“Do you know where they are taking her?”
“No, but I have a tracker on her. I’ll know where they go.”
“Smart.” It’s all he says for a moment and the silence on the line almost has breaks my mind. “I’m going to send you a list of things to acquire before tomorrow. Send me a pin for where you are and where she ends up. I will be making somephone calls. Is she with the man you asked me to look into?”
“Da.” I turn and look at the men on the porch, watching me and turn my back on them again. “Dimitri. I can’t lose her.”
“Do what you can with no engagement. I want them to know we are coming. We will get her back, cousin, do not worry. I’ll call you when we land.”
The line goes dead and I turn back to three of the men who have taken care of Marley her whole life.
Mr. Harlow is sitting at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, looking at the app on my phone. “Is this how we’ll find her?”
I nod my head, standing off to the side with my hands tucked under my arms. The sound of the ticking grandfather clock in the dining room seems to echo through the whole house, making it feel more empty.
It wasn’t until this minute that I realized the sounds of the Harlow family had settled into my heart like my own family, the family I lost when I was twelve. I didn’t realize how much the chatter, laughter, and… life… meant to me.
Gray’s eyes are distrustful as he looks at me and narrows them. “Why are you tracking my sister?” Mason and Mr. Harlow look at me as the question hangs in the air, confusion on their faces.
Running my hand through my hair, I look at the ground. "Koliko želim da im kažem?” [How much do I want to tell them?]
Mr. Harlow speaks up. “Now’s not the time to be secretive, son. This is my daughter we’re talking about. For the past fourteen years, I’ve made it my life’s mission to make sure she is safe and comfortable. I need to know what your part is.”
I’m not worried about Mr. Harlow and Gray. They may be big men, but aside from the fact that Marley would never speak to me again if I hurt them, they are not a threat to me. Mason, however, could inflict some damage.
I look atMason. “I love your sister. I’ll do anything for her.”
He narrows his eyes. “You already told me that, now tell me why she has a tracking device on her.”
I huff out a large sigh. “Before I came to the States, my life was very different. I lost my mother and sister in a way that I would never wish on another person. If they had been tracked, they could have been saved.”
“Is there any part of your life that we need to be concerned about?” Gray barks.
I shake my head once. “No.”
“So, there’s no other reason for the tracking device, aside from caution?” Mr. Harlow tilts his head as he is asking, his deep gravelly voice booms in the room.
I shake my head again. Then I look at Mason. “But there is something I have to tell you.”
Mason’s body tenses, it’s slight, but I see it and I know I’m on thin ice. He doesn’t say anything but, I have his attention.
“I told you I moved here with my family and grew up in Nevada, but that’s not true. My name is Branislav Sokolov. I came here with my uncles and cousins when I was twelve to escape the people who killed my family.” I give them the CliffNotes version of coming here and our involvement with the Brooklyn Bratva.
“You’re part of an organized crime syndicate?” Mason asks, his voice calm, but I know that voice, he’s pissed I lied to him.
“Not anymore. I was when we first came to America, but I walked away and enlisted when I was eighteen.”
“But you still have ties?” Gray asks, his hands fisted at his sides, distrust and anger laced in his voice.
With a nod, I square my shoulders and say, “Ties that are on their way here to help me get Marley back, because without them, I’ll start a fucking war to find her.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
MARLEY
THE DULLsound of a hammer echoes through my brain, but it feels like the hammer is hitting my head. Something is wrong. I feel cold.
Damn it, my head hurts.
