How the fuck did they know the location? Only thirty guests were invited, and they only learned where it was this morning. That means one of them is a mole. The thought makes my blood burn hotter. Someone I let close enough to my wife just tried to kill her.
I get into the car and slam the door. My phone rings—Viktor.
“Status?” I bark.
“They’re out,” he says. “A few casualties on the periphery, but the family is safe. Artyom and Mikhail got everyone off the island.”
“Good. Meet me at the warehouse on the east side. We need to find the mole.”
I hang up and fire off a quick text to Dmitri telling him the same. Then another call comes in—Artyom.
“We’re safe,” he says curtly. “But we need to meet. Now.”
I understand the urgency in his tone. We need to find out who is behind this as soon as possible. For now, we have no idea whose side of the family the mole is on.
“Send me the location,” I reply. “I’m on my way.”
As the call cuts, my mind races. Thirty guests. Thirty possible traitors. Someone sold us out. Someone who was close enough to know the details.
I will find them. And when I do, their death will be slow, and painful.
I meet Artyom and Mikhail at a secured underground safe house on the outskirts of the city. One of the few locations that isn’t tied to any of our main operations.
The room is dimly lit, soundproofed, and swept for bugs.
I had texted Dmitri and Viktor to meet me here and they’re waiting outside. I trust them with my life, but right now, I need this conversation to stay between the three of us.
We sit around a steel table. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. Artyom’s jaw is locked, Mikhail looks like he wants to put a bullet in someone. Preferably me.
“How the fuck did they know the location?” I start, voice low. “Someone talked.”
Mikhail leans forward, eyes hard. “It wasn’t from our side. Our people are loyal.”
I raise an eyebrow. “So you’re saying the mole came from my guests? You can’t be sure it wasn’t one of yours”
Artyom cuts in before Mikhail can snap back. “Enough. We all need to calm down. It could be from either side. The point is, someone sold us out. The target was clearly Calina. They came for her.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My wife. They tried to take my wife on our fucking wedding day.
I clench my fists under the table. “I want the mole found. I don’t care whose side they came from. We investigate our own people. Every single guest. Every single staff member who knew the location. We tear it apart until we find the bastard.”
Mikhail nods slowly. “Agreed. We question our own and you do same to yours. Quietly. No one outside this room knows what we’re doing.”
Artyom looks at me, his expression grave. “Is there anyone who might be trying to get back at you for something? Stepped on any toes recently?”
I give him a what do you think? look. In our line of work, we step on toes all the time. But my mind keeps circling back to Adrian.
That self-righteous bastard has been trying to undermine me for months. Blocking my entry into the Society, sending men after me, doing everything in his power to make me look unstable.
Is it possible he had a hand in today’s attack? The thought makes my blood burn hotter. If he does, I’ll rip his spine out with my bare hands.
Artyom notices the shift in my expression. “What is it? You look like you’re thinking of someone specific.”
I hesitate. I don’t want to bring this up yet. But Mikhail leans forward. “This is our sister we’re talking about. If you have something that could help us find who’s behind this, now would be a good time to say it.”
I exhale slowly and tell them. “Adrian Volkov. The vice president of the Society. He’s been against me joining from the beginning. He’s tried to have me killed before. He hates that I’m not ‘pure blood.’ Now that I’m married to Calina, I have the alliance he couldn’t stop. It’s possible he’s behind today’s attack.”
Artyom’s jaw clenches. “That conceited prick. He’s always thought he was better than everyone else.”
