Ronan
Zeke and I geared up and checked our perp’s location. Apparently, Mark Orlov was at church.
“Maybe he’s praying for forgiveness?” I suggested, unlocking the car and loading a supply bag into the back. Zeke programmed our destination into its GPS, and I slid into the driver’s seat while he claimed the passenger side.
“I don’t think he’s getting it,” he said. We sat in silence for all of two minutes before he cleared his throat. “So what was that wonderfully domestic scene with Willow about?”
I sighed. “You’re a terrible gossip.”
“Do I look like I care? Let me hear it.”
I wondered how much to say. “I like her. She’s beautiful, smart, and loyal. It’s just a shame that her loyalty extends to her brother.”
“You going to let that stop you?”
I shook my head. “I’m planning to date her. But before you ask, nothing happened last night. Not that it would be your business if it had.”
He wound down the window and rested his arm along the frame. “I burned all my bridges to join you, King, so it is my business. I just hope she isn’t part of some long con Tom is running. This could all be a setup.”
“It’s not.” Of that, I was certain. Willow’s fear was genuine.
He hummed in the back of his throat. “Just because you believe it doesn’t make it so. I don’t want to believe it either, but she’s been sticking her nose into places it doesn’t belong. We can’t be certain she’s trustworthy.”
“Recently?” I asked, recalling he’d mentioned previously that she’d been digging around.
He hesitated. “There hasn’t been any evidence in the past few days, but she’s been busy with her own problems so that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
Perhaps not, but I hoped it did anyway.
“It doesn’t surprise me that she was looking,” I said. “But I don’t think she’s trying to manipulate me, and honestly, all I care about at the moment is making whoever is behind this regret it.”
Zeke dropped his arm from the frame and wound the window up as we neared our destination, an elegant stone church. “I guess I’m going to have to trust your judgment.”
“Good.” In our line of business, we needed to trust our partners implicitly. “Looks like service is still in progress. We can park outside and wait.”
I had no doubt we’d recognize the man on sight. Zeke had a near-photographic memory, and I’d made a point of studying Orlov so I’d know who I was coming for. Nobody tried to steal Willow out from under me.
I parked on a side street, and we locked up, checked our weapons, and made our way to the front entrance. We were hoping to do this peacefully, but if Orlov put up a fight, we’d be ready.
We stood on the sidewalk—Zeke to the left of the entrance and me to the right—so we could cover as much ground as possible. There was a chance Orlov would slip out a side entrance, but as far as we knew, he had no reason to be aware we were pursuing him.
The longer we waited, the more impatient I grew. I wanted answers, damn it. Eventually, people began to filter out onto the street. I scanned the faces, searching for Orlov. I skimmed over a bruiser of a man with short hair, and my gaze bounced back.
That was him.
“My side,” I murmured into the headset, so Zeke would know I’d sighted him. “Tall, short hair, walking in my direction.” As I spoke, Orlov looked up, and we locked gazes. He froze. Then, like a rabbit that had sighted a hawk, he ran, shoving through his fellow parishioners. “Coming to you now.”
“I see him,” Zeke replied. “Giving chase.”
I bounded through the crowd and spotted Orlov and Zeke breaking away from the group. Orlov was aiming for an alley. I sprinted after him, determined not to lose sight of him for a second. He rounded the corner, with Zeke and me on his tail. We veered around another corner, then another, the alleys growing progressively narrower and darker. Finally, we reached a dead end. Up ahead, Orlov cursed loudly. His path out had been blocked by a chain-link fence.
He turned, expression thunderous. “Are you armed? Because if not, you’re fucking stupid. Do you know who I am?”
I slowed to a walk and lifted my jacket so he could see the gun strapped to my body. “You’re Mark Orlov. Long rap sheet. If I had to guess, you’re hired muscle. We’d like to know who did the hiring.”
He opened his mouth to spit a retort, but then something flickered in the corner of my vision, and he fell back a step, clutching his chest. His mouth gaped as he stared in shock. Blood began to soak through his shirt. He dropped to his knees. I spun, searching for the shooter, while Zeke maintained cover. I couldn’t see anyone. Whoever had fired the shot was either gone, or it had been long distance, in which case we had no hope of catching them. We were better off trying to question Orlov.
