Sinful Embers (Vegas Bratva Kings #2)

12. RADOMIR

Chapter 12

RADOMIR

The English countryside is a miserable fucking place.

It’s been two weeks of endless searching, tracking ghosts and dead leads, while my patience wears thinner by the day. Every known location associated with Carlos, the Gold Hydra, and the Mannings has been turned inside out.

And still—

No sign of Leigh.

No sign of Dmitri, Carlos, or Wanda Manning.

Fuck.

I lean against the window, the cold glass pressing against my temple, the drizzle outside matching the storm churning inside me. The estate we’re holed up in is as grand as any we’ve stayed in, but it doesn’t matter. The luxury does nothing to dull the ache inside my ribs, the constant burn that tells me I’m wasting time.

She’s out there somewhere.

Alone.

And I should be with her.

Sabrina sits curled up on the other end of the couch, scrolling through her tablet. She’s been restless too, though she hides it well behind her sharp tongue and quick retorts.

Tonight is different.

Tonight, she’s quiet.

Because today is the day we would have known if Leigh was pregnant.

Red Day, as Sabrina called it earlier, muttering the words under her breath before downing a shot of vodka like it was medicine. My gut twists at the thought, my grip tightening into a fist.

If she’s carrying my child—

No. I can’t go there. Not yet. Not until I have her back.

Oleksi strides through from the dining room, having just finished eating. He came in when Sabrina and I had already finished.

“I’m going to shower,” he announces, glancing at the clock on the mantel. "Then I'm heading out."

I frown. “Again?”

Oleksi shrugs. “Why not? London’s nightlife isn’t terrible. Syd and Clyde know all the best spots—places I never knew existed, and you know how many times I've been here.”

I watch him. We're all frustrated about not finding Leigh. Oleksi just wants to find Dmitri, as he has more than a few grievances with the man. Oleksi has a habit of drowning his frustrations between a pair of warm thighs after a good night out.

I nod. "Enjoy but just keep your head down and watch your back."

"Always do, brother." Oleksi glances toward Sabrina. "You could join us if you like. Clyde has the hots for you. You may get lucky."

"No, thank you. I like Clyde, but he's not my type, and I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye than spend an evening with you," Sabrina tells him with a saccharine grin.

"Your loss." Oleksi turns to me. "You could come too. It might do you some good to get out."

"No. But thanks."

"Clyde and Syd should be down soon as well. They're also getting ready." With that, Oleksi leaves the room.

Sabrina watches him with mild disinterest. She doesn’t like him, and the feeling is mutual. The two of them together are like a dog and a cat that have learned to tolerate each other simply because they have no choice.

"Is it just me, or did he just overly explain his actions?" Sabrina says, annoyed. "Like he was rubbing it in our faces that he's going out while we’re stuck here in misery."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way." I stick up for my cousin. "He was probably just trying to reassure me."

Sabrina nods, and we fall into a heavy silence, which she is the first to break with a question that does a complete 180 from our last discussion. “Don’t you find it alarming that no one has seen Wanda Manning in four weeks?” Her brow creases. "Even her executive assistant said it was unlike her to just disappear for so long."

I exhale sharply. “I have a lot more to be alarmed about than that bitch. As far as I’m concerned, she was instrumental in kidnapping my wife.”

“But she’s been gone since a week before Leigh was taken,” Sabrina points out, tilting her head. “What if she wasn’t part of it? What if she’s just another pawn in Dmitri and Carlos’s game? Now they have her company and Leigh…”

I rub my jaw, considering her words.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way.

“Think about it,” she presses. “We’ve been chasing ghosts, tracking Carlos and Dmitri, and we