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I didn’t react.
I couldn’t.
Neither could Montana.
The secrets we held kept people alive. Kept the dangers at bay. We would only reveal the truth once we eradicated the threat.
Until then, everyone could believe what they wanted to believe.
Gathering my coat, I was done with the meeting. I’d already said too much when the club doors opened and in walked a disheveled and out of breath Maria Valentinetti, the personal bodyguard to Illyria. Frantic, the worried but pretty woman approached as I stepped forward when I realized Illyria wasn’t with her.
“Maria, where is Illyria?” Salvatore beat me to the punch, walking over to her.
“You have to stop her,” the woman said frantically, pleading with Salvatore before turning to me. “She’s planned it all. Everything. But she’s making a mistake. You have to stop her.”
Salvatore frowned as I asked. “Where is Illyria, Maria?”
“She’s going after Petrovitch by herself. She thinks she can stop him. I tried to tell her she couldn’t. That she needed to tell you the truth, but she won’t listen.”
Chairs scooted roughly against the floor as men stood. Nobody said a word, theshock apparent. It was ludicrous to think of Illyria doing something so crazy. I knew my woman was head-strong and stubborn, but to go after Petrovitch herself was suicide.
She had to know Petrovitch would kill her.
“Why would she do something like that without bringing it to the table first?” Renaldo asked, moving closer. “She’s smarter than that.”
“Because Petrovitch is going after Valentinetti Corp. The company is in the middle of a hostile takeover. She found out Petrovitch was going after the company right before she came here. That’s why she agreed to take on the club. She needed a seat at the table to get more information on the bastard. She’s trying to stop him from bankrupting the family.”
“The family’s money isn’t in Valentinetti Corp. It never was. That company was something our father started to make us look legit,” Giovanni furiously admitted. “I gave her the damn company so she would stay the hell out of the family business. Father didn’t want her anywhere near it.”
“Where is she now, Maria?” Montana asked.
“She was in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Sypher when I left.”
Montana quickly turned, reaching for his phone and dialing a number.
“Mr. Fedorov, I tried to make her see reason. I even threatened to tell you everything, but she didn’t care. She’s determined to save the company and not bring shame upon the family.”
“Holy shit,” Salvatore cursed, as I stared at the worried woman. There was something more she wasn’t saying.
Taking the scared woman’s hands, I led her back over to the table. Helping her to sit, we all retook our seats as I carefully said, “We need you to tell us everything, Maria. Start at the beginning.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Illyria
“Sypher? This can’t be right. Are you sure about this place?” I whispered, looking at the rundown motel on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada. When Sypher informed me who Arianwen truly was, I didn’t want to believe it. Not her. Not the sweet, shy woman who tended the bar at the Soulless Sinners clubhouse, named Silver. The young woman wasn’t much younger than me. I was having a hard time understanding how Silver could be on Petrovitch’s radar.
It made no sense.
Who was this woman, and did Montana know Petrovitch wanted her dead? With more questions than answers, I begged Sypher to accompany me on this fact-finding mission. Two heads were better than one, so to speak. After some wheeling and finagling, he agreed. I needed help in the worst way and with his keen eyes I knew we could figure this out fast.
Time was running out for me. I had one more week to gather all the information I could find and hopefully figure out a way to stop Petrovitch before he made the move to buy Valentinetti Corp. I refused to stand in front of my brothers and tell them I had failed. I couldn’t bring shame upon my family, not after everything we’ve already been through. I wouldn’t do it. My brothers entrusted me with the family company. I couldn’t let them down.
“I’m sure,Ms. Illyria. There wasn’t much on this woman. Almost like she just appeared out of nowhere. I mean, she’s got a driver’s license, social and a birth certificate, but someone issued them recently. Like months ago. Before that, nothing. She never existed.”
“I’ve met the woman, Sypher. Trust me. She exists. She lives and breathes the Sinners clubhouse. If she’s in that journal, then that means she knows something, and I want to know what it is. Maybe she can tell us who this damn mole is, or more importantly, why Petrovitch wants Maxim so damn bad. I get that information, then I will know how best to handle him. Right now, I’m winging it. I need more answers.”
“Well then, she would be the one to ask. She has no past.”
