I move my attention to one of the women at the bar. What’s the game here? Are they going home with these men? Maybe drugging them and robbing them?
That’s pretty messy. I can’t imagine Zerilli could keep that quiet. Even with Police Chief Knowles on our payroll. There’s some heavy hitters here with the kind of money that comes with influence.
I lean into Rocco. “We take her with us.”
He nods. Then stands and buttons his suit jacket. “Care to dance?” He gives the Russian woman his most charming smile.
Apparently going home with men, drugging and robbing them is not what they do. Brenda, or whatever her real name is, panics when we invite her to go hit another club with us. Rocco has to stick his gun in her ribs to force her out the door.
She’s silent on the drive to the warehouse, only a small sniffle once in a while. She’s trying so hard to be brave. Or maybe she’s just resigned to whatever fate is throwing at her now.
We have her legs bound, but she’s in a chair clutching a bottled water we’ve given her. I have no desire to inflict anything but fear on this woman for information. If she is a trafficking victim, she’s been through enough. But to stop this, she has to talk.
She keeps flicking nervous glances at the blood-stained board on the back wall. I’m glad we brought her here. It’s a good threat without having to lay a finger on her.
I’m sitting in a chair across from her, my slacks almost touching her bare knees. Gunnar is standing behind me, videoing the conversation with his phone in case she gives us anything to hang Zerilli.
Caelian and Rocco are standing in front of the door. Rocco’s having a smoke, the consistent clicking of his Zippo like a metronome in the room.
“What’s your real name?” I ask.
She lowers her head, refusing to make eye contact with me. I lean forward and grab her jaw gently, forcing her to meet my gaze. There’s something vacant and dull in her eyes, like she’s checked out of her body.
“Let me tell you why you’re here. We believe you’re a Bratva trafficking victim. Forced to work for Zerilli. Is that true?”
Something sparks in her eyes and she blinks. “You are not Zerilli’s men?”
I release her jaw and lean back in the chair. “No.”
She glances over my shoulder at the other guys. “I don’t understand.”
“Zerilli’s not the only game in town. And there are much bigger fish than him who don’t approve of the Russians trafficking women in our territory. If he’s involved, we need to know.”
She licks her dry lips and shakes her head. “I can’t.”
I stand, remove my jacket and place it over her shoulders. As I pull the front closed around her, I lean down and hold her gaze. “We can protect you.”
I don’t know why I say this. It wasn’t the plan. I’m not even sure if I said it just to get her to talk, or if I actually want to protect her. Either way, I need her to trust me.
As I move back to my chair, Gunnar shoots me a questioning look over his phone.
I know this is out of character for me. I ignore him and sit.
She squirms and pulls the jacket tighter around her shoulders. There’s a calculation behind her stare now. “I don’t care about myself. Death would be welcomed. But my little sister, Alina. She’s still in Russia. They say if I try to escape, they will bring her here to replace me.”
I give her a sympathetic shrug. “I understand. But you have to know they will do that anyway, right?”
Horror fills her blue eyes.
I chuckle but it’s not out of amusement. “These kind of men don’t tend to keep their word. The only way to stop them isby helping worse men than them. Men like us.” I gesture to my brothers behind me. “So, help us stop them.”
Defeat has her sinking back in the chair. She nods once.
Keeping my tone soft but firm I say, “Good. Now what’s your real name?”
She looks so small and lost wrapped in my jacket. Her eyes are moving over my face. Probably trying to figure out if I’m going to kill her after I get what I want from her. For some reason, whatever she sees has her deciding to trust me. “Yulia. Yulia Lopatina.”
I reward her with a smile. “Okay, Yulia. Let’s start with some basic information. You were brought here by the Bratva, yes? How long have you been in Tampa?”
