Blake: A Romantic Suspense (V Mafia Series Book 1) Read online

  Max’s lip twitched.

  “May they rest in peace.” Devin and the other men laughed.

  Max snapped his neck up and glared at my brother.

  “Don’t talk about Anton or Artur,” Max growled, fighting the ropes around his wrists.

  “I can talk about the freaks who murdered my sister. Any. Way. I. Want.” Devin bent down and got right in his face. “You got that?”

  “They didn’t murder your sister.” He glared at my brother. “That was an inside job.”

  Devin let out a sardonic chuckle. “Was it? Was it George or Will sneaking into my parents’ home? Is that what you’re telling me?” My brother shot an irritated look in my direction. “Maybe we’ve kept him alive too long already.”

  I walked over to Max and stood next to Devin.

  “We have video. Whatever delusional thoughts are rattling around in that brain of yours are just that. Delusional.”

  Max’s eyes narrowed on mine. “The prodigal son returns. How does it feel to come crawling back to your family, Player Eleven?”

  My fist connected with Max’s abdomen so quickly, my brother didn’t have time to move out of the way before Max fell over and tipped his chair.

  Devin and I each grabbed an arm and sat him and the chair upright.

  “You’re messing with the wrong person,” Max hollered into the room.

  I held out my arms and circled in place, looking around the room. “I don’t think I’m seeing the same thing you are.”

  Devin laughed. “Yeah, I’m not seeing this guy’s vision either.”

  “So, did you bribe that player to sweep my leg?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Abram had told Devin everything we wanted to know except why.

  “Sure, why not?” He attempted to shrug his shoulders, but he looked too sore to move them much. “Abram made it happen, but I called the shots.”

  “An act like that is a declaration of war. You know that, correct?” My brow arched. “Your family already had to pay for my sister’s death.”

  “It was accidental,” he muttered.

  “I thought it was an inside job by old George over here.” I stared at Max, and he tilted his back toward the ceiling.

  “It was.”

  “So George accidentally murdered my sister?” I asked.

  The pain sliced through me as I spoke of my sister so openly. Every second longer I had to look at this guy, the more I wanted to hurt him.

  Really hurt him.

  This guy was all over the place.

  “Who cares? I lost a girl. You lost a girl.” Max glowered at my brother before turning his attention to me.

  Devin slammed his fist into Max’s gut, but this time Max stayed upright.

  “Why is only your loss important?” he shouted at us, and I glanced at George, who rolled his eyes. “What about me? The girl I loved?”

  “Who? Who are you talking about?” Devin demanded.

  Max’s gaze flashed to mine. “Ask Player 11. He’s the one who stole her from me.”

  My mind flashed to Ava, but that made no sense.

  “He slept with my fiancée and didn’t even think twice about it.” Max tried to get out of his chair, but Devin elbowed him in the chin.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I shook my head, and I really didn’t.

  “She cheated on me with you.” He spat on the ground. “You piece of shit.”

  Devin slid me a sideways glance.

  “What about the Petrovs?” I asked, ignoring his accusation.

  “What about them?” His brows furrowed.

  “You told my men you are working with them.”

  “I might be.” He looked at George. “I might not be.”

  “How did you get Abram involved?” I crossed my arms and studied the guy in front of me. There was something off about him, besides the obvious. “What was his motivation?”

  “He could be charged by the police,” my brother added.

  “Who?” he asked, looking genuinely bewildered, which was quite concerning considering he’d just mentioned Abram.

  “The guy who told us to come looking for you.” Devin took a step forward and Max flinched.

  “Vasiliev?” Max questioned.

  George and Will walked over to the back of Max’s chair and towered over him.

  Max really wasn’t tracking well. Either our men had already done a number on him or he wasn’t all with us mentally.

  “Vasiliev,” Devin’s voice lowered to a near whisper.

  “I gave him a contract and five hundred grand.”

  “A contract?” I asked.

  “To expand his staffing agency, to ensure our people only used his firm. They won’t bring charges against Abram.”

  My patience was growing thin. “Why’s that?”

  “Because he’s dead. Just like you will be very shortly.” He sat up with a smug smile.

  Devin let out a low growl. He was ready to be done with this guy as much as I was. His family didn’t want to be bothered with the wrath he’d bring on them, and he couldn’t even keep his story straight. I wondered if it was true. Ava hadn’t mentioned anything about her friend or her fiancé, so I doubted it.

  “So you called a hit on me because I screwed your fiancée?”

  Hatred darted through his eyes.

  I had slept with a lot of women on the road, but I always avoided any with a ring. I suppose it was plausible, but it certainly didn’t warrant an attack on the field.

  “Her name was Evie.”

  The way he spoke of her in past tense brought a chill to the room. George and Will traded nervous glances.

  “What do you mean, was?” Devin asked.

  “I couldn’t let her disgrace me like that.”

  George hit record on his phone.

  “You couldn’t let who disgrace you like what?” George repeated.

  “Don’t you listen? Are you deaf?” He groaned in frustration. “My fiancée, Evie. You couldn’t possibly think that I could let a filthy woman like that disgrace me, do you? Please, I have standards. She never saw it coming.”

