5. Viktor
VIKTOR
Iwatched her, trying to let her words fit into my mind and make sense.
She wasn’t denying that a hit had been made last night. That alone was telling. She was rooted in reality and that was the truth. One I agreed with. Because I saw it with my own eyes how a sniper had been positioned to kill my brother. I witnessed the blood spilled from the bullet intended for him.
What didn’t add up was her amendment about a second shot. One aimed at her. And that this would make her have a part in the assassination attempt. As another target.
Was she trying to gain my sympathy?
Was she planning to trick me into thinking she was a victim and not a perpetrator?
Some things would never change, and one of those tenants was how we would always oppose the law.
Bratvas didn’t mix with law and order and vice versa.
Normally, I wouldn’t give a fuck if someone was trying to order a hit on a cop or agent.
But the fact that she could claim that she was shot at on the same night my brother had been?
Not buying that, Red.
I stared her down as if I could will the real truth from her, applying pressure on her without any actions or words from my end.
But she didn’t. Wren sat there blinking steadily and didn’t add anything else to what she’d said.
She should know not to say shit to begin with.
From all the experience and training she should have gained to become an agent, she should know not to open her mouth at all.
Watching her blink at me again, I considered how surprising it was that she’d spoken at all. Almost too eagerly, like she thought she could win my approval or acceptance by appearing ready to negotiate her release.
“Try again.” I kept my composure, speaking calmly and clearly.
She furrowed her brow. I didn’t know if she was aware of it, but her bow lips formed into a pout that emphasized how plump they were.
Lips I could kiss.
A mouth I could fuck.
Shelving the spikes of desire that were only increasing tenfold with her emerald gaze so sharp on me, I cleared my throat and waited again.
“Try what again?” she asked when it seemed like she wasn’t sure she could win a lengthy stare-down with me.
“The truth.” I wasn’t going to repeat questions. Every and any question I asked was giving something away. They all contributed to what she would know I wanted to know, and that had to be a calculated riddle until I knew what to do with her.
“That is the truth.” She shook her head faintly, but it didn’t seem like a nervous tic.
More like she was confused. Her blinking so often could be a tell that she was lying, but I couldn’t be sure about that yet.
“I was not informed about any assassination attempt on your brother. I mean on anyone there.”
The slight inconsistency snagged my attention, how she worded it and didn’t quite say the same thing at once.
“I was there for a stakeout. Not to watch you or your people but to keep an eye on Rico Johnson.”
I could almost get behind that and believe her.
Rico Johnson was a fucking pain in the ass who was trying to kiss up to Adrik.
He had money but lost it. He wanted money but doled it out too.
It was only a matter of time before he got caught with the wrong people or accounts, and that was why Adrik was cautious and slow to move on anything Rico Johnson asked for or suggested.
We had yet to give any money to his goddamn campaign, and I bet Adrik wouldn’t “donate” anything just to steer clear of him.
“Yet you want me to believe your presence caused a second shot to be fired? That you were a target? Not my brother?”
She lowered her gaze, squinting as she blinked. “I… No? I was shot at. But—”
“I didn’t see any injuries on you.”
She pressed her lips together in a firm line, perhaps not fond of my looking at her when she was out of it. A stupid twist of mischief entered my mind with the idea of looking at all of her as soon as I could.
Yeah, right.
Quit it.
I didn’t have enough answers yet to know if she was involved with an attempt on my brother’s life or not.
“I didn’t say I was shot.”
“Then how can you know you were supposed to be?”
“Someone shot in the general direction of me.”
I gave her a dubious look.
“I didn’t have time to assess all the details. You all made a commotion down below. Security was alerted. I was trying to get out of there as well.”
“You were trying to flee before or after this ‘second’ shot was fired?”
Her flinty glare returned. “Before and after.”
Her reactions signaled her defensiveness. Her replies hinted at inconsistencies. I wasn’t fond of partial truths, but I could tell that I wasn’t going to get anything more from her now. So many questions remained to be asked, but it seemed prudent to back up a second and analyze what she’d said.
“Can I use the restroom?”
I pointed at the corner of the room. No toilet or bucket waited there, but I wanted to goad her. To see if she’d sass or sulk at the lousy accommodations I’d offer her.
“I need to wash my hands.”
I rolled my eyes.
She glowered at me, but her blinking ruined the intensity of her fear and anger.
She was scared. I felt her fear that she tried to mask behind defiance and strength.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew she was caught and wouldn’t escape easily—or at all.
She was probably banking on the possibility that she’d be killed here.
But I wasn’t sure about that yet. If she was connected to Smithson and those other fuckers at the agency that employed her, I could try to get other answers from her.
“I need to take my contacts out.”
Ah. That could explain the blinking.
