Page 40 of Heartfelt Pain (Ruling Love #3)

I suspect Trevino analyzes the world differently and I wonder what he currently sees.

“Anything?” I ask quietly.

Trevino shakes his head. “Came in on the heels of the Irish, but he’s not with them.”

“Will you check with everyone else?” I ask. There are quite a few important people here tonight, but there are plenty of hidden corners in this city. Trevino knows them all, his work as the Ghost occurring on the periphery.

He nods, agreeing to the courtesy.

“Thank you.” This is my best friend we’re talking about. I’m going to figure out what’s going on.

Isolde warily walks over when I beckon.

“They got a cleaning crew, don’t they.” She runs a hand over her nose. Foot soldiers are already starting the task of picking up the place.

“Let me look at that.” I tug her forward. The bullet tore through her hoodie on the left side of her torso.

Isolde tries to twist away. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Let me see it.”

The skin is aggravated and there’s blood. It might not be a gaping wound but it’s got to hurt like hell. Her hand shakes as she forces mine away, her mouth pulled tight.

“You want to tell me who Cade is?” I cross my arms. I’m lecturing all my friends tonight.

Her lack of response is infuriating.

“All right. I hope you like smoothies at the ass crack of dawn.”

Isolde rolls her eyes but Trevino’s head swivels toward me. “What?”

“Congratulations. I’m hiring you to look after Isolde.”

“Maybe I have other clients?”

“Do you really want to piss me off?” I ask, glancing around the remains of the room. One bad review from me and his new business is screwed .

I leave Trevino, muttering under his breath about ever meeting us. Roma is by his mother.

I’ve never seen her in pants. They’re black and the boots she wears are more solid than the skinny points of her usual heels.

“When did you figure it out?” I ask.

Yelena knows a lot of shit. She’s clever and strategic.

“Joan Stuart relies heavily on the same tactics,” she says. She’s as stiff and cold as ever. Not a bit of the blood on the concrete floor disturbs her. “She particularly loves stabbing ex-lovers. Leaving a trail of your former boyfriends seemed like her style.”

“Hmmm.” I scuff my toe against the floor. “And the Hallows? You guessed it had something to do with them too, didn’t you?”

Yelena simply raises an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying. Somehow, I find the pointed look motherly. With no words she shots me a message of admonishment for not figuring it out sooner alongside a glimmer of something else—pride that I did eventually catch on.

Her husband takes up more space than is necessary as he joins us. “I suppose I better start thinking of you as my next daughter-in-law.”

“Yes.” Roma grabs my hand.

I pull out of his grasp. “Please, you wish.”

He pouts, a puppy dog look spreading across his face.

Lev sighs, shaking his head slightly. “We move forward?” he asks.

A beat goes by. Then another. This man takes what he wants and disregards a lot of people. Sometimes even his own sons.

But Roma loves him, no matter what he says about his parents. I nod. We’ll have to move forward.

The moment is quick because a woman glides forward .

Andrea Petrova.

If Lev had a little sister, this is who she’d be.

Smart, cruel, and doesn’t take shit from anyone.

She’s at the same level as Boris and Dima, and she takes her role in the bratva seriously. She loves the life and is loyal to it. But there’s one man she loves more than all else.

Petrova’s husband, William Hallow steps out from behind her. He doesn’t normally come to such openly criminal areas. He’s a man of wealth and integrity.

At least that’s what all the business magazines say.

His son, Hadrian is next to Isolde. Trevino narrows his eyes at him and I’m not sure if he’s taking his bodyguard duties seriously or something else. He certainly doesn’t like the Hallows, based on the few things I’ve heard him say before.

“Excuse me.” I leave Roma and his family.

Andrea and Dimitri are bickering in Russian. It gives William Hallow a chance to step forward and speak to me.

“You gave the Stuart’s a prod.”

His brows raise behind a pair of silver-rimmed glasses.

I don’t have time for the feigned surprise.

“I don’t know what you did, but you gave them just enough of a kick in the ass to try to move into New York.”

And now his biggest rival has been decimated.

His wife is now barking at Dimitri. Andrea and her husband try to keep their work lives separate. He’s the city’s golden boy while she conducts business in the dark. It’s a rare instance when things cross over. He clearly dislikes the Stuarts.

“Five innocent people died due to your little plan.”

He sticks his hands in his pockets. “There’s not an innocent soul on this planet.”

“You’re right there’s not.” But that doesn’t mean they deserved to die. “I suppose you’ll pick up some more work in Shanghai, now too.”

“China’s always a good market,” he agrees .

“I wish you well.” It’s not very sincere, but neither of us cares. I glance over at his son before stepping closer. “But if you ever fuck with me I know exactly what to do.”

He chuckles, the patronizing asshole. “Sure, go after my son and see how that ends up.”

I laugh back. “You’ve spent your life trying to keep your son on a leash. Let’s see what type of monster he’ll turn into when he’s fully cut loose.”

He smiles, his teeth white. “And how would you do that?” he tests.

“By taking away the only thing that’s ever kept him grounded. Madeline.”

William Hallow doesn’t smile again. His chest rises with a deep breath, his hands in his pockets. He glances at his wife. Andrea Petrova is a formidable opponent, but if Hallow decides to go after me again, I won’t fight fair.

I turn my back to him and head to Roma. I’ve solidified my position in the city, taken out two rivals, and got the various syndicates to admit they like me. Just for that, I’ll wait a month or two before raising my fees.

“How mad are you?” I ask Roma. He’s watching the clean-up crew.

“I am calm.” He emphasizes each word, most likely in the hopes they’ll become true.

“What’s going on with them?” I nod to his parents.

I’ve never seen Lev look nervous. Normally, he could stand in the middle of a tornado, sipping his coffee, like all is right in the world.

But all night it’s been little turns of the head to glance at his wife. When she looks over, he looks away. There are little ticks, like tapping his leg or trailing after her.

“Did something happen at the family meeting?” I ask.

I’m honored they came to my rescue (or thought they did) but now that I have a moment to think I’m curious .

Roma snorts. “Did something happen at the family meeting?”

I frown at his sarcasm.

He grabs my hand. “I think Dad is having a come to Jesus moment.”

“Well shit.” I let him pull me to his chest, nestling my head in the crook of his shoulder. “Now I wish I’d been there.”