Cillian kept a hold of Olivia until they were out of the study and had a closed door between them and Romanov. He didn’t think the man was lying, though things would have been a whole hell of a lot easier if he was. If he hadn’t ordered Hadley taken, then there was no telling where her ex was.
Carrigan sauntered over. “Your kid is gone?”
“Yes.” Olivia didn’t sound like she was about to leap into a blackout rage, but Cillian hadn’t expected her to go after Dmitri, either. He’d known she had a gun, but it never even crossed his mind that she might use it. Stupid.
His sister nodded. “We’ll help however we can.” She glanced at James, who crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not huge fans of people who prey on the weak.”
That was all well and good, but the chances that Sergei came back to Boston after taking Hadley were slim to none. Olivia must have realized the same thing, because she gave a brittle smile. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I need to search beyond your reach.”
Teague approached, his arm around Callie. “We can help, too.”
Callie took Olivia’s hands. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through. If your half brother didn’t order this, where would this man have gone?”
“If I knew that, I’d be there instead of here.” Olivia stepped back, extracting herself from his sister-in-law’s grip. “If you’ll excuse me.” She walked down the hallway away from them, checking each room and then ducking into the bathroom and closing the door. He wanted to follow her, to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be okay. Maybe if he did that, he would actually believe it.
Because things were starting to look pretty fucking stark. He turned to Aiden. “Dmitri Romanov’s man came to our house in Connecticut, butchered three of the men I had watching the house, and then abducted a fourteen-month-old toddler. I don’t care what our father says—this is personal.”
“Why are things never simple with you?” Aiden shook his head. “You know what, don’t answer that. Nothing is simple anymore.”
That was the damn truth. Even if Olivia hadn’t ended up in his life, Dmitri Romanov still would have been skimming off their top. Everything was so twisted up, it was a wonder he could keep any of it straight anymore. I don’t have to keep shit straight. The only thing that matters is getting that little girl back.
With that driving him, he walked past his siblings and slipped into the office, locking the door behind him. His father sent him an aggravated look. “We’re talking business, boy. Get out.”
“I have business with Romanov.” He ignored his father and crossed to stand in front of Dmitri. Not close enough to be in the man’s space, but close enough that he had no choice but to focus on Cillian. “That little girl is your niece.”
Another of those goddamn shrugs. “As my sister is so fond of telling me, she’s only half my niece.”
Maybe. But he could read the tension in the man’s shoulders. Whatever he thought of Olivia, she was right that his promise to his late father was weighing on him. If he wanted to honor Andrei’s wishes, letting Hadley be hurt—or worse—was a shitty way to go about it. “Do you really think this Sergei can take care of a toddler?”
Dmitri’s mouth went tight. “I told Olivia, and now I’m telling you—I don’t know where the man is. If I did, I would take care of things. I don’t tolerate disobedience.”
That was the button to push to get the information he needed. “A man like that doesn’t have a whole lot going for him that isn’t connected to you and your people. Where would he go?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What interest do you have?”
“He killed three of my men. I don’t like that.” He couldn’t believe how calm he sounded. It felt like there was a creature inside him, shredding his heart and lungs and stomach, but nothing showed in his voice.
“You care about my sister. If I don’t miss my guess, you love her.” Dmitri’s brows rose. “Fascinating.”
Hearing that word—that truth—from an enemy’s lips made his blood pressure rise. He hadn’t had the luxury of exploring his feelings for her, not beyond knowing that he had no intention of letting her go. To have this man call him out like that…Cillian took a step forward. “Think hard, Romanov. Because otherwise Olivia and I are going to work our way through your people, and you’re not going to like the results.”
“You threaten me?”
“Cillian.”
He ignored his father and focused solely on Romanov. “No, I’m telling you plainly what will happen. You think three percent is a way to undermine our operations. Let’s see how you feel when I start chipping away at yours.”
“Impossible.”
“You can take that risk, or you can fix a problem that you’re partly responsible for. Call Sergei. He’ll answer.” Cillian hoped. If the man was as loyal as Olivia said, there was a decent chance he’d pick up before he had a chance to think better of it if Dmitri was calling. He might have gone off the deep end, but old habits died hard.
Dmitri gave a put-upon sigh. “Fine.” He pulled a phone out of his jacket and dialed. After a second, he switched it to speaker so all three of them could hear.
“Da?”
“English, Sergei.”
“Yes?” The man on the other end sounded tired. Exhausted, even.
