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Fucking hell. I growled, punching the button on the screen. “What?”
“I gave Father your message. He’ll talk with you if you come over now. If you don’t, he’s giving the order to attack,” Nikolai bit out.
I cursed. I had to speak with my uncle about the mole and pray it wasn’t him. That thought had my veins chilling, because if the traitor was my uncle, Sophia and I were dead. I flicked a glance at Briana, knowing she would be too.
While there wasn’t much evidence to support the theory, I needed to find out if there was, and fast. My family was too important to be caught in the schemes of a traitor, and that was why I wasn’t ruling out anyone until I found out who it was—which meant seeing the pakhan right now.
“I’ll be over in ten,” I said into the phone.
My cousin grunted and hung up.
“Viktor?” Briana stepped into my arms, worry written on her face.
I brushed the pad of my thumb across the bruise. Alexie was dead—I would see to it personally that he disappeared. “I’m going to have to take a raincheck on the ice cream, suits.”
“This is always what it’s going to be like with you, isn’t it? Wondering if you come home in one piece—or even at all.” Briana’s eyes glistened, but she kept her chin tipped up.
All I could do was shrug and tell her the truth. “Yeah, it’s why the island was a dream. I can’t be that guy, suits. My life is very different from the man you deserve.”
“You’re a criminal,” she stated, but it felt like there was more to it than that.
“But?” I prompted.
“But your moral compass isn’t...evil.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
“Be safe,” she said, squeezing my forearm and turning away.
I should have kissed her. Should have bent her over the counter and worshiped her body. The regret was biting.
At the doorway, Briana looked at me over her shoulder. “I’ll see you for breakfast, soldier boy.”
I liked the new nickname. A little too much. “Sleep well.”
~*~
Icruised down theroad in my sports car, entering my uncle’s neighborhood going double the speed limit. It made me smile to think of Bri driving this beast. While horror had frozen me in place at the gallery, I was proud of her street-racer style of driving.Fuck, she’d been marvelous.
Entrance quickly granted, I pulled into my uncle’s driveway. The guards were antsy, and I didn’t blame them. Still in my tux pants, I smoothed my dress shirt and mentally prepared myself to face the leader of our Bratva. He wasn’t going to be happy with my news, and that was the best-case scenario. The butler, a crippled and ancient artifact from the Old World, answered the door.
“Please, sir, head straight to the study,” he said, gesturing the way.
“Thank you, Anton,” I replied and moved into the house.
Time slowed. My pulse began to race. If this went badly, there was no protection for the women I cherished. But a full-blown attack on the Serbs wasn’t the solution either. Too much unnecessary bloodshed, too much unwanted attention.
Bracing myself, I stepped into the room. Uncle Igor sat behind his desk, clicking away on his laptop. My cousin was sprawled out in an armchair, a butterfly knife dancing between his fingers.
Might as well lay the accusation before them both and let the cards fall.I closed the door securely behind me and muttered a prayer to the saints I regularly neglected.
“Viktor?” my uncle demanded.
“We have a problem, sir.” I turned, pulling my shoulders back as I faced them.
Nikolai smirked. “Besides the obvious, ace?”
“I have good cause to believe we have a traitor in our ranks.” There. My suspicion was out. It was hard to watch them both at the same time, but there was no telltale twitch of deception before their joint outbursts.
