Page 75 of Severed By Vengeance

Lex blew me a kiss. “Love you always, babe.”

She closed my car door and waved one last time before making her way to the silver elevator doors at the end of the walkway. I waited until she was safely on the lift before pulling away. As I turned the engine, a message popped up on my screen. Snatching the phone faster than my pride would admit, my shoulders deflated when I saw Sam’s name instead of Derek’s.

Since when had I ever sulked over a man?

SAM

Belov is willing to speak and drop some names. Can you be at Einstein Medical within the hour? Says he’ll only talk to printsessa voinov. Meaning you.

The Warrior Princess?

ME

Yeah. I’ll be there.

I popped open my glove box—one magazine and a Glock. There wasn’t enough time to run back home and restock, so I had to make do. The chances of needing more rounds were slim at best, but I couldn’t shake the paranoia crawling up my back. We’d let our guard down with Belov before, and things took a wildly dark turn in a matter of seconds. Unreasonably suspicious or not, I knew being overly prepared was better than being caught with my pants down…

Damn, if that last thought hadn’t made me spiral into one’s of Derek.

Okay, at this point, I crossed into the territory of being pathetic.

My phone’s pulsing vibrations from between my thighs jolted me from my seat.

Speak of the devil himself.

“Hey!” I said, trying to sound as composed and carefree as possible.

“Angel.” My insides melted into horny puddles of goo every time he used that nickname. “Are you busy tonight?”

Of course, he’d want to hang out when I had to work. Derek knew Thursdays were my days off, but neither of us had counted on Belov developing a conscience.

“Unfortunately, yes. I have to go…” I paused. Mentioning that asshole’s name would only lead to twenty-one questions and concerns from Derek. In the name of avoiding becoming annoyed, I opted not to go into details. “Last minute call into work. It could take most of the evening.”

“I could swing by and bring you dinner?”

He wasn’t going to make this easy, was he?

“I won’t be at the precinct. My suspect is at Einstein.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Medical?”

“Yeah.” I huffed out a sigh. “Belov, Derek. He allegedly has some information he’s willing to give up.” Derek didn’t need to know that Yuri specifically asked for me.

“All right,” he said moments later. “When can I see you, Eva? I had some last-minute things I had to take care of as well. So, I apologize for my absence these last two days. And I fucking miss you.”

I leaned back and closed my eyes, the pit of my stomach bursting into flames.

To hell with Yuri Belov…

I ran a hand down my face.

No, I had a job to do. Job first, dick later.

“We can still have dinner together, if you’d like. It’s my father’s hospital too. Maybe you two can talk things out.”

I heard him scoff on the other end.