“Can we even get Luca out of that prison in time? If The League won’t allow for a trade, then what?” If I were to come face-to-face with Luca, how would I not choke the life out of him? “You said you had a backup plan in case—”
“There’s a tracking chip under Luca’s skin.” He peered at me. “No one knows about it, including Luca. I had it planted before he went to prison. I haven’t activated it, too afraid I’d kill him if I knew where he was. But I couldn’t take the risk of him ever somehow getting away or escaping.”
My hand went to my chest in relief. Some good news in all of this.
He drummed his fingers against the side of his leg. Calculating. Processing. Before he offered his thoughts, there was a knock at the door.
Emilia was in the hall, her face shielded by sunglasses as if she wasn’t ready to look us in the eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Sean. My cousin stood behind Emilia along with several League men who once worked for Sebastian, but now, well, hell, they worked for me.
“I asked Sean to join us,” Emilia spoke up and turned to the other men in the hall. “Stay out here,” she ordered.
Sean trailed in behind Emilia, then firmly shut and locked the door. He turned and positioned himself next to the Italian League leader as if he belonged there, his hands casually disappearing into the pockets of his black trousers. An odd sight to see. Then again, I was standing beside Sebastian and . . .
“I’m sorry.” Emilia removed her glasses and looked to Sebastian first, then to me.
“Before you blame her, give her a chance to talk.” Sean raised a defensive hand, clearly anticipating our rage. “Emilia told me everything on the way here, and she has a plan.”
I scoffed. “Are you serious?” My chin lifted in irritation. “Please, enlighten us. We’re all feckin’ ears.” I held my arms wide, palms open. Every passing second Alessia was held captive again, the more out of control I became.
“Cole.” My cousin said my name as a warning, and he was going to get himself decked if he wasn’t careful. Blood or not, I was on edge. I’d desperately tried to keep it together since we’d chased the van she’d been thrown into down the street thirty minutes ago.
“Alessia and I had a plan. This wasn’t part of it, but she was aware of the possibility something like this might happen, that she’d get taken.” She let go of a deep breath. “And she knew you’d never agree to it.”
As I stepped forward, my cousin boldly blocked Emilia, staring me the hell down like he belonged in this world. News flash, cousin, you don’t. He wasn’t Adam. He wasn’t a fighter. He cared about his clothes and hair, the latest girl he fucked. No, this wasn’t him.
Okay, so maybe I was bloody pissed and ready to take my anger out on any target in front of me. But Alessia was GONE.
“She knew this might happen?” Sebastian asked, his voice dropping somewhere south of the equator. “You anticipated this?”
Emilia placed a hand on Sean’s shoulder and stepped out from behind him. “I’ve got this but thank you.” She patted his arm twice and settled her hands on her black leather-clad hips.
“This should never have happened.” Sebastian stabbed a finger her way. “You left us in the dark. I don’t give a damn if my sister groveled and begged. Your allegiance should have been to The League, and more importantly, acting in her best interest.” His words were an echo of my thoughts.
I was slowly becoming more and more like him, wasn’t I? “If something happens to her, this is on you.”
Emilia held Sebastian’s glare with one of her own, not backing down. A woman born for the role of leader. It was evident in her stance, in her refusal to let Sebastian intimidate her. “She requested my help and my silence, and I kept my word. And you should know I’d never do anything that would risk her life. But she was willing to step up and do what needed to be done. She’d been concerned you two wouldn’t let her do it, though.” Her hand sliced through the air, motioning for us to go into the living room.
I begrudgingly left the entrance hall, following Sebastian’s lead.
Sean remained at Emilia’s side. I was shocked my cousin had aligned himself with her instead of me but . . . hell, Emilia was on my side.
“You answered my call,” I stated, realization suddenly dawning. I turned away from her, catching sight of the breakfast counter where Alessia and I had been standing not too long ago. I wanted her back in here. Safe in my arms.
“What are you talking about?”
