Page 133 of Vow Of Fire

Max had his finger to his earpiece, and even though we couldn’t hear through the partition, I knew he’d cleared the space with a colleague before he’d even pulled in. Even though the shooters were both dead, we were taking no chances.

“It’s clear,” I reassured her. “Max checked.”

Her shoulders dropped in relief.

Evelyn wasn’t like me, though. This wasn’t her world. It was my kingdom of sin.

Everything she was going through was because people like me had used her. Malakov, the cartel. We were all the same.

The Colombians were our problem, and I’d dragged her into our war. Now she was constantly looking over her shoulder. The night I’d walked into her gallery, I’d changed the trajectory of her life.

That didn’t sit well with me.

Except we were in too deep now. Events had been put in motion, and we had no choice but to see it through. Both of us.

After that, once we’d settled the score and regained control of our supply route and money laundering network, then she’d be free.

A sharp pang hit me in the gut. Okay, not free exactly. But at least she wouldn’t have to look over her shoulder anymore.

Max brought the SUV to a halt and cut the engine. I got out and opened Evelyn’s door for her. Up ahead, one of my men gave me a thumbs-up. We were safe.

“Come on, let’s get inside,” I told her.

I didn’t want to linger, despite our interim victory. There were always more hitmen, always more threats. And we hadn’t identified the third man yet.

I would hazard a guess and say Los Santos Rotos were more concerned with their Russian counterparts than us right now. As we’d planned.

“Wait here,” I told her, nodding to the guard in the hallway before unlocking my front door. I checked inside the apartment, then beckoned to her to enter.

“I spoke to Orlov today,” she said, stepping inside and kicking off her shoes.

“Tell me,” I said.

She placed her purse on the console table and turned to face me.

“He came into the gallery wanting to talk. Said things hadn’t been working so well between us lately. I explained about the break-in, even about being attacked.”

I searched her face. “You told him about that?”

She gave a little shrug. “It made sense. Played into the whole ‘they’re coming after me’ thing, right?”

Unable to help myself, I reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. Her eyes widened in surprise. To be fair, involuntary acts of affection weren’t really my thing. Although the old rules didn’t seem to apply when she was around.

I dropped my hand. “That was smart. He’ll be worried now.”

“I think he was.” She turned and walked toward the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she took out a chilled bottle of chardonnay. “You want a glass?”

I almost broke into a grin, then caught myself. The sight of her making herself at home in my apartment was something I still wasn’t used to. This had always been my space, my sanctuary. I’d always assumed I’d hate sharing it with anyone, but surprisingly, I didn’t hate her being here.

Even though I’d forced her into my world, she was beginning to act like she belonged here.

I inclined my head. She poured two glasses and handed one to me.

“When he left, he was definitely preoccupied. I’ve never seen him like that before.” She hesitated. “I wonder what he and Sergei will think after… what happened today.”

She still couldn’t say the words.

After you killed those men.