20. Veronica

Chapter 20

Veronica

I woke thinking about the night with Eli — the memory of the experience creeping up on me during the quiet moments I least expected. His touch had been rough, but there was care beneath it—like he knew exactly how far he could push without breaking me. The memory clung to my skin, a secret I wanted to hold onto and press into my skin. There was no question that I’d woken up sore and with marks on my hips from where he’d held me, but I felt alive — and that was a temptation I couldn’t let go of. His danger was undeniable, and it only made me want him more. I could still feel the weight of his hands, the scrape of his breath against my neck. But it wasn’t just the physical that lingered. There was an emotional connection between us that I didn’t understand completely, but I was sure it was there .

I shook off the memory and focused on the task at hand. My computer screen glowed in the morning light as my fingers danced over the keyboard. The steady hum of the fan was almost comforting. I needed to concentrate.

Matteo Spato was my target for the morning that I needed to find. I’d been going in fruitless circles, which wasn’t up to my standard of work. There had been a few things that I’d found, but they were ephemeral at best. The guy was a sleazeball, but it was all a sliding scale in the criminal world. My cousin wasn’t involved in legal activities, and I understood that, but Maxim had a code of ethics that he adhered to, and I was pretty sure that was what I was vetting. He didn’t deal with anyone that dipped their toes into trafficking. That was a hard line for him.

Spato seemed to be a broker on the dark web—a facilitator of illegal activities. Underground fights, weapons deals, contract killings. His name was everywhere and nowhere at once.

But now, I was close. Closer than I’d ever been.

I’d finally found a private forum, buried deep in the recesses of the web, where Spato’s name surfaced again. But this time, another name was coming up with his, Luther Booth, and a fighter named Havoc. I recognized the name from other corners of the dark web, a figure tied to underground fighting circuits. Searching into the files, I pulled up the additional matter on the fighter to see what I could find.

The footprints stretched back years in the fight circuit. He was talented, well respected, and tied to Luther in the promoting business. As I watched video after video, it was clear, though … Havoc and Eli were the same person. This all meant that this fight promotion business belonged to Luther and Eli. I bit my lip as I thought it through. Everything pointed to a fight coming up soon here in Arizona that Spato was involved in. I couldn’t locate anything definitive, but that was par for the course in this business. Locations were varied to keep from getting caught. I had all the essential details on Spato, including his residences, banking details, and offshore accounts, to give Maxim.

This kind of connection threw me. Maxim wanted info on this guy, and now it tied back to Eli. Fuck.

I wasn’t technically Bratva. I hadn’t sworn an oath to Maxim or anything crazy, but I knew as well as anyone did that I was part of the Volkov Bratva whether I asked to be or not. My allegiance should be there one hundred percent. Somehow, though … I couldn’t bring myself not to consider the consequences to Eli.

I had to talk to Natasha. She’d know what to do.

I found her sipping tea and flipping through a file in the kitchen. She looked up when I walked in, her expression shifting from relaxed to concerned. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

I sat down across from her, trying to find the right words. “So I was looking into Matteo Spato for Max. That guy he wanted us to dig into from last week.” She nodded.

“I remember. I’ve looked over the file, but most of what he sent me isn’t much for me to go on. What did you find out that has you so freaked?”

“This Spato guy is a broker on the dark web for all sorts of stuff, which is not an issue. He’s got all sorts of fingers in all kinds of things, from contract killings to weapons deals.”

“Ok … and?” She peered at me, obviously wondering what was going on. We both knew that the Bratva weren’t any choir boys. Weapons, drugs, and contract killings were probably just part of what Maxim was involved in.

“And underground fighting.” Her eyes widened, and I knew I was on the right track with the common denominator. “He’s going to be here in Arizona, and I think he’s involved with Eli and his friend Luther.”

Natasha covered her eyes with her hand. “What are the odds? Shit. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, exhaling sharply. "At first, I thought maybe it was just a coincidence, but I’ve watched the videos. Eli is Havoc. There’s no doubt in my mind. And he and Luther are promoting these fights. Somehow, Spato is connected either in the promotion or with the fighters. It’s hard to tell.”

