“I’m on my way.” He hangs up.
Liev paces the small living room, the furious back-and-forth reminding me of a large predator trapped in a too-small cage. “Check and see if anything is missing.”
I sigh and move through the wreckage. I stiffen when I notice the charging cord dangling uselessly from the side table. “My personal laptop is gone. But I think that’s it.”
“They were looking for something,” he says grimly. “Maybe they thought it was on your computer.”
“Like a password?” We exchange a look.
“The bitcoin password? But what’s changed? Why go to these lengths now?” Brady asks from my doorway where he’s let himself and Elizabeth in.
“If you hadn’t been such an ass earlier,” I say, voice sharper than I intend, “I was going to tell you about all the things that we’ve learned.” I quickly summarize how Taggert Construction owes money to the Kovalyov Bratva. “And I think those two men in Vegas were after me. Not Keke.”
“What?” Brady’s expression has grown progressively darker with each sentence.
“Too many things have happened over too short a period of time,” Liev says. “I agree with Sera. I think she’s being targeted. The agitator at the Chicago protest came out of nowhere and seemed focused solely on her. Keke was already in the car. The text messages… and if Finn finds some sort of tracking and listening app on her phone…”
“It has to be the Taggerts,” I add.
Brady’s face hardens. He steps closer to Liev, voice low. “How do I know it’s notyourpeople putting her in danger? They might have tossed this place looking for the password for the money they’re owed.”
Liev doesn’t flinch. “Sera is a Kovalyov now. Mikhail knows we’re married. He’s even offered me a more powerful position—my father’s old seat. If he thought Sera was the obstacle to him getting repaid by the Taggerts, he would have mentioned it.” His eyes narrow. “There’s no threat from my bratva. As my wife, she’s one of them now. Being married to me protects her.”
Brady’s nostrils flare. “Protects her? By dragging her deeper into your shit? You think that?—”
“Enough.” I stand, hands up between them. “This isn’t helping.”
Brady exhales hard through his nose. “Come home with Elizabeth and me. Our place is secure.”
Liev shakes his head. “We’re going to my house north of the city. It’s safe and behind two sets of gates.”
Brady opens his mouth to argue, but Elizabeth touches his arm. “Let it go. Sera’s right. This isn’t the time.”
I gather what I can salvage, clothes, toiletries, and a few sentimental things that somehow escaped the destruction. Liev runs a soothing hand down my back.
“Just take what you need for the next few days. We can come back.”
I nod, throat thick. Between my phone possibly being bugged, my home being violated, and my laptop missing, I feel stripped raw, as if every ounce of my privacy has been ripped away.
Liev presses a kiss to my temple. “I’ll find out who did this, Seraphina. And I’ll make them pay.”
“I get to help.”
“Of course.” He kisses my temple again and straightens when my brother says my name from the bedroom doorway. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
I don’t look up, shoving shirts into a duffel. “What?”
Brady closes the door behind Liev. “I’m sorry. Earlier... I was out of line. I panicked. Seeing the rings, hearing about Vegas... It hit me wrong. You’re my sister. I just want you safe.”
I yank the zipper closed with more force than necessary. “By calling me stupid? Yeah, that helps.”
“That was wrong. I’m sorry.” He shoves a hand through his hair. “I know you’re not a kid anymore, but you will always be the baby sister I need to look out for.”
“No, I’m not.” My voice comes out cold. “I’m youryoungersister, yes. But I’m not a baby, and I don’t need someone to look out for me all the time. Other than Aaron, I do a pretty good job of living my life. Are you going to hold that over me forever?”
Brady winces. “That’s not what it is. It has nothing to do with Aaron. You can’t understand, but I will always worry about you. The first time mom put you in my arms when I was twelve years old and you opened those big eyes to look at me...” He presses a hand to his chest. “I was a goner. You’re my sister, and I will always look out for you.”
“Well, fuck,” I sniffle, tears threatening for the second time today. “When you say it like that, it’s kind of hard to be mad at you.”
