60. Mikhail

Raoul and I left the mansion hours ago. I wanted plausible deniability on our side for anything that went on there while we were gone.

Plus, the Greeks have caused enough havoc to our businesses across the city that we had a few fires to put out.

Raoul is still out securing some of our more important holdings just in case this peace my father brokered with the Greeks doesn't pan out, but I couldn't focus on work. Not when the rest of my life is still raining down like volcanic ash around me.

When I pull into the garage, I'm surprised to see Pyotr's car in its usual space while Anatoly's car is gone. The plan was to take the black car and fly under the radar in a way Anatoly's radioactive-green Jeep isn't capable of. I wouldn't have assumed Nat would be back already, let alone have had time to be back and then leave again in his own car. Especially since he hasn't called me with an update yet.

I check my phone and, sure enough, nothing from Nat.

Given my life experience, I'm accustomed to anticipating the worst-case scenario. It's the first place my mind goes when something is out of the ordinary: someone has betrayed me or someone is dead. There's rarely another option.

Still, I try to shove that idea down and stay calm.

Anatoly and I reached an understanding about the Viviana situation, but that doesn't mean he's not still pissed at me for not jumping for joy when I found out my wife killed our brother. I wouldn't be surprised if I walked inside and the asshole was wearing a Team Viv t-shirt he'd made by hand.

He called her his sister. He considers her family.

I made a bigger mess of this whole situation than I ever could have imagined. I'm not the only one tangled up in it, either—I took everyone else down with me.

I climb out of the car, already texting Anatoly. Get back here and meet in my office. I want an update.

I send the message and instantly hear an electronic ding coming from the corner of the garage.

I stop short, listening.

The garage is quiet. But that doesn't mean it's empty.

I place my hand on the gun on my hip as I call Anatoly. His phone starts to ring. I hear it in my ear, but I also hear the chime echoing off the cement floors and metal walls, bouncing the sound all over the place. It's hard to track, but I follow it around Pyotr's car…

And stumble upon the worst-case scenario.

I drop to my knees. "Anatoly!" I grasp my brother's arm and flip him over. Blood is bubbling slowly out of a hole in his chest and his eyes are closed.

His blood is flowing. That's a good sign.

But there's so much of it. Not so good.

I shake him, but he doesn't stir. Doesn't even seem to register that I'm here.

Then I see Stella beneath him. Her body is twisted at unnatural angles and her skin is mottled, pale, cold to the touch.

The only good news is that I don't see any other bodies in the garage. Viviana and Dante aren't here.

I grab my phone and dial Raoul as I feel for Anatoly's pulse. It's faint against my fingers, but it's there.

Raoul answers on the first ring, music playing in the background. He was headed to the lounge to check on the security situation there when I left him. "Hello?"

"Send the doctor to the mansion. Now," I hiss. "Anatoly is down."

"What the fuck happened?" Raoul balks, pure shock laced in every word.

"I have no clue. Viviana isn't here. Stella is down, too."

Stella is dead, but I can save that reveal for later on. There's nothing anyone can do for her now, anyway.

"Fuck. I should have come back with you. I should have?—"

"Call the doctor and have an ambulance ready," I bark. "That's what you can do now."

Raoul blows out a shaky breath, but I hear him tapping away on the other end of the line. He's no doubt sending a message to the Bratva doctor. Anatoly needs more than what Dr. Sidorov can offer out of his little black bag of tricks, but at least Dr. Sidorov can get him to an emergency room without raising suspicions. The last thing anyone needs right now is a team of first responders crawling all over the mansion. Especially when I still have no idea who shot Anatoly to begin with.

The mansion is dark and quiet when I get inside. I search each room, moving slowly, anticipating a gun in my face at every turn. But there's nothing.

"Dr. Sidorov is on his way," Raoul tells me over the ongoing call. "I'm going to meet them at the hospital."

I don't answer. If anyone is nearby, I don't want to lose the element of surprise.

But there isn't anyone nearby.

I make it upstairs and Viviana's door is unlocked. The only person who had the key is Anatoly, so he must have gotten that far into the plan, at least, before he was shot. The room beyond is empty, clothes scattered haphazardly across the floor.

Dante's door is closed and I hesitate outside of it for a few extra seconds. I cling to the bliss that is not knowing what I'm going to find on the other side. For a few more seconds, I can pretend he's perfectly safe and asleep in his bed.

Then I push the door open and discover the ugly truth.

His bed is empty.

Dante was supposed to stay. No matter what happened with Anatoly and Viviana, Dante was supposed to be here.

If he's gone, I can only imagine what happened.

"I need every available set of eyes on the lookout for Viviana and Dante," I snarl into the phone. "I don't want them getting far."

"Dante is gone, too?" Raoul asks.

I grit my teeth and jog through the house back to Anatoly. "Viviana must have taken him. She must have?—"

I get back to the garage to find Anatoly still lying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding.

Could she have done this?

I backed her into a corner. I made her feel like she didn't have another choice. She already killed one of my brothers; why not the other?

"Viviana must have shot Anatoly and escaped with Dante," I tell him. "I want her found and brought back to me. Now. She isn't getting away with this again."