Bram scowled. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m starting to think the problem is that we both know a lot of things we aren’t talking about.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “You first.”
“No way. I just told you a bunch of stuff. And I don’t trust you.”
“Ouch. Fuck, Cass.”
“Sorry, but I don’t trust you not to take the information I give you and squirrel it away, tell me not to worry my pretty little head. And we’re way past that now, Bram. You have to know that.”
He nodded slowly. “I do.”
“Then start talking.”
10
CASSIE
I was barelyaware of the people around us, barely aware that we were still in the hospital cafeteria. Dimitri Kaprolov felt like a name from my life with the Hawks, a life that felt entirely separate from my life as Bram’s little sister.
Now those two lives were converging and I could barely breathe for the anticipation of hearing Bram’s side of the story.
“Kaprolov started as a member of the Rooks’ house at Aventine,” Bram said. “After he graduated, he became one of the more powerful members of its alumni. He sponsored Ethan Todd, got him a scholarship even though he didn’t come from one of the crime families.”
My mouth dropped open. Ethan Todd was a manosphere douchebag. June Haver — Maeve’s sister — had a boyfriend who’d gotten really into Ethan Todd’s podcast before he’d murdered June in a fit of rage.
“Why would Dimitri Kaprolov vouch for Ethan Todd? How did they even know each other?”
“Todd was a townie with a big mouth and a lot of smart-sounding words. Kaprolov thought he could use Todd, so he took him under his wing. Turned out he was right.”
“Didn’t Ethan Todd disappear?”
I watched Bram’s face, because I’d had a theory since rumors had started flying about Ethan Todd’s disappearance — a theory about what had happened to him — but it was one I’d never dared ask my brother.
And it wouldn’t matter anyway. Bram never gave anything away that he didn’t want to give away, and he didn’t give away anything now.
He just shrugged.
I knew a lost cause when I saw one.
“Fine,” I muttered. "What else?”
“Kaprolov owns property all over the world, but especially in Eastern Europe: Russia, the Czech Republic, Romania. Rumor is he was involved in some bad shit. Arms dealing, sex trafficking, that kind of thing.” Bram’s gaze slid away from mine for a split second, and I knew there were details he wasn’t sharing.
But I let it go. Old habits died hard.
We were making progress.
“Anything else you want to tell me?”
A rare shadow passed over his features. “Just that I really don’t want you anywhere near him. You or Maeve or anyone else I love.”
I let the silence sit between us while I processed what he’d told me, tried to fit it together with what I knew.
“Your turn,” he said.
I drew in a breath. “I knew Dimitri was Aventine alumni. I found that part out when we?— ”
