Chapter 30

Chapter

Thirty

ADAM

M argareta Waldemar. At this point, I wasn't entirely certain if I should be impressed or infuriated. The woman turned up everywhere. Since discovering her connection to King—he killed her son—and how it related to her interest in the rest of us, I'd been wary.

Having her popping up everywhere in Manhattan and Long Island had been one thing. She had connections and ties there. She'd been entrenching herself. Carving out a space of her own amidst the elite. For the most part, she seemed to be on our side.

For the most part.

Her appearance here? This hot on the heels of her showing up at the funerals? Not something we could just overlook. There was so much more to Margareta Waldemar than we'd already uncovered.

Maybe too much more.

"Andrea?" Lainey's soft exhalation of our sister's name had me shifting closer, ready to intercede between her and Waldemar. Bodhi put himself a half-step in front of her and Ezra locked his free hand to Lainey's.

I'd never fault his protective instincts, even when he was committed to winding me up. Like me, Milo moved a little closer too. We weren't just closing in around Lainey, but erecting the barrier to Waldemar.

"What do you know about Andrea?" Lainey's question snapped me back into the room.

"Not as much as I would have liked," Margareta admitted. Her snowy white hair was styled in a to her shoulder bob, with a part on the side that gave it a razor-sharp effect.

The dichotomy of edginess blended almost too neatly with her aura of power and authority. The charm and charisma this woman possessed made her infinitely more dangerous than even I originally suspected.

It was so easy to overlook her as the major threat in the room. But that was exactly what she was…

"Be more explicit," Bodhi said abruptly. "If you don't mind, Mrs. Waldemar. I think Lainey would appreciate the directness and I know I would."

Agreed. Though I said nothing. I watched for the trap. There had to be one. Why else was she here? Leopold had put her on notice back in New York. We hadn't informed anyone other than a select few of our destination.

Now, here she was.

"I didn't know that her father had made arrangements to sell her," Margareta said, this time she took a sip of her own wine and then crossed the room to take a seat in a wing-backed Queen Anne chair. The eclectic mixture of old world and new suddenly made more sense.

It had shades of her home in Queens. A place where she seemed as comfortable baking in the kitchen as she was ordering an assassination. Since I'd seen her do both at the same time, it didn't surprise me like it once had.

"Harper Reed was a detestable man," Margareta continued with nary a flicker of apology to me. Not that I needed one. I wholeheartedly agreed with her. My father had been a complete bastard. "I did not suspect that even he would have done this. The girl is a child…"

"We were all children once," Bodhi commented. While I was aware he was just drawing her out, his cavalier tone irked me.

"Yes, some of us are still children," Margareta said, meeting Bodhi's gaze with a kind of equanimity that I could envy. Bodhi wore murder face, whether she was aware of it or not.

A perfectly pleasant mask that promised he could turn on a dime. I'd seen what he'd done to my father. I didn't envy Margareta's chances should she truly aggravate him.

Ezra was right about one thing. Cavendish might be insane, but he was on our side and I'd take that every damn day of the week.

"Mrs. Waldemar," Lainey said abruptly, moving toward her. I didn't like it and neither did anyone else but she crossed over to where the woman sat and took a seat of her own.

"Margareta, dear," the older woman said. She focused on Lainey with utter kindness. That made me even more uneasy than her velvet glove of steel that she delivered her threats in.

"Mrs. Waldemar, I am perfectly capable of all the verbal jousting you might want to play. I am, however, not in the mood for any of it at the moment. It might not be politic or even especially kind, but if you know something about my sister—please tell me and don't waste my time with more games." It was the most direct, and gentle, no bullshit ultimatum I'd ever heard.

"There are a dozen different avenues in and out of Prague. Trafficking is a dirty business, but it's also a lucrative one. Western girls are not usually found here as often. The custom is to prefer girls from disenfranchised areas of the world. Or girls from an ethnic background." Distaste filled her expression. "They want women who can disappear and no one will look for them."

"Yet, this is a place that Harper, King, and others used to remove ‘problems.'" The counterargument was solid. "Harper told me himself that he sold her. I spoke to a woman who participated in getting Andrea from Germany to Prague. She indicated there was an auction coming up." Lainey laid it out for her, clear facts. As much as she tried to keep her emotions in check, she couldn't quite mask the anger and sadness twining together in her voice.

"There are many organizations, some fledgling, and others, that do business in and around Prague. At one time, it wasn't about what you were willing to do but what you were allowed to do." She shook her head. "But power—power that is spread out amongst so many becomes dilute. There is no central figure who wields enough influence of Prague to close off some of those avenues. Like rats, they always come back and bring more detritus with them."

"So you know who has her?" It was as direct a question as you were likely to get.

"We have a few likely suspects, yes." She went from being open about everything to seemingly guarded. Lainey shifted to glance at us then back to Margareta.

"Do any of those suspects have dance academies?"

For a moment, I forgot to even breathe. A flicker of recognition in her eyes gave Margareta away. She knew.

She could tell us right now.

Like a rubber band being stretched too tight, I worried I might snap. As it was, I forced myself to be still and not drag the woman out of her chair and shake her until all the answers spilled out of her.

Footsteps in the hallway had Milo shifting. I moved closer to Lainey while Bodhi and Milo arranged themselves to put whoever joined us next right in their crosshairs.

Margareta glanced toward the doorway as a dark haired man with a brutally blunt square jaw entered. Like the rest of us, he was also dressed in a tux. Formal dining all the way around.