“Call emergency services,” I said to Zeke—needlessly, since he was already dialing.
I knelt at Orlov’s side. He’d slumped to the ground and stared sightlessly, struggling to drag in a breath as blood gurgled up his throat.
Fuck.
If I didn’t do something, he might not make it, and then we’d be back to square one. I ripped off my jacket, folded it, and pressed it to his wound. “Don’t you dare die.”
He garbled something unintelligible.
“Tell me who hired you,” I demanded as his blood soaked through my jacket and drenched my hands. “Tell me!”
His chest rose and fell with shuddering heaves. “N-not…”
“Not what?” I pressed harder, hoping like hell he’d survive until an ambulance could arrive.
His lips moved, but no sound came out. I leaned closer, hoping to catch a hint of his words.
“Not about the mmm…” His jaw went slack.
He was dead.
Willow
“It’s been hours,” I said to Kade, who glanced up from the book he was reading. After our self-defense session earlier, I’d showered, changed, and retreated to my room to work and try to contact Tom again. “Something must be wrong.”
He closed the book, and his expression spoke volumes.
“What is it?” I asked. “What happened?”
“They had a problem, but they’re talking to the police, and they’ll be here as soon as they can.”
“The police?” A boulder lodged in my throat. “Something went badly enough that the police had to get involved?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
He winced. “There’s nothing you can do, and I saw no reason to stress you out. You’ve had enough of that over the last few days.”
“No reason to stress me out?” I huffed, scarcely able to believe what I was hearing. “I don’t like to be kept in the dark. I’m not made of glass, and I have a right to know what’s going on.”
He nodded. “Yes, you do. King will tell you everything as soon as he’s back.”
I straightened my spine. “Did he ask you not to say anything to me? Is this because neither of you trust me?”
I couldn’t blame them if that were the case. I had been trying to find information to use against Ronan prior to all of this going down.
He watched me warily, as though worried I might lash out. “Just wait until he gets here and he’ll explain.”
“Why don’t you explain?”
He held my gaze, not wavering for a second. “You’re personally involved with one of my friends. I respect that connection enough to let him share the news.”
I deflated. “This is because of me and Ronan.” Not that there technically was a me and Ronan yet. But I wanted there to be, and I think he did too.
“Yes.”
I sighed heavily. “I still don’t like it, and you wouldn’t either if you were in my shoes.”
He inclined his head. “Maybe not.”
A shrill ring interrupted us. I jolted in surprise and patted my pocket for my phone. My heart leaped into gear as I pulled it out. It was an unknown number.
“I don’t know who it is,” I said to Kade. “Should I answer?”
“Yes.” He stood, businesslike. “Put it on speaker.”
I accepted the call and hit the Speaker button. Meanwhile, he retrieved his own phone and tapped the screen several times.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“Willow?” It was Tom.
I nearly dropped the phone. My eyes jerked to Kade’s.
“Tom,” I said aloud, in case Kade wasn’t familiar with my brother’s voice. Kade nodded to indicate he understood. “Are you okay?” Questions bubbled inside me, spilling over each other, but only a few managed to break free. “What’s going on? Where are you? Who’s coming after me?”
“Not now.” His tone was terse. “I’ll tell you when I can see you in person. First, I want to know why the hell Ronan King is sticking his nose into my business.”
“Excuse me?” After everything that’d happened, he had the nerve to ask?
“Don’t play the fool. I know you better than that.”
“I wasn’t,” I snapped. “I just can’t believe you’d actually have to ask.” I turned my back to Kade, embarrassed he could hear the way Tom was speaking to me. “Someone tried to kidnap me yesterday. Ronan is the only reason they didn’t succeed, and now he and his business partners are working to keep me safe.”
I waited for the relief. For the gratitude. No matter what his personal feelings toward Ronan were, surely he could see we owed him. It was time to put the past aside and figure out the best way we could all come out of this in one piece.
