Page 187 of Savage Hearts

His expression sours. “It would be grand if anyone around here would pretend it’s my opinion that matters for once.”

I glance down at the glass in my hand. I’m gripping it so tightly, my knuckles are white.

I haven’t been able to get the night of the wedding out of my mind. It plays on a loop inside my head, taunting me.

That bloody Russian bastard. I should’ve shot him in the bathroom when I had the chance.

Now he’s family. Fuckingfamily. What a nightmare.

Through clenched teeth, I say, “They’ve gone back to Russia?”

He hesitates. “Aye. And you’d be well-advised to forget all about it.”

An impossibility, but I bite my tongue.

“Spider. Look at me.”

I glance up.

He says, “You’re a good man. Loyal and brave. The situation is less than ideal, but it’s what we’ve got to deal with.”

“How can you be so calm about this? He wanted to kill you!”

“Aye. Can’t really blame him, though, can I? If he killed my brother, I’d want to kill him, too.”

I say bitterly, “How very magnanimous.”

“Get your head back on business, mate. I need you focused. We’ve got a bloody shit show to deal with. Between Kage and the Italians alone, I’ll lose my ever-loving mind.”

“What’s going on with Kage? Considering he attended your wedding, I assumed you two had made an accord.”

He rises and walks to the window, folding his arms over his chest and staring out into the evening sky. “I owe him a marker. He called it in.”

I frown in confusion. “He called in a marker for an invitation to your wedding?”

Declan’s laugh is dark. “No, that was simply politics.”

I make a sound of understanding. “Your wife and his.”

“Aye.”

“So what does he want for the marker?”

“For me to kill one of his men.”

Brutal, but it doesn’t surprise me. The Russians are animals. They’d eat their own young if they were hungry enough. “For?”

“Disloyalty.”

“Why doesn’t he kill the lad himself?”

“Because it’s a man I promised my wife I would never harm.” He turns and gazes at me. “Which makes it excellent sport for Kage.”

When I say, “Stavros,” Declan nods. “Oy. If Sloane finds out…”

“I’ll lose my balls. I have to admit, the son of a bitch knows how to play dirty.”

“What will you do?”