Page 18 of Savage Little Secret

Emil’s back hits the shelf hard, making all the antiques shatter on the ground around him as he crumbles to the floor.

“What the fuck, Dmitri?” Mark says as he goes to help Emil up.

I step toward Mark, making him tense up. “Leave him. He can get up on his own.”

Mark narrows his eyes, but he backs off, leaving me to stare down at Emil as he picks glass shards out of his palms.

“You’re short-sighted and impatient. Instead of killing her, we can use her against her father,” I state in a cold voice.

Emil glares up at me, blood dripping off his hands onto the floor. “How?”

“I’m getting there,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest, making things up as I go. I don’t have any plans for Cara because I have no idea what to do about her.

“Does O’Malley know we have her? We can hold that over his head. Maybe get him to back off and stop the attacks,” Leo suggests.

I think back to what Cara said. She insisted that Sean doesn’t even see her as his daughter, that he hates her. Was she being truthful or just lying to me again?

Why would Sean trust her with such an important mission if he didn’t believe in her?

There are so many pieces that I still need to uncover.

“He’ll know soon. Brendan won’t come home,” I reply as I nod my head in the direction of Brendan. “It won’t be long before they reach out with demands. We need to be ready for that.”

Emil shakes his head as he pushes himself to his feet, glass shards raining off his clothes and clattering against the floor. “I don’t see how keeping her as a prisoner will do us any favors. O’Malley is a cold bastard. He might not even care that we have her.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we? It’s better than killing her and possibly missing out on a chance to use her,” I point out before turning to the others. “No one touches either prisoner. No one speaks to them. Not a word.”

“You shouldn’t handle it all alone,” Isaak tells me. “We can help.”

I scoff at him. “Things are a mess right now, but the Ivanovs are still the most powerful players on the board. We’ll stay that way if you get your shit together and do as you’re told.”

There isn’t a single murmur in response, leaving the room dead silent and tense. They might be pissed at me for some of my decisions lately, but I couldn’t give a damn. I’m still in charge.

“What now, boss?” Leo asks me.

“I’m going to question Brendan some more about Cara and what plans the Irish have,” I reply as I lower my arms. “Cara is tied up in my penthouse, where she’ll remain. I don’t want any of you going in there. Only I deal with her.”

My men nod all around me.

“Double patrols. Warehouses. Offices. Properties. No one moves alone. Expect a hit,” I tell all of them.

“We should leave at least one guard here,” Mark tells me. “We don’t want the Irish fucker to break out and go running to O’Malley.”

“One person can stand out in the hallway and guard,” I reply. “But I don’t want anyone talking to him. Just me.”

More nods. More silence. Hopefully, no one tries to get smart with me again.

“Isaak, you’ll stay here,” I say as I turn to him. He might frustrate me, but he’s loyal.

Isaak nods. “Yes, sir.”

“The rest of you, go do your patrols. Report back anything suspicious,” I tell them as I motion for them to get out. “I’m going to question Brendan, and Isaak can stand out in the hallway.”

Isaak nods and follows me, keeping a few feet behind me.

I open the door to the interrogation room, revealing the bloody, broken mess that I left the last time I was here. I don’t remember how many times I swung. I just remember the sound after he dropped his bomb. I didn’t want to believe it was true.

Blood splatters litter the ground around Brendan, who sits still in the chair with his head hung. One leg is twisted out oddly, while blood stains his clothes.