Page 21 of Maximum Bet

“Marco gets home with the jet next Friday. If we wait until then, we will have time to devise a plan and do our due diligence. How do you feel about a long weekend in paradise?”

“I feel like Cassandra is going to be pretty pissed off that it’s not a leisure trip and she can’t go.” I laugh. She’s been hinting at wanting to go somewhere with palm trees and beaches for our honeymoon.

“Perfect.” Leo grabs the stack of papers, tapping them into conformity against the desk. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

As I turn the knob on the office door, I pause. “Hey, Leo. Tell Lucas he did a damn good job.”

“Will do.” With a nod, he’s off, headed back to the office or his suite, where he’ll use his brilliant mind to come up with a proposal.

I linger behind, not closing Dante’s door all the way, and pull out my phone. Once Leo is out of range, I dip back into the office, shutting myself in.

I scroll through my recent calls and select the anonymous number connected to a cold phone that very few people know about.

It rings twice before my contact answers.

“Tariello?”

“Hey, I have some information for you.” I lean against Dante’s desk, my eyes flicking to the door as if someone will barge in at any moment. “We think Kozlova and Perez are communicating hidden between shell companies.”

“How so?” I can hear a keyboard clicking in the background as the man makes notes.

I close my eyes, sifting through the information I have, deciding what to tell him and what I need to keep confidential. “We saw some phone records of companies linked to the Kozlova Bratva. They are communicating with other companies based in the Bahamas. It’s harder to trace the ownership of those, but our theory is that the Medinas control them.”

“Names of the companies?”

“I don’t have them on me.”

The man growls into the receiver. “Dominic.”

“I’ll get them to you when I can.”

He grunts. “Yeah, sure. Any idea where they’re meeting?”

I blow a breath through my nose before saying, “We’re working on figuring that out.”

My contact falls silent for a moment, likely weighing whether to believe me. He’s smart, but he’s also somewhat at my mercy. I’ll tell him what I know eventually, but I want to get to San Juan before he does.

“One other thing,” I tell him. “Apparently, Anatoliy Kozlova’s aunt posted their family tree on an online ancestry website. No idea what her motivation was, but according to my adviser, it’s a detailed list naming people we didn’t know were connected to the family.”

“Huh.” He chuckles. “Guess I’ll have to look into that. My friends in Boston would love to have the information. Got anything else for me?”

“That’s it for now.”

“So, when are you headed to the Caribbean?”

I laugh. Fucker knows me too well.

“When I find out where Kozlova and Perez are meeting.”

“Right.” He scoffs. “I’ll keep an eye on your flight records for the next few days.”

“My jet is in the Virgin Islands. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stand straight, ready to end this call and go meet my fiancée.

“Call me when you’re willing to share more.” The man concedes—for now.

“Talk to you when I can.”

The line goes dead, and I drop my phone into my pocket.