"Dimitri darling," Margareta said, holding out a hand to him. The man in question swept the whole room with one cool look. There was no mistaking the assessment in them or the very real threat in the way he moved.

Fine suit aside, this man was a pure predator. What fascinated me was how he fixed on Milo first, almost bypassing Bodhi but then their gazes clashed.

Yes, please note you are not the only psychopath here, sir.

The random thought bordered on slightly hysterical. Still, as fierce as Dimitri Solohub appeared with the scar bisecting his left eye and digging deeper into his cheek, I'd put my money on Bodhi.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Dimitri accepted Margareta's hand and bent to press a kiss to her knuckles. He murmured something, but it was Russian or maybe Czech. Either way, it wasn't a language I spoke.

As he straightened, he turned those cool eyes on Lainey. I half-expected some smarmy comment, but the man merely inclined his head. "Dimitri Solohub, Miss Benedict."

"Mr. Solohub," Lainey replied. "Thank you for inviting us this evening."

Margareta's eyes narrowed but her lips twitched. Amusement filtered through me. The invitation was clearly from Margareta. Lainey was just tweaking her. Still, I enjoyed it.

"It is my great honor. Margareta is a dear friend."

"Family," she reminded him almost primly and he snapped his heels together with a light bow of his head.

"Of course," he said, acquiescing like a good soldier. Then he glanced at Lainey once more before focusing on Margareta. "Did you want to go through to dinner or…"

"Somehow, I don't think a meal is really in the cards tonight." Margareta finished her wine, then rose. Lainey followed her to feet. "If you'll call a car, Dimitri, we're going to need a few men as well."

"I'll make arrangements immediately. Destination?" He already had his phone in hand.

"Vedri? Dance Academy." That wasn't the same name Lainey got from Katerina. Maybe that was why we hadn't been able to identify it.

"Juraj Vedri??" Lainey questioned, not bothering to contain her reaction. She was angry .

"You've met him?" The snap in Margareta's voice hadn't been there earlier.

"Yes, just a couple of days ago."

"Then you can give us a description, because that man has proven quite difficult to pin." She transferred her attention to Dimitri. "I want him alive. He has questions to answer."

"You have my word," Dimitri said as pressed numbers on the phone before retreating a few steps.

"You won't ride with us, will you?" Margareta was focusing on Lainey again.

"No, we have our own car and a driver."

The older woman nodded. "Do you have a change of clothes?"

"No," Lainey said.

"Pick one of your gentlemen to escort you and come with me. We will get you changed. I'd rather you could move more easily than in those heels."

I was already moving, and waved Ezra back. I had a few questions for Margareta. She moved briskly, not glancing back to see if we followed. Lainey was right behind her, and I trailed Lainey by two steps.

At the top of the stairs, Margareta turned to a room and pushed open the doors. "This is a guest room. I keep new clothes for any guests we have that might need them. Multiple sizes."

She strode in ahead of us and pulled open a walk-in closet then three drawers on the dresser.

"These should all do. As for shoes…" She glanced down at Lainey's feet. "I have a pair of boots that will fit you."

Not waiting for our response, she retreated from the room.

"Margareta," Lainey said before she could vanish fully. The woman in question paused in the open doors and met Lainey's gaze evenly. "Thank you."

Whatever she'd expected from Lainey it wasn't that. "You're very welcome. While this isn't the time or the place. I would very much enjoy getting to know you and hopefully teaching you that you can trust me."

"Definitely not the time," Lainey said. "But I'm more than willing to consider it later—after Andrea is home."

Very safe, with new bodyguards and whoever took her carved up into a thousand pieces and buried. Not that I thought we needed to state that aloud.

"I'd like that," Margareta said and then she turned to go.

I glanced at Lainey. "Are you fine to change? I'll be in the hall."

She shot me a look then flicked a glance to the retreating Margareta. I nodded once. Yes, I wanted to talk to her.

"I'll be fine."

I pulled the doors closed as I stepped into the hallway. Margareta hadn't gone far, she stood a half-dozen steps away, clearly waiting.

"I thought you might want a word," she said. "Though we should probably not take too long."

"We won't," I said, sliding my hands into my pockets. It was rude, but I kept experiencing the urge to throttle her until she told us everything. Better to curb that for the moment. "I just wanted to know how much of all of this has been about Lainey since the beginning?"

"More than you suspect, less than you fear." While that vague answer was as clear as mud, at least she wasn't denying it. "Adam, you and I had a deal. As far as I'm concerned, that deal is done. Paid in full. No debts owed."

Good cause I had no intentions of paying anything more.

"This conversation will have to wait until Lainey and I have time to truly talk."

"Fine," I said. "But I want to make something clear. That woman means the world to me. There is nothing I won't do, nothing any of us won't do, to protect her. Occasionally, I like you, Margareta."

"But you love her," she said, a smile tipping her lips. "That's as it should be, Adam. Now if you'll excuse me… I am going to change. Hopefully in a few hours, I will see your sister returned to both of you."

Fuck.

My stomach bottomed out at the idea. Hot and cold flashed over my skin. The only way the past few weeks had been at all tolerable was because of Lainey and Ezra. Milo and Bodhi had done their part, but not knowing where Andrea was and not being able to protect her had been killing me slowly.

The doors to the guest room opened and revealed Lainey in a black turtleneck tucked into dark colored combat pants.

"She'll be back in a minute," I told her.

"Did you get what you needed from her?" Curiosity hovered in her eyes.

"For now," I said.

If Margareta proved more problematic, well, we could deal with that too. No more enemies.

Clear the board.