Page 74 of The Masked King

Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I’ve been fooling myself for the last twelve months, which is a much harder pill to swallow.

“You mentioned showtime.” I need to get back on track, find Nyx, get this shit sorted and then figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

Gio drains his coffee and massages his temple. “Like I said, the Bratva has taken a vow of silence on this, but our friend Mr. Esposito handed me the connection between Malevsky and the Reznikov gang. A blood connection.”

The Reznikov family. It was their house that burned down when the fire I set spread out of control a year ago. Around the same time that Demi walked out of my life without so much as a ‘Seeya, lover boy’.

“So, this is payback,” I say, and Gio’s silence is enough. “What about the Police Commissioner? He was socializing with our Bratva friend last night.”

“I’ll see what I can find out, but if he has the commissioner in his pocket, we’ll need to find another way to reach him.”

I haven’t mentioned the recording to Gio. I’ve already dismissed it as a fake, another mind game to mess with my head, and one I don’t need right now. Malevsky knows who I am. He’s had a year to set the wheels in motion; one muffled video message isn’t going to tip the scales in his favor.

A phone rings, and it takes a long beat for me to realize that it’s the burner phone in my pocket, the one with the fake number that I gave the police officer when I reported Kate Glasgow missing.

I slide it from my pocket, and Gio’s brows form a question. “New cell phone?”

“Hello, Brian speaking.” I avoid eye contact with my brother.

“Hello, Mr. Sabatelli, this is DI Goss from the NYPD.”

DI Goss. The name rings a small bell in my head, but I can’t recall ever being introduced to him personally. Perhaps Demi mentioned him in passing, and that’s why the name has triggered something.

“It’s regarding the missing person report you filed yesterday.”

A DI getting involved in a missing person case so soon. He knows something. “Have you located her?” My pulse is racing.

“No, but I’d like to follow up with a few more questions if you’re available.”

“Now?” I’m already on my feet.

“Sure. I’ll meet you on the Bow Bridge in Central Park.” He ends the call.

Gio is on his feet too. “I’m coming with you.”

“I can handle this one.” I fill him in on my little adventure following the Police Commissioner’s community visits. “The name of the person staying at the apartment brought up zero search results, so I did it the old-fashioned way: I filed a missing person report. And bingo. DI Goss wants to follow up with a meeting in Central Park.”

“You think she’s connected to the club.”

I had my suspicions to begin with, but now that her disappearance has been escalated through the ranks, I’m certain.

“I think Kate Glasgow is Nyx.”

I wait around for an hour, but the DI is a no-show. The number he called me from is one-way only, and when I call the NYPD, the switchboard operator tells me that DI Goss isn’t answering his phone.

I call Gio. “Time to pay the commissioner a visit. The DI bailed on me.”

“Let me deal with the commissioner, Enzo. Go home and get some rest. I’ll keep you updated.”

But I know I won’t sleep. Bianca isn’t answering her phone either and I wonder if she’s heard a whisper of her kids’ names. What would she do if she knew the Bratva goons she’s cozying up with to glean information for me are the same people targeting Leo and Sofia as a distraction.

Shit! That’s all Mateo Esposito was: a distraction. I’ve been so consumed by finding Nyx, that I didn’t see it for what it was.

Leo and Sofia are safe. For now.

But what was the Bratva up to while I was wandering around Rome searching for a fake drama school?

I pull out the JADED card given to Sofia by Mr. Esposito. The same name, same font, but on a black background with no address. Only now I notice in tiny green writing at the bottom of the card, some sort of code.