I faced the room at Sebastian’s question and leveled a hard look at Emilia. “You wouldn’t have answered your mobile when I called you last night if you didn’t want me to discover your location. You would’ve let it go to voicemail.”
Emilia’s expressive eyes thinned as she observed me, but she remained quiet.
“You were trying to let me know without breaking your promise to her.” How many other signs had we missed that Emilia intentionally planted right in front of us? “Did you have anything to do with keeping us occupied last night with the arms dealers?” I folded my arms, my anger toward her softening a touch.
“I honored Alessia’s request, but if you happened to discover things on your own . . .” The truth rolled to me almost in slow motion. “You should know I did try and pressure Ronan into talking to make certain you’d be busy when Alessia met with Adrian, but he wouldn’t tell me.” Emilia glimpsed Sean standing at her side, and I was still clueless as to how my cousin was going to help get Alessia back.
“So, it was a coincidence Ronan took his sweet time before finally giving up two names, effectively distracting us last night?” Sebastian asked.
“I’m not someone who believes in coincidences.” She moved to sit in the yellow chair and crossed one leather-clad leg over the other. “But Alessia will be okay. Today’s turn of events will require us to slightly alter the plan, though,” Emilia’s tone was soft, and she almost had me convinced she spoke the gospel truth. “If you’d let me explain—”
“Then explain,” Sebastian snapped, stealing the words I was about to speak.
“What I’m about to say will upset you.” Emilia removed her tight-fitting jacket and tossed it on the chair behind her.
“It’s safe to say we’re already there, Emilia,” I deadpanned, her words triggering my clipped tone.
“The moment Alessia told me the truth after her attack last weekend, I did two things.” She rolled her tongue over her teeth, pausing for a moment. “First, I had my men keep tabs on Maxim Petrov, which means I know of his location right now.”
“And where is he?” My throat grew sore as if I’d been yelling nonstop.
“Bodrum, Turkey,” she replied. “At one of those new-age detox centers.”
“Drugs?” The guy was sixty-five. Was he an addict?
“Technology,” Sean answered for her. “A vacation from your electronic devices—cell phones, laptops, iPads. No access to the internet, no cell service.”
“That’s why Adrian chose today to take her. He didn’t think we’d be able to reach Maxim.” Sebastian massaged his forehead with the heel of his hand before dragging a palm down his face, allowing it to settle on his chest.
Was he having a heart attack? Was I?
“I have a man on standby outside the resort waiting for my order to speak with him.” She reached into her pocket for her mobile and unlocked the screen. “And my fixer, as you know, interrogated Luca last week, but it was to question him about the attack against Alessia by Adrian’s men on the street that night. I had wanted to see if he had anything to do with it.”
My heart beat furiously in my chest.
“Luca wouldn’t talk. He insists on a meeting with you.” Her gaze cut to Sebastian. “My man has already been notified to transport Luca to Dublin.”
My palms grew sweaty, my pulse flying, and I swiped my hands against my trousers. When Sebastian went for his mobile, I quickly stepped next to him. “What about the tracker?”
“Wh
at tracker?” Emilia asked, brows lifting. For the first time, she didn’t know what was going on.
“What do you think?” Sebastian’s sarcastic drawl slid through his tone. “What was your plan before it went to hell?” He kept his eyes on his mobile, waiting for the tracking beacon to ping a location.
“To tell Maxim the truth and offer up Luca in exchange,” she began, “and then work with the Petrovs to take out a common enemy—The Alliance.”
“But you didn’t anticipate Adrian going rogue? That he hired Luca to kill Dimitri for whatever feckin’ reason.” I glimpsed her. She was standing now with her back to us, eyes on the window, and Sean had his head bowed, fingers massaging his right temple.
“Dimitri never suspected it’d been an inside job. Well, that’s what he said to Alessia while in the prison,” she responded.
“Clearly, those we let close to us often wind up betraying us.” Sebastian’s words were heavy. A man who’d been stabbed in the back by his best friend, and now he believed Emilia held a knife, too.
