Chapter 24

Viktor

We were all full, and Nick was sleepy from it, by the time we made it home three hours later. The cleaner had done his job well, only the throw blanket, the body and a couple of couch cushions were gone. The faint smell of sanitizer hung in the air, and there wasn’t a spot of blood anywhere. I knew for a fact that if any crime scene techs came into this place, they would find nothing. My guy was that thorough.

Emma sighed with relief as she saw it. I couldn’t blame her. She had looked terrified when we’d left, and had been even more worried that Nick would realize there was a dead body in the living room. Now, however, there was no trace of the man.

I regretted having to shoot him in front of her. But with the way she’d thrown herself to the side when I’d walked in, I knew she was praying for me to do exactly what I had. And I could guess why.

So now I had a nephew as well as a lover. And if I was not careful, one of my enemies would target them. Not just Charles. But perhaps, Igor, or some of the others. I definitely had to get Emma armed and trained as quickly as possible, and do the same for Nick as soon as he was of age. As today had illustrated, I couldn’t always be there when they needed me.

We were just all fortunate that I had been this time.

We put Nick to bed and returned to the living room, where Emma stared at the couche for several seconds before finally saying, “I don’t think I can sit in here right now.”

“That’s understandable.” I led her to the kitchen table and went to make us drinks. “May I mix you up a cocktail?”

“I know I don’t really drink, but after today? Vodka straight.”

I laughed and went to get the vodka bottle out of the freezer. “Understood.”

“He was sent by my uncle to kill both of us, Viktor,” she said quietly as I came back over. “How could he do that? Nick is just a child.”

I blinked, then set my glass before her and sat across from her. “I see. That’s a change. Before, he abandoned you and all his employees, but he didn’t send a hitter after you.”

“I know. I’m worried. It seems like he somehow knows I’ve turned against him.”

I looked around. “We had this place swept for listening devices. I know you haven’t been talking about this to outsiders, either.”

“No. No, I’ve been very careful about that.” Her soft, worried gaze met mine and I felt my chest tighten.

That leaves only one alternative. And I don’t like it one bit.

“It seems I need to talk to my lieutenants about a potential spy,” I said grimly. “It’s clear someone has been passing sensitive information on to my enemies lately. This isn’t the first evidence I have seen of it.” And I’d been too busy with everything else to give that the proper attention it deserved.

“Do you want me to move you to a hotel or safehouse?” I asked her.

She thought about it, then shook her head. “No. I want to learn to defend myself and Nick, and I want to help you catch whoever is passing things on to my uncle. I let Mr. Layton in, but this penthouse is probably as safe as anywhere right now.”

I was surprised by her courage in the face of what was going on. But maybe, after everything, I shouldn’t have been. “You seemed shocked at my offering to supply and train you with a firearm.”

“Only at first. Truth is, I should have guessed you would suggest that as soon as something like this happened.” She looked at me apologetically before taking an almost dainty sip of her vodka.

“I’m a practical man. And I’m no longer too concerned that you’ll be turning the gun on me at any point.” I offered a wry little smile. We had come so far, but neither of us had forgotten where we’d started out.

“Fine, then I’m taking you up on it. For Nick’s sake more than anything.”

I smiled, tilting my head a little. “You seem to be taking it well, that it turns out Nick is my nephew as well.”

“Well, I mean, it was great to have some good news in the middle of all of this.” Her smile was an awkward flash of teeth.

“Even though his connection to me may make you both targets?”

The awkward smile vanished. “We’re already targets, Viktor. Even when Uncle Charles is gone, all billionaires are targets who need serious security. I wasn’t thinking about your bringing us more danger when you came through the door this afternoon. I was thinking about your being the only one who could save us right then.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re able to trust me that much now. But now we need to teach you to trust in yourself, and the skills I will help you build.”

I got my laptop and showed her a few firearms websites. “Let’s start with you looking through some of what is available. My selection is broader, but these are good examples. Rule out anything below nine-millimeter. Small caliber guns might be popular, but a .22 or a .38 are pointless for defending yourself and others. They’re not one-shot stops, especially to a professional who has been hit before.”

My priorities had shifted some since I had learned that Nick was Leon’s son. I still aimed to kill everyone involved in his murder. But now, I had a legacy of his to protect. A sweet, innocent boy who looked just like my brother at his age, and whom Leon would want me to protect at all costs.

The fact that the woman I was now so fond of was his aunt and guardian only sweetened the deal for me. My duties would have been the same either way.

But I was glad to focus more on protecting them. It did not seem like extra work.

It was starting to feel like having a family again.

***

My suspicions about a spy in our midst left me with a lot of phone calls to make. I made them with Emma sitting next to me on my bed, and my arm thrown around her.

Tolya was the first. “We have a leak,” I said when he picked up, getting straight to the point.

“Blyat! Well, that is not news I wanted to hear. Do we have any leads?’

“Whoever they are, Tolya, they are close enough to you, me, and Alexei to have overheard some of our conversations. Charles sent an assassin after his niece earlier today, he was there with orders to kill her and the boy. My nephew,” I reemphasized. Tolya had already heard the news.

“Why do you think that he wants both of them dead now?” Tolya sounded breathless with disgust.

“The theory that makes the most sense is that Charles has somehow learned that Emma is working with us. Maybe even that Nick is my nephew.”

“Which is why you suspect a leak.”

“Yes. The matter was not discussed elsewhere, and we have not spent much time out in public together.” I looked over at Emma, who sighed and laid her head on my shoulder.

“That would explain those bombers knowing when you would be, as well.” Tolya cursed under his breath. “I’ll have to check all of my staff as well as my men.”

