Chapter 145 148

Chapter 145 148
“Aleks, let’s go.”

“I wonder how the world will feel about your brother-in-law being a pedophile? Outing me now is going to make life extremely difficult for you, I’d imagine.”

I can see the effort it’s taking him to keep the smile in place. Any minute now and he’ll start breaking out in sweat. “I’m not concerned about that. I can handle the fallout of exposing what you’ve done.”

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

“I have no problem dragging your name through the dirt,” he says threateningly. “I’ll make sure the world knows that I’m the one who worked with the cops to expose you. They’ll give me medals while they dance on your grave.”

He glances at Olivia. “You backed the wrong horse, Olivia. But don’t worry: when this is all over and he’s behind bars, I’ll still protect you. For no other reason than you’re my wife’s sister.”

“I don’t want your protection,” Olivia snaps back. Her grip on my arm tightens. It’s almost… protective, in a strange sense.

“You may not want it,” he says with cold eyes. “But you will need it.”

“Why would you even bring him, Olivia?” Mia asks, breathless.

Her poker face isn’t as good as her husband’s. Her brows knit together with distress. I can tell that Hargrove notices because he takes her hand and tugs on it. A reminder of where they are, of all the people watching on, of everything at stake.

“I didn’t bring him,” she answers. “He came because I needed him. Because he didn’t want me to suffer alone like I did when we buried Mom.”

The pride in her voice is unmistakable. The feeling it stirs up in my chest, however… I’m not quite sure how to put my finger on that.

Mia quivers with pent-up anger. Then she says primly, “We have more guests to meet.”

The dismissal is obvious.

Fine by me. I’ve accomplished what I came here to do.

I take Olivia’s hand and walk her away from the couple. I don’t stop walking until we’ve stepped out onto one of the huge balconies dotting the facade of the hotel.

There’s no one outside with us. Just hundreds of bouquets of red and white roses and their scent floating through the air.

I pluck the reddest flower I can find and hand it to Olivia. She looks down at it as though this is the first time she’s ever seen a rose.

“What are you doing?” she demands.

I ignore her question, cupping her face in one hand. “You held your own in there. You were brave. I’m proud of you.”

She takes a deep breath and accepts the rose I’m still holding out to her.

“Thank you,” she murmurs. Then she sighs heavily. “I can’t believe you came.”

“Aren’t you glad, though?” I ask. “I livened up this boring party.”

“I want to go home now,” she says, staring down at her rose.

I nod. “As do I. Let’s go.”

As we’re moving back through the crowd, I feel eyes on me. When I glance to the side, I catch sight of Rob in close, muttered conversation with a lanky man in an ill-fitting suit.

“Who’s that with Rob?” Olivia asks when she sees where I’m looking.

“That,” I say grimly, “is the man who replaced Rob in the investigation against me. And it looks like he wants to talk.”

31

OLIVIA

My heart is thundering in my chest as the detective struts over to us with Rob in tow.

The man is an FBI agent like my brother, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s a good ten years older than Rob at least, and he moves with an easy, lithe confidence, nothing like Rob’s intense whirlwind of focus.

When he stops in front of us, he smiles pleasantly at Aleks. “Mr. Makarova, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Rob is stiff and anxious, his gaze flitting between Aleks and his colleague, but everyone else appears to be perfectly at ease.

“I’m sure you have,” Aleks replies. “My brother-in-law must have talked your ear off about me. Isn’t that right, Robert?”

Rob narrows his eyes, but looks away from Aleks. “They're opening the buffet soon.”

The detective turns to me. That smile is plastered so tightly on his face that I’m starting to wonder if it’ll crack under the strain. “Is this your sister, Rob?”

“Olivia,” I say, offering my hand because no one else seems keen to make introductions.

He returns my shake, his grip warm and callused. “Lovely to meet you, Olivia. I’m Steven Kennedy. Your brother and I work very closely together.”

“Is that so?” Aleks asks. “Working on anything interesting right now?”

I stare at my husband in disbelief. Is he really goading the man who’s in charge of the investigation into him?

“Always,” Kennedy says with a pleasant nod. “Very exciting case.”

“You think you’ll catch the bad guy?”

I swallow hard. What the hell is he doing?

Kennedy is unfazed. “I always catch the bad guy.”

Aleks nods. “Good to know. The world is safer with you in the mix, surely.”

“I’ll be seeing you around, Mr. Makarova,” Kennedy says. There’s the twist of a gruesome promise in his tone.

Aleks seems amused by that. He nods to both men. “I look forward to it.” Then he turns to me. “We really should be going, moya zhena.”

I give Rob and the detective a courtesy wave and follow Aleks out of the grand hall. The moment we clear the ballroom, I grab his hand and he twists to face me.

“What the hell was that?”

He blinks. “What?”

“Don’t what me,” I snap. “You know exactly what. That man is working with Hargrove to frame you!”

“I’m keenly aware of that, Olivia. But thank you ever so much for the reminder.”

“Why would you even engage with him?”

He shrugs. “I’m not scared of the poor bastard.”

“Right,” I say, throwing my hands up in irritation. “Because you’re Aleksandr Makarova. You’re not afraid of anyone.”

“Precisely. Glad we got that straight.”

I grit my teeth and restrain myself—barely—from pulling my hair out by the root. “He was threatening you, you know.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Aleks says sarcastically. “In fact, I think he likes me.”

“Aleks—”