“You’ve displeased me.” Dmitri looked displeased. But then, he would be. A king was only in power as long as he was obeyed without question. The second someone started doing things without permission, everything started falling apart. It was why such drastic measures sometimes had to be taken to ensure loyalty. If everyone saw some dickhead disrespecting the one in power, they might start doing the same damn thing.
The background noise was the type you’d find when someone was driving, which meant he could be anywhere. “You don’t understand, boss. Olivia was fucking that Irish bastard. She has to be taught a lesson.”
It was everything Cillian could do to keep his mouth shut. That piece of shit might disrespect Olivia, but the endgame was more important than the fact that he wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him.
For his part, Dmitri didn’t seem to like hearing that, either. “That’s for me to decide.”
“You were taking too long.”
And he was losing Sergei. If he didn’t do something to reel the man back in, they wouldn’t get the information they needed. Cillian crossed his arms over his chest, which made Dmitri raise an eyebrow. “Tell me where you are so we can fix this.”
“You should have let me keep her. If you had, none of this would have happened. It’s your fault she left me.”
“That may be so, but stealing her child isn’t the way back into her heart.”
“I don’t want to be back into her heart. I just want her to suffer as much as she’s made me suffer.” A child wailed in the background, and Sergei cursed and spat out something in Russian.
Then the line went dead.
Fuck. That had been their one chance of finding out where the bastard was going, and they’d just blown it. Cillian ran a hand over his face. “What a clusterfuck.”
“Hardly.” Dmitri slipped the phone back into his pocket. “I know his destination.”
“How in the hell did you figure that out?”
“He’s not coming in, which means he won’t be with any of my men or in any of the various locations I have control of.” He straightened his tie. “He’ll be going south, to Philadelphia. He has an aunt there that he doesn’t think I’m aware of.” But of course the man was. He didn’t seem like the type to let much get past him. He grabbed a pen and scrawled an address on the notepad on the desk. “If we’re done here?”
“Go.” Seamus spoke from the spot he’d taken behind his desk. When Cillian made to follow, he said, “Not you.”
He waited for the door to shut to turn and face his father. “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but I’m not going to let a little girl suffer for your politics and pride.”
“So I gathered.” Seamus steepled his fingers and tapped them against his chin. “You care for this girl enough to challenge me and the rest of your family.”
“Yes.” No point in denying it now.
“Go. Take Liam and as many men as he thinks you need.”
He could barely believe what he was hearing. “What?”
“I might be a cold son of a bitch, but even I have lines that shouldn’t be crossed. As long as the woman feels the same way about you that you do about her, she’s controllable and only a minor threat. Go get the child.” He leaned back. “And when you’re home again, you will dismantle every connection Dmitri Romanov has in our territory. The man is a snake, and I refuse to give him so much as a toehold. You were right when you threatened him—his money is where a hit would hurt the most. So that’s what we’ll do.”
Cillian rocked back on his heels. “He cooperated.”
“He did the bare minimum—only after bringing this mess to our front door. He’s the one who’s been skimming from us, undermining our authority with our people. He’s the one who lost control of his man, which resulted in the death of three of ours. That can’t be allowed.”
No, he supposed it couldn’t be. A slow satisfaction expanded inside him. Dmitri had made Olivia’s life a living hell. It didn’t matter if he seemed to regret what Sergei had done—he’d been the one to put the man in a position where he’d be able to act. Cillian smiled, well aware that it was as ice cold as the expression on his father’s face. “It would be my honest-to-God pleasure.”
*
Things happened quickly after Olivia came out of the bathroom—barely having gotten control of herself—to find that Cillian had somehow garnered Dmitri’s support and had an address where Sergei was most likely taking Hadley. She hadn’t even known he had an aunt, let alone one in the country. It was entirely possible that her half brother was sending them on a wild-goose chase, but Cillian didn’t seem to think so. Trusting him was so incredibly hard, but she didn’t have another option.
So to Philly they went.
She glanced into the rearview mirror for the millionth time, silently counting the black SUVs trailing behind them. One, two, three. All jam-packed with expressionless men with murder in their hearts. They hadn’t taken the news of their friends’ deaths lightly. She had no illusions that they were there for her. They weren’t.
They were out for blood.
Cillian hadn’t said anything since they started driving four hours ago. At first she was grateful for the silence. Her nerves were strung tight, and she wasn’t capable of small talk. Not when Hadley was in danger. But the longer it stretched, the more uncomfortable she felt.
