Page 56 of Scorned Beauty

Billy came between us. “Let my sister go, man.”

Anton whipped out his gun and pointed it at Billy. “You wanna say that to me again?”

“Why does he want to talk to me?” If Phil was seeing this, I hoped to cause enough delay for them to spring into action.

“Listen.” Anton lowered his head and snarled, “If Grigori says jump, you ask how high?” Another thing I despised with this Russian was his tough-guy clichés. I would have rolled my eyes, but the precariousness of our situation was trilling alarm bells in my head. He yanked at my elbow again causing me to drop the caddy. My brother intervened and shoved Anton with surprising strength that made the big guy stagger, loosening his grip enough for me to break free.

Billy grabbed my arm and we started running. We left all our shit behind.

I spotted Phil and his feds at the mouth of the alley.

“Come on!” Phil yelled.

Just when we dashed past our van, a shot rang out and a gunfight erupted.

Billy fell and dragged me down. I banged my knee. I was still gritting at the pain when I closed my hands on his shirt, attempting to yank him up.

“Go,” he roared.

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Get her out of here,” Billy growled just as hands closed around my biceps.

My body left the ground, swung up bridal-style and I was spirited away from the chaos.

Muzzle flashes flew past us and sparked against the dark alley walls.

I heard a grunt, and then my body was free-falling.

The pavement rushed up to greet me.

Blackness.

Chapter

Fifteen

Sloane

“Are you sure about this?”Phil asked while we waited in his parked SUV outside the Hummingbird Room.

“I’m sure.”

Five days had passed since the shootout at the Venezia Tower. Phil was the fed who carried me out of there, but he was struck in the back. Fortunately, he’d been wearing a vest. I suffered a concussion.

One of their agents wasn’t so lucky. A round struck his neck and he bled out instantly.

No word about Billy. Anton took him.

Phil kept me in a safe house. Without the thumb drive, they didn’t have enough to prosecute the politician and incriminate the Russians other than breaking and entering the Venezia Tower. To make matters worse, their higher-ups considered the operation a bust and shuttered it.

Phil said it was to avoid blowback, and politics above his pay grade were at play.

The New York bratva and the De Lucci crime family had formed an alliance to insulate themselves from whatever Grigori had done. Apparently he’d been going against the wishes of his boss—the pakhan. Also probably why Grigori had gone to ground. His own bratva was hunting him down.

As for me, I was feeling like a stalker. Phil had only this week to watch over me before a new assignment would leave me on my own.

Dom’s limo pulled in front of the Hummingbird Room.