“I take it you finally heard from your source,” I press, drinking my coffee, even though it’s already getting cold.
Scorpion shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “You could say that.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I haven’t heard from my sourcedirectly.”
“Explain,” I demand.
It’s too early in the morning for riddles. I need to know what the fuck is going on with the Russians and why they’re after Isla, and I need to know yesterday. Because the sooner I can get her out of my apartment, out of my personal space, and out of my goddamn head, the better off I’ll be.
Last night made that more than abundantly clear. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking when I challenged her. Okay,to be fair, I do know what I was thinkingwith—my dick. But that’s not an excuse. If she’d taken my bait, we’d have ended up in bed, and I wouldn’t have stopped until I had my tongue buried in her pussy, followed by my cock.
At least one of us was smart enough to go to bed.
Scorpion sighs. “I heard from my source’s sister.”
This is the first time I’m hearing about a sister being involved in his shadowy dealings with the Russians. Somehow, I had no idea there was a female Sidorov in the mix.
“His sister?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time. I don’t have a meeting for another two hours. Tell me.”
Scorpion’s jaw tenses. “MaybeIdon’t have the time.”
“Except right now, with our brother out of the country, you’re answering to me,” I point out conversationally. “If I say you have the time, you have the time.”
“Speaking of Priest, how is he?”
“Doing honeymoon shit and living it up. The bastard sent me a picture of the sunrise over the ocean this morning.”
I don’t begrudge him this time, though. I’m happy for him. Happy for Luna. She’s a good woman, and the two of them are perfect for each other. They earned this time outside the shitshow.
I can handle it while they’re gone.
Iamhandling it.
Admittedly, poorly so far. But that’s only because I didn’t know a psycho Russian was on the loose. Correct that—another psycho Russian. It’s not like the other ones are particularly sane. Still, now that I know what I’m dealing with, I can adapt.
“Must be nice,” Scorpion says.
“Yeah. Must be. But back to the Russian sister. I need details. What the hell is going on?”
“My source disappeared on me. When we got back from St. Thomas, everything was radio silent. Then I got the picture of Isla sent from an unknown number.”
“The sister was behind sending the snap?” I guess.
“Yeah, but Sidorov ordered it. I finally got to the origin of the number and tracked her down. She wasn’t happy about being found, and she didn’t really want to talk.”
I can tell by his wry tone that he’s putting that mildly. Somehow, the idea of Scorpion tangling with a Russian hellcat amuses me. Better him than me. I’ve already got enough on my hands with Isla staying at my place.
“Does the sister know where her brother is?” I ask, curious.
Scorpion’s source was a huge help to us, letting us know what was happening regularly, not just in the Bratva rank and file, but also in the highest levels of the organization—from the Pakhan on down. Heading into situations without having the intel we were given is going to be difficult. We relied on it more than I realized now that it’s potentially gone forever.
“If she does know where he is, she’s not letting on. Looks like Sidorov has her scared silent,” Scorpion tells me grimly. “I didn’t want to take things too far, given that he was sniffing around Isla yesterday. Figured I’d come back to you with what I’ve learned and go from there.”
