Read Online Midnight Pursuits by Elle Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B

if you promise to get lost afterward.”
    He chuckled. “So eager to get rid of me, aren’t you? My feelings are hurt.”
    â€œToo bad. Now, pay attention, because I’m only saying this once.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    She ignored the mock salute he gave her. “My brother and his fiancée were gunned down a few days ago.”
    Surprise flickered in Ethan’s eyes. “Oh. All right. I wasn’t expecting that.” He paused again. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
    At the thought of Henry, her chest clenched with despair, but she forced herself to move past it. “When I visited my brother in the hospital, he described—”
    â€œWait. Your brother survived?”
    â€œFor a day. And then he died.” Her heart squeezed. “Anyway, Henry described the gunman to me, and when he told me about the way his fiancée had died, I knew immediately that it had been a hit. Two bullets to her temples, one between the eyes. There’s only one contract killer I know of with that signature. So I tracked him down.”
    Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. “You tracked him down just like that? Who is he?”
    â€œA man named Victor Grechko. Aka, the Siberian Wolf. He was well-known in assassin circles,” she said ironically.
    â€œWas?”
    â€œLet’s just say Grechko is no longer a card-carrying member of the killer club.”
    â€œYou eliminated him.” There was no judgment in Ethan’s voice.
    â€œYes, but not before I persuaded him to reveal who hired him.”
    Suspicion crossed Ethan’s expression. “And how’d you do that?”
    She kept her answer vague. “A lady never tells.”
    â€œOkay, so what you
are
telling me is that someone put out a hit on your brother and his fiancée—”
    â€œJust the fiancée,” she cut in. “Zoya Harkova was the target. Henry was a casualty. He wasn’t supposed to be home that evening. When he showed up unexpectedly, the Wolf pumped him full of lead and got the hell out of there.”
    The pain returned like a flash flood, filling every inch of her body. Henry was dead. God, a part of her wished she was still feverish and unaware. At least then she could remain oblivious to the fact that the only person who’d ever truly cared about her was dead.
    â€œWho was the fiancée?” Ethan asked briskly. “Why was she targeted?”
    â€œI think it has something to do with her father. He works for the Ministry of Justice, but he’s not a major political player, so I can’t figure out why anyone would want to kill his daughter.”
    â€œDid Grechko shed any light on it?”
    â€œNope. Most assassins don’t question a client’s motives. They just take the money.” She frowned. “Grechko said he was given Zoya’s name and ordered to kill her. And she wasn’t the only one he bumped off—apparently he’d already completed several jobs for the client, starting about eight months ago.”
    Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “How long did it take you to break him?”
    His question triggered the memory of Grechko’s screams. Those low howls of pain that had left the man’s throat after he’d realized she wasn’t messing around. The metallic scent of blood, along with the odor of smoke and urine, suddenly filled her nostrils, accompanied by another memory—one of Grechko’s head being thrown back when she’d finally put a much-deserved bullet in it.
    â€œThree hours or so,” she said without a trace of emotion. “I gave him a choice—if he talked, I’d kill him fast. If he didn’t, I’d take my time. But either way he was going to die.”
    Ethan let out a soft whistle. “No mercy, huh?”
    â€œHe killed my brother,” she said coldly. “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same if it had been one of your men.”
    To her