Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Sounds like you didn’t trust him,” Colm said. “Yet you let him near your cousin.”
Anisimov turned a furious gaze on Colm, who didn’t flinch. Why would he have let that bastard date Sofia?
“I am my own person,” Sofia said calmly. “What happened isn’t Aleksandr’s fault.”
“He should have protected you better,” Colm retorted. “It is his fault.”
He heard Rogan sigh quietly but ignored him.
This was too important to care about being diplomatic. This was about Sofia.
Screw the somewhat fragile agreement they had with the Russian Bratva.
If Anisimov had known that Oleg was abusing Sofia . . . if he had stood by and allowed that asshole to hurt her.
Then nothing would stop Colm from taking him out. He didn’t give a shit who the hell Anisimov was.
Anisimov met his gaze, his fury clear. Then, it all disappeared off his face, replaced by a cold mask.
“Everyone out except Sofia,” he ordered.
“No.” Colm crossed his arms over his chest.
Anisimov moved his gaze from Sofia to Colm. “Is there something else I need to be made aware of?”
“No, nothing,” Sofia said in a robotic-sounding voice.
“I wouldn’t say nothing,” Colm countered. “I care about Sofia, and she has been abused and traumatized right under your fucking nose. She was kidnapped off your estate. By someone who worked in your restaurant. And you had no fucking idea? Should we really believe that?”
“Colm,” Rogan said sharply. “You need to leave.”
Sofia was staring at him, her mouth open. Then she closed her eyes, grimacing.
“And she’s also in a lot of pain from her back. You cannot tell me there isn’t something that could be done about back pain from an accident years ago. Why isn’t she seeing someone about that? Last night, she couldn’t even get out of the fucking shower.”
“Everybody. Out. Now.”
Colm glanced around and suddenly realized that Anisimov’s men must have come into the room from outside.
Fuck.
Shit.
He had fucked this up, hadn’t he? Cillian grabbed his arm and tugged him out the door. He didn’t want to go, but he didn’t have much choice as Rogan and Cillian crowded him into a free waiting room.
“What the fuck was that?” Rogan asked in a low voice.
Colm started pacing back and forth. He was too angry to talk . . . to think.
All he wanted was to get back to Sofia.
It was an itch under his skin. What was going on? Was Anisimov berating her? Scaring her? Was he hurting her?
Was he part of the fucking problem?
“I need to go back to her.” He headed toward the door, but Cillian stepped in front of it and shook his head.
“You can’t go in there again, Colm,” Rogan said.
“I have to. You don’t understand.”
“I think we do,” Cillian countered seriously. “Also, I think that if you go back in there, you’re gonna die.”
“They’re not going to kill me in a fucking hospital.”
“From the look on Anisimov’s face, he was contemplating it,” Rogan told him. “What was that, Colm?”
Cillian grunted. “Seemed like he was accusing the Pakhan of knowingly letting some asshole abuse his cousin. That’s what it sounded like.”
“Oleg abused her?” Rogan asked in a quiet voice. “You know this?”
Fuck. Fuck.
So much for keeping her secrets to himself.
Yeah, he’d messed that up.
And what if Anisimov didn’t know? What then?
Then he should have.
Fuck. He might have fucked up more than he knew.
“I saw the bruises.”
“Fuck,” Rogan swore.
Cillian’s face grew stony. He didn’t hold with people who abused women any more than Colm did.
“And Anisimov knew?” Cillian stared at him with chilly eyes. He hated abusers just as much as Colm did.
“I don’t know. I thought he must . . . how could he not? But now . . . I don’t know. Sofia is good at hiding things, at keeping secrets. Maybe she kept this from him too. I just . . . I was fucking mad at the idea that she’d spent all this time being abused, yet I did nothing to help her. She was right there and I did nothing.”
“Colm, you can’t blame yourself,” Rogan said. “If she was keeping it hidden from Aleksandr, then she was capable of hiding it from everyone.” He drew out his phone, frowning.
“Have I started a war?” Colm asked. “Fuck.”
“Don’t worry. It will be fine. I’m just calling in some reinforcements, just in case. They’ll stay back unless I need them.”
Had he fucked everything up?
“Rogan. Shit. I . . .” He ran his hand over his face, exasperated at himself. “It’s Sofia.”
“Look, I get it. If someone was abusing Miller and I just found out about it now, I would lose my mind. But you have to keep your head. Not just for the sake of our relationship with the Russians, but for Sofia. What if Aleksandr is the type of guy to take what just happened out on her? You could have put her in more danger.”