Page 77 of Black Ledger

Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore Severin anymore. Not after I kidnapped his father.

Without hesitation, I went up to the bar and ordered a top-shelf glass of whiskey. Severin had gotten me into whiskey, and now it was one of my main drinks.

I scanned the crowd for him, and when our eyes met, I shivered. The weight of his stare was heavy. However, I had intentionally worn a black dress that would make any man notice.

And he noticed.

But he didn’t make any moves to come over to me. No, he just stared at me with a playboy smirk on his lips, pretending to be immersed in whatever conversation he was having with the very beautiful blonde in front of him.

An emotion I couldn’t quite place stirred in my stomach.

Between us was a sea of Russians and some Irish. All of the major bosses and their wives and daughters were here, mixing and mingling, and it felt like every eye had latched onto me.

Gossip dripped from their painted lips and fake smiles.

A knot tightened in my chest because I hated being the center of attention. But Keira didn’t. Keira was vivacious and gregarious.

So, I plastered on a fake smile and whispered through my teeth to Neeve, “Please kill me.”

Neeve wiggled her nose in amusement. “You agreed to marry him.”

“Yeah, and I also plan on killing him before that happens.”

Luckily, we were far enough away that no one would hear us.

“But they don’t know that.” She drew the words out playfully. “They’re raging balls of jealousy and fury because you landed the hottest, richest Russian in the room. Oh, and he happens to be Pakhan now.”

I glowered at her. “Only because I am slowly killing his father.”

“With my help.”

I nodded. She and Gemma helped me keep my victims alive for as long as possible. Although some I killed quickly. I tended to kill them quicker if they only rented me once or just aided the Order.

I took a big sip of my drink and looked back out at the vultures just as Nika and Ilya walked up to us. “Good to see you again, Keira,” Nika said, far too chipper, and it was very apparent that she did not find talking to me a joy at all.

“Good to see you too,” I said with an equally fake demeanor. I never said I wasn’t petty.

“We thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to all the major players on our side.”

“Wonderful.”

Nika escorted us around the room like she was our puppeteer, first introducing us to the lower-level bosses and then to the higher ones. Kazimir was the first brigadier she introduced us to, and he took the opportunity to kiss the back of my hand and glare at Severin from across the room. Severin, in turn, glared back but still refused to come over.

The whole night, he hadn’t moved an inch closer to me, but I felt his gaze on me like the burning sun. If I weren’t careful, I’d turn bright red from it.

Kaz excused himself quickly after that interaction. I had no idea why, but he and Nika had shared a rather unpleasant moment, so I was fairly certain they still had a complicated relationship.

Complicated enough that he had literally run away from her.

Next was Grigori Larin, whom I generally enjoyed. He was a pleasant man in his mid-fifties.

After him came Leon Orlov, who was fine enough, albeit ornery. But his daughter was insufferable. Gossip was her profession, and oh, did she love her job. She was one year older than me, had always been a massive pain in my ass, and always wanted to marry Severin.

I was pretty sure they fucked once.

Forgettable, I guessed, because Severin loved to be a repeat offender if he enjoyed the lay.

Alina was also the reason Aleksandr had found out about Severin and me, probably because of her petty jealousy.