“There is a problem.”
A prickle of alarm ripples under my skin, torching every nerve ending I possess.
“What do you mean, a problem?”
“One of the sisters refused to leave the convent, and the other one is now missing.”
“Fuck!”
I stare at him in shock, and he shrugs, seemingly unconcerned.
“The one still at the convent isn’t an issue, but Simeon is tearing through his contacts for intelligence concerning the other sister.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not fully aware of the details—only that she is no longer under his control and that he has come away empty-handed. We have no word on her, no leads, and no clear direction. I would appreciate it if you could ask Rose whether there is anywhere the sisters might go if they were feeling uncertain or unsafe.”
“Rose will be upset.”
I hate the idea of heaping misery on her, and my father leans forward.
“Shit happens in life, Julius, as you well know, and Rose is a Ravera now and must get used to how things operate in our world. Talk to her, find out what you can and feed it back to me. I don’t need to tell you how important this is because if her sister is with one of our enemies, she will never be seen again.”
I lean back, my mind out of control because what the actual fuck. Simeon isn’t careless. He would have followed the plan to the letter, so why is she missing?
My father interrupts my thoughts. “Your mother told me about your lunch date. We are working on the legal document she gave you a copy of.”
I remain silent about the keys because until I speak to my brothers, it’s best nobody is aware of their existence, even my father and I’m guessing my mother hasn’t enlightened him yet, knowing he wouldn’t wait and tear toward the convent with all guns blazing. I will not compromise their safety any more than it has been already, and I lean forward and ask, “Do you consider the will is fake?”
“Of course.” He shrugs, swirling his whiskey in the glass. “No man would leave one dollar in a checking account to his only blood, and especially not the richest man in the world. Only an evil person with no emotional attachment would do such a thing, and my guess is you just had lunch with her.”
“Correction, we left before the food arrived.”
He shrugs. “Inconsequential information. No, I’m guessing the main reason for the arrangement was to tell you there is no inheritance in the vague chance we will walk away. Leaving the field open for her to swoop in and dispose of her three problems. She will be pissed that one got away, which makes the missing sister our number one priority.”
He shakes his head. “I understand she was in the same hotel as Raphael Demitri. That was no coincidence.”
“Do you know why?”
Knowing my father, he already has their conversation transcript, and I’m surprised when he shakes his head.
“No, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out the connection.”
“Trafficking.” I shrug. “Morgan doesn’t need to get involved in that, especially if her claim to the inheritance is valid.”
“Think outside the box you shut your intuition in.” He snaps, his displeasure obvious as he openly glares.
“Demitri has struck a deal with Morgan.”
The penny drops and he nods. “It can be the only explanation. It’s my guess, and I’m usually right, is that Morgan is helping Demitri take the girls off her hands and they will be sold as slaves to men who will keep them away from the world and use them for their own nefarious purposes. It usually involves drugs, beatings and imprisonment for the women he is paid to make disappear. Ones who have novalue except from their bodies and are disposable and usually wind up dead when they are of no further use.”
I am sickened at the idea of Rose or either of her sisters falling into Raphael’s grubby network, and now I understand the gravity of the situation. One of them is missing, and the arrow is pointing firmly in the direction of Raphael Demitri.
“Discover what you can from Rose, but don’t alarm her. We need to keep clear heads while we discover where her sister is.”
“What about the phone she was given? They have trackers inside.”
“They do, and her last position is showing as the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and hasn’t moved for three days.”
