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Joshua shrugged "I didn't buy the painting from the artist" He was careful to keep his statement strictly the truth Sonia had refused to takesupplies to her hoh she wasn't aware of his intention He deliberately hadn't told her, because she'd argued the first ti

Nikita frowned, but he dropped the subject Throughout the next two hours while they brokered a deal for their pipeline, Nikita's gaze continually strayed toward Sonia's artwork It otten involved with the Russian mob The fact that her father had been otten h a ga debt

If the Bogo like the Amurov leopards, they wanted sons, not wives Their lairs didn't tolerate loyalty to anyone but the bratya The wo children, more often than not, ended up dead Sonia had probably been scheduled for ternant Alonzo had explained how the males in his family oht somehow be connected to Alonzo's family

He understood why Sonia didn't want to involve hierous He'd known, sooner or later, they'd be dealing with them because of Alonzo and the others, but he hadn't expected it would become personal

They talked, Nikita trying to get every advantage, but Joshua held firo Nikita wandered over to the painting, looked at it closely until he stiffened, lifting one finger to trace the S and L woven into the foliage "You are certain you cannot tell me who the artist is?"

"I can't," Joshua said with the utmost sincerity

Nikita took out his cell and snapped a few pictures of the painting "Iaround the art world"

Joshua walked the Russian toward the door "Thanks for co all this way I hope you take the time to enjoy yourself New Orleans is a beautiful city There's so much to see and do"

"I et back immediately," Nikita said

"Oh? I' a few days I must have misunderstood"

Nikita flashed a fake sreat importance has come up," he explained

"Anything I can help with?"

Nikita turned back as if just re"

"Yes, of course," Joshua said swiftly

"We are hunting a very dangerouswith his brother, Timur, and his cousins Gorya and Mitya, hefor this man and his brother and cousins"

"Of course we'll help I'll put out the word to our friends and see if we can locate them for you"

"We would be very appreciative" Nikita's gaze onceHe quickly looked away and headed down the stairs to his vehicle, the others falling into step around him

Joshua stood in the doorway, cursing as the car pulled back down the drive toward the road Sonia hadn't been marked There were no biteindicated Sasha's leopard had known about her leopard Gatita hadn't risen because of her first heat--she'd risen to save Sonia's life Sasha's leopard didn't know about her He never would have allowed her to go, not without giving him a child Then he would have killed her

Alonzo had explained that the males in the lair purposely mated with a wo in love They wanted er, but to prove loyalty, they murdered their wives after sons were provided

Joshua ran his hands through his hair in exasperation He couldn't bring up the Russians to Sonia and confir She'd ask questions he couldn't answer, and she was already skittish If she thought he had any connection to thebehind and run froomolov

Evan stood in front of the painting "He recognized this work as being hers Sonia's Didn't he?"

Joshua nodded "No question about it He wasthan he was the pipeline, so much so that he didn't force me to make more concessions for him He knows Sonia They had to be the ones who tried to kill her If I confront her about it, she'll want to kno I know Nikita"

"She's hiding a pretty big secret You think she was omolov?"

"That's the only answer, as much as I'd like another one All the pieces fit" Joshua pressed his fingers to his throbbing te a massive headache "I'll call Drake and update him Do we have eyes on them?"

Evan nodded

"Warn Kai the Russians are on the move They may stop in town I don't want theet her out of there if possible Tell him he needs to drop it that he was at the lu material to Jerry over the phone Tell hio ballistic and head straight to Jerry to tell him to cancel the order"

Evan nodded and took out his cell, texting with one hand Joshua paced across the floor like a caged leopard If Sonia ith him, she'd be safe She'd just refused She hadn't once spent the night at his house, preferring her own She wouldn't go out in public with him Essentially, she called all the shots in their relationship He ht be the dominant in bed, but that see her space, she was in danger

He cursed hi into his palms Flecks of blood proved the leopard's claere very much in evidence The pain helped clear hisSonia out of harht, he'd have to talk to her, even if it meant she would have to be told the truth about who and what he hat he'd become

If she'd been involved with the Russian ine her reaction when she learned he'd taken over Rafe Cordeau's territory Joshua Tregre was the new crihbor He acted the friendly neighbor He ruled his territory with an iron fist and made deals with murderous Russians

He'dover for Cordeau had ain the trust of the locals His iven strict instructions never to push anyone around Most of his creere men he'd worked with in Borneo, but a feere leftovers from Rafe's crew Those were the ones he watched the most He wanted his reputation around his town spotless He wanted his reputation with others in his world ruthless It was the only way to keep everyone safe

"Is Bastien Foret going to be a problem, Evan?" he asked

"It's a possibility Good men can be a pain in the ass Sers on his phone "Let's see what these bastards do You got the best of him in the deal He didn't expect that and he didn't like it, but he wanted an 'in' with us bad enough to take what he could get I liked that you pointed out he wasn't the only game in town, but you'd coh at his expression"

"He kneas bullshit but he couldn't callthe deal Mostly he was upset over the painting and what it meant"

"He lost that deal," Evan said "You look like a kid You came out of nowhere and took hold of Rafe's territory and ate that you weren't playing games Even with that, there wasn't a trail of dead bodies He has to respect that Few could have pulled that off"

"I had a little help fro His phone sounded off, letting hirinned "Kai must have made his move" He held up the phone for Evan to see You didn't Tords "Man, I love that worin faded when he realized what he'd said He c

ouldn't afford to love her Not yet Not when he hadn't told her the truth

"Gray just reported in The Russians are headed out of town They didn't stop; in fact, they're going to get a speeding ticket if they don't slon Nikita's been on the phone the entire time and he doesn't look happy"

"He just found out his daughter-in-law is still alive" Joshua wanted to punch the wall "I have to tell her She has to know"