AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stay where I am, barely breathing. “Go on.”
“That alliance between Kir and William ended fast. Something personal got in the way.That, I can’t seem to find anything on. Which is strange. But… They didn’t just cut ties, Mal. Lindqvist put out a fucking hit on Kir. A big one. Thirty mil.”
Fuck.
My grip tightens on the phone. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t just business, Mal.No onecontracts for anywhere near that amount for just business unless we’re talking a head of state or something. This was something personal. William wanted Kir dead, and he wanted it bad.”
I stand, pacing. “So what happened?”
“He never succeeded, obviously,” Oren says with a low chuckle. “Kir’s still alive, and William’s not. But the trail goes murky. After the hit was placed, the bad blood between them grew, but then went silent after your family’s massacre. As if someone wanted the whole thing wiped from memory.”
A knot tightens in my gut. “What do you mean, silent?”
“No more chatter. No more attempts on Kir’s life. It was like Lindqvist gave up on the idea.”
“Why?”
There’s a long pause, as Oren hesitates before continuing. “I don’t have all the answers, Mal. And it’s rare that I’ll say that. But whatever went down between Kir and Lindqvist was buried deeper than most of my usual channels go. And whatever it was, it can’t have been pretty.”
My mind races through the possibilities. “Anything else? Anything that ties Kir back to what happened to my family?”
He was there.
Watching the blood pool. Watching my childhood turn to ash.
“Not yet. I’m still digging. When I find anything, you’ll be the first to know. Be careful, Mal.”
The line goes dead, and I stand there for a long moment, staring into space.
William Lindqvist wanted Kir dead. That changes—well, not everything. But something. I just don’t know what.
Lindqvist had my family brutally killed and their home destroyed. I’ve spentdecadesthinking Kir’s presence in the aftermath suggested he was a part of it or overseeing it all.
But now…
Why the fuck would Lindqvist want Kir dead, and why the fuck did he not care anymore after that horrible day?
The questions burn, the weight of them settling in my chest. I turn and slip back inside to go back up to bed. I’ve become almost as nocturnal as Freya.
Just as I step into the great room, the bedroom door upstairs on the balcony creaks open, and Freya steps out, her face soft in the low light of the room. She’s wrapped in the duvet from my bed, her hair tied back loosely, and she flashes me a sleepy smile that tugs at something deep in my gut.
“Hey,” she murmurs. “Everything okay?”
I nod, forcing a smile, my thoughts still tangled in Oren’s words. I lift my phone. “Yeah. Just work.”
Freya pads down the stairs and walks over to me, her presence grounding me in a way that both comforts and unnerves me. “You’re always working.”
I meet her halfway across the room, once again thankful for the UV-blocking windows. I catch her hand and pull her with me onto the couch, tugging her into my lap. But as much as I want to lose myself in her right now, or fuckingdevourher, the conversation with Oren lingers like a shadow.
She tilts her head, studying me with those sharp eyes of hers. “Yousureyou’re okay?”
I don’t answer right away. Instead, I just press my lips to the side of her neck, inhaling the soft scent of her skin, letting it calm the storm inside me, if only for a second. I nip her skin with my teeth—not savagely like I sometimes do, but enough to make her gasp sharply.
“I’m good,” I murmur against her skin. “Just tired.”
Freya leans into me, her fingers tracing light circles along the back of my neck. “We should both be in bed.”
