Page 83 of Forced By the Bratva

“Find anything interesting?” I asked Ilya, sinking into the chair in front of his desk.

“Actually, yes,” Ivan said, facing me. He paused for a bit, then added, “It appears you were right about the missing funds and the internal leaks.”

“O…kay?” I drawled lazily, waiting for more details.

“I should’ve trusted you when my brother did,” he stated simply. “And for that, I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.” I shifted my gaze across the men. “Now, can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“We found the culprits,” Ilya said to me. “Yevgeni and Markov.”

“You say their names like I’m supposed to know who they are,” I replied.

Boris stepped forward and slid two photographs of two men in their mid-to-late fifties over to me. I immediately recognized one of them—the same man that Ilya had humiliated at the dinner table some time ago.

“I told you he was hiding something,” Ilya’s voice cut through the silence.

“How did you trace it back to them?” I asked.

“It’s all in here.” He pointed at the flash drive attached to his laptop.

“I don’t understand.”

“The courier we intercepted was hired by Yevgeni and Markov to move this flash drive to their location,” he explained. “Apparently, what’s in here can bury them for life.”

“According to the files, Yevgeni and Markov have secretly been working for a hybrid intelligence-criminal group called Nexum,” Ivan said. “They’ve been moving funds for the organization’s accounts while still selling Bratva information to this criminal group.”

“That’s why they wanted to get hold of the drive before anyone else did,” Ilya added. “They wanted to cover their tracks.”

“Hold on.” I was still struggling to catch up. “So, Yevgeni and Markov were the ones who sent those men to attack the mansion?”

“Yes and no.”

“Okay, I’m lost.” I rubbed my forehead.

“An organization like Nexum is too big to be ordered around by low-level greedy bastards like those two traitors,” Ilya explained. “They might have provided Nexum with the information they needed for the attack. But they didn’t order the attack themselves.”

The realization set in that instant.

“So, Nexum is the real enemy?”

They all nodded.

“The question is, what does an organization like Nexum want with you?” Ivan asked me. There was no accusation in his tone. Just sheer curiosity.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I’ve never even heard of them until now.” My gaze shifted across their faces. “Doesn’t the file say anything about why they might be after me?”

“I’ve read through it multiple times,” Ilya said. “There’s no mention of you in this particular file.”

I thought for a moment. “What about Yevgeni and Markov? They must know something, right? I mean, if we can find them, they should be able to lead us to Nexum.”

“I see why you like her,” Ivan said to his brother. “She thinks like a Tarasov.”

Ilya faced me again. “Our men are tracking their location as we speak. Now that their package has been intercepted and they know we’re on to them, they’ll definitely want to flee the country.”

“Our men are at every airport and seaport that exists in the city,” Boris said, looking at me. “They’re not getting away with this.”

I felt the shift settle over the room as the conversation moved on without my having to force my way into it.