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I let out a breath of relief. “Was your brother ever actually engaged to Vanya or was it all a ploy?”
“He’d been engaged to her since she was three,” he says. “It was my father’s idea to merge the families through marriage. Theo only had one daughter and he didn’t seem to care who he married her off to.”
“What changed?” I ask. “When did Peter suddenly decide to sell her?”
Spiridakos huffs out a breath. “Peter owed a shit-ton of people he couldn’t pay back. Gorgio and I managed to hide a lot of the money from him, but he still kept digging himself a deeper hole.”
“And Castellanos agreed to this?”
“Peter said something about her father not needing her anymore,” he says honestly. “Not to mention that Theo Castellanos was also hemorrhaging money. His businesses were being hit on all fronts by some unknown gang run by some weird leader named E-Ris. He needed the cash flow to keep things moving.”
“Why didn’t he go to the other families about it?”
“Who the fuck knows,” Spiridakos sighs. “Peter was getting into some bad shit with Castellanos near the end. Something was haunting Theo, man. I’m not sure what it was but whatever he was into, he didn’t want the families to know about it.”
What the fuck was Castellanos getting into?
“I appreciate the information,” I thank him. “My office will send over the signed contracts tomorrow for you to sign.”
“Thanks.” He’s silent for a moment, not hanging up. “Be careful, Volkov. Whoever this E-Ris is, Castellanos was scared shitless.”
“Will do.”
I hang up on him.
Anton pulls the SUV into the parking garage of the casino.
“Good news?” he asks.
Placing my phone in my pocket, I slide out of the car to face my best friend. He’s been by my side since we were children. Every step of the way.
“I have a feeling this whole thing goes way deeper than I thought,” I tell him as we head toward the elevator. “Someone’s been playing me for a fool.”
Anton is silent for a moment.
“Maybe it isn’t you they’re playing.”
I pause and look at him for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
“Everything we’ve found out leads back to the Castellanos being at the center of it.”
“So, what?” I press. “I’m just collateral damage in someone’s war against the Greeks?”
Anton shakes his head and sighs.
“You’re not collateral at all boss. You’re the pawn and you’re playing directly into their hands.”
Thirty-Four
“Thanks for doing this, I appreciate it,” I murmur to Yelena as she drives us toward a small stretch of town on the outskirts of the city. This is where my father buried Cora. He had buried her with her late husband, the one he brutally murdered.
“My brother is an asshole,” she states. “I’m sorry he left you like that.” All I can do is shrug. I don’t really want to talk about that conversation, at the moment. My heart is still aching. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe there isn’t any Adrik in there at all. He isn’t actually the boy who wrote me those letters growing up. It must be someone else.
It has to be.
“Are you sure you want me to just drop you off here?” Yelena eyes the area nervously. “I can stay.”
