All these years I’d hated Connor, and he despised me over a lie. “How could you believe him?” I whispered. “I was mourning the loss of our child. Alone and afraid.” I sank to the floor, holding my knees to my chest; it felt like I was losing the baby all over again. Losing my sister all over again.
Everything was gone.
And I was alone.
“I’m so sorry.”
“None of this matters right now.” I shoveled the emotion somewhere deep inside, burying it.
“It does matter, Liv. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
But I was stuck inside a cage, and a few minutes later, a thought occurred to me. “How’d you even find out the truth?”
“My father knew he was going to die. He left his lawyer with a letter in the hopes I could help bring down Declan and Konstantin, but I barely spoke to my father in the last ten years, since the baby . . . I had no desire to read what he had to say.” He laughed bitterly. “If I had opened it, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
I rubbed my hands up and down my pants, trying to slow my heart as it fluttered furiously in my chest. I could finally begin to lift my bad eyelid, although it hurt like hell. “Connor?”
“Yeah?”
I wasn’t sure what I planned to say, but I allowed my heart the freedom to take control of my brain. “I think we should put the past behind us. Don’t you?”
His light green eyes focused on me, and I could see a glimmer of hope on his face. But I also saw his hesitation—or maybe it was guilt—as the muscles in his face tightened. “Just try and get some rest, Olivia.”
At some point, I must have heeded his advice and fallen asleep. Because the next time my eyes flashed open, Declan was standing in front of me.
29
Connor
“She comes with us or no deal. I can’t trust that you’ll let her go once you have the chip.”
“And how do I know it’s the real chip?” Declan folded his arms across his white T-shirt.
“It’ll be legit. Just don’t kill me until you verify it. There are plenty of people you can threaten to hurt if I’m lying, right?” I was being sarcastic, but in part, it was true. Not that I needed to worry about that.
Blake opened Olivia’s cage. I had to do my best to channel my anger elsewhere as he opened mine. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to kill first. The list kept expanding.
“Do you think we’ll be able to let Olivia live with what she knows?” Declan’s lips twitched at the edges, but he didn’t smile. “Is your FBI friend at the bank waiting? We walk inside, and a team of Feds surround us?” He circled me, his eyes darting back and forth between Olivia and I. “No, Olivia and I will go separately and wait close to the bank. And Andrei will go in the bank with you. You can get the chip and grab whatever your dad stashed in that safe deposit box.” He stopped in front of me and smoothed a hand through his hair. “Once Andrei confirms you’re back in the car, safe and driving, with the chip and information, I’ll put Olivia on the phone, and she can verify when she’s free.”
My face pinched together, anger running through me red hot. “That wasn’t the deal. Once Andrei and I park outside the bank, I need to hear from Olivia that she’s safe. Then I’ll go inside the bank.”
Declan’s lips pulled together as he shook his head.
“It’s this plan or no deal,” I promised. “There won’t be any Feds at the bank—I wouldn’t risk Olivia’s life.”
Declan studied me, contemplating my offer.
“Don’t do it, Connor,” Olivia cried out.
Her face was covered in purple and blue, and I wanted nothing more than to steal her away.
The sound of a safety being removed had my attention. Oleg’s gun was pressed against Olivia’s temple, and her eyes flashed shut. “Want me to just end her here and now?”
“I won’t be far from the bank. If you screw me over on this, and your FBI friend rescues you,” Declan said, edging closer to my face, “you can be sure that I’ll hunt you down and torture Olivia right in front of you. And I won’t stop there. I’ll destroy everyone you care about.”
“Konstantin wants the weapon today. We’d better get a move on.” Oleg sounded impatient.
I moved to Olivia and touched her cheek with the back of my hand. I leaned forward and swept my hand through her hair. “We’ll be together again. Don’t worry. Maybe we’ll even eat at our favorite restaurant.”
Her eyes focused on mine, and she inhaled sharply.
“How romantic, Connor. You’re about to die, and you’re thinking about food.” Declan handed me my father’s envelope. “At least whisper something sexy in her ear. Not that you’ll ever have the chance to follow through . . .”
My hand fell to my side, but I had trouble looking away from her.
“Come on, Olivia. You’re going with Oleg and I. Blake, you can go with Andrei and Connor. If the FBI shows up, you know what to do.”
“I’ll take Connor back to Konstantin’s place after. He’s growing impatient,” Andrei responded.
“Fine. I’ll meet you there.” Declan motioned for Olivia to join him, and my heart grew heavy in my chest. “How does it feel to be back in the club where your sister died?” he asked as he and Olivia headed to the stairs.
Olivia halted, and a strange sensation prickled my skin.
I knew he only intended to let her go for all of five minutes while I was in the bank. But I only needed five minutes.
“Now.” Declan took her by the elbow and forced her to move.
“You ready?”
I rolled my eyes at Blake before following him and Andrei up into the empty club. They had parked in the alley behind the club, in a white Range Rover.
“I wouldn’t fucking touch me,” I said while spinning toward Blake, my chest heaving up and down after he attempted to push me into the back of the vehicle.
“I don’t know what she sees in you.” Blake slipped on his shades. “The people women will do for money.”
