Page 176 of Malicious Claim

"No idea," Dragon said. "But now they know you lied to them. They know you made them think he was dead. So be careful."

The warning had barely left his lips when the sharp crack of a gunshot split the air.

Konstantinos reacted first, attempting to put himself in front of Leila, but she'd already been hit and she stumbled with asharp gasp tearing from her lips as the pain registered. Her hand shot to the wound, warm blood seeping between her fingers.

The crowd broke into a scramble for cover.

I caught Leila before she collapsed. "You okay?"

Her teeth clenched. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. The bullet just grazed me."

"Get her to my personal lodge," I ordered Konstantinos, my tone leaving no room for debate.

I stepped outside, scanning the streets. Nicolai and Andreas had gone after the shooter and they had caught him pulling him in their grasp. I turned back, heading for the private room. My men followed without hesitation.

The moment they dragged the bastard in front of me, I knew he was already dead. He was breathing, trembling, trying to act tougher than he was, but he was a corpse. He just didn't know it yet.

Konstantinos was tending to Leila's wound and the sight of her bleeding filled me with so much rage.

"Who sent you?" I asked in the calmest voice I could muster.

The man, young and bleeding from where my men had beaten him into submission, lifted his head with difficulty. "Fuck you."

I smiled just a little. I wasn't in the mood for theatrics so I put a bullet through his left knee. He howled, body seizing in agony.

Leila winced behind me. I glanced to see the wound on her arm was already bandaged, but that didn't make me any less enraged. I shouldn't have brought her to this event. I shouldn't have let my guard down.

I crouched in front of the bastard. "Let's try again."

He panted heavily, head rolling forward. "Volkov," he muttered, voice raw with pain. "Mikhail Volkov sent me. Told me to hit you where it hurt." A bloody smirk curled his lips. "Guess I did."

I shot his other knee.

His screams filled the room. I barely heard them. My men stood motionless, watching.

"I should fly to Russia," I muttered, more to myself. "End this properly."

Leila exhaled sharply. "That's what they want. Volkov wouldn't send just one assassin if he really wanted you dead. He sent someone to provoke you. To make you act without thinking."

I narrowed my eyes. "You think I don't know how to handle Volkov?"

"I think you're too angry to see you're walking into a trap." She crossed her arms. "If you go to Russia now, you'll be dead before you even get close to him."

She was challenging me, daring me to admit she was right.

It infuriated me more because I knew she was.

I looked at the assassin, barely conscious now, slumped in his own blood.

I raised my gun and pulled the trigger taking a clean shot between his eyes.

Leila didn't flinch. She simply stared at me, lips pressed together. "So?" she asked. "Are you still flying to Russia without a plan?"

I took a slow breath, hands clenched into fists. "No," I admitted. The word tasted like iron. "We stay in Greece."

A flicker of satisfaction crossed her face, but she didn't gloat. She simply nodded.

"But I won't sit idle either," I added to reinforce my determination. "I'd make Volkov pay from here. We hit his shipments, his operations, his men. We burn everything he owns before taking his life."