Page 23 of Vow of Silence

“What are we going to do about Boris? Felix will go to war with us if we kill him.”

He sure would. He loves Boris more than he does us, and we’re his flesh and blood.

“You can't kill Boris. Many have tried and that bastard is still alive. The boss doesn’t want Felix upset or suspicious of us. Our priority is to kill the bitch. If Boris prevents you from doing that, kill him, and blame it on the Serbians. We can't afford to let her live. The boss doesn't accept failure. Last night was our first and last failure.”

Damn, if they don’t leave, there’s no way we can get out of here alive.

Boom. Boom.

A scrawny man ran in with an AK-47. “Hazim, we’ve got a problem. The Irish is here.”

Hazim’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean the Irish are here? What do they have to do with that bitch?”

He shrugged. “Everyone hates Felix. If they kidnap her or kill her, they will hurt him deeply. I doubt the boss would want us to start a war with the Irish, at least not now.”

“Let's take the secret exit. We won’t start anything with the Irish. However, if they fire on us, we’ll finish them. The boss might reward us for wiping them out. We could really make their territory profitable,” said Hazim.

A fleeting glance at Cian and I could see that his muscles were tight. He was pissed about them talking shit about the Irish. Why wouldn’t he be, he was Irish? These idiots were underestimating them. That might be their fatal mistake. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

What secret exit? Why didn’t I know that this building had a secret exit?

Wherever the Serbians had gone, they were giving the Albanians a wide birth or they were dead. It wasn’t long before the room was empty again. Closing my eyes, I tried to listen to their retreat but they were skilled and silent.

Bang. Bang.

Several rounds of gunfire rang out and it sounded like war. I was grateful that no one had rushed in here shooting up the place. Stray bullets killed like well-aimed bullets. I hoped that everyone would leave so that we could get out of here. My palms sweated as I clutched the gun. This wasn’t a good scenario. The tension had left Cian’s body, and I watched him smile.

Oh damn. Did he call the Irish Mafia?

9

CIAN

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

For once Anya’s face was expressive. It was evident that she thought I called my people on her. I could comfort her but she would hate it. I wasn’t ready to let her off the hook. She stabbed Elijah, and he was severely injured. If not for me calling Keelan, he would be dead. I hadn’t expected her to be this reckless after I saved her the other night.

What was she thinking?

Boris said that Felix was already questioning Anya’s loyalty. She wasn’t safe anywhere except with me. Now wasn’t the time to highlight that fact. It was something that she had to learn on her own. She had risked her life for the information she got. It was time that she learned to trust me. If she weren’t going to do that, there was no way I could keep her alive. Today was the last time that I put myself in jeopardy for her. I’d hoped that she got the evidence on Felix and the Albanians, but all she had was a gun, money and not much else.

I turned to her. Her eyes were wide. She was holding that damn Glock like she might shoot my friends through the locker door. I placed my hand on top of hers and lowered the weapon. Before Anya could do anything stupid, I opened the door and stepped out.

Ben Power smiled. “We received the call. We came as soon as we could. I didn't see your signature style of a bloody path with multiple bodies everywhere.”

I smiled. “I'm glad you decided to stick around. Normally, I wouldn't go into a building with one way in and one way out.”

She stiffened next to me.

Anya needed to know that she was being reckless. I pondered whether she had a death wish. Her actions were not aligned with her objective for revenge.

Ben clapped his hands. “Not only did you manage to fool those idiots but you kidnapped Anya Aslanov. Liam's going to love this.”

My eyes narrowed as I shook my head. “No. We are not here.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “You can't just expect me to see you with her, and not tell Liam. If I keep this meeting a secret, he will have our heads. Keelan, talk some sense into him.”

Dad can’t kill you if he doesn’t know. I gritted my teeth. “Yes, that's exactly what you're going to do. Princess, you have two choices. You can give me the evidence on the Albanians or I can hand you over to them. You can plead your case with my father. Before you answer, you should know that I won't be going back with them.”