My hands shot out, bunching Blake’s T-shirt, and I brought my face close to his. “I’d advise you never to mention Olivia in my presence again. I don’t give a fuck if you have a gun. I’ll rip your face off,” I growled. The idea of Blake and Olivia in bed together crashed into my mind, and I had to do all I could not to twist Blake around and push him up against the car, to ram my fist into his smug jaw.
Blake jerked free as Andrei came around next to us. “You guys have problem?” his voice thick with the accent of his mother tongue.
Blake took his sunglasses back off and shook his shirt as though my touch had left him infected.
“Let’s roll.” Andrei motioned for us to get in the car. He appeared to be the most civil of the animals I’d been forced to deal with in the last twelve hours. Not like that was saying much.
I reached into my back pocket for my father’s envelope and held it in my hands as we drove. The letter was gone from the envelope—Declan had left only the key and passcode to the safe deposit box. Of course Declan would take it. I still couldn’t believe the lie my father had told me about Olivia. Life would have been so different if he hadn’t ripped my insides out.
But I was angrier with myself. I should never have believed it. Olivia had called me several times when I left New York, but I sent her to voicemail each time, before finally chucking my phone altogether. She hadn’t believed my father’s lie—not until I never showed up again.
I didn’t deserve her. But I’d give anything for another chance. Of course, we needed to survive this first.
“We’re here.” Andrei slid into a parking spot across the street from the bank. He picked up his cell phone and called Declan. “We’re at the bank.”
“Have Olivia call from her phone.” I waited with impatience for Andrei’s phone to ring.
A few torturous minutes later, Andrei placed Olivia on speakerphone. “I’m getting out of the car now.”
“Are you
okay? Where’s Declan?” The envelope crunched in my hand as worry gripped me.
“He’s still in the car. But Oleg got out. He’s watching me as I walk.”
The busy street bustled behind her voice as she moved. “Connor, I’m worried about you,” she said breathily.
“I’ll be fine. Just put some distance between yourself and them. And keep your phone on. I’ll call you once I’m out of the bank.”
“That’s enough.” Blake grabbed the phone from Andrei’s hand and ended the call. “Let’s get this over with.”
I ignored my shooting desire to snuff the light out of Blake and got out of the car. “It’ll look a bit strange with both of you going in with me.” I cocked a brow and folded my arms.
“I’ll go with him,” Andrei said. He motioned for Blake to get back in the car.
“I don’t like this.” Blake swung the car door open and got behind the wheel.
“How much are they paying you to betray our country?” I asked, and Blake glowered at me before slamming the door in my face.
“Guess not enough,” Andrei said with a grin. He saw my surprise and shrugged. “Hate cops. Even dirty ones.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” We dodged cars as we rushed across the street, up the stairs, and to the entrance of the bank.
“I’d like to open two of my safe deposit boxes,” I said to one of the bank managers after I approached her. I gave her the box numbers and my ID, and she began tapping at her computer screen.
“Let me get the keys. I’ll be right back.” The woman disappeared down a hall of the massive bank, which featured a golden dome ceiling that reminded me of an old Catholic cathedral.
“Let’s make this quick.” Andrei remained by my side as his gaze darted around the room.
I spotted the woman coming back with the keys, and she escorted us down a different hall to a closed steel door.
Once inside, she brought us to the first box, the one in which the chip was inside—not the real chip to the EMF gun, of course. But Andrei wouldn’t know the difference. The banker and I stuck our keys in at the same time. Then I entered my passcode, and we both turned our keys.
The box popped out, and I retrieved the chip.
Andrei held his hand out, and I handed the chip over to him. A smile of satisfaction met his lips as the banker and I made our way over to the next box. We repeated the same procedure, and I held my breath as the box popped open, not sure what I’d find inside.
Thank God.
I reached for the USB and held it in the palm of my hand. This time, when Andrei requested it, I shook my head. His jaw went tight, but he couldn’t argue with me and raise suspicion.
“Thank you, ma’am.” We left the room and started for the bank exit, but someone bumped smack into me.
“Sorry, man,” an Irish voice filled the air.
“Watch where you’re going,” I grumbled before Andrei and I made our way out of the bank.
“Where is it?” Andrei barked out the second the doors were shut behind us.
I stopped at the top of the cement stairs that led out to the busy street. “Get Olivia back on the phone. I’ll give you the USB as soon as I know Olivia’s still okay.” I retracted my arm from his reach. “You don’t want to make a scene. There’s a cop car parked across the street and the bank security guard is just inside.”
Andrei rubbed his hand over his jaw and his eyes darkened. He released a breath through his nose and reached for his phone. “Here.”
“Hello?” Olivia answered after the first ring.
“Are you okay?”
“So far, so good. What’s going to happen now?” she asked, making no attempt to veil the fear in her voice.
“Everything will be okay, Olivia. I prom—” Andrei snatched the phone from my hand and hung up.
“Time to go.” He held out his hand for the USB.
I handed it to him, but I didn’t follow as he started for the Rover. “Andrei?”
“What?” His “W’s” came out sounding like a “V” every time he spoke.
“Was it you or Oleg who killed Olivia’s sister that night at the club?”
