Page 47 of Twisted Secrets (The O’Malleys #3)

C illian kept a hold of Olivia until they were out of the study and had a closed door between them and Romanov. He didn’t think the man was lying, though things would have been a whole hell of a lot easier if he was. If he hadn’t ordered Hadley taken, then there was no telling where her ex was.

Carrigan sauntered over. “Your kid is gone?”

“Yes.” Olivia didn’t sound like she was about to leap into a blackout rage, but Cillian hadn’t expected her to go after Dmitri, either. He’d known she had a gun, but it never even crossed his mind that she might use it. Stupid .

His sister nodded. “We’ll help however we can.” She glanced at James, who crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not huge fans of people who prey on the weak.”

That was all well and good, but the chances that Sergei came back to Boston after taking Hadley were slim to none. Olivia must have realized the same thing, because she gave a brittle smile. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I need to search beyond your reach.”

Teague approached, his arm around Callie. “We can help, too.”

Callie took Olivia’s hands. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through. If your half brother didn’t order this, where would this man have gone?”

“If I knew that, I’d be there instead of here.

” Olivia stepped back, extracting herself from his sister-in-law’s grip.

“If you’ll excuse me.” She walked down the hallway away from them, checking each room and then ducking into the bathroom and closing the door.

He wanted to follow her, to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be okay.

Maybe if he did that, he would actually believe it.

Because things were starting to look pretty fucking stark. He turned to Aiden. “Dmitri Romanov’s man came to our house in Connecticut, butchered three of the men I had watching the house, and then abducted a fourteen-month-old toddler. I don’t care what our father says—this is personal.”

“Why are things never simple with you?” Aiden shook his head. “You know what, don’t answer that. Nothing is simple anymore.”

That was the damn truth. Even if Olivia hadn’t ended up in his life, Dmitri Romanov still would have been skimming off their top.

Everything was so twisted up, it was a wonder he could keep any of it straight anymore.

I don’t have to keep shit straight. The only thing that matters is getting that little girl back .

With that driving him, he walked past his siblings and slipped into the office, locking the door behind him. His father sent him an aggravated look. “We’re talking business, boy. Get out.”

“I have business with Romanov.” He ignored his father and crossed to stand in front of Dmitri. Not close enough to be in the man’s space, but close enough that he had no choice but to focus on Cillian. “That little girl is your niece.”

Another of those goddamn shrugs. “As my sister is so fond of telling me, she’s only half my niece.”

Maybe. But he could read the tension in the man’s shoulders.

Whatever he thought of Olivia, she was right that his promise to his late father was weighing on him.

If he wanted to honor Andrei’s wishes, letting Hadley be hurt—or worse—was a shitty way to go about it.

“Do you really think this Sergei can take care of a toddler?”

Dmitri’s mouth went tight. “I told Olivia, and now I’m telling you—I don’t know where the man is. If I did, I would take care of things. I don’t tolerate disobedience.”

That was the button to push to get the information he needed. “A man like that doesn’t have a whole lot going for him that isn’t connected to you and your people. Where would he go?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “What interest do you have?”

“He killed three of my men. I don’t like that.” He couldn’t believe how calm he sounded. It felt like there was a creature inside him, shredding his heart and lungs and stomach, but nothing showed in his voice.

“You care about my sister. If I don’t miss my guess, you love her.” Dmitri’s brows rose. “Fascinating.”

Hearing that word—that truth —from an enemy’s lips made his blood pressure rise.

He hadn’t had the luxury of exploring his feelings for her, not beyond knowing that he had no intention of letting her go.

To have this man call him out like that…

Cillian took a step forward. “Think hard, Romanov. Because otherwise Olivia and I are going to work our way through your people, and you’re not going to like the results. ”

“You threaten me?”

“Cillian.”

He ignored his father and focused solely on Romanov. “No, I’m telling you plainly what will happen. You think three percent is a way to undermine our operations. Let’s see how you feel when I start chipping away at yours.”

“Impossible.”

“You can take that risk, or you can fix a problem that you’re partly responsible for.

