Chapter 2
NIKOLAI
I watch the taillights disappear into the light drizzle, two red dots fading into the darkness of downtown Seattle.
Well, that was unfortunate.
I remove a handkerchief from my jacket and wipe the blood from my hands with methodical precision.
The metallic smell doesn't bother me. The fact that Holly just witnessed this doesn’t bother me.
Nothing much does. I don’t rattle easily, because men who do don't survive in my world.
They make mistakes that get them killed.
I'm known for my calmness. And it’s this unshakeable control that has made me an integral part of The Six.
A union of six powerful crime families that control every coast and major city of the United States.
Four men and two women who wield so much power and money it can bend the fate of the world with just one phone call.
"Boss?" Alexei, my driver and bodyguard, shifts beside me, waiting for orders.
I take my time folding the handkerchief, tucking it back into my pocket. A witness is a complication, but complications can be handled. They always can. And I certainly won’t mind handling Holly.
Her face flashes through my mind. Those big eyes wide with fear. The soft gasp from her plush lips.
I wonder what she'll look like when I find her. Because I will find her. And I will deal with her.
The thought sends a surge of heat through me, and I adjust my stance slightly, not surprised by my body's reaction when I think about her.
By the way my mind keeps returning to the way she crushed her teeth into her luscious lip when we were talking, and the wave of lust it sent straight to my cock when she did.
Focus.
It’s only a matter of time before someone else stumbles onto this scene. Dmitri, my right-hand man, is already on the phone organizing a clean-up crew. In minutes, the body will be gone, and this scene will be sanitized.
Dmitri ends his call, and I turn to my men.
“Find her.”