  I knew to keep our voices off the recording.

  “Saw what coming?” George prompted.

  Max only laughed.

  “What does it matter?” Max stared at the concrete floor.

  “It doesn’t.” George let a few seconds of silence go by. “So you killed your fiancée?”

  “She had an accident.”

  My stomach was sick with the thought that something actually happened to the woman he was talking about. I didn’t always have a habit of getting names, but Evie didn’t ring a bell. It was so difficult to follow Max’s train of thought. It was all over the place, and I wasn’t sure anything he said was even marginally truthful. I could see why the rest of his family stepped away rather quickly from him after the mess he got himself in.

  I saw T.J. scrolling through his phone. His expression fell and he motioned for me to come over.

  He held up his cell, and a picture of a beautiful woman filled the screen, Evie Ray. Brilliant red hair, hazel eyes, and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose would have made her memorable. I never slept with her. Evie was an odd enough name, and the timing was too coincidental not to be related.

  She’d been missing for over six months.

  George stopped recording.

  “You’re wrong. I never slept with your fiancée. I would have remembered her.” I stood in front of Max again.

  “You’re lying. She told me she slept with you in New Mexico. That you were there at a soccer camp when she was on a spa trip.”

  I shook my head. “Never been to New Mexico.”

  The color drained from his face, but it wasn’t because of what he did to her. It was because he saw what we were about to do to him.

  “They hadn’t renewed your contract anyway.” He spat on the floor and looked up at me with two beady eyes. “I sat in the crowd and watched it. You didn’t even shed a
tear. Why are you acting like it’s a big deal?”

  “We’re dealing with a bigger issue here, Max. You don’t respect people’s lives. You don’t respect life. It’s apparent you’ll keep coming after us or anyone else who doesn’t fit your mold. We don’t have time to deal with people like you.” I drew in a deep breath and watched him squirm. “Find out what he did to Evie before . . .”

  “Respect life?” Max scoffed. “Why don’t you ask your brother about the Bettys?”

  Devin froze.

  “What? You didn’t tell your brothers about your side deals?” Max laughed as the first of many blows came down on him, and Devin and I stepped away.

  “I don’t think we have to worry about any bigger vendettas or larger issues here,” Devin said, his voice low as we exited the room.

  “I don’t either. I think we’re dealing with someone who’s crazy.” We stopped walking and stood in the entry as the sounds in the other room echoed through the air.

  “You didn’t sleep with her?”

  “I would have remembered.” I shook my head. “She was probably just trying to break it off with him and pulled some random celebrity out of thin air.”

  I thought about Ava. Was that how Alfred chose her, or was there something more to his infatuation? The mere thought of her made me want to hurry and get back to her. I missed her so much it hurt.

  “He doesn’t deserve to live,” Devin muttered under his breath, and I brought myself out of my daze.

  “What’s he talking about side deals?” My eyes landed on my brother. “Bettys?”

  “You heard him. He’s crazy. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe he killed a girl.”

  “Yeah. He’s a low-life. He won’t be missed.” I glanced out the window, and my stomach knotted as I thought about the life I’d stepped back into. There were so many variables at play.

  “You ready to go back to the airport while they finish up?” Paul asked, strolling out of the back room.

  I nodded, and my mind wandered back to Ava and how desperately I missed her. She didn’t deserve what she was going through. She only wanted to help creeps like Max and Alfred, and now her life was in danger.

  I also realized her life would continue to be in danger if she depended on a broken system to come to her rescue. Our family still believed in good and evil, regardless of our chosen profession. Right and wrong still existed in our world. The punishment was just dispersed differently than many would understand. We took care of the problem completely, and I wasn’t sure Ava could ever understand that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ava

  It felt like I’d never left. The moment I walked inside the walls, I knew I’d made the right decision. Everything about this morning had felt right. The crisp air, the bright blue skies, and the colorful fall leaves all seemed more vibrant, and I felt alive.

  I’d gotten into such a routine at my last job that I’d stopped noticing what I enjoyed most about the season, about my life. It was like I’d stopped living in the moment and let my days pass me by.

  Maybe that was why I hadn’t realized Alfred had been so close . . . so within reach. A shiver ran through me, and I glanced up at Gerald, the Senior Correctional Officer for the Psych wing, and smiled.

  “Good morning, Dr. Dalton. It’s nice to have you back.” Gerald said to me with a huge toothy grin. “I knew you’d be back. How can you not miss a place like this?”

  Gerald always had a great sense of humor. A person would need it for his position. He was rather portly, but he didn’t let that stop him from handling the patients when needed. In fact, I think his size worked in his favor more times than not.

  He ushered me in front of a mostly white poster board that also acted as a backdrop for headshots.

  “It’s good to be back.” I looked into the lens of the camera and smiled as he took the photo and clicked print.

  “I’m really sorry Alfred hasn’t gotten picked up yet.” He handed me the badge, and I gave a quick nod.