“Emilia was trying to help. It was what Alessia wanted,” Sean defended her.
“And if we can’t get Alessia back?” I closed the space between my cousin and myself. “And we can’t convince Maxim to show up at the meet where Adrian wants us? Then what?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Maxim has no reason to believe us over Adrian.”
“But he might believe you,” Emilia said in a soft voice, “the man who saved his daughter.”
“And if he still wants vengeance for Dimitri? He wants both Luca’s and Alessia’s life?” I challenged. “No mercy?”
“That was a risk she was willing to take, right?” Sebastian dropped onto the couch, his elbows going to his legs. “You were willing to take that risk.”
“Alessia was locked away for almost four years. She was forced to fight. She has mental and physical wounds.” Emilia strode closer to him on the couch. “She is stronger. Tougher. But also, she has your blood.”
Her words had Sebastian ripping his focus to her.
“She’s not just a survivor,” she whispered. “She’s a fighter.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alessia
I squinted against the glare of the harsh fluorescent lights overhead and looked around, trying to get my bearings, to figure out where I was.
Cold concrete floor.
Graffiti on the walls.
The smell of an engine or oil.
And I’d swear there was a touch of artificial pine, like those trees you hang in your car, lingering in the air . . . but where was I?
The place was void of any furniture. Anything other than me from what I could tell.
I shifted, finding my wrists bound with flex-cuffs and my ankles tied with rope, but I managed to get to my knees.
“This is your fault. I told you to come to the casino alone.”
I didn’t have any pain. My body wasn’t sore. I must’ve been drugged once I was tossed into the back of a black van outside the back of the hotel.
I twisted my neck to try and find Adrian by the sound of his voice.
His loafers plodded my way, the sound of casual footsteps dramatically framing his movements like the foreboding music in a horror film.
“I did come alone to the casino. Cole found out I was there, but I promise, I didn’t—”
“Tell him the truth?” He circled me as I remained on my knees, my feet tucked under my bottom. “You’re lying, and I need to know exactly how much you know and what you told Renaud and McGregor.” He crouched in front of me, a cigarette dangling between his first two fingers. He slowly lifted it to his lips and took a deep drag. Eyes locked on mine, Adrian exhaled the smoke directly into my face.
“You’re nothing like your cousin. Dimitri was a decent man,” I said instead. “Dimitri died to protect his family, and he’d never want this.” I knew that much was true. He saved me. Died not only for his family but for me, too. And I would forever feel the guilt for his death.
“How is it that you happened to meet my cousin? And how did a knife with your prints on it wind up delivered to my uncle?” He cocked his head, observing me with wary eyes. “Was Dimitri at the prison you were rumored to have been in before you came back from the dead?” He swallowed. “Is he even really dead?”
“Dimitri is dead, and yes, we were held in the same prison in Russia, the one run by Luca Moreau.”
He cursed in Russian and straightened, stomping out his cigarette once upright.
I glanced around the room, checking for others, but the large industrial space was empty aside from us. “You don’t want anyone to know, do you? Those men you had with you at the hotel weren’t part of your organization. They’re not the same ones from the street last week, either.” I lifted my chin when he looked down at me. “You don’t want your family to know you’re the reason Luca was able to find Dimitri in the first place, am I right?”
Dimitri had been betrayed by one of his own, just as Sebastian had been betrayed by Luca.
“Luca was supposed to kill Dimitri eight months ago, but he lied to you,” I spoke my thoughts aloud, waiting for him to break his silence. “Instead, Luca took him to his League prison in Russia. He interrogated, beat, and tortured Dimitri for information he intended to use against your family. Against you. But Dimitri wouldn’t break. He was too strong. Too protective. And yet, you repaid his loyalty by betraying him. You told Luca how to get to him that night in Munich.”
Adrian turned and smoothed a hand up and down the back of his head. “Dimitri wasn’t strong. He was weak.”
