Page 71 of Black Ledger

I refreshed again.

Ten files.

Again.

Five files.

Fuck. Someone was actively hacking the system while I watched, trying to keep me from seeing something.

But what?

I clicked into another file, and the large words ACCESS DENIED flashed on my screen.

“Well, fuck.” I rubbed my face and turned to Severin, but he was far too consumed with his task to notice.

I stood and strolled over to him slowly, and when he still didn’t notice my approach, I glanced over his shoulder.

I inhaled sharply.

He was flipping through picture after picture of all the gifts and threatening messages I had left for his father before I kidnapped him.

Well, fuck.

At the sound of my breath, Severin’s gaze caught mine, and he slammed the file shut. He clearly didn’t want me to know anything about his stalker.

So I pretended not to notice and said, “Well, you definitely have a rat.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Severin Volkov

Age 36

Keira had noticed the pictures. Her eyes dilated at the sight, yet she pretended not to notice. She didn’t strike me as the squeamish type. But then maybe she was.

Then she had dropped a bomb. You definitely have a rat.

I had her explain to me exactly what she meant. It took nearly twenty minutes, because if I were being honest, I was absolutely useless with computers. But from the gist of what she was saying, someone was actively deleting files from our systems, and worse still, someone had intentionally organized the system into a chaotic mess. It could not have been my father; he wasn’t smart enough.

The only ones I knew capable of such an act were the Morozovs, and I fucking hated even admitting that. When I’d asked Keira to help me with this task, I intentionally left them out because of the small possibility that they could be the rats.

But I never believed it.

With this evidence staring me in the face, it was hard to know what to believe.

I did not want to think that my closest allies were also my biggest enemies. But what if? My father had always feared the Morozovs would one day bid for power and take over his kingdom.

What if he was right?

What if they were behind his kidnapping too?

And if this was a bid for power, would they want to take me out?

We had become nearly inseparable since Xeniya’s death. I trusted them with everything. But I wasn’t their blood. I wasn’t their family.

I sat alone at the table in the spy den, having sent Keira home for the night. I needed to address these pictures and start to find the ghost hunting us. Because after seeing these, I was now certain our ghost was hunting the Bratva.

I didn’t trust Keira enough with this information, but now, after what she found, I wasn’t certain whether I should trust Nika or Dimitri.