He walked back up the few steps he had climbed down and faced me. “I don’t remember. If me, it was accident, though. I don’t make habit of killing women.”
That was a surprise. Hell, I almost believed him.
“Oleg, on other hand—he don’t mind.” His thick accent poured over me, and I wondered if he was telling the truth. “Why you ask?”
“Just wondering who I need to kill.” I shrugged at him and started down the steps.
Olivia
I wasn’t sure if Oleg was following me. It had been awhile since I saw him, so I was beginning to believe Declan had other plans for me. For some reason, he wanted me to feel safe. Then he’d come after me when I didn’t expect it. There was no way he would just let me go.
Maybe it was Blake who would come after me. He had the most to lose if I ever opened my mouth.
I stopped in front of the sushi restaurant that Connor and I loved. It was early in the morning, so it was closed, but I had to believe Connor had meant for me to come there.
“Olivia.”
I spun around. “Jake,” I cried in surprise. A flood of relief slammed into me, and it took me a moment to comprehend the fact that I’d be okay.
He came from out of the shadows of a nearby store. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
“Where’s Connor?”
He took my hand, and we moved down the busy street. “He’ll be needing our help.”
“Why didn’t he just escape from the bank? You could have helped him, or he could have gotten away, I’m sure.” I gulped as he tore down the street, pulling me along with him.
“Sure, but you want to take down Konstantin, right?”
“Of course.” I tried not to think of the worst case scenario—the one that resulted in Connor’s death.
30
Connor
We were at Brighton Beach. The blue sky allowed the sun to reflect off the water. The weather wasn’t quite warm enough to dip into the ocean, but the typical crew of people who jogged the beach were already pounding the sand.
The strip club we were about to enter was a notorious hangout for the Russian mafia. The untouchable Konstantin had been known to hang out at almost every spot on the beach, with little care or concern about being pinched by the cops.
Given that he had FBI agents under his thumb, I could only imagine how many NYPD officers were making bank off of him, as well.
Andrei led the way inside the dimly lit club, which I assumed to be closed, and Blake followed after.
The smell of tobacco assaulted my senses and the swirl of smoke made me blink. The club was a cheap reproduction of the other gentleman’s club that Konstantin owned in the meatpacking district. I’d only been to it once, by force, over ten years ago. That was before I’d ever met Olivia.
Alexander Konstantin sat on a red velvet couch, which was tucked away from the center dance stage. A Russian song was playing, a bartender was fixing coffee, and two women wearing only thongs and nothing else were on each side of Konstantin.
“This is him?” Konstantin was surprisingly fit. He was in his fifties and was well-built, with silvery gray hair, pockmarked skin, a bulbous nose, and flinty eyes.
He motioned for me to come closer as Declan entered the club from another door. Olivia wasn’t with him, so I had to hope she was with Jake.
“Connor Matthews, it is so nice to meet you.” Konstantin waved his hand and nodded at me. “Have a seat.”
The metal case that held the EMF gun was beneath the table near Konstantin’s legs.
“Here’s the USB and chip.” Andrei handed the two small objects to Konstantin.
“Your father didn’t need to die, but he didn’t give us much choice,” Konstantin said while tossing the USB over to Declan. “Get my computer out of the office. I want to see what’s on it.”
The
women on each side of Konstantin rubbed their hands against his white collared dress shirt. Their red nails ran up and down his chest, but their eyes were on me. “He’s handsome, Alex,” the blonde all but purred.
“Sorry. Not my type,” I blurted, directing my attention to Konstantin.
“That’s right. You have a thing for FBI agents, huh? It is like Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers who will both die.” He smirked.
“Sir, should we test the weapon?” Oleg crouched down and reached for the gun.
“Now, on who do you propose we test it?” Konstantin pressed his palms to the table and his lips twitched.
“Sir, something’s not right.” Declan came into the room and set the laptop on the table in front of Konstantin.
The computer turned black and green HTML code began to scroll fast across the screen. “What the hell?” Konstantin shrieked.
I raised my hands, palms open, and lifted my shoulders. “Weird,” I said before a smirk found my lips.
“What’s happening?” Konstantin shoved the computer at me, and I caught it neatly in both hands.
“Just downloading every file that’s on your hard drive. You don’t have anything illegal on there, now do you?” I pushed to my feet, and Konstantin’s men were on me in an instant. I wasn’t sure how many weapons I had pointed at me.
Oleg popped open the case of the EMF gun and gripped the weapon in his hands. He studied it, trying to figure out how to lock the chip inside.
“Good luck with that,” I said before winking at him.
“What the hell did you do?” Declan was at my side, his breath at my ear.
I rolled my shoulders back and cracked my neck. “What? You actually thought I came to this little party unprepared?”
“Kill him!” Konstantin shouted.
As Oleg moved in to take the kill, two canisters flew into the room, and he glanced in the direction of the sound. The lights went out as I bobbed away from Oleg’s shot in the dark, and I twisted his arm around. I wanted nothing more than to kill the prick who’d stolen the life from Olivia’s sister and my father, but the gas from the canisters began to fill the room.
The Hidden Truths Series Box Set Page 71
