Page 10 of Shadow Of Sin

That tells me two things. He has an exceptional memory. And I made an impression I didn’t intend to make.

Neither of those things makes me feel any bit safer.

I tighten my grip on the knife. I just need him to think I’m someone he shouldn’t screw with.

“Who the hell are you?” I say in a tight voice.

“I’m the person who was in your system for forty-nine minutes. You left the door open, so I figured I’d introduce myself the old-fashioned way.”

I stare at him. I watch his expression as I piece everything together…the gala, him with his cables, me with my warnings. Realization clicks behind my eyes so damn fast that surprise flickers across his face. Like he expected me to be quick, but not that quick.

“You,” I say.

“Me.” He keeps his hands where I can see them, which tells me he’s thought about this and knew not to back me into a corner. “So, are you going to use that knife in your pocket, or can we have a conversation inside?”

I grit my teeth, let go of the knife, and pull my hand out of my pocket.

“How do you⁠—?”

“Occupational hazard,” he says. “I know the tells.”

Jesus.

And he knows way more than the fact that I have a knife in my pocket. He’s been in my system. So he basically knows everything. About Dmitri. About Sal.

He’s not making guesses or fishing for information I might let slip.

He had all of this in his arsenal before he sat down on my damn stoop. People don’t just know this much by accident. They go looking for it…that is, if they decide it’s worth looking for.

Fuck. I stare at him, my heart hammering so hard I can feel it vibrate in my throat. I carry my brother’s debt like a weight permanently tethered to my heart, and I don’t talk about it, ever. So hearing this complete stranger lay it out like it’s just another data point in his little file makes me want to shove him off my steps and scream into a damn pillow.

But I don’t. I dig my nails into my palms and force myself to breathe.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t walk past you right now,” I say.

“I know who Dmitri Kozlov is. I know what he’s got on your brother. And I know you’ve been doing his work for months because you don’t have another choice. Yes, I know everything.” He holds my gaze. “And I’m here now because I think you might have another option now.”

“You can say all of that from my stoop. Why should I let you inside?”

“The guys who come into your brother’s restaurant,” he says. “The ones with the gold chains. Do you know who they work for?”

My blood goes cold. Not because of what he’s saying about Sal or the question he asked about the guys. I already know the debt is a noose named Dmitri. What scares me is that this stranger knows it, too. That means he’s either working for Dmitri or he’s something worse.

“Inside,” I say. “Now.”

He follows me as I trudge up the stairs to my door. I unlock it and we walk inside. I don’t apologize for my shoddy apartment because at least it’s mine.

He sits at my kitchen table. I stand because I’m not going to be comfortable while a stranger is in my home. I pull the knife out of my pocket and slap it on the table. It’s not pointed at him, but I don’t put it away, either.

“What option?” I grit out.

“My break-in to your system started a clock,” he says. “If Dmitri’s people run any kind of check on your setup and notice something’s off, they’ll know you’ve been found. And when Dmitri thinks you’re compromised, he won’t come for you. He’ll go for Sal.”

I grit my teeth. I already know that’s how the bastard operates. You don’t squeeze the person you’re using. You squeeze the person they love.

My throat locks up. Not because any of this is news. I’ve known how the trap works since Dmitri showed up at my door two weeks after I got out of prison with a folder full of Sal’s debts and a smile that made me want to throw up all over it. But hearing this stranger with the piercing blue eyes and band t-shirt talk about the structure of my cage makes it real in a way I’ve managed to avoid by just never acknowledging it.

“So, here’s what I’m proposing,” he says. “You don’t stop. You keep doing Dmitri’s work. You keep delivering, keep your routine, don’t change a thing. But every job he gives you, you bring the intel to me too. I’ll map what he’s building. When I have enough, I take him apart. You walk free. Sal walks free. It’s over.”