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They rip my hood off. It takes me a second to gather my bearings.
I’m in some sort of computer lab. The room is small, no bigger than five by five square feet. Basically the size of one of those monthly rental storage units. There’s a computer desk and an office chair, along with a single monitor and a standing desktop unit. The air is stuffy and dry.The ceiling’s low, too, so much so that all I have to do is reach up and drag my fingers over the surface. Claustrophobic and tight.
“Do you like it?” Konstantin asks me. “Not exactly the lap of luxury, but we had to make do. We built this place in a hurry.”
“What exactly do you want me to do here?” I ask.
“You know what we want. Get to work on those offshore accounts, dear nephew. The sooner you get it done, the sooner we’ll let you go.”
I almost scoff.Yeah, right. I sincerely doubt my uncle has any intention of letting me go free because the moment he does, what’s to stop me from killing him where he stands?
I gesture toward the computer setup. “This is junk. All of it. You expect me to break into foreign bank accounts on this piece of shit?”
“Undetected,” he adds with a mischievous smile. “Yes, Luka. I do.”
“It’s not happening. I’m not doing this.”
“You don’t really have a choice.” Konstantin tilts his head to the side. “You’re going tomakeit happen. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee Agent Harper’s safety.”
I grind my teeth and clench my hands until they’re knuckle-white. “Where is she?” I demand. “Where did you take her? I swear to God, if you touch even a hair on her head—”
Konstantin chuckles. “You know what I find amusing, nephew? You and your brothers all have one fatal weakness in common.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Your women.” My uncle grins darkly. “The four of you will go to great lengths to protect the women you love. It’s such a shame, having such an obvious weakness for your enemies to exploit.”
I shake my head. No, this can’t be happening. “I don’t love her,” I mutter. It’s not quite a lie, but it isn’t the truth, either. I’m not in love with Dani. I don’t think so, at least. But I definitely care for her more than I realized. Of course, if shit hadn’t hit the fan, we were probably on track for something more.
Konstantin raises his eyebrows. “Oh, is that so?”
“She means nothing to me, so just let her go. She’s FBI. They’re going to realize she’s missing sooner rather than later, and when they do, they’ll tear everything apart in search of her.”
“It’s a good thing we’re well hidden, then.”
“Uncle, please. For old time’s sake, do me this one favor. Return her to New York safe and alive.” I swallow at the sticky lump lodged in the back of my throat. “I’m begging you.”
Konstantin smiles, but there’s nothing friendly about it. His dead eyes pierce straight through me, unfeeling. At this point, I’m convinced he’s nothing more than a walking corpse. “I think I’ll keep her a while longer. It’s been so long since I’ve felt the touch of a woman. Who knows? She could end up my plaything.”
Rage consumes me. I throw myself at Konstantin, slamming my fist across his jaw. “Touch her and I’ll kill you!” I scream at the top of my lungs.
I only get one hit in before his guards intervene. I’m no match for the two of them. While one holds me in place, the other nails me with a gut punch. The air rushes from my lungs as I keel over, coughing and wheezing.
Konstantin laughs, absolutely unhinged. “See? I told you. Your greatest weakness is your woman. That’s why I know you’re going to sit down and get to work. If you don’t…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t have to.
His guards shove me into the chair. It creaks under my weight and leans to one side. I glare at Konstantin the entire time it takes the computer to boot up. The specs are awful. For the level of work he’s asking of me, I’m going to need something much faster and stronger than this secondhand crap. Although, I could work this to my advantage. If The Trinity is after the Antonov Bratva’s money, it could serve me well to drag this out. It could give my brothers enough time to move everything around, provided I could get a message to them.
“Try not to drag your ass on this,” Konstantin says, almost as if reading my mind. “Remember, the longer you take, the longer we keep you and your little girlfriend.”
My stomach flips. Fuck, there’s really no winning here.
I don’t know where to start. Moving money internationally isn’t exactly as easy as one, two, three. I need account numbers, passwords, and routing information. And while I’d argue I have a pretty impressive memory, I don’t have any of that stuff readily available to me. Not to mention my uncle wants this done covertly, which is a next to impossible task given that the transfer of large sums across international jurisdictions is guaranteed to raise a few flags.
My palms are clammy. I can’t afford to fail—but succeeding isn’t exactly an option, either. Everything my brothers have worked for, everything they’ve built… It’ll all be for nothing. The Trinity is using me to destroy my own family, and the thought makes my blood boil.
Slowly, I open a browser tab. How the fuck am I going to go about this?
The soft tickle of someoneliterallybreathing down my neck shocks me back to reality. I turn, disgruntled to find Konstantin’s guards right behind me, taking up what precious little space remains in my storage room of an office space.