  “Me too, but I’m sure his time’s coming to an end.”

  It had to be, for my own sanity.

  “Let’s hope.” He crossed his fingers and buzzed me through the door.

  The police hadn’t released any details about what they’d found on my property, but it told me I wasn’t Alfred’s only focus since he’d been out. My heart ached for the families of the women he’d hurt, and it made me even more determined to continue my research. It also made me wonder, had he been in the other states, and if so, were there even more victims left behind?

  I walked into the main hallway leading to the ward and spotted Nina leading a patient to a medical room. His feet shuffled two steps behind her every step of the way. His hair was a pale blond, matted to his scalp, and his skin was sallow.

  He was a new arrival since I was here last, but with his lack of restraints, he wasn’t one of our more violent patients.

  Even though this part of the facility was spotless with the white sheen of the floors and crisp white walls, it still felt unclean. Probably because I knew what these inmates were capable of. I made my way to Dr. Silian’s office before going to my own.

  We had an appointment at eight, and I was right on time. His door was closed so I knocked lightly.

  “Come in.”

  I walked into his office and saw Dr. Silian’s kind smile. He removed his glasses and stood up, motioning to the chair.

  “It’s so good to have you back.”

  “I didn’t realize I’d miss it so much.” I took a seat and so did he.

  Dr. Silian nodded with a compassionate look laced through his gaze.

  “Well, we all missed you and your invaluable insight.” He pulled a few files out of a drawer and set them on his desk. “We had a patient transferred back into gen yesterday.”

  “Really?” I asked, surprised. It took quite a bit of work to move out of here and back into general population. “How’d that happen?”

  “He confessed to the murder of his stepfather.”

  A hollow feeling sank deep into my bones.

  “You’re talking about Freddy?” I asked.

  “I am.”

  “He got through all of our testing that indicated—”

  “It was all premeditated.” Disappointment flicked through his gaze. “He’d studied the tests and knew what to answer, how to respond emotionally. He thought it would be better over here than . . .” Dr. Silian pointed in the direction of the main prison. “He requested to talk to the detective who’d been in charge of the case.”

  Hearing this on my first day back wasn’t what I was expecting. It wasn’t easy getting the court to validate our concerns. It was damn hard to get legislators to listen to our needs. Trying to get additional funding to improve our facilities was already extremely difficult.

  When something like this happened, the ripple effects would be felt for a long time. It wasn’t easy to get resources for programs like ours. Our prison system was already taxed, so trying to prove that there was a legitimate need for this type of treatment within the prison system was immensely difficult on a good day. When someone cast doubts like this, it gamed the entire system.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  He nodded. “It’s unfortunate.”

  “What made him crack?” I asked.

  “It’s very difficult for anyone of sound mind to stay in this section.” A wry smile crossed his lips.

  He had a point. At any given moment, screams could be heard, banging on walls echoed down the halls, and violent attacks weren’t that uncommon.

  Not that it was all rainbows and sunshine in general population either, but there was something a bit more perilous in this section because a person didn’t always know what would set someone else off. In general population, there were certain unsaid rules and guidelines inmates knew to follow. There was a hierarchy and a barter system firmly in place. Cliques formed and protection was offered. Over here,
it was each man for himself. It was impossible to predict who would turn on whom and when.

  “Do the police have any other leads on Alfred?” he asked.

  The mere mention of Alfred brought a chill through me. He was never far from my mind, but hearing his name still made me jumpy.

  “A few, but I don’t know where they’ll lead. You know how it goes. We thought he wasn’t even in the state and we were very wrong.”

  “How is your dad holding up?”

  I smiled and nodded. My dad and the doctor always had a special bond. It started with a charity golf tournament for my dad’s precinct and led to the occasional holiday spent at our home. It was another reason I wasn’t too concerned about getting my position back.

  That being said, I could tell my dad didn’t pass on any of the information they’d found at my house.

  “He’s doing well. As determined as ever to find Alfred.”

  “You know how these men garner attention, gain fans, and . . .” Dr. Silian’s voice was tinged with disgust.

  “I do.”

  “Alfred could have tapped into his fan network, so to speak, and had one of them send those things to you to throw you off.”

  “He might never have left the state,” I said softly, thinking back to what Blake found in the crawlspace.

  “It’s a possibility.”

  I nodded. “Do we still have the letters and other correspondence Alfred received?”

  “We have all of his personal belongings locked up downstairs. You’re more than welcome to go through it.”

  “I just might.” I looked at the clock on the wall. “But not until I get back in the swing of things here. I have patients to see and work to do.”

  A renewed sense of belonging sped through me, and I was looking forward to getting back to the work I enjoyed.

  “If you need anything, my door is always open.”

  “Thank you.” I stood up and walked out of his office, thrilled to be getting back to the days I understood and longed for.

  Even though my dad wanted me to leave my home, I’d stayed. With the crawlspace secured and the men stationed at my doorstep, I really didn’t see a need to leave. I also knew that once Alfred realized his entry was off-limits, he needed to see that he couldn’t scare me away, that I wasn’t going to be chased from my own home.