Call Sergei. He’ll answer.” Cillian hoped.

If the man was as loyal as Olivia said, there was a decent chance he’d pick up before he had a chance to think better of it if Dmitri was calling.

He might have gone off the deep end, but old habits died hard.

Dmitri gave a put-upon sigh. “Fine.” He pulled a phone out of his jacket and dialed. After a second, he switched it to speaker so all three of them could hear.

“Da?”

“English, Sergei.”

“Yes?” The man on the other end sounded tired. Exhausted, even.

“You’ve displeased me.” Dmitri looked displeased.

But then, he would be. A king was only in power as long as he was obeyed without question.

The second someone started doing things without permission, everything started falling apart.

It was why such drastic measures sometimes had to be taken to ensure loyalty.

If everyone saw some dickhead disrespecting the one in power, they might start doing the same damn thing.

The background noise was the type you’d find when someone was driving, which meant he could be anywhere. “You don’t understand, boss. Olivia was fucking that Irish bastard. She has to be taught a lesson.”

It was everything Cillian could do to keep his mouth shut. That piece of shit might disrespect Olivia, but the endgame was more important than the fact that he wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him.

For his part, Dmitri didn’t seem to like hearing that, either. “That’s for me to decide.”

“You were taking too long.”

And he was losing Sergei. If he didn’t do something to reel the man back in, they wouldn’t get the information they needed. Cillian crossed his arms over his chest, which made Dmitri raise an eyebrow. “Tell me where you are so we can fix this.”

“You should have let me keep her. If you had, none of this would have happened. It’s your fault she left me.”

“That may be so, but stealing her child isn’t the way back into her heart.”

“I don’t want to be back into her heart. I just want her to suffer as much as she’s made me suffer.” A child wailed in the background, and Sergei cursed and spat out something in Russian.

Then the line went dead.

Fuck . That had been their one chance of finding out where the bastard was going, and they’d just blown it. Cillian ran a hand over his face. “What a clusterfuck.”

“Hardly.” Dmitri slipped the phone back into his pocket. “I know his destination.”

“How in the hell did you figure that out?”

“He’s not coming in, which means he won’t be with any of my men or in any of the various locations I have control of.

” He straightened his tie. “He’ll be going south, to Philadelphia.

He has an aunt there that he doesn’t think I’m aware of.

” But of course the man was. He didn’t seem like the type to let much get past him.

He grabbed a pen and scrawled an address on the notepad on the desk. “If we’re done here?”

“Go.” Seamus spoke from the spot he’d taken behind his desk. When Cillian made to follow, he said, “Not you.”

He waited for the door to shut to turn and face his father. “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but I’m not going to let a little girl suffer for your politics and pride.”

“So I gathered.” Seamus steepled his fingers and tapped them against his chin. “You care for this girl enough to challenge me and the rest of your family.”

“Yes.” No point in denying it now.

“Go. Take Liam and as many men as he thinks you need.”

He could barely believe what he was hearing. “What?”

“I might be a cold son of a bitch, but even I have lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

As long as the woman feels the same way about you that you do about her, she’s controllable and only a minor threat.

Go get the child.” He leaned back. “And when you’re home again, you will dismantle every connection Dmitri Romanov has in our territory.

The man is a snake, and I refuse to give him so much as a toehold.

You were right when you threatened him—his money is where a hit would hurt the most. So that’s what we’ll do. ”

Cillian rocked back on his heels. “He cooperated.”

“He did the bare minimum—only after bringing this mess to our front door. He’s the one who’s been skimming from us, undermining our authority with our people. He’s the one who lost control of his man, which resulted in the death of three of ours. That can’t be allowed.”

No, he supposed it couldn’t be. A slow satisfaction expanded inside him.

Dmitri had made Olivia’s life a living hell.

It didn’t matter if he seemed to regret what Sergei had done—he’d been the one to put the man in a position where he’d be able to act.

Cillian smiled, well aware that it was as ice cold as the expression on his father’s face.

“It would be my honest-to-God pleasure.”

***