Page 87 of Brutal Secrets
“Get him,” I say, walking to the door. “Don’t give that slimy little shit a moment longer.”
We walk from the control room at the same time as Oksana.
“No, please don’t,” a girlish voice says as we push open the door.
“Mama,” Julia says when she sees Oksana.
Jimmy leaps back. “It’s not what it looks like.” He stands, wiping his palms on his jeans as he looks at Oksana bristling like a lion going in for the kill. Behind her, Sasha looks threatening.
But he can’t see me.
“We were just having a little fun,” he says, as I step into the room.
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” I say with a tight smile. “I believe I warned you what would happen if you didn’t leave my woman alone.”
When he sees me, he pales.
“You!” he exclaims, stepping back toward the wall and shaking his head. “What are you doing here?”
“Dealing with unfinished business. I told you not to touch her again.”
He puffs out his chest. “I didn’t fucking touch her. I’m suing her.”
“You aren’t fit to look at her, to breathe the same air, whether it’s in a courtroom or anywhere else. I warned you.”
He turns on me, going on the attack as if that will help. “She had a contract. You can’t just ignore contracts. Business would fall apart. She owes me.”
I sit down across from him. I think he knows that judges don’t rule my world, but it’s worth reminding him. “I’m not sure how you got the impression I’m a man who cares about the law. You didn’t take the hint last time I paid you a visit, so now I’m going to have to deal with you the hard way.”
“You can’t do anything about the lawsuit,” he says through a sneer.
“I beg to differ.” I shrug as if it’s a shame. I’m enjoying toying with him. “Dead men can’t sue people.”
Sasha walks over to him and pushes a rag against his mouth. Jimmy struggles against him, arms flailing, muffled screams blunted by the rag, before slumping as the chloroform works its magic. Julia is crying now. Soft sobs shake her shoulders.
“Next time, you’ll listen to your mother,” I tell her. I lift Jimmy’s limp body and throw it over my shoulder.
“Where to?” Sasha says. “Do you need help?”
“It’s a one-man job. I’ll take him down to the docks,” I say.
Sasha fishes in the man’s pocket for a phone. Finding one, he unlocks it with a press of Jimmy’s limp thumb. “I’ll deal with the phone. Marat can make it look like he hasn’t been here. He’ll keep the text messages for a day or two. That guy can hack anything.” Sasha walks to the door. “You timed it just right. We’ve got a shipment heading to China. Just stick the body in an empty crate, and we’ll push it off the ship once we get out to sea.”
I grin at him. “That’s right, my friend. No body. No crime.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Morning light floods the family kitchen as I stand at the counter. I still feel like an interloper as Nona brews coffee and Kesera sips at her disgusting green juice.
“I don’t know how you can drink that muck.” I shake my head at her.
“Yeah, Mom. You should be eating blini with us.” Nadia grins.
Kesera shakes her head and runs her hand across her flat stomach, meeting my eyes for a beat too long. Last night, I lay my head on the same place after making her come so hard that she almost blacked out.
“I’m watching my figure,” she says.
“I’d love you if you were the size of a house. Feel free to eat as many blinis as you want,” I say, sitting down with my black coffee and looking out at the view of the trees below.