Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet #2) - Nicole Fox Page 0,42

is waiting with bated breath. The Irish have stood up all around the room, the men ready to act, the women ready to hide. Everyone is on high alert.

Niamh is the first to move. She looks from me to Viktor and then lays a hand on Seamus’ shoulder.

“Viktor, what—” Seamus starts to say.

Before he can finish, the waiter reaches for his hip, and Viktor drives the heel of his foot into the man’s chest. He flies back, hitting the table next to ours. The occupants scatter as their drinks spill onto their plates and dribble onto the floor.

Just as the waiter hits the ground, Viktor presses a foot to the man’s chest, pinning him down, and then kneels and grabs for the waist of his pants. The waiter is frantic, his eyes huge and panicked, and he doesn’t look older than twenty. He barely has any facial hair, and his arms are long and scrawny. This isn’t a fair fight.

“Viktor,” I say, taking a step forward.

Niamh grabs my elbow, and I still. I’m not sure what is going on, but I trust her already. I stay where I am, watching as Viktor pulls a gun from the man’s hip.

He holds it in the air and then gestures for some of the Irish to come forward. “Would someone help me restrain this piece of shit?”

Seamus nods at his men, and they obey his order, coming forward to help Viktor by holding the young waiter down.

When Viktor stands up, he rolls his shoulder awkwardly, and I remember the bandage on his arm from his fight the other day. Clearly, it is smarting, but Viktor is trying to play it off.

“Sorry to interrupt the festivities,” Viktor says, his tone light but strained. “But I thought allowing an assassination attempt on Seamus’ life might dampen the mood even more.”

Niamh gasps and grabs her husband’s arm. “What is he talking about, Seamus?”

“What are you talking about?” Seamus asks Viktor, repeating his wife’s question.

“I noticed the waiter studying you closely,” Viktor said. “He kept circling around our table unnecessarily, and on his last pass through, I noticed the bulge at his hip. His hand hung near it nervously, like he wasn’t sure when to grab for it. I recognized the signs and made a call to attack him before he could attack you.”

Seamus looks from Viktor to the waiter lying pinned on the floor, and shakes his head. “Well, then thanks are in order.”

Viktor shakes his head. “Not necessary.”

“It is necessary.” Seamus steps forward and extends a hand to Viktor. The two men shake. “You saved my life, and I’m grateful to you. The real question, however, is why was it necessary? How the fuck did this man get in here?”

Seamus’ lip curls in disgust as he takes in the waiter lying on the floor. “How did you get in here?”

“Please,” the waiter says. “I didn’t do anything. The gun was just for—”

Seamus tips his head and one of the men holding the waiter drives an elbow into his mouth. Blood spurts from his mouth and dribbles out the sides.

How did the man get in here? There were guards waiting at the elevators to check everyone before they entered the party. How did they overlook the waitstaff?

Suddenly, the image of the strange man walking into my kitchen with my son in his arms returns to me, and I shiver. Once again, I’m reminded of how I’m never safe. Not really. Danger can slip in through the smallest of cracks.

“This man intended to kill me, so I find it is only right if we return the favor.” Seamus tells his men to lift the waiter to his feet and then asks Viktor for the gun. Viktor flips the gun around and gives it to Seamus handle first. Yet another show of trust between the two men.

The conversation in the room rises to a moderate din, and everyone seems to be in agreement. This man needs to die.

Seamus lifts the gun to the boy’s forehead, and he is so pale he looks half dead already.

“Wait.” I speak before I can think better of it.

I meet Viktor’s eyes, and he seems to be begging me to stay out of it. This situation could have gone sideways in a thousand different ways. Seamus’ men could have thought Viktor meant to attack their leader and killed him before he could have stopped the waiter. Seamus could have thought Viktor set up the assassination attempt as a way to build trust between