“Why, because he preferred not to kill innocent people?” I sat down and scooped my arms under my legs to bring my hands in front of me.
He laughed. “Is that what he told you?”
I shook off his words, doing my best not to let him get to me.
“The question is, did you go to Luca, or did he manage to get into your ear first? Stir up trouble. Provoke you to betray your family. Did he mention you were a better choice to lead the Petrov organization than Dimitri?” Given how Luca operated, it was possible.
I tried to remain in control, to stay steady and calm. To channel my brother. Cole. Emilia. To remember the things Dimitri taught me. He may have been a criminal, but I saw evidence of a kind heart in his compassion for others.
“Let me guess. Your uncle is stepping down soon, and he’d planned for Dimitri to take his place?” This sounded way too familiar. Luca had wanted his uncle’s position as well. Édouard Moreau was The League leader of France but had never considered passing on the title to Luca. In fact, Édouard never recommended Luca for any leader position, which Luca most likely considered a huge slap in the face considering Édouard helped Sebastian take over as leader of Ireland. It was likely Luca recognized Adrian’s desire for power, preyed on it, and pushed him to kill his cousin. He probably even offered to do the job. For a price, of course.
“If Dimitri took over for my uncle, everything would change.” Adrian’s admission was almost unexpected. I drew up a list of action movies in my head, though, and didn’t the bad guys always confess to their sins expecting to win, only to be defeated in the end? And could my life be a movie right now? I needed the good guys to prevail. “He’d change things. Ruin what we’ve worked for.”
“Or make things better,” I offered. “And he wasn’t weak. He never told Luca anything about your family business. He died to protect you all.”
I’d been in tears when I’d had to say goodbye to Cole at the hotel, fearful I may never see him again, which still stood as true, but I had no choice but to be fierce now. Strong. Take control of the situation somehow.
Adam had told me to fight for good, and yeah, this was it.
“How did my cousin actually die?” Adrian asked, his tone almost somber. A hint of regret that would’ve been more believable had he not faced me with similar soulless eyes as Luca.
“The knife. Luca forced me to take his life a few months ago,” I professed, my
mind swirling back to the moment the knife penetrated Dimitri’s chest, stealing his life.
I couldn’t cry. Not now. Those tears needed to wait for later.
I did my best to stand without falling over despite the ropes around my ankles.
He folded his arms over his gray suit jacket, brows slanting inward.
“Are you trying to contain the damage?” I prodded. “Cover up your betrayal before it gets to anyone in your organization?”
His right eye twitched, then he quickly raised the back of his hand in front of my face but held back from striking me.
“Luca played everyone. You. The League. Probably even The Alliance. He uses and takes, and whatever game he’s now playing, you can believe he’s only getting started.” For the moment, we both had a common enemy, but I wouldn’t let Adrian and Luca off the hook for Dimitri’s death.
Adrian slowly lowered his hand. “You can’t believe I will let you go after this?” He retrieved a gun from the back of his pants and stepped back to point it at me. “And depending on how much you told your League friends, will depend on whether they live or die as well.”
I wasn’t scared of this man.
I’d been to hell and back, and no, I wouldn’t fear him.
But Sebastian and Cole . . . Adrian had everything to fear the second they found him. I only hoped I was still alive when they did.
“The meeting at the casino was, what, a show for Maxim? What’s the real plan? Kill Luca. Kill me. Tell your uncle that we came at you when you were alone, and you had no choice but to take us out like you probably did with that gang in Moscow who’d been innocent?” I shook my head. “But Maxim wants us alive for questioning, right?”
His eyes moved over my body, starting at my feet before working his way up to my face. “My uncle won’t find out the truth.” He forcefully grabbed my chin, jerking my face closer to him, his breath touching my face. “His current location is unknown even to me. He’s off-the-grid for the next five days.” He smiled. “So, no, if you think my uncle will somehow save you, it won’t happen.”
The Inside Man: A Dublin Nights Novel Page 26