Page 28 of Her Darkest Possession

"You're starting to sound like a proper pakhan's wife," I tell her, allowing myself a small smile.

She looks down then, staring at her left hand. I follow her gaze and notice her ring finger is bare. Her wedding ring is gone.

Fucking Lola, I think angrily. That bitch must've taken it like a trophy when she thought she would be rid of Indigo.

I reach across the desk and take her hand in mine.

"It doesn't matter if you're not wearing the ring," I tell her firmly. "What matters is that you're here. That you came back."

Indigo nods, her fingers intertwining with mine. The warmth of her hand feels right in my grip, ring or no ring.

Before we can take a moment to indulge in the moment, my phone rings.

It's Roma.

Without letting Indigo's hand go, I hit the speaker button.

"Roma. What do you have?"

"We've seen her," Roma says, his voice tense but controlled. "Hell's Kitchen. She's being transported with Grisha right now."

Indigo's hand tightens around mine, her knuckles white, and she take a sharp breath.

"Where are they going?" I demand.

"The Devil's Shamrock."

"Fuck," I mutter.

Killian O'Shea.

That Irish bastard has managed to play the game better than anyone else I've known for decades. He's managed to stay neutral while still carving out territory in both Hell's Kitchen and Hoboken across the river. And all of it runs from the office he’s set up in his premier strip club: the Devil’s Shamrock.

Smart, calculating, and ruthless in his own way, he's not a lunatic like Grisha.

But that doesn't mean he's not dangerous.

For all these years, Killian has rejected every attempt from every other criminal family at courting him. He'd laugh, he'd joke, and he'd even take whatever fresh gifts these families brought him.

But at the end of the day, he never enters into any agreement.

And for what it's worth, he's always kept the Volkovs at an arm's length from himself.

Clever old bastard like himself knows better than to get entangled with that shit-show of a family.

But if he's entertaining Grisha today, then that means something has shifted. The Irish have stayed out of our conflicts, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this was mostly driven by the stability Bennet's unprecedented three terms as mayor have brought.

And now that Bennet's gone…

Maybe the Irish are finally picking a side. And they're not planning on choosing me, that's for sure.

And then there's the other thing.

While Killian might've kept his business clean on the surface, but all of us know that his strip clubs double as brothels for boththe right bidders and for cops to keep them looking the other way.

And he'salwayslooking for fresh faces.

If Grisha is bringing Amara there…