Tom uttered a string of foul words. “Assuming it was who I think, you should have gone with them. They wouldn’t have hurt you, but who knows what they’ll do now?”
I pressed my fingers to my temples, which throbbed at his unspoken admission that he’d been keeping things from me. “You know who it is?”
“Yes, and you wouldn’t have been in any danger.”
I gaped. He was deluded if he believed that. “They broke down my apartment door and then tried to snatch me off the street.”
“He would have told them not to harm you much. They need you alive or you’re no good to them.”
My jaw dropped at his use of “much”. As if a few minor injuries would have been acceptable. “Who is ‘he’?” I closed my eyes. “Even if you’re right that they wouldn’t have hurt me more than they already did, did you think about the fact that Sage was there? They had no problem with the idea of hurting her.”
Behind me, I heard Kade grumble.
“I’m sorry.” Tom’s tone had gentled. “I fucked up. I never meant for you or Sage to get caught in the crossfire. Please believe that. I owe money and now they’re coming to collect but I’m broke.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped.”
“I’m hoping you still will.”
I tried to swallow but couldn’t. His tone scared me. “How?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve found a way out. You’re not going to like it, but it will allow us to keep a twenty percent share of the company and have all of our debt wiped clean. It’s the best I’ve come up with.”
“Keep twenty percent of the company? So we’d be selling thirty-one percent of the company shares that are in your name to someone else?”
“No, we’d be selling twenty-five percent to Adrian Petrov. He’s already purchased the six percent of the shares from me and bought out several smaller shareholders.”
“You’ve already… What?” My mind spun. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He’d sold off part of the company and not told me? No wonder Ronan had thought a takeover was possible. By selling anything to Petrov, Tom had made us vulnerable. We no longer held more than fifty percent of the company within the Lennox family.
He sighed. “How do you think I’ve been able to keep us afloat for so long?”
I felt sick. How could he do this to me? Especially when he knew how strongly I felt about Dad’s legacy and how hard I’d been working to stop Ronan from taking it over. Betrayal burned hot in my veins, and tears prickled my eyes.
“Willow, say something,” Tom prompted.
I clutched at my chest. A comforting hand landed on my shoulder, and I shrugged it off. Kade was trying to help, but he needed to leave me alone so I could digest this. “You absolute asshole.”
“He’ll let us buy them back in the future.”
As if that made it any better.
I shook my head. “Men like him want to be in control. They don’t do things out of the kindness of their hearts.”
He huffed. “Adrian has been good to us, Willow. He’s richer than a king and he’s willing to bail us out for a majority share of the company and your hand in marriage.”
What. The. Fuck.
“My hand in marriage?” I demanded. “Are we living in the Dark Ages?
Marry Adrian Petrov? Not only no, but hell no.
“It wouldn’t have to be forever. Just for a while. You’d have plenty of good years left after he either divorces you or passes away.”
My mouth opened and shut. Tears spilled silently down my cheeks. What the fuck sort of screwed-up reality had I landed in?
“It’s for Dad,” he said. “To protect his legacy.”
No, it wasn’t.
I realized in that moment it had never been about Dad.
Not any of it.
The predicament we found ourselves in was entirely Tom’s fault. He’d lost the company money—whether through bad management or something else, I didn’t know—and he was trying to save himself. Perhaps he felt bad for making it my problem too, but not bad enough to find a solution that would work for me. He was selfish. I’d always known that, but I’d let him use my loyalty to Dad against me.
Dad wouldn’t want this. He’d rather lose the company than sign me up for a lifetime of misery.
“The answer is no.” I sounded much colder than I felt. “I’ve been used as a pawn for long enough. I’m not marrying that pervert just because you got yourself into trouble. I’m done trying to fix your problems.”
I jabbed the End button and flung the phone across the room. It hit the wall with a crash and dropped to the floor. It rang again, but neither Kade nor I moved. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“I’ll be in my room,” I said bitterly. “Waiting until someone deigns to tell me what’s going on.”