I catch her wrist and yank her close to me. “Don’t you fucking play games with me.”
She gives me an acidic smile, then leans nearer, until her eyes are level with mine. “I wish I was,volk.They’ve even met in person, according to this.”
“Bullshit,” I snarl.
“Yes. But notmybullshit.” She taps the screen with her free hand. “This message is deeply encrypted. Perhaps my father has changed his practice over the last three years, but in all the time I worked for him, he didn’t believe in this kind of dealing. It’s encrypted from Alexei’s side.”
I shake my head, frustrated. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means your little brother was protecting his identity—my father didn’t know he was related to you, or that he was working for you.”
“Alexei is not a traitor.”
Annika arches a brow. “Such unshakeable faith. Or is that sentimentality again?”
“My brother isnota traitor.”
She smiles keenly, then twists her wrist free and returns to the computer, fingers flying. “According to this, he met Viktor in Siberia several times. There appears to be a compound there, an underground bunker of sorts.”
I’m not following. Why the fuck would Alexei be anonymously helping Viktor Desyatov traffichumans? Alexei is one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met. I always believed he wasn’t built for this line of work. To do this, to tread where my men have never trod before…it’s treason. He would never.
Would he?
“After the fourth time they met,” Annika says, “a shipment was lost.”
“A shipment…of people.”
She nods, eyes glittering with light from the screen. “My father blamed Alexei—apparently the cargo was in his hands and headed for California.”
Slowly, I realize what she’s implying. Relief floods me so hard and suddenly I sit back in my chair and run a hand over my mouth.
“Your brother was rescuing people from my father’s human trafficking operation.” She gives me a smirk. “You must be so proud.”
“I don’t understand,” I admit, shaking my head. “Why the fuck didn’t he tell me? Whydothis, get in so deep, cross your father of all people?”
“To do the right thing, obviously. And look where it landed him.” Annika sighs. “Perhaps this is the big secret—my father is delving into vile new depths.” She’s doing her best to hide it, but I can see how this discovery has hollowed her. She looks haunted, mouth set and eyes a little too wide. “Why did your brother confront him, I wonder? Did my father figure out who he was?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe the answer is in here,” Annika says. “But I’m betting we’d have better luck finding it somewhere else.”
“Alexei hasn’t woken since he was shot. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t tell us anything.”
“I wasn’t talking about Alexei.” She gestures to the computer. “I wonder—how’s the weather in Siberia this time of year?”
Chapter Eight
Annika
“What do you know about him?” I ask as Lilly prepares my bath. I’ve been titillating the naïve girl with stories of my past. Shootouts, kidnappings, drug deals, my time in prison. My night of passion with Maxim is among the few anecdotes I’ve kept to myself. “Maxim.”
She shakes her head, pouring oil into the steaming water. “Not much. He’s quite private. He bought and restored the house, and kept on the old staff. That’s why I’m here. I knew who he was, though, when he bought it. As much as everyone knows—he’s a kid from the streets, low Bratva family. He has a reputation for being well-respected; he doesn’t fight dirty like—” She halts abruptly and looks up at me, her eyes wide.
I laugh to put her at ease. “Like my father? No need to look so guilty, Lilly. I’m not offended.”
She releases a sigh, relieved. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget myself.”
“Go on.”