“I’ll need you to check more than that, old friend,” I sighed. “Right now, the ones I trust have dwindled down to you, Alexei, and Dimitri. Whom I haven’t been hearing from.” More strangeness. I prayed there wasn’t another outrage behind it.

“I’ll get to work on it, boss.” I could hear the strain in his voice. “Do we have any idea who could be paying off the spy? Graves would not do it directly.”

“No, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a paper trail between himself and any of our people. He has the money for fat enough bribes, but he is not one of us.” I paused. I had my suspicions.

It turned out that Tolya had the same one. “Igor?”

“It has to be. He’s the only former ally who used to have friends among us. Some of those friendships may not actually be former. You know how persuasive he can be.” It had gotten Igor out of trouble many times before he’d overstepped enough that he’d been thrown out entirely.

“I hate the idea that he’s duped any of us into betraying you. But why would he be working together with Charles?”

“I’ve thought about that. This is very likely not the first time that they have worked together. Igor may be the one who sent an assassin to kill my brother on Graves’s behalf. He may even be behind the deaths of Emma’s parents. If so, he has also been the one blackmailing Charles.” What I still couldn’t understand was why either of them wanted to kill Leon, my brother wasn’t anyone important in our organization. Then I remembered back to the information that Dimitri’s men had found, what was it that Leon had come upon, that had signed his death warrant? Only Charles or Igor held the answer... “Now that Charles is away from where Igor can successfully blackmail him, Igor may want to draw him out again. One way to do that is to make Charles angry. The news that his niece has joined us easily did that. But Charles is a coward, and sent his own security man as a proxy to take care of the issue.”

“That the body we took care of earlier?” He sounded very thoughtful as he digested what I’d just told him.

“Yes, the very one.”

“This is a disaster,” Tolya muttered. “What do you think are the chances that Igor knows about your nephew?”

“Better than I’d like. The boy will need to be watched. Once you have cleared some of your men, we’ll discuss inserting someone into his school and having men watch the gates. He’s going back Monday.”

Next to me, Emma shifted tensely. Of course she was worried about Nick. But I was going to do everything in my power to keep him safe while letting him live his life.

“I want you to put an ear to the ground about Dimitri as well. It is unusual for him to wait this long before responding to a call for aid.”

Tolya grunted. “Alexei isn’t coming up with anything?”

“He’s still working on it. I have to check in with him next.” It bothered me that Alexei hadn’t gotten me any information about the blackmail messages yet. It wasn’t like him to take so long.”

“I understand. I’ll get to work on all this and call you when I’ve made some progress.”

We signed off and I sighed, turning my head and kissing the top of Emma’s. “My work is never done.”

“Is it always like this for you?”

I licked my lips, wondering how much to tell her. Finally, I gave the truth. “Not always, but close to it. Running a Bratva is in many ways like running a business, until something goes wrong. Then we end up with blood in the streets.”

“Why would this Igor man agree to work with my uncle?”

It was a very good question, and one I wasn’t sure how to answer. “Igor was once a very strong ally and friend. A little before my brother’s murder, he was found to have turned against us and he was expelled. He’s sought to be a thorn in my side ever since. I’m certain he’d agree to do anything to trouble me and mine. He’d jump at the chance to kill my brother in front of me.”

“But my parents? What about them?”

I shrugged. “Money. Lots and lots of money, and the need to make more. Igor’s greed knows no bounds. I already knew he was taking side jobs outside of the Bratva back when he was allied with us. I just didn’t expect those side jobs to include selling information to my enemies. But that is exactly what happened.”

“I see.” She went back to quietly cuddling with me as I called Alexei. I tried to ignore her warm scent, and the stirrings of my desire. Work first.

Alexei answered right away. He sounded harried. “I’m afraid I still don’t have anything for you,” he said in a rush, not waiting to hear why I’d called.

“Calm down, Alexei, this is mostly not about that. Though since you brought it up, I am wondering what the hold-up is.”

“Everything that could go wrong right now has,” he grumbled. “A power outage, corrupt files, and several lost crawler searches. Especially everything from security cameras around the city. I was doing an image search of Igor’s face.”

“Hmm. All right. Look, are you somewhere where you can close the door?”

He hesitated. “Yes.” I heard a door close and lock. “What’s going on, boss?”

“We have a leak. Possibly more than one. We suspect they’re selling information to Igor.”

He huffed in surprise. “I’ll have to check all my guys.”

“Start with the one in charge of the image searches,” I advised. “Is he new?”

“Georgi? No. He’s been with us for over a decade.”

“Check him, thoroughly, and watch his work. Go through the others as well. Do not let anyone know what is going on.” I did my best to sound calm, but inside, I was seething at the idea that we had a turncoat. Possibly even a saboteur. “Any news on Dimitri?”

“None. With everything happening here I’ve been unable to get anything done.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Contact me once you’ve checked your men, or if you find anything interesting in the meantime.”

“Does Tolya know?”

“As much as you do, yes. Alexei, how localized was that blackout?”

“Just a few blocks. A transformer blew. There are still trucks here, but we’ve got the power back on.”

“That’s suspiciously pinpointed,” I muttered. Emma shifted her weight, listening in.

“Now that you’ve mentioned we have a leak, yeah, it does sound like that. I’ll look into all of this and text you if I get anything.” He sounded worried. “I don’t know whether to hope I find the leaker or hope I don’t. I know these men and trust them with my life.”

“I used to think I knew Igor,” I reminded him gently.

“I suppose that’s true.” But he only sounded more unhappy.

I knew the feeling. And once I found out who was ratting us out, and had put my Emma in danger, I was going to come down on them like the wrath of God. Even if that traitor wore the face of a friend. I had made a mistake letting Igor live all those years ago. I would not make the same mistake twice.