Natasha was quiet for a moment, processing what I’d said. She rubbed her temples, the weight of this new information clearly sinking in. "This is a mess, Ronnie. If Maxim wanted Spato investigated, that means Spato is crossing a line. And if Eli’s involved..." I leaned forward, my hands gripping the edge of the table as my anxiety ratcheted up.

“There’s something bigger happening, and we’re missing it.”

Natasha sighed and pushed her mug aside, her eyes hardening with resolve. “We need to handle this carefully. If Maxim finds out Eli is involved, it could get ugly. Fast. What do you have that you can take to Maxim? ”

I nodded, though the thought of keeping anything from Maxim gnawed at me. Wasn’t that its own kind of betrayal? Withholding information? “I’ve got all the deets on where he lives, where he keeps his money, and who he sleeps with—all that shit. Natty, I don’t want anything to ruin things. Eli’s special.”

“Special?” Natasha raised an eyebrow, skepticism clear on her face. “Ronnie, I understand you care about him, but Eli isn’t innocent. He is Pike’s brother, though.” She bit her lip. “So we need to figure this out. And,” she pointed a finger at me, “I’m not sure what funny business is going on between you two, but I’m watching.” She narrowed her eyes comically.

“I know,” I whispered. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want him caught in the crossfire.”

Natasha leaned back, staring at me, her expression softening. “Alright. We’ll handle it. But you need to be smart about this. We can’t afford to make any mistakes when working for the Bratva. This stuff gets serious fast. You wanted in. Well, this is in.”

“I’ll keep looking. There’s more to Spato than just the fights, and I’m going to find out what.” I stood up, pacing the room. “I have a lead on one of his shell companies. If I can crack into that, maybe I can get a clearer picture of what he’s really up to.”

Natasha’s eyes followed me as I moved. “Okay. But keep me updated. If anything else comes up about Eli, we need to know everything before we decide what to do.”

I nodded, my heart still racing. I couldn’t shake the unease settling deep inside me. It wasn’t just the connection to Eli or the risk of exposing him—it was the sense that I was only scratching the surface of something much bigger. I could feel it, lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to pull me under. There was this sense that I was betraying someone if I did my job, and I didn’t like that.

“I’m going to call Maxim and give him what I’ve found so far on Spato,” I said, grabbing my phone off the counter. Natasha’s expression tightened, but she nodded in agreement, but her eyes were filled with worry.

I dialed Maxim’s number, my pulse quickening as the phone rang. He picked up after a few rings. His voice was warm even if he was the pakhan and grumpy with everyone else.

“Ronnie, how’s my favorite girl?” His words made my heart clench. I was going to be lying to him in a moment when I gave him only part of the information, but I told myself it was a stall for time.

“Shh, Max,” I said in a mock whisper. “Nat can hear you. It’s not good for her ego.”

“She’s used to it,” he teased and then added, “but don’t let her hear too much. How was the doctor’s appointment?” We both did this dance, pretending that Maxim didn’t have access to my medical records and didn’t already know the answer to this question. It was his way of having some control and my way of pretending that I had some privacy. I could have locked him out, but I loved him too much to do that.

“It was decent. She was nice. I liked her.” My eyes shifted to my sister, who was acting like she wasn’t listening but wasn’t doing a good job at it.

“Ronnie,” he pressed, and I closed my eyes briefly.

“She wanted to remind me about nutrition and general overall wellness. Dr. Bennett also is concerned about my lungs, but that’s not new. She wants me to keep in touch about any breathing episodes or changes in the coughs I’ve had. The nebulizer and inhaler are still what I’ll be using.” There was a silence on the line for a beat, and I wanted to rush to fill it, but I didn’t. It was hard for my family to accept that my health was the way it was. They wanted to help but didn’t want to overstep.

“It sounds like a productive appointment, and I’m glad you’re in touch with someone while you’re there in case things change,” Maxim said. I could tell by the heaviness in his voice that he wanted to say more but held back, which I appreciated. “I’m guessing you didn’t call me to discuss your appointment.”

“You guessed right.” Thank goodness he was moving on to the topic I was calling about, not that it was much better. I still had a knot in my stomach about withholding information from him. “I’ve dug up some details on Spato to send you. I wasn’t sure what you were looking for exactly.” I chewed the pad of my thumb and chanced another glance at my sister, who had given up on her work and was avidly listening now.

