“So he tried to remove the problem.”
My eyes narrowed slightly.
“Multiple attempts,” she confirmed.“Each one failed.Because of you.”
“Because of me?”
I tried but I’m sure I did a horrendously bad job of hiding my surprise.
She gave a small nod.
“You kept showing up,” she said.“Unintentionally.Wrong place, wrong time—foiling him.”
That made sense.I was spending way too much time with Atlas Cavalho lately.
“He got angry.Said he wouldn’t touch you directly and risk the wrath of your family,” she added.“He mumbled some more, said he knows who you are, and what would happen if he hurt you.”
My family.
The fallout wouldn’t be contained.It would spread.Wide.Violent.Indiscriminate.
“So,” I said slowly, finally understanding, “he’s improvizing.”
“Yes.”
Silence stretched for a moment.
“Name?”I asked.
She hesitated briefly, then gave me the name.
“Baron Vilevski.”
As soon as I heard the name, everything clicked into place.
Vilevski.I knew him.Not personally, but I knew enough about him to know that he was one of the largest traffickers operating out of Eastern Europe—running product through the Balkans, across borders that bent too easily when the right money was involved.He was ruthless.Calculated.Untouchable.
He was also an old associate of my father’s.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face.
Of course.This was never about me.
I was collateral, an obstacle standing in Vilevski’s way.A variable that kept interfering with his actual objective—the Cavalho stronghold.Atlas.He was the real target.
And suddenly— everything made sense.The contract.The escalation.He didn’t need me dead.He needed me out of the way, long enough to get what he wanted.Which was to eliminate Atlas.
I straightened, already moving.
“I have to go,” I said.
She nodded, not trying to stop me.
“Be careful,” she added quietly.
I paused at the door, glancing back at her once.
“Thank you, Andrea.”
