Page 25 of Darkest Game (The Dark Mafia #3)

I lead the police inside the room. “Irina, the police want to know what happened. How you got hurt.”

Her eyes widened as she looks between me and the police. Can I talk to my husband first? she writes.

The male officer narrows his eyes. “Why would you need to do that?”

Because she wants to get our stories straight.

“She’s been hurt,” I say. “Give her a break.”

The female officer looks me over with an expression I don’t like: one of distrust. “Irina, we’d like to speak with you alone. Without your husband present.”

She shakes her head and quickly writes, He didn’t do this to me .

“Then who did?”

A woman named Elaine Finnigan .

“Why would this woman want to hurt you?”

Irina catches my eye and sighs before writing, Because she thought I wanted her husband when I didn’t. Now she’s trying to hurt me. She went after Liam’s mom to get to us .

“That’s an interesting story you got there,” the male officer says.

“You don’t believe her?” I ask. “She’s telling you the truth. Like I said, my mom can vouch for us. She was there too. I did not do this to her.”

“He… didn’t,” Irina rasps out. “Trust… me.”

The two officers share a look before they nod. “Ok,” the female officer says. “If you say your husband didn’t do this to you, then he didn’t do this to you. We’ll look into this Elaine Finnigan for you after we ask some more questions. We’d like to question your mom now.”

“I’ll take you to her,” I say. We walk past Mikhail and Nico as I take the officers to my mom. She’s still in the waiting room, pacing.

“Mom, these officers want to question you about what happened.”

They do just that and my mom tells them that a woman with two men broke in and tied her up and she only made it out alive because of me and Irina.

“So, this woman was the one who cut Irina’s throat?” the female officer asks.

“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes.”

She closes her notebook. “Ok then. We’ll look into this. Thank you for your time.”

They start to leave when Mikhail and Nico rush over.

“Where are you going” Nico demands.

The male officer shrugs. “We’ve spoken to everyone involved and it’s clear that Mr. O’Connor didn’t hurt his wife. We’ll be investigating more into it but for now, there’s nothing we can do. No one to arrest. If the wife says her husband didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it.”

“And you just believed her? He’s probably mind controlled her at this point.”

“Mind control?” the female officer asks. “If you hate your brother-in-law so much, take it up with him. The victim said he didn’t do it. She told us exactly who did. That’s all we can do here. He’s not a suspect anymore. Now, we’re off. We’re not going to arrest him for something he didn’t do.”

“She’s just trying to protect him,” Mikhail says. “I don’t understand why. But she is. You need to arrest him. He kidnapped her.”

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do. If the victim wants to press charges then she can. But otherwise…”

The two officers finally walk away.

That’s when Mikhail turns to me… and punches me square in the face. I fall right to the floor from the impact of it.

“Oh my god!” my mom screams. “Don’t hurt him.” She places her body over mine so Mikhail and Nico can’t kill me.

“We’re taking Irina home with us,” Mikhail says and heads for her room before any security guard can stop him.

Irina

I flinch when the door is banged open and Mikhail and Nico barge inside.

“We’re taking you home. Now,” Mikhail says.

But I need to stay overnight , I write.

“We’ll protect you.”

What are you doing?

“We’re getting you away from Liam. We’re protecting you like we should have done sooner.” Mikhail gently takes my IV out. “Liam hurt you. I don’t know why you’re saying he didn’t. But we need to get you away from him before he hurts you again.”

“Stop.” It takes everything inside of me to speak. “Stop.” I smack Mikhail’s hands away from me. “He didn’t… do this… to me. Believe… me. Why won’t you… believe me?”

“She sounds like she means it,” Nico says to Mikhail like I’m not even in the room. That’s how little they factor in my opinion. They have an idea and they’re going to stick to it no matter what I say.

“But he kidnapped her.”

“Yes. But it doesn’t sound like he did this to her. Maybe we should take her at her word.”

“You’re the one who said he has her mind controlled.”

Nico shrugs. “Yes. But she knows what happened to her. And if Liam didn’t do this to her…”

“He still kidnapped her. Twice. Irina, we’re taking you home.”

“Don’t… kill… him,” I rasp out. “Please.”

“Why wouldn’t you want him dead? He kidnapped you. He forced you to marry him.”

“No. Jack… did. Elaine… did this to… me. Believe me. Why won’t you… believe me?” Tears well up in my eyes and tighten my throat, making it even harder to speak.

“Because Liam is a little fucker and I don’t trust him,” Mikhail answers honestly. “I’ll never trust him. Because of him, my wife has been worried nonstop for days over you. I will not stand for that.”

“Even if I don’t… hate him?” I ask.

Mikhail looks me square in the eye as he answers. “Frankly, Irina, I don’t give a fuck if you like him or not. Liam cannot be trusted. I am taking you home where you will be safe for Natalya’s sake. Where you can heal. You’re not safe with Liam. Don’t think of him as your savior.”

“Yeah, he took you away,” Nico says. “Why would you see him as your savior?”

“Because he’s saved me… multiple times from being… raped and… killed.”

“What happened to you?” Nico asks. Mikhail shoots him a glare but sighs and turns to me with a nod.

I write it down for them. Explaining how Jack tried to rape me and how Liam saved me. How Elaine tried to give me to other men two times now and Liam saved me both times. How he got me to the hospital to save my life after Elaine cut my throat.

“It’s all true,” I say, jabbing my pen against the paper.

“Shit,” Nico mutters. “This changes everything.”

“Step away from her,” Liam growls, standing in the doorway of the hospital room.