“What town?” I ask, trying to paint the picture.
“Sea Isle, Maryland,” Bianca answers.
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s about ten minutes from Ocean City,” Camilla explains. “It’s a picturesque little town where everyone knows everyone else and it’s really obvious when a stranger is tailing you around.”
Four hours away. I’ve spent more than half my life wondering where the hell Antonella went, and she’s been four measly hours away this whole time.
“And this all only started to happen recently.”
“Yes,” Camilla answers.
“And you’re coming to us with this now, why? Antonella has had twenty-five years to come back to the city and pick up where she left off. Now, you’ve got one Russian sniffing around your sleepy little town, and the three of you pack up and hightail it here, seeking out my brothers and me? Forgive me if it sounds a little fishy.”
“I understand that it’s a surprise,” Bianca says. “Believe me, we were as surprised as you are. We had no idea about her life before we were born. We didn’t know why she moved to Sea Isle, who our father was, that she had been involved in the Mafia, or that we had brothers. To say we’ve had a hard time processing is an understatement.”
I want to believe them, but this could be a bunch of bullshit lies.
Or it could be true and the Russians have somehow been sniffing around Antonella and my sisters.
On a whim, I extract my phone and pull up the snap Isla took of Sidorov in the coffee shop, showing it to Camilla and Bianca. “Did the Russian who came to your place asking about a lost dog look like this?”
They both peer at the pic, frowning.
“Similar,” Bianca says.
“But I don’t think that’s him,” Camilla finishes, like they’re having the same thought.
Must be the twin connection.
“Similar,” I repeat, turning that response over in my mind.
Scorpion’s report comes back to me. His source is missing, and he’s also Mikhail Sidorov’s brother. Is it possible that Dimitri Sidorov was sent to Maryland by his older brother to spy on my sisters and Antonella? And if so, for what purpose? How did they find out, when my brothers and I didn’t even know the twins existed or that Antonella was living in Maryland?
On a hunch, I open my web browser and type in Dimitri Sidorov, scrolling until I find a half-decent picture of him. Then I show my phone to the girls again.
“How about this?”
Their eyes widen.
“Oh my gosh, that’s him,” Camilla says. “How did you know?”
“Who is he?” Bianca asks in rapid succession.
“He’s a Russian gangster,” I tell them both grimly, an eerie new sense of dread settling over me. “He’s also a highly skilled, lethal killer. If you see this man again, call the cops.”
I never advise anyone to go to the police. But in this instance, it might be their best bet. If Dimitri Sidorov has been following them, then he would have known they’d all come back to the city by now. Which means Sidorov could be tracking them here, planning whatever move Mikhail has up his sleeve.
“The Executioner?” Lucky asks me, looking worried. “What the hell would he want with the girls and Mom?”
I hate that he’s calling AntonellaMom. But I’ll deal with that later. For now, we’ve got a whole lot bigger worries to deal with.
“That’s what we need to find out,” I tell him. “Before anything else happens.”
The second the thought leaves me, I dial up my security guards, knowing I need to warn them. Isla has to stay safe at all costs. And with the Bratva sniffing around all our family and friends, there’s no telling what’s going to go down next.
When none of the guards pick up their phones, fear seizes me in its relentless hold.