Finally, when they hit the city limits, she turned to him. “Thank you. I…I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“You could have. It would have just taken longer.” His voice gave her no indication of how he was feeling.
He’s right. Keep your emotions in check until you know Hadley is safe and Sergei is dealt with. Everything else can wait. She sat back. “I have to be the one who goes in. Anyone else tries, and he might hurt Hadley.”
He hissed out a breath. “I don’t like it.”
“But you know I’m right. It’s the best shot we have of pulling this off.”
“If something happens to you…” Silence for a beat, and then two. “You’re right. Damn it, I know you’re right. Just don’t do anything to get yourself killed.”
Her heart tried to beat its way out of her throat. “I won’t.” Now wasn’t the time to play the hero, and the suit had never been something Olivia aspired to. She wanted a quiet life. A home. A family. A man who loved her and her daughter more than he loved anything else.
It seemed so simple, and yet it was an impossible dream.
She was Dmitri Romanov’s half sister. No matter what else she did with her life, that would always be there, hanging over her head. There was no escaping that particular identity, no matter how much she wanted to. Even if she changed her name, it would always be lurking, ready to take her out when she least expected it.
First Hadley. Then deal with everything else.
They wound through neighborhood after neighborhood, the houses getting smaller and in poorer repair. Finally, he pulled up at a curb. “She’s two blocks down. Yellow house on the right.”
It was slightly cheerier than its neighbors. Though the paint was fading and peeled, there were flowers in a pot on the front porch and curtains hanging in the windows—something floral and bright. It said something about the kind of woman Sergei’s aunt was. In different circumstances, maybe she would be someone Olivia could have connected with.
It didn’t matter. If she was helping Sergei, then she was as much the enemy as he was.
She took a deep breath, but it didn’t do anything to calm her. “Okay.”
Cillian stopped her with a hand on her arm. “You go in the front door. You have five minutes before we bust down the back, Olivia. That’s it.”
It wasn’t much, but in reality, a lot could go wrong in the space of five minutes. Lives could change. Lives could end. She gave a jerky nod. “Okay.”
“Get Hadley and get down. We’ll take care of Sergei.” From the grim way he said it, he meant permanently.
Good.
She slipped out of the car and walked down the sidewalk, every step taking her farther away from Cillian and closer to danger. She had the sudden insane urge to run back to him and tell him that she loved him. What if that was my chance and I’ll never get another one? What if Sergei kills him? What if he kills me? She’d spent too much time around the man to underestimate how dangerous he was. There might have been a time when he’d hesitate to hurt her, but it had disappeared right around when he’d stolen Hadley from her bed. All bets were off now.
It took entirely too little time to make it to the yellow house and walk up the steps. She knocked before fear could paralyze her. There were heavy footsteps on the other side and she barely had time to brace herself before the door was flung open and she was face-to-face with Sergei. His blue eyes went wide. “You.”
Everything that she’d been trying so hard to control came rushing to the fore. “Me.” Olivia shoved past him and into the house. “Where is she?”
She barely made it three steps when he grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “How did you know about this place?”
“Dmitri. How else?” She laughed, the sound high and nearly hysterical. “You didn’t really think you could hide anything from him, did you? If anyone should know better, it’s you.”
He tightened his grip. “Who else is with you?” He moved to the window, dragging her behind him, and peered outside. “Where is that boyfriend of yours?”
Hopefully sneaking up to the back door right about now.
She ignored the question and looked around. Despite the floor plan, the décor was bright and downright cheery. This place was obviously well loved. “Where is Hadley?” She wanted to call out for her daughter, but if she wasn’t here, she wasn’t in the line of fire of what was about to go down. “What have you done with her?”
“You really think I’d hurt a child?”
That wasn’t a damn answer. She shoved at him, but he only gripped her tighter. I’ll be wearing those bruises tomorrow if I survive this. “You forget. I know you. Do you really want me to answer that?”
He shook her hard enough to snap her head back. “Don’t be a bitch, Olivia.”
“You first, Sergei.”
He started to turn a mottled red color, a sure sign of violence to come. “You always had a smart mouth on you. Maybe it’s time to teach you a lesson once and for all.” He glanced at a hallway—if it could be called that. It was barely three feet deep, ending in two closed doors.
Hadley.
He was talking about hurting Hadley.
No. “You’re right. I did.” Somehow she managed to keep talking despite the pain radiating from where he held her. Keep focused on me, you piece of shit. You leave my baby girl out of this. “You know, I always suspected sex was so boring with you because you had to hurt a woman to get it up. Looks like I was right.”
