I nodded. I wanted him to find anything he could that would give us some leverage over the asshole, and findingout that Viv’s ex knew a man associated with Alexei Petrov meant something. I had to, because coincidences like that didn’t fucking exist. “Yeah. All of this shit is starting to make sense.” I didn’t have all the pieces yet, but I knew that he had orchestrated all of this. “You find anything about Alexei’s surgery?”
“Not yet,” Slate sighed. “Most of the hospital records aren’t digital yet so I’m gonna have to go old school.” He wiggled his brows. “I’m working on a disguise as we speak.”
I frowned. “Can’t Katey or Laura look into it?” We didn’t have time for his undercover shit.
He shook his head. “The system logs accesses to patient records. I’m gonna handle it myself. No point in gettin’ them in trouble when I can do it easier and stealthier.”
Frustration welled up inside of me. All of the pieces were right there but I couldn’t see how they all fit together yet, which meant that Vivian and TJ were still in danger. It meant Viv hadn’t given up on leaving yet.
It meant I could still lose her.
A long, tense silence settled around the room, and I knew my brothers were thinking exactly what I was. Shit was gonna get a hell of a lot worse before it got better. “It’s clear as fuck that James is the link between Alexei’s death and Vivian taking the blame.” Hawk shook his head, flashing a look of sympathy my way.
Slate nodded. “It’s looking that way, but we don’t have proof yet and without that the Russians won’t give a fuck.”
“They might not give a fuck anyway,” Rocky offered. “Sorry, brother,” he said the words to me. “But even with thetruth we might still have to go scorched earth to keep your woman safe.”
I nodded to keep from showing my fury. Dr. James fucking St. John III was a dead man, the only question was whether he died by my hand or the Russians’. He was the reason Vivian left, the reason I missed out on my son’s first two years of life. “I want that motherfucker. Now.” My hands balled into fists so tight my knuckles turned white as rage bubbled up inside of me. I felt helpless as fuck and I was itching to do something, anything, to keep my family safe. “Why the fuck are they meeting now though?” That question had been gnawing at me and none of the answers I came up with felt right.
Diesel stood, his gaze fixed on mine. “You’ll get St. John but first we need to get answers.” He stood to his full height, crossing his arms over his chest. “We need proof he killed Alexei—if he did, or it won’t matter. Something concrete we can take to the Russians.”
My jaw hardened. Anger bubbled in my throat, hot and sharp, and heavy as fuck.
“I know you want him now, brother.” Rebel sat beside me, always the fucking voice of reason. “But the best shot for Vivian and TJ is if we avoid war with the Petrov Bratva. We need to get this fancy fucker talking first. If that doesn’t work, we make sure not even a hair of their bodies is ever unearthed.”
A reluctant grin tugged at one side of my mouth. “You say the sweetest shit to me, Rebel.”
That earned me a middle finger. “Diesel is right. We gotta try this the right way, the easy way first. The Russians are ruthless pricks, but they only kill for a good reason, aside fromcollateral damage, of course.” He nodded. “If we show them it wasn’t Vivian, they’ll take care of St. John for us.”
I listened to my brothers convince me to go against my baser instincts. To avoid knee-jerk revenge before we got what we needed. “Yeah, okay.” I would wait because I had to but there was still the issue of Viv. “How the fuck am I going to tell her that he’s in this even more than she thinks?” I couldn’t fucking stand the thought of scaring her, of hurting her with this news.
“You don’t,” Diesel said immediately. “Right now there’s nothing to tell her and we can’t risk that she’ll do something dumb, like try to sacrifice herself for the false promise of our safety.” His jaw clenched and he watched me carefully. I knew what he was looking for, signs that I was still the reckless prospect I’d been for the past six months, so I let him see me. All of him. I would always be a little bit reckless but right now I had goals beyond being the toughest son of a bitch in the room.
“Yeah, okay. I won’t say shit to her.” That would be hard as fuck, but the thought of her leaving was enough to keep my fucking mouth closed.
“Got it,” Slate shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “His name is Mihail Rublev, but he goes by Misha.” He pointed to the passport photo of the blond. “And the phone he gave to the kids came back to a credit card owned by Anton Petrov. It ain’t much but at least we know for sure he’s part of the assholes chasing Vivian.”
Conversation and plans swirled around me as my anger grew into its own living, breathing entity. This wasn’t just about the fact that the Russians had fucked with my MC and put the people I cared about in danger. No, it was darker and deeper than that. It was a deep, pulsing anger at what I’d lost thanksto these motherfuckers. It was a sensation quieter than rage but more insidious. I had a feeling taking out St. John wouldn’t satisfy it, but it was a damn good start.
“You okay?” Diesel’s low voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I met his worried gaze and got to my feet, nodding. “Yeah, I’m good, just got a lot of shit on my mind.”
“You can’t change the past, Falcon, remember that. You can avenge it, and you can make up for it so focus on what you can do. It’s a hell of a lot easier.”
I took his words to heart, vowing to focus on Viv and TJ and the present, not all the shit I missed out on.
Chapter Sixteen
Vivian
When Falcon came to me after the meeting with his club brothers, he was quiet and he wore an expression carved from stone. Worry hit me like a punch in the gut that he’d gotten bad news, or worse, that he’d changed his mind about me sticking around longer. “What is it, Falcon? Talk to me.”
His gaze met mine wordlessly as he wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me flush against his chest. The warmth of him combined with his solid weight unraveled something inside of me. I’d never felt as safe and protected as I did when I was in his arms. I melted into that hug, tilting my face just as his lips found mine.
This was fierce and unrelenting, and before I could even catch my breath or figure out what to say to him, he had me pressed against the wall. His big, strong body had me pinned as his hands tangled in my hair, leaving no room for anything but his taste and his touch.
That familiar heat that always swirled around us returned. It was as if the moment we touched, things just exploded and this time was no different. We hadn’t said anything, had talked our issues to death and in that moment, we didn’t need to. Our bodies knew what we needed to say and what we felt, and we let them take the lead.
