Ghost (Boston Underworld #3) - A. Zavarelli Page 0,87

swear,” he gasps. “You have my word. He and his men did the training. And then they sold them. That is all I know.”

The gears are spinning in my brain. But none of this makes sense. Dmitri could not have sent her those photos. He was already dead. Arman can see I am doubting him. And he still believes I will be merciful. That I would allow him a chance to live.

He is wrong.

“He had a business relationship with some of the Vory,” Arman tells me in a last effort to save his skin. “I don’t know who. But that’s how he found Talia in the first place.”

“I need a name,” I tell him.

“I don’t have one,” he pleads.

“Then you are no longer of use to me.”

I stab him in the neck this time. Blood sputters from his mouth, and he bleeds out in a matter of seconds. And the only thing I can think of… is how much my Solynshko would have liked to see this.

48

Talia

Slainte is exactly the way I remember it. Only, it feels different somehow.

Like a lifetime ago.

Like a different person that walked these floors.

I keep my head down and aim straight for the back office, hoping to find Lachlan. But what I find is more. More than I am ready for. But something I can no longer avoid.

Mack is with him. And she is pregnant.

When she sees me, she nearly collapses from the shock.

I can only imagine what I must look like right now. After hours of walking in the brush. My arms and legs are scratched, and I am bleeding from a cut on my leg still.

I can’t find the words to tell them what happened yet. So I say the only thing I can.

“Get me out of here.”

They took me to a safe house. One of their own, which Lachlan assured me that nobody else is aware of. It is small, but safe. And lonely, even sitting here with my oldest friend.

I am showered and dressed in fresh clothes, the cut on my leg stitched and cleaned.

And Mack is staring at me. Waiting for an explanation.

We are in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Things have never been so tense between us, and I can barely bring myself to look at her.

“Have you heard anything?” I ask Lachlan.

“I’ve spoken to Viktor,” he answers. “Alexei is fine. They are returning from Bulgaria today. He does not know anything yet, and I did not mention it.”

“And Magda?” I ask.

“She is fine also.”

I tap my fingers against the wood of the kitchen table as silence descends over us. I don’t know what else to do. What else to say.

“Viktor thinks you are dead,” Lachlan tells me. “He will tell Alexei soon.”

My throat feels like it’s closing in on me. There are tears in my eyes when I look at Lachlan.

“Is that what you want?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I release a shaky sob. “I don’t know what I want. I need to think.”

Lachlan sighs and looks to Mack. Who is still staring at me like she doesn’t know me. And she’s right. I’m a completely different person than I was before. And I can see that even though she knows better than to say anything right now, the betrayal is there in her eyes.

She keeps glancing at my pregnant belly, silently judging me.

I hate this. I hate how stilted everything is between us. But I can’t deal with that right now. I can only focus on the seconds. The minutes. Think of what I need to do. Of what’s best for me and my baby. I don’t want to leave Alexei.

I love him. I love him so much.

But I can’t return to that house. Be a prisoner on the third floor. I can’t live like that. With his coldness. His distance. He made me feel just so that he could destroy me all over again. He promised to protect me. But there is no protecting me from himself. From the fears that rule his life and his beliefs. He doesn’t trust me.

He doesn’t love me.

“Alexei is a mate and an ally,” Lachlan informs me. “And he has been good to me. But you are Mack’s mate. And Mack is my wife. So I’m telling you now. This is your chance to get out of this situation if you want it. Probably the only chance you are ever going to get.”

I nod, because I know he’s right. But I can’t stop crying. It’s freaking Mack out. Because