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“So my timing wasn’t great, huh?”
I twist around in the direction of my sister’s teasing voice. “I wish I could unsee it all but damn, it’s all branded into my brain now. I should have just called without peeking into the room.”
“Fucking pervert.” I shake my head, examining her new look. Straight black hair, black-rimmed glasses, and violet-tinted contact lenses.
“Holy shit.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her tight against me. “What’s with the goth look?”
“I change my look pretty much once every two weeks.” She lays her head against me. “My God, it feels so good to hug someone.”
“What are you doing here?” I pull away to look at her again. “We all figured you were somewhere in Europe.”
She shakes her head. “Not anymore. After we made the discovery about Strathmore Enterprises, I went to Switzerland to investigate. And then to the Bahamas to access the safety deposit box with Larysa’s key as the final layer of security.”
That’s right. Danil left the key in a specific location that Val gave him so she could pick it up. But that was weeks ago. “You said you hadn’t gotten into the box last time we talked on the phone.”
Val shrugs. “I have to be careful about what I say when I call. Someone is always listening. You should know that.”
She jerks her head left and right, then motions for me to walk with her. It’s not until we’re lost in a bunch of trees that she leans in to whisper in my ear. “I know you guys were with Alek and Boris yesterday. There’s another reason why Alek and Red Ladro are all over St. James. He’s saying it has to do with the abduction of the Mulligan girl, but that’s not all. And if he knows I told you, I am seriously fucked, so don’t say a word, got it?”
I nod.
“There are only a couple of spots around this area that don’t pick up sound, only images. Alek will know I’m here, but he won’t know what we talked about. Try not to move your lips too much. And if it’s not safe to talk, I won’t say anything until we’re clear.”
She takes a deep breath. “So here’s what I found out. Dad gathered a bunch of information on the sex trafficking ring run by Branko Ivanova. There was a lot of bad blood there, but we didn’t know exactly why. He sent it to Olek Moroz, who stuck it in that safety deposit box in the Bahamas. It was supposed to expose Branko, but what I found was transaction details that tracked money sent from Dad to Strathmore Enterprises. There weren’t direct paths, but I traced them through with the data guys.”
“Okay, and we know the Van Dynes are in Branko’s back pocket.”
“Right, but instead of the documents tying Branko to Dad, they only tie Dad to Strathmore Enterprises. There was nothing linking him to Branko.”
“Was there ever?”
Val shakes her head. “I don’t know. What I do know is that Red Ladro also funded activities indirectly by association to Dad. That’s why nailing Tyson is key. He’s the loose cannon who can blow this all apart if we don’t get Skyla back to him.”
“I don’t get it. Why would Dad fund those activities?”
“I don’t think he did. I think the funds were ultimately transferred to Strathmore to make it look like he did. But we’ll never really know now.” Her shoulders slump. “And the other problem is that there are a lot of enemies who would have a field day with this intel. Enemies of Branko who would decimate us if they knew we were funding him. All it takes is a data leak and we’re screwed.”
I scrub a hand down the front of my face. “Shit. And all this time you’ve been chasing this down?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Not exactly. I mean, there are other enemies of Red Ladro that want what we’ve built. Like Luka, it’s my job to end them before they end us.”
“Fucking badass.” I grimace. “But you shouldn’t have had to turn into one. That’s on Dad for forcing you down this path. For fucking pairing you up with that asshole Dmitri Stepanov.”
Val peers around and motions for me to follow her. We approach the door to the room and she backs against a wall before answering. “I’m not finished with Stepanov. He will pay, Zak. I promise you that.”
“Good, ’cause if you don’t take care of him, I’m gonna use a mandolin and slice the skin from his decrepit body.”
“Okay, but right now, you need to forget about Stepanov. If we’re linked with St. James, we’re all fucked because he’s going down hard for funding Branko’s trafficking ring, too. That’s what the Van Dynes have on him. We’ll take the fall if any of us are associated with him or Skyla. You want to run your own show? Prove to the family where your loyalty lies and get rid of Skyla.” She puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes almost in a warning kind of way. “If you don’t, you’d better watch your back. If Alek finds out you crossed him, I won’t be able to stop what happens next.”
Chapter32
Skyla
“You have got to be kidding me.” I press my fingertips to my temples and pace the bedroom, away from the window overlooking the pool.
First that guy Alek, and now Val?Again?
Well, I’m not waiting around to let any of these assholes dictate my future. I stumbled through my escape plans before, but this time, nobody will stop me.
