Page 13 of Marked By the Devil

Viktor Volkov. The so-called smartass of the merry gang of Bratva bosses.

Just my luck.

“Were you expecting someone else, Agent Green?” His voice was smooth and smoky. Too low.

I deadpanned at him.

Before I could even think of something more eloquent or stronger to say, he tossed me a water bottle. I caught it, and seeing that it wasn’t opened, I risked taking a sip. Then more. I coughed, chugging it and making a mess.

He stood there and watched me, his hands thrust in his pockets. Wearing a black, short-sleeved button-down, he left his thick and toned arms on full display. All those tats. Scars too. I wiped my mouth and refused to admit that he was a strikingly… well-shaped specimen of the criminal variety.

Assess. Ascertain. And act.

The most obvious thing I could notice was that he exuded power, and it wouldn’t matter what my opinion about it was. Because there was no way any action of escaping or attacking him was in the books. He took up so much room that he blocked the doorway.

“You need me to start asking all the questions? Or you wanna save us both the time by just talking?”

“Save the time for what?” I replied. “For my release?”

He leaned against the open doorway, almost taunting me that a sliver of freedom was there… if I dared to pass him by. His bored stare suggested he wasn’t in the mood for reciprocal smart-assery.

“Why were you at the scene last night?”

“Scene of what?”

“You tell me.”

I licked my lips. “I was sent there for a stakeout.”

He arched one brow.

“To spy on us?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve been assigned to investigate financial irregularities connected to the Cartel.” Revealing anything to a hardened criminal who held all the cards wasn’t part of any solid protocol from my training. But I had to wing it here. My assessment and actions weren’t applicable yet, and the only thing I was certain of was that he might kill me at any second.

“You weren’t there for any part in the assassination attempt on my brother?”

I furrowed my brow. “No.”

He watched me with that stony, severe regard.

“I was there for a stakeout unrelated to you and your family.” Fuck. He has to believe me. “I’m new on the force here.” I licked my lips again, hating to sound like I was singing like a canary, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t look me up and know through their spies how long I’d been employed in the department around here.

“I’ve been asked to look into a politician who seems to be paying for favors from the Cartels.” I cleared my throat, hating how his intense stare could unnerve me like this. “I’m not looking into any assassination plots. Or being part of them.”

Still nothing. He watched me. Taunted me.

“Actually, that’s not true…” I narrowed my eyes, thinking back.

“I’m not sure how new you are to this, Agent, but as a general rule, lying to someone like me is the fastest way to be bleeding out and begging for death.”

I swallowed again, wishing his serious stare and husky voice wouldn’t have such an impact on me. Like he was the devil himself, dictating how life would go on up here on earth.

In other words, how he saw fit.

“I’m not lying.”

He smirked. “All the times I’d heard that before…”