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“It means they’re being held somewhere that no one will ever find. It means I’ll deal with them.” He gripped my hand. “I’ll end this for you, without mercy. No one will ever know what was done.”
“Will you tell me? How you plan on…handling this?”
“Duchess…” His eyes softened. “You said you loved both Royce and Bones. But if you find out what Bones is truly capable of, you might not be able to lie to yourself anymore. You think you want to know that side of me, but be careful what you wish for.” His look was solemn. “I’ll leave it up to you. If you really want to know, I’ll tell you.”
I knew he was capable of violence. I knew the lengths he’d go through to ensure I never had to look over my shoulder again. But he was offering me the truth, if I was strong enough to handle it.
“Would you think I was weak if I said I didn’t want to know?” I asked softly.
“No. I wouldn’t think you were weak.”
“You’ll have blood on your hands. I’ll know that much. That’s enough for me. I don’t need details.”
“All right.” He squeezed my fingers. “There’s just one thing…”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Novikov is Bratva.”
My eyes widened. “Bratva? You mean Russian mafia?”
“Yes.”
“But if you kill him, won’t that just mean more violence?” I asked. “Won’t they come for you? For me? And everything we love?”
“No. Pyotr Novikov is the younger brother of Alexei Novikov. Pyotr was planning a coup to supplant his older brother. Everything he was doing was part of that plan. It was a power move to gain the funds to hire mercenaries to kill his own brother and prove he could pay his allies. Alexei doesn’t want it known by his men or his enemies that his own brother was planning to kill him. We have an agreement with him now; we take out Pyotr and there will be no retribution from Alexei, even though we’re technically engaging directly with Bratva.”
I frowned. “And how did you get Alexei to agree to that? It’s his brother, and things like that are usually dealt with internally, aren’t they?”
“Ramsey Buchanan,” he said quietly. “Ramsey has ties to a very powerful Russian who has sway despite living in Europe. Ramsey’s…friend parlayed on our behalf.”
I swallowed. “When are you going to…”
“When you’re safely home. When I can stand to leave you for longer than five minutes.”
“Will you ever let me out of your sight again?” I asked with a quivering smile.
“Doubtful,” he said, his tone gruff. “It’s my fault this happened.”
“What? No. No, it’s not.”
“If I hadn’t left you alone, he wouldn’t have tried anything.”
“How did he get into the hotel?” I asked. “There was security.”
“He went to the worker’s entrance, dressed as a cater waiter.”
“He was determined to find me,” I said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“I could’ve lost you.”
“But you didn’t,” I said gently. “And you were by my bedside when I woke up.”
“I didn’t leave the hospital for the first three days,” he admitted. “They gave me a pair of scrubs to change into because of…”
“Because of…oh, the blood. My blood.”
“There was a shit ton of blood,” he mumbled. “You’re not allowed to scare me like that ever again. I can take a lot of shit, but I can’t take that again. I love you, Hayden.”
