Page 30 of Lord of Ruin

Not a chance.

I’d leave that crap to my beautiful sister who owned the winery. She didn’t mind being the stunning woman fronting her fabulous business. Even if the fact she appeared on camera was dangerous.

There was no telling Elena what to do. She was stubborn, but I had a feeling Jenna was even more so. If I was ridiculous enough to stick the two of them together, my guess was they would control the entire world within thirty days.

Hell, twenty.

I snickered and moved toward the bar, still trying to process all that had occurred. It was almost impossible to grasp what had happened or who was behind the funny little ruse. Maybe that was the least of my worries.

With Viktor grasping onto the fact that Jenna had literally fallen into my life and making more out of it than it actually was, I had a feeling his thwarted attempt at taking her from me would occur again. It was only a matter of time.

But by whom?

I doubted it was Viktor who’d sent goons to kill her. Why wasn’t I convinced when he’d all but shouted it off the rooftops?

Something felt off and I was usually never wrong about these things.

“What about Viktor?” Christos asked as he walked into my office.

I brought the glass of Jim Beam to my lips, inhaling the aroma before taking a sip. “Find out what you can.”

“If he sent the Russian dude then he won’t like that his guy was murdered.”

“You’ve already mentioned that. I don’t care at this point and I’m not convinced he was behind the attack.”

“Why?”

“Because how would anyone know I’d slipped into a goddamn veterinary clinic late at night unless they’d been following me?”

“Could have been the same guy,” he insisted.

I swirled the drink, hating trying to solve some riddle. What happened to good old-fashioned business where you could easily recognize the bad guys? Those were my father’s days, not mine. Crime syndicates had gotten far too sophisticated at this point. “Maybe but we’re not taking any chances.”

“I hear you, boss. Now, onto more important details. What the hell are you going to do with your captive?”

My twisted mind had already thought of several dirty things, especially since her body had responded the way it had when I’d kissed her.

“Fuck if I know.”

He laughed. “I’ll let the men know you have a guest and to watch out for her.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling she won’t settle in easily or without added tension.”

“I kinda gathered that.” He was grinning.

I had to laugh, even if some of it was likely based out of frustration. “See what you can find.”

“Yes, sir.”

When the man called me sir, it was his ultimate taunt. He spun on his heel, taking military strides out the door. He was my cousin but protocol was still vital in our organization.

What did I do? I immediately refilled my glass. I had a feeling the next few days were going to be more than just a firestorm from hell. After powering back a huge gulp, I heard footsteps.

“You’re drinking that shit for liquor again, aren’t you?”

After swallowing, I grinned and turned my head toward my older brother. “I like it. You already know that. I don’t need no fancy-dancy liquor from one of your buddies in Kentucky.”

“Hey, that’s a member of the Brotherhood.”