Page 70 of Savage Little Secret

“I want to make things right,” I tell him. “That’s the biggest thing motivating me.”

Andrei nods. “You will. You’ll get to be with her again.”

I tilt my head back to peer up at the ceiling, feeling the tiniest flicker of hope deep in my chest. “I want everything with her. A life. A family.”

“Might as well get a pet while you’re at it,” Andrei lightly teases me.

I chuckle at that. “Maybe we’ll get a cat. Whatever makes her happy.”

“Kids, though? Really?” Andrei asks me.

I nod as my throat threatens to grow tight. “Yeah, I’d like some with her.”

“Bratva kids or Irish kids?” Andrei replies as he lifts an eyebrow at me, amusement sparking in his bright eyes.

I roll my eyes at him but feel a small shred of hope. “The thing that I want to say to her the most is that I love her too. She needs to know that.”

“She knows. You’ll be able to tell her everything when you find her,” Andrei assures me. “Just think. In the next forty-eight hours, you’ll have her back in your arms.”

My pulse races at the thought. I’ve been waiting too long for this to happen, but I have to fulfill my end of the trade first.

“I’m going to brew a pot of coffee. If you want to leave and get some sleep, you can, but I need to get to work on that list,” I tell him as I rise to my feet, feeling a new surge of energy.

Andrei flashes me a pointed look and hauls himself up. At first, I think that he’s about to insist that I take a nap at least, but he nudges me to the side instead. “I’ll fix the coffee. You grab your laptop. Let’s get that list done.”

I open my laptop.

We have forty-eight hours to figure this out, or I lose her forever.

26

Dmitri

I thread through the upscale bar Sean chose. I hate being here. I hate that I’m desperate enough to come.

Finally, I spot Sean seated in one of the booths with a drink already in his hand. I didn’t expect us to meet this much, but circumstances are dire. Especially now.

I sit across from him and check the time on my watch.

I’ve got barely twenty-four hours left. The fear sits in my throat like bile.

“Please tell me that you have something,” I say to him.

Sean opens his mouth to talk, but a waitress materializes at my elbow.

“What can I get you, sir?” she asks me with a big, red-lipped smile.

“Vodka,” I reply before giving Sean an impatient look. “Did you look over that list of people that I sent you?”

Sean motions for me to relax. “Yes, I looked at the list. You’ve been quite busy working with so many people.”

“If you fuck me over because I gave you that list, I’ll burn you alive,” I warn him. I was wary about sending business contacts over to an enemy, but he knows even more people than I do. It’s a chance that I was willing to take for Cara.

Sean chuckles and waves his hand dismissively. “You’ll be thanking me in a minute and eating your words.”

“You found something,” I say, my heart rate spiking.

Sean nods. “I caught wind of some rumors about Luca Leonetti. The Italians despise him. They’re saying he betrayed them and his own family in New York and that he’s hiding in Vegas under Russian protection.”