Ivan 2 (Her Russian Protector #9) - Roxie Rivera Page 0,46
out of the parking space.
Ruby reached over and grabbed the seat belt from my right hand and snapped it into place. “Go!”
I rushed out of the parking lot as safely as I could and drove away from the probation office as we were being chased by the Devil himself. “Who was that?”
Ruby stopped chewing her thumb nail long enough to say, “A guard.”
“I’m going to assume there’s some sort of history with him?”
“Yes.” She chewed her thumb nail again, a nervous habit she had had since we were kids. “It’s complicated, and if I tell you everything, you’re going to be in serious danger.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m already in serious danger.”
“Worse danger than you can imagine,” she amended.
“I’m imagining the worst, Ruby.” I glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed a truck that I had seen earlier that morning and then again in the parking lot of the probation office. “Do you see that tan truck a few cars behind us? It’s an older model. Has a dented hood.”
She twisted in her seat. “Yeah, I see it.”
Before I could ask her to snap a photo, she used her new phone to take a few. “I think I got the plates.”
“Is it him? The guard?”
“I can’t tell.” She studied her phone’s screen. “Maybe?”
“What’s his name? Was he one of your guards?” I glanced away from the road and noticed how upset she looked. My mouth went dry. “Did he hurt you?”
She worked up the courage to nod.
My breaths came faster as I realized that my sister had been abused. “Did he rape you?”
She nodded again. “Not just me.”
“Is that what they want you to stay quiet about? The guards are abusing the prisoners?”
“That’s part of it.”
“There’s more?” I exclaimed, sickened by the realization that my sister had been stuck in a horrific and traumatizing place for all those long months. “Ruby?”
She shook her head. “I can’t, Erin. Not right now.”
“Okay. It’s fine. You don’t have to say anything else until you’re ready.” I reached for her hand, and she interlaced our fingers, holding on for dear life. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m here, and I’ll listen.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, her hand shaking in mine. She glanced out the window and said, “You can tell Ivan, but no one else.”
Ivan.
Once he found out what had happened, he would go ballistic. There would be no stopping his need for vengeance for his family. He would risk another prison sentence to make sure Ruby received the justice she deserved.
My thoughts turned from the shock of finding out my sister had been raped—probably more than once—by a prison guard to burning white-hot fury. I was overwhelmed by violent thoughts. I wanted to kill that piece of shit. I wanted to lock him in a cage with Ivan and let my husband teach that disgusting, worthless worm what real pain was.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to exploit all of Ivan’s connections. I wanted to do ugly, terrible things to the man who had hurt my sister. I wanted blood.
And, if I knew my husband, he would make sure I got it.
Chapter Twelve
“That’s the seventh time you’ve checked your phone since you finished our paperwork,” Ivan remarked as we waited to be called into our fertility appointment a few days later. He had his arm slung along the back of my chair, and soothingly rubbed my upper arm. “Ruby will be fine.”
"How can you be sure?” She had stayed behind at the house while we attended our appointment, and even with the security system in place, I was nervous about her being alone after the unnerving run-in at the probation office. We hadn’t seen or heard from Jodi Kavanaugh since that day, but I remained on edge, expecting him to jump out like the bogeyman where ever I went.
He shifted slightly and stroked my neck. “Kir and Stas are sitting at the house.”
The two men trained at our gym but were also part of Nikolai’s crew. “Why not hire one or two of Dimitri’s guards?”
“Because they’ll want to play by the book,” he answered honestly.
“And Stas and Kir won’t.”
“Exactly.”
Deciding this wasn’t the place to discuss his reasons in-depth, I asked, “What are we going to about Ruby finding a job? She can go a little while without one as long as she proves she’s actively seeking work, but what if she can’t get hired anywhere?”
Until my sister’s experience, I had never given much thought to how felons found work after release. Seeing how many