Page 50 of Trapping His Angel
My shoulders fell in relief, realizing he was taking this seriously.
“Yeah, I can help facilitate that,” the stranger behind the desk drawled.
I narrowed my eyes at him. There was something that I didn’t trust about him. Cruelty, that was missing from Benedikt when I interacted with my husband. This man was violent. A dark, crazy storm brewed within the depths of his gaze.
I looked away first. Something didn’t feel right.
“Let me get to work on this. Why don’t you take a walk around the gardens? I heard Tiffany is planting something new.” Benedikt was quick to jump into the conversation between me and the stranger.
I nodded and headed out of the study. It wasn’t until I was halfway to the garden that I realized something. It shook me that there were secrets my husband was keeping from me.
Benedikt didn’t trust me, and without trust, what was this farce of a marriage?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Come with me,” I growled at Makari.
I’d just gotten a text from Roman. One of the street runners caught an overdose ofBubbli. Not only was the runner able to capture the dealer, but Roman wanted me to transport him personally for questioning.
“Where are we going?” Makari followed behind me. “I don’t normally like leaving the house.”
“A little birdy told me there was a lead on that new drug that’s all over our territory.” I smirked as we headed to the car.
“Oh, live bait?” Makari’s tone sounded like he was grinning.
“Squealing,” I confirmed.
We got into the car and took off. A few men were going to follow us, but from what my intel told me, we didn’t need them with us as backup. We headed to the meeting spot, and I wove in and out of traffic.
The alleyway was just up ahead, behind a bar.
Nothing looked out of place, so the drug dealer didn’t have backup on this street with him. Rookie mistake. I parked and climbed out of the car, Makari hot on my heels. We went downthe alley and, at the back, right next to the bar’s back door, was my runner.
“Hey, Nikolay,” I waved in surprise. “Shouldn’t you be stealing something at this time of night?”
Nikolay was one of the Brotherhood’s best thieves. Why he was in some dingy bar, in the middle of Russia, made no sense to me. I didn’t even know he was in the city, let alone the country.
I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering if Viktor knew what he was up to.
“Not early enough for me to do my next job,” he lied.
His tell was small, but ever since we were children, his pinky used to twitch every time he told a lie. He may have had less silver hair in his mane, but he was still old. And we all knew that there wasn’t a way to teach an old dog new tricks.
“Right,” I said unconvincingly. “So what have you got?” I motioned to the man on his knees, sniveling quietly, and the scene before me.
Nikolay yanked the guy up by the back of his neck. “I caught this parasite selling behind the bar. As soon as the deal finished, the junkie slid the needle into their veins.” Nikolay nodded to the stiff body on the ground just behind him. “I watched them convulse and then, a minute later, went still and didn’t get up.”
Makari whistled. “That’s a quick reaction time.”
Nikolay nodded. “Fastest I’ve ever seen.”
The drug dealer started babbling. “Look, man. I don’t want any problems. I’m just selling my load, just like anyone else.”
“Except these aren’t your streets to sell in,” I corrected him.
He shrugged, trying to swipe at his nose. “That’s not what I was told, man.”
“Who told you differently?” I casually leaned against the wall to hear him out. Interrogations were an art form. Brute force when necessary but, sometimes, talking as if two friends are catching up works better.