Page 43 of His Savage Vow
My hands won’t stop shaking. Not from fear but from fury.
I’m still trembling from the rush of adrenaline and having to fire the gun. The cold realization of our failure does nothing to ease my nerves. We haven’t killed Kirill Volkov. Not even fucking close.
19
“Every decision comes with a cost to me and my daughter. I just need to make damn sure it’s one I can look in the mirror and live with.”
—ROBERT MONROE
Maximo
The front doorsbang open just before midnight. Enzo comes in first, hauling Constance by the arm like she might bolt if he lets go. I can smell the smoke still clinging to her hair, and her eyes are bloodshot from exposure.
I practically leap down the stairs to get to them before they both collapse onto the sofa in the sitting room. “What the hell happened?”
Constance doesn’t wait for Enzo to answer. “Kirill knows me, Maximo. He knows who I am, and that I’minvolved with you. Once I was inside, someone recognized me. His men pulled me up to the VIP section. He called me Robert Monroe’s daughter. He said something about how he knows I’m valuable to you.”
A cold, vicious thought knifes through me. Someone told him. Someone close.
My jaw locks as I clench my teeth until they squeal. “The only people who knew you would be inside that club are me and Enzo.”
I feel the shift in the room as Enzo looks at me and begins to stand.
My hand goes to my shoulder holster; my gun is out before either of them can get to their feet.
“Maximo—” Enzo starts as I level the gun at him, at my own damn cousin, but I cut him off.
“If you’ve been feeding him information, Enzo, you’re going to say it right fucking now.” My voice is low, deadly calm.
Constance moves to stand between us, not blocking the gun, but close enough that the heat from her body cuts through the cold fury tightening my grip. She places one hand on my chest. “Put the gun down, Max.”
“She could have been killed!” I exclaim, my gaze never leaving Enzo’s.
“I’m not the traitor,” Enzo says, steel creeping into his tone. “If it were me, Kirill would’ve walked out untouched. He wouldn’t have risked staying in that club with a bomb wired into the walls. Think, Maximo. I wouldn’t feed him crumbs; I’d feed him the whole damn plan.”
Constance’s hand presses harder against me. “Enzo is right. Whoever told Kirill about me didn’t tell him everything about our plan tonight.”
I hold Enzo’s stare another long second. Lowering the gun feels like swallowing glass, but I do it.
My suspicions don’t disappear. I just tuck them away for now where they’ll have to wait until I can examine them more closely.
Enzo straightens his jacket. He’s trying to play it down, but all the blood has drained from his face, and he’s deathly pale. “Kirill’s a step ahead of us, but it’s not because of me. That means there’s someone else, and they’re close enough to know about your relationship with Constance. We have to find them, or this will just keep happening, the Russians will always be a step ahead.”
I look over at Constance, still standing between us. The thought of her being used as bait by Kirill or by someone in my own circle burns like swallowing bleach.
“Let’s all try to get some rest tonight,” I tell her as I put the gun back in its holster. “Tomorrow, we’ll dig down deep and find the goddamn leak.”
Constance nods, but her eyes linger on me like she’s not convinced I’ll let this go.
Later, in the dark of our room, no longer my room, I lie awake long after she’s drifted off beside me.
If Enzo isn’t the mole, then someone else is betraying me right under my goddamn nose. Until I find them, we’ll never get ahead of Kirill Volkov, and every person under my roof is a threat except for the woman sleeping beside me.
That thought keeps me staring at the ceiling until the first pale light of morning creeps in.
20
Constance
