Page 85 of Forced By the Bratva

“Nexum,” I continued. “Start talking.”

Yevgeni was the first to break. His voice came out rough, like he hadn’t used it much in the last twelve hours. “Look, we didn’t order the hits on the estate. I promise, that wasn’t us.”

“But you fed them the information.”

“They already had pieces,” he said. “We filled in the rest. Access points. Guard rotations. The gate protocols. They paid well for it.”

“Do you even hear yourself, you fuckin’ asshole!” Boris growled, eyes blazing with fury.

“Tell your guard dog to stand down.” Markov stared at him, exuding an air of confidence even though I knew he was just as scared as Yevgeni.

Boris’s scowl deepened, but he didn’t react. Yet. He’d have plenty of time to do that later.

Yevgeni shifted in his chair, panic coloring his eyes. “We thought it would stay quiet. Small transfers. Nothing that would draw attention from inside. Then the girl started looking at the ledgers.”

I kept my expression even. “That ‘girl’ is my wife, and you will refer to her as such.”

He swallowed hard. “Your wife saw the patterns too fast.”

“That was her mistake,” Markov said. “If she hadn’t gotten involved in other people’s affairs, Nexum would never have noticed her.” A pause. “Now imagine their surprise when they found out she’s the daughter of Henry Hart.”

My brows knitted ever so slightly. “What’re you talking about?”

A smug smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Are you going to talk, or do I have to beat it out of you?” Boris cracked his knuckles.

“There’ll be no need for that. I’ll tell you everything.” Markov glanced at him, then looked at me again. “Your wife’s father spent years in federal work. Organized crime task forces. Financial investigations.”

I didn’t know this. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me surprised.

“He wasn’t a field agent, but he knew how to follow money. He had contacts. Old files.”

A pause.

“Nexum tracked him for a long time before he died. So when they found out the girl who breached their system was his daughter, they assumed she’d eventually reach out to those contacts. Or find something in his old records that pointed back to them.”

“She didn’t even know what she was looking at when she started,” I said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Markov replied. “Nexum doesn’t wait for proof. They clean up potential problems early. Safer that way.”

I sat with that for a moment. The attacks weren’t about the files Iris had already seen. They were about the files they were afraid she might still find.

All of this was connected to the father she’d never fully discussed. This meant Nexum already had their eyes on her even before I knocked on her door.

They would’ve gotten to her eventually if I hadn’t gotten to her first.

“Who runs Nexum on this side?” I asked.

“I’ve told you everything, Tarasov,” Markov said, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes. “We can’t tell you this one.”

“He’ll kill us if we do,” Yevgeni said, almost pleading with his eyes.

“He’s not here. I am.” I leaned in, expression cold and dangerous. “Don’t make me ask a second time.”

Markov stayed quiet, jaw tight.

Yevgeni broke after a moment and spilled the beans. “Fuck it.”