28. Ronan
Fucking Damien Ivanov.
I stare at the screen of my phone, impatiently waiting for Liam to show up. If Cesare weren’t being such an arse about our new deal, I would be marching to the Bratva headquarters right this minute to get my woman.
I need his help, but he blatantly refused, calling Olivia an irrelevant baker. He couldn’t fucking care less about her. Soon, though, he will have no choice but to accord her the respect she is due when she becomes my wife.
A car drives to a stop beside mine, and Liam jumps out of the passenger seat.
“Damien Ivanov?” He hurries to me, “What the fuck is wrong with the Russian?”
“The fuck do I know,” I climb into my car, and he climbs in the passenger seat.
“Why would he take your girl?” He slips on his seatbelt, and for the first time, I can agree with my expression that Olivia is my girl.
How did he know he would find her at the Ferreri estate? I didn’t notice any car following us, and that van was not exactly something easy to miss.
“Are we going to your place?” Liam asks, and I nod.
“We need to come up with something, anything at all,” I need a solution, and I need one fast.
“Did Cesare offer to help?” Liam prods, and I shake my head in response.
When I called him, the bastard made up some lame excuse to get himself out of it.
Cesare is the fucking least of my problems. He can sulk all he wants about our new deal. I don’t fucking care about the old man right now.
“Olivia, Bratva,” Liam swings his fingers side by side, “it’s simple. Ruth, the intern…”
“What about her?”
“I found her on Bratva territory, and now we handed her to the cops…”
That’s the missing link.
Ruth.
I was so caught up with Olivia that I missed the answer right in front of me.
“That is who she was talking when you guys ambushed her…”
I don’t let his sentence complete as I swerve the car in the middle of the road and do a one-way drive, too fucking impatient to wait until the next U-Turn.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Liam protects his head as the fast move throws him to the side of the car, and I swerve again to dodge a moving vehicle that was about to slam into mine.
“Call the prison, we are paying her a visit.”
* * *
The prison guards can tell that I have no fucking time to waste, and they have us in the room with Ruth the instant we get there.
Ruth fucking Davis.
I will keep my resentment for later, right now though, I need her help, and she will have to fucking cooperate, or I will resort to torture. She will get no mercy from me.
“Speak,” I grit, dragging a seat close enough to the other side of the table to sit.
She looks calm but I see she is trembling. She pouts and then leans back, pulling her cuffed hands under the table.
Prison has ruffled her a bit, I see bruise marks on her lips and the corner of her eyes.
“Talk, otherwise, he’ll make you,” Liam drags his seat a little too close to her and sits. “We can help you, but you need to trust us, Ruth.” Ruth scowls at him, and he shrugs.
“I want to know who they are,” I tap on the table with my index finger, “I won’t ask again.”
She sits in silence for a minute, like she is weighing her options.
“If I talk, will you get me out of here?”
“Depends if I like what you say,” I shrug.
She considers this for a moment, then something in her attitude shifts.
“A man reached out to me… he was obsessed about ruining the Ferreris,” she breathes, “He gave me the laxative, and he had a particular obsession with Sofia Ferreri… he was very particular about her attending the wedding. I remember that clearly because I found that funny. I mean, why wouldn’t the bride’s sister be there up?”
“Who is he?” Liam asks softly, not wanting to push her too much.
“I don’t know his name,” she drops her voice.
“What does he look like?” Liam asks again.
“Scary, but nerdy at the same time…”
“Fucking Damien,” I spurt, and I’m up on my feet.
She continues, “He has a Russian accent, and his hair is…” I have what I need.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” I’m heading to the door, about to leave the measly-looking room.
“What about me?” she calls after me, “You said if I cooperated…”
“I know what I said,” I clip.
“We will meet again if your story checks out,” Liam stands, and I don’t miss the flirtatious delivery of his words. Does he have a thing for her?
I’m already onto my next move.