Page 67 of Hunter's Revenge
“What are you?” That seems like the best question to ask. If I don’t know what he is, I won’t know what I’m truly up against. Or who I got myself mixed up with.
“What do you think I am?” He gives me a hard, daring stare.
I think carefully before I answer and decide to go with the simplest answer first. “Mafia. Bratva.”
He smiles, revealing perfect white teeth. “Yes, but I‘m a little more than that, as you’ve seen.” His gaze darts back to the tunic. “Want to try again?”
I look at the tattoo on his wrist, and his smile widens. “Secret society.”
“There we go. Now we’re on the same page.”
The confirmation sends an icy shiver cascading down my spine, rooting my feet to the floor.
“It’s called the Brotherhood of Knights,” he says in a matter-of-factly tone. “I am a Knight.”
As I hear the name—the wordKnights—it jogs my memory and I instantly remember where I saw those symbols tattooed on Malik’s wrist.
It was years ago when I was a senior in high school. Dru and I went to L.A. for the weekend with some friends. On our first night, we went to a club. There a fight broke out between a group of guys. One of them—the one who won—had those tattoos on his wrist. He walked away without a scratch, while the paramedics had to be called in for the guys on the ground who were barely alive. I’d heard two of the bouncers talking just after the fight. One was telling the other not to go after the guy or file an incident report because the guy with the tattoos was a Knight and they didn’t want any trouble. He'd said the Knights were the type of criminals no one would dare to fuck with. Those who did, disappeared never to be heard from again. Unless they turned up dead in the worst way imaginable. The Knights also didn’t just punish you, they’d punish anybody close to you.
I’d forgotten that incident because it happened so long ago. Now here I am with my very own Knight in front of me.
“They own the Komarovski Bratva,” Malik adds, cutting into my thoughts. “Of which I am the senior enforcer.”
Enforcer, as in the guy you get when you need someone dead. But he’s not just any old enforcer. This guy has so more letters to his name like the degree credentials of an esteemed academic.
“And you need me to take over a cartel?” I’m trying to sound like I’m not scared of him but the tremble in my voice and my body are dead giveaways.
“I do.”
“But it sounds like you can find other ways of getting it all on your own.” I feel like I’m reaching down deep into a bag full of tricks and coming up with nothing.
“You’re a clever girl. You know that’s not how this works, or you wouldn’t be here.”
His words sting deeper than they should, reminding me I’m just a pawn in his game.
“I’m sure you know you’re not going to be able to keep me locked away forever. There are lots of people who will notice that I’m gone.” I set my shoulders back and steel my spine to show him I’m not weak.
“I imagine they will.”
“Good, because those same people know how reliable I am and that I take my responsibilities seriously. In a place like Wilmington, it won’t take long before they realize something bad happened to me. When they realizeyou’regone too, the first thing they’ll do is put two and two together and come up with the answer.” Most of the people I know in that town might be busybodies who make it their duties to know everyone’s business, but that’s what you need in a situation like this.
I was hoping to faze him, but he smiles again, as if everything I said meant nothing and he’s privy to something I have no knowledge of.
“No one will come up with the kind of answers you’re thinking of if they think you’re perfectly fine.”
“But they won’t. Dru and Gilman will be the first people to miss me.”
“At eight forty-five this morning, Gilman received a message from you letting him know you were taking some time off to sort out a large order for your business. You instructed him to get in as many staff as he sees fit to run the restaurant.”
The Arctic shiver that covered my body earlier turns to icicles.
Damn it, and damn him. He messaged Gilman. Gilman knew about my order for my business, so he won’t question that for one minute.
“Minutes later, Dru received a message from you.”
“And what did it say?” My blood simmers with the hellfire of rage.
He reaches forward and takes a lock of my hair to twirl around his thumb. “You told her you sorted things out with Conrad and Malik connected you with a business opportunity you had to check out, so you’d be away for a few days.”