“You’re hysterical, Patty.” I roll my eyes and twist away from him, checking out the rest of the dining room when a flash of blonde hair falls into my line of sight…in a dress I’ve seen before.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing I’ve seen before.
Boris, the Russian guy who works for the Volkov Bratva, is sitting in the back corner of the dining room.
And his dinner guest is none other than Anya.
I blink fast to see if it’s really them, or if the whiskey is making me hallucinate.
It isn’t.
I clutch the glass tight in my fist.
Her uncle.
Her fucking
He’s the bastard who vowed revenge on my family, on behalf of the Volkov Bratva.
A chill settles deep in my bones.
Vigo worked for the Volkov Bratva, too…
Blood rushes between my ears and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
The Band-Aid.
The five-pointed star.
The familiar way she tasted and felt pressed against me.
It can’t be a coincidence.
I tried to push those things to the back burner, tried to ignore them, but those inklings still festered deep in my mind.
Now they manifest into huge questions that only Anya can answer.
Will she, though? How far is she willing to go to keep me from the truth?
And the biggest question remains — what in the hell does she want from my family?
Only seconds later, I get the exact answer I was looking for.
Conor Mulligan strolls in from a side door and comes up behind Anya. I can see her body stiffen as he hisses into her ear.
I wanna know what he said.
I wanna shoot him fucking
With a rocketing pulse, I watch as Boris gets up from the table and leaves the dining area. Anya and Conor are left alone, and the tension between them is so thick, I can see it hovering in the black cloud above them.
They’re working together.
Against us.
And now I know the truth.
The question is, what am I going to do with it?
I glare at their table, clenching my fists.
Welcome to Vegas, Conor.
Are you feeling lucky tonight?
Because I sure am.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Anya
Uncle Boris nods at the man. “Anya, this is my partner. Conor Mulligan.”
My brow furrows and Conor flashes bright white teeth at me. He looks like an evil doppelgänger of a young Brad Pitt. Hot but ominous.
At least, that’s what the expression on his face tells me.
“I believe you know my sister, Heaven.”
I suck in a breath. Oh my God… “You,” I gasp.
He holds up a hand. “Now, don’t tell me you’re one of those girls who believes everything they hear without getting all sides of a story.”
“There are obviously reasons why they won’t let you near them,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “I heard enough from Heaven. And seeing you here now tells me those reasons are pretty damn valid.”
Conor gives Uncle Boris a look. “Give us a few minutes alone. I think Anya needs a little more convincing.”
Boris slides his chair along the floor and walks away from the table. My jaw drops. He doesn’t even look back once. Just leaves me with this evident sicko stranger.
And that blood of his runs through my veins, too.
Good God, I’m fucked.
“You’re good at what you do, Anya. You fly under the radar, you follow instructions, and you deliver. You handled Vigo, that cocksucker. Escaped without a trace.” Conor grins. “I like the blonde hair better, for what it’s worth. Sexy.”
Bile rises in the back of my throat. “You knew about Vigo?”
“I know about everything,” he says in his thick New York accent. “I even know that my own brother and his dipshit sidekick, Dante Villani, were tailing me that night. I have eyes and ears everywhere, even out here.” An evil laugh escapes his lips. “You’re fitting in well, too. Getting fucked by the enemy.”
“He’s not my enemy!” I say through gritted teeth. “I know the truth now!”
“You only know what you know.” He lifts an eyebrow and sits back in the chair, folding his arms over his chest.
“What I know is that you and my uncle baited me. You sent me out here under false pretenses. He knew I’d never go along with this if he told me the truth about that night.”
“Yeah, well, now you know. But guess what? It doesn’t make a difference,” he hisses. “You’ve gained their trust and made it possible for me to get close.”
“They’ll never let you get back in! Heaven doesn’t trust you. She told me so herself. So whatever you have planned, it’s not going to work!” The legs of my chair scrape against the floor as my body shoots up out of it for the second time.
He looks at me, his gaze hard. “I suspected your loyalties might be a little tangled up, so here’s the plan.”
“My loyalties are just fine. So shove your plan up your ass!”
Conor raises a hand the slightest bit and two guys appear from out of nowhere, flanking me on either side.
“Sit,” one of them seethes. “And don’t get up again until you’re told.”
My eyes skirt around the restaurant. Exactly how much of a scene do I want to cause right now?
My blood simmers as it courses through my veins, my very limited options looping through my mind.
“What do you want from them? Everything is under lock and key,” I blurt.