“Some dust got in my eyes when you tackled me, and it’s more irritated since I slept with them in all night.”
“Do you think I give a shit about your comfort?”
“I know you don’t,” she replied with heat. Her tense posture proved she was all talk, though. She was still scared. “Just like I know you’ll want to take your sweet ass time to figure out whether I’m a threat to you. I’m not.”
“Oh.” I pushed off the wall. “So you’re under the illusion that since you’re telling me the supposed truth, I’ll let you go with the good faith that you’ll let this incident be swept under the rug and no consequences for capturing you last night will follow?”
Her throat flexed as she forced a swallow. “I just want to take my contacts out.”
That was a nonanswer and we both knew it.
Her willingness to talk would probably wane with her concern about her eyes, though. I could drag this out for as long as I wanted.
I tilted my head for her to get up.
She did, frowning at me.
“This way.” I gestured for her to approach me, beckoning her with a crook of my finger. She walked closer like I was a bomb about to go off.
I gestured for her to turn to the left out the door. The hallway out here wouldn’t give her any chance to escape. The doors were locked to the corridor leading in here. Even if there weren’t more locks, she wouldn’t get past the guards on my property. Even old Paul would stop her from running.
I followed behind her, revisiting that same thrill of stalking her as she went down the short hall. Only one door was there, and when she glanced back at me over her shoulder, I gestured at it.
She went in and closed the door—to a small bathroom without any windows or objects to use as a weapon—and I waited in the hallway.
Viktor: Run a full check on her.
Paul didn’t delay with a reply.
Paul: With Trojan’s assistance?
His reference was to the hacker we used for many things.
Viktor: Yes.
Last night, Paul had looked her up on his own. But with her talking about her being targeted, I had to wonder if someone on the inside of the law enforcement side of things could be manipulating things.
Wren didn’t take long, and when she exited the bathroom, I indicated with another tilt of my head for her to return to the holding cell she’d woken up in.
I didn’t make eye contact as I locked her back in. As soon as she was secure, I headed upstairs where I found my older cousin Alexei waiting with my younger brother Nikolai.
“She thinks she was supposed to be assassinated?” Nikolai asked.
They’d both listened and watched the beginning of my interrogation via the minuscule camera anchored in the room.
I shrugged. “Has anyone found evidence of the sniper in that building? Or snipers, if she’s correct?” I stood in the large great room as I crossed my arms.
“Wait, you believe her?” Alexei scoffed. “She’s only saying that to fuck with you.”
Nikolai answered me, though. “Nothing so far. Crews have searched the area. No evidence was left by the sniper.”
That had to mean it was the work of a pro.
“They’re still looking into it,” Nikolai said, getting his phone from his pocket. “But I’ll update them about this potential development.”
“You were there,” Alexei said. “You didn’t notice another shot?”
I gave him a look. “All I noticed was that Adrik needed to be covered. And when I scanned the area, I saw movement on the balcony where they were supposed to meet. That’s when I saw her and pursued her.
” They already knew all this from when I spoke more at length with Adrik and Maksim.
“Maybe another shot was fired. Maybe not. It means there are more questions for her, though.”
“If she’ll talk.” Nikolai shoved his hands in his pockets since he’d texted the crew who were handling the investigation and cleanup on the Strip. “She seemed like she was getting more scared, like she regretted saying anything at all.”
I nodded. “I agree.”
“Maybe Markus and Rueben—”
I shook my head at Alexei’s idea. “No. I can handle it. I’ve already asked Paul to have Trojan run a more intensive background check on her.”
“She’s still an agent,” he argued. “She’ll be tough to crack no matter what in-depth intel you get on her.”
“Then I’ll have to work harder to crack her.”
He smirked. “You? You’re already biased.”
“How the fuck so?” I asked.
“Because you look at her like you’re counting down the time to fuck her.” He shook his head and paced away from us.
Leave it to him to notice that. He was an aloof loner of an asshole but always the most observant.
“Maybe that’s part of how I intend to intimidate her,” I shot back.
Nikolai got up as I dropped into a chair. “No. I don’t think that’s it. There’s something possessive about how you look at her.”
I looked away, annoyed. I wasn’t only peeved that they’d noticed how I watched her. I was annoyed that I had felt these twinges of attraction, those impulsive and intrusive thoughts of desire that slipped into my mind.
“We’re only warning you not to lose common sense,” Nikolai said.
I laughed them off, running my hand over my hair. “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” I scoffed. “I’ve slept with women for intel before. We all have.”
I couldn’t be sure what my path would be to get answers from her and what they would indicate in terms of what I’d need to do with her, but the idea didn’t repulse me.
“Hell, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to use that method now.” I was only partly joking, but they didn’t argue with the potential justification behind it.