He yanked her closer and gripped her throat with his free hand, her death in his eyes. “You always were a bitch.”
“No argument there.” Each word was fire inside her, his hand tightening until black spots started dancing across her vision. This is so very, very bad. She kicked at him, but he dodged easily, something like arousal on his face. So she went for his eyes.
She barely had a chance to rake her nails across his face when he slammed her into the wall hard enough to stun her. “This will be easier if you don’t fight me, Olivia.”
No telling what exactly he was threatening, but she didn’t really want to know, so she fought harder, almost thankful for his hand around her neck because it made screaming impossible. Stay where you are, Hadley. Please, God, whoever’s listening, let her stay where she is. She kicked and clawed, nothing seeming to have any effect on Sergei, even though she could see the blood running down his arms.
He shook her again. “Enough.”
“You’re right.” The voice came from behind him.
Sergei was ripped away from her, and Olivia fell to the floor. She shoved to her knees in time to see Cillian land a punch that sent her ex staggering several steps back. He pistol-whipped him, knocking him to the ground. She froze. She’d never seen Cillian look like that, almost…soulless. He kicked Sergei in the face, flipping him onto his back. “You will never put your hands on her again.”
“You can’t stop me.” Sergei drew a gun from his ankle holster, pointing it at her.
Cillian didn’t hesitate. He pulled the trigger of his pistol twice in quick succession.
Olivia crawled over to Sergei in time to see the life leak out of his pale blue eyes. She touched his chest, part of her disbelieving that it was over as easy as that, but it didn’t draw breath. No pulse, no breath, eyes staring at nothing. Can’t fake that.
It didn’t stop her from wanting to empty a clip into his chest to make sure.
“Olivia.” Strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her to her feet. It was harder than it should have been to stay standing, so she clung to Cillian, her gaze never leaving Sergei. “He’s dead.”
“He damn well better be. He might have been a tough son of a bitch, but no one can survive two bullets to the heart.” He turned her slowly away from her ex, and framed her face with his hands. “Are you okay, sweetheart? When I came through the door and saw his hands around your neck…”
A full-body shudder worked through her. “I’m fine.” Her voice was so raspy, the words were damn near indistinguishable. It hurt to talk. Hell, it hurt to breathe.
But she wasn’t done yet. She turned toward the closed doors. “Hadley.”
“Why don’t you—”
“No. Not until I know she’s okay.” Please be sleeping. If he’d done something to her baby girl, she’d bring him back to life so she could kill him again. Not good enough. Not by a long shot. Olivia slipped out of Cillian’s arms and crossed the living room in a daze. It had all happened so fast. One second Sergei was there, his larger-than-life presence threatening to smother hers. The next, he was dead and gone. He’d never be able to hurt her again.
She opened the first door, but it was just a bathroom, as tiny and clean as the rest of the house. The next door was locked. Her heart skipped a beat. She rattled the lock. It was one of the old ones that could be popped with a bobby pin—which was something she didn’t have.
“Let me.” Cillian gently nudged her out of the way and set his shoulder to the thin wood. She glanced back to find dour-looking men filing into the living room. Without a word, one produced a tarp, and they set about wrapping Sergei’s body in it. It took seconds, and then there was only a small stain on the faded blue carpet and the cracked plaster where her head had met the wall. Another man came through the door with a bucket of what looked like cleaning supplies. They’ve done this before.
Yeah, no shit. When you do illegal things, people get hurt, and it’s necessary to cover it up.
She turned as Cillian hit the door again, cracking the wood and sending the part still attached to the hinges slamming into the wall behind it. Olivia saw the familiar flash of a gun and moved, slamming him into the wall and covering as much of his body as she could with hers. Fire exploded across her back, the burning fury a match to her throat. “Gun.”
“Got it.” He pulled his out again and peered around the door, nearly taking a bullet to the face. “We’re not here to hurt you. We came for the girl.”
A torrent of angry Russian was his only answer. Olivia frowned, trying to concentrate enough to translate the words. “She’s not happy that we’re here.”
“I gathered.” He peeked around the door again. “Hadley’s there. She doesn’t seem to be hurt.”
Relief made her light-headed. Or maybe it was the blood she could feel soaking her back. She slumped to the ground. “Get my baby girl, Cillian. Please.”
She hit the ground, his answer sliding through the darkness blotting out her vision. “I will. I promise. Just hold on, sweetheart.”