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After another sip, he still says nothing, so I ask, “What did you find?”

Hardness fills his eyes “The man who attacked you”

My heart thumps with loud beats “He’s here, in Russia? What did he say?”

Alex clenches his jaw “That Vladimir Stefanov hired him for the job”

“To snatchto abduct me just a few blocks from where I work Well, where I used to work “Who is Vladimir Stefanov?”

He hands the glass back to me “One of the bratva bosses who runs the underworld here”

I drink on autopilot, needing the fortification of the alcohol “Why?”

“I have no idea” Muscles bunch in his te that”

A mafia boss wants Alex dead This is bad, ined I don’t have first-hand knowledge of h articles to know you don’t want to get on the Russian mob’s bad side

I s hard “Where is he now, this ated?”

“Dead,” he says without batting an eye

Dead

The word refuses to register I’, ed him for ith denial in my chest

He regards ive sound to the thought in rets He’s not sorry for what he’s done

“Say it, Katyusha,” he says with narrowed eyes, his tone dangerous despite the endearment

“You…” My voice is hoarse I’m breathless with the realization

“Killed hi what I’m unable to say

My shock is palpable It’s charcoal black, a ss in the air over the embers of the dead fire My boyfriend—if that’s what he still is—has killed a man It’s not the first time either He’s much too collected for someone who’s committed his debut murder

“He was a bad guy, Katerina,” he says, a warning sharpening his gaze further

The words slip froue before I can stop them “Like you?”

His eyes scrunch in the corners as his smile widens

I didn’t erew up in is a far cry from his The people fro Not to mention, the oath I took to save lives won’t letone