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“Yes, thank you.”
“Can we get you something to eat? Some wine, perhaps?” Viktor sounded genuinely concerned.
It pissed me the fuck off. “Sit, Talia,” I barked, clenching my fists hard at my side. “You’ll work with Sophia to find a trace on your male relatives.”
Viktor bristled, but I ignored him, turning my attention back to the cloudy night. It was safer to keep everything in my peripheral. At this point, my score with the Russians was even. By coming here and claiming their offer of help, I had sold myself into their debt. It was a tricky dance, working with strangers on a level that only the tightest of friends could manage. It wasn’t an easy waltz, and my dark mental status didn’t help in the slightest. Trying to calm my temper, I focused on the steady percussion of the heirloom clock as it ticked closer to another death. Whose death it would be was the ultimate question.
“I want to see the video.” Talia’s voice sounded strangled as she asked to witness what had broken me, what had shattered the future we’d been foolish enough to dream up.
My voice was cutting. “Show her.”
There was a tense pause before my order was obeyed with a series of clicks.
“Well, all right then,” Sophia muttered under her breath. She hadn’t so much as looked at me, and with Viktor prowling beside her, she obviously felt safe enough.
The video played, and even now, my sister’s helpless protests were like shattered glass channeling through my veins. Her strangled cries of fear and pain cut into my soul.
“How does it feel, butcher? Knowing that there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me,” Claude chuckled demonically. And then his crow, “How do you like them apples, butcher?”
I didn’t have to look at the screen to see the rotten look on his ugly face; it was permanently etched into my brain.
You’re a dead man.That promise steadied me.
Claude’s sneering commentary had the power to ratchet up the tension in the room. When the video ended, there was a pregnant pause. I could feel three pairs of eyes sliding between Talia and me.
“I know how to find him.” Talia’s declaration broke the taut silence.
“How convenient,” Adrian scoffed.
My cousin was hanging on by a thread, yet another trouble on my soul. One of the many things I’d realized in the desert today was that the death of Talia’s family wouldn’t save him. My cousin needed something stronger, and I wasn’t sure what to do.One problem at a time.
“This is why I kept her alive.” The statement felt heavy coming from my lips. It was all they needed to know right now.
“Well?” Viktor prompted. “Where do we begin?”
“What was your idea, hun?” Sophia murmured to Talia, a flash of feminine concern in her voice. It sent a strange emotion through my chest to hear the kindness.
“Get me the list of guests for the groom’s dinner, wedding ceremony, and rehearsal. Pull phone records and property addresses.” Talia wasn’t speaking to any one of us in particular. “It will take a lot of searching, but someone will know where my brother is. He’s not smart enough to cover his tracks on his own.”
“He’s not with your father?” Viktor inserted. A smart question, but one I already knew the answer to.
“The devil wouldn’t play such a desperate hand,” I replied, forcing my fingers wide before clenching them back into a tight fist.
“How do you know?” Viktor pressed.
“Because he confirmed as much when I called him with an ultimatum.” I finally turned to face the occupants in the room. “I’ve been locked in a death match with this fool for years. He’s calculated, not rash.”
Like you, princess.My gaze fell heavily on my wife. Talia’s olive skin was still radiant, but there were deep circles under her eyes. She hadn’t bothered with her ensemble, pulling her hair into a binder at the nape of her neck and opting for a light tee shirt and jeans. It would have been enticing, almost sexy, if I could stop reliving Iryna’s death every time I looked at her. Talia was like a physical pulse point for my pain.
Maybe putting my hands around her throat, balls deep inside her would make me see things differently?
I hated that subconscious chirp, since it brought up the pleasurable memory of our angry sex. But that little voice was fully planted in my mind and wasn’t going anywhere. The memory of our hate-fuck was ripe, and the sooner this business was done and I could let Talia go, the better.
“Give us names, and we’ll start making visits,” I instructed. I didn’t need to spell out how those visits would go.
Talia didn’t waver. “My father’s secretary was our source, so I don’t have direct access. But Iryna had emails corresponding with the wedding planner, and the lists are there.”
“That’s easy enough, since I’ve already been into your servers,” Sophia quipped, hunkering down behind her computer monitors.