“What did you find?” he asked, not giving up anything. Maxim was excellent at cards for this reason — best poker face ever.

“He’s a broker on the dark web for all kinds of shady shit, but I didn’t find anything linking him to trafficking. He’s got his hands in drugs, weapons, and underground fights, including death matches. He’ll also arrange a contract on anyone if the price is right. Women and children included.” Natasha perked up on this point. I’d not mentioned it to her, which might be a hard line for my cousin, but we’d never discussed things like this.

“The contracts,” Maxim started. “What else did you find on those? Anything?”

“He’s the broker. He is the go-between on the dark web for the job, but he will post the hit. I’ve found traces back for multiple postings and contracts for years because he’s shit at coverings his tracks. I can send you the list of the people he’s hooked up. The person behind each hit and the victim.”

“That’d be great, Ronnie, if you can do that without too much risk. I want you to be careful.”

“It’s no sweat. I’ll send you the rest of the information — homes, accounts, who he sleeps with. All that jazz. It might be too much, but you never know.” I winked over at Natasha. “Never know what a pakhan might need.”

“That’s great and the list.”

“You got it, cousin. I’ll have it tonight.”

“Be safe, Ronnie. I love you.” It always warmed me to hear him say the words. He was the only man who had ever said them to me and the only man who had ever protected me without being paid, of course.

“I love you too, Max.”

“And call your mother,” he added.

“Sure.” I didn’t mean it, but I’d say it for him. I should, though, I supposed. He chuckled as he disconnected. Turning to Natasha as I set the phone down, I said, “Well, that was interesting, right?”

“It was pretty obvious what he was looking for. The whole fighting scene isn’t an issue, but we still need to tell him about Spato potentially being here in Phoenix.” I agreed, but I wanted to chat with Eli first.

“I will after a little more research today.” She gave me a firm look. “I’ll call back today.”

She nodded, satisfied. “Get something to eat before you go downstairs, will you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled but smiled back at her and hustled into the kitchen to hunt for some snacks to take back to my lair. It was always good to not forget that my people loved me. I didn’t take that lightly.

I dialed my mother, huffing a little and pushing a corn puff into my mouth. She picked up on the first ring .

“Ronnie! Baby!” I cringed at how dramatic she sounded and shoved another corn puff in my mouth.

“Hi, Mom. Max said you needed me to call and verify that I was alive.”

“That was nice of him,” her voice cooled immediately, and she went to that cautious place that she lived in around the Bratva. “You shouldn’t call him Max. It’s disrespectful.” I laughed, nearly inhaling corn puff dust and setting myself coughing.

“Oh, please.” My mother and her Bratva etiquette were ridiculous. “Max doesn’t care. He’d have a heart attack if I started calling him pakhan, for fuck sake.” I could hear her clucking her tongue over the phone.

“I’m just saying you should be more respectful,” she said.

My mother called him pakhan . Actually, called him that, never by his given name. Honestly, only Natty and I called him Max. My cousin Dimitri called him Maxim, and now, here in Arizona, a handful of people called him by his given name, but before that, there had never been anyone who had. That was a big reason he liked to come here, because who wouldn’t want to have some human connection ?

“What are you up to, Mom? Anything new? Got a new bridge partner or anything?” I was fishing but might as well go for broke since I’d dialed.

“Still playing with the same group. Tell me about your appointment. I want to hear all about it.”

Sighing, I explained what Dr. Bennett had told me and what I was doing about it. I added the date for my oncology appointment check-in so she could write it down.

“I’m following all the advice, Mom. I’m being careful, I promise.”

“I just love you. You know that.” Her words trailed off, and suddenly, I felt sorry for her. I knew my mom loved me. She tried so hard, and I told myself to make more allowances for her.

“I do. I love you, too. I need to go. I have something I need to do, but take care of yourself. Enjoy yourself.” I knew that Maxim gave her a generous monthly allowance for shopping and luncheons, and she spent much of her time with other Bratva women these days, idling the days away. I was glad that most of her worries had been removed. I’d take away the last ones if I could, but that wasn’t possible.

“Bye, baby,” she said, hanging up.