Page 11 of King

He had to either pay Ivanov back for the money he borrowed or in kind…

Which was it?

“What’s he been selling?”

Fillmore shakes his head.“Nothing too bad, but enough to allow Ivanov to use your company to further his own business.”

“How could he do that?We’re in construction.Ivanov is in shipping and running arms.”

Fillmore shrugs.“Your company orders lots of material from other countries, requiring that it be shipped by sea and rail.Lumber, aluminum, you name it.Stuff comes into port on a weekly basis, according to my intercepts.Lots of opportunity to smuggle some guns in from abroad.”

“Jesus…” I rub my forehead.Ryan.Why?

“Did my father know?”

Fillmore shakes his head.“Nope, and based on my intercepts, Ryan wanted desperately to keep it that way.He didn’t want to lose face, so to speak, with Ronan.You know Ronan was dead set against gambling, especially with company money, which Ryan was also doing.I’ve got some intercepts showing him being very creative with invoices…”

I want to hammer my fist against something.Preferably, my uncle Ryan’s face, but instead, the fence bordering the East River ends up taking the brunt of my frustration with my uncle.

“What do you want to do with this info?”

I shake my head.“I don’t know.I have to think about this.And I need to see the intercepts myself and how you got them.”

Fillmore holds up a hand to stop me.“Sorry.No can do.I can’t tell you how I got them, or I’ll lose access to my source, but I can show you the evidence.That’s gonna have to be enough.”

“How do I know you’re not playing me?”

Fillmore sighs heavily.“Am I asking you for anything in return?No.I’m worried about a former brother-in-arms.That’s all.When I heard you were getting back into the family fold, I worried about you, because if there was one thing you used to go on about, it was your family and the mistakes they made with the Russian mafia.If you could do anything, it would be to extricate your father and brothers from their grip.So, when you went back inside, I thought I could help you.I did some sleuthing on my own, have a friend in tech, a hacker, and asked him for help.”

“I need to see the intercepts.”

“You’ll have to come to the warehouse and meet with my guy.”

“Name the time and place, and I’ll be there.”

Fillmore nods.“Look, I know this is hard.Believe me, I can see the pain you feel.You’ve lost so much in the past year.I just want to help a friend.”

I glance at my watch and sigh.“I should go.Email me with a time and place, and I’ll be there.”

“Sounds good, and Harrison,” he says and reaches over to grab my shoulder.“I’m sorry it came to this.The last thing you need is more bad news.”

I exhale and turn back toward my car, leaving Fillmore in silence.

When I get backto the apartment, I expect to find Natalia asleep, her eyes closed, her face peaceful, and her body under the covers on our bed.Instead, she’s sitting up in the living room, in her nightgown and robe.

She looks worried rather than happy to see me.

“Hey,” I say and hang up my coat before coming over to sit beside her on the sofa.“What’s up?I thought you’d be in bed asleep.”I kiss her and then wait.

She leans forward and retrieves something from the coffee table.

“This is what’s up,” she says and hands the item to me.It takes me a moment, because it is entirely unexpected.I thought at first it might be a COVID test, but instead, I see it’s a pregnancy test.

She’s pregnant.

With our baby…

ChapterSix