door. “You’re an idiot, Volkov. I’ll run. You won’t find me again. No one will find me. And you better watch your back. You and your girlfriend. I’ll strike when you least expect it.”

More exhausted than he could ever remember, Nik raised his gun one last time and aimed for Rez. “Consider your words carefully. They may be your last. You will leave this place and you will spend your last hours contemplating all of your sins. Make amends with your God because you will be meeting him soon.”

Rez opened his mouth, closed it, then took off out the door without another glance back.

The man would die tonight, but not by Nik’s hand. He would honor their previous friendship and his deal with Hornbull enough to let someone else do it.

Once they were alone again, Daphne rushed to him and held him tight. “I was so scared. I thought he would kill you or you would kill him and I couldn’t, I just couldn’t…”

Her words broke him out of his thoughts and Nik sank down on the sofa with Daphne in his lap. “Shhh. It’s over now, baloven’. Don’t cry. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

After a few moments, Daphne raised her tear-stained face to his. “You’re not?”

“Not what?”

“Going anywhere?”

“Oh.” He exhaled slow. He’d always expected to die a Bratva, but now this glorious woman had come into his life and shown him there was more to life than the violent, power-hungry world he knew. He wasn’t sure exactly where the future might take them, but he was certain of one thing. “Yes. I’ll be here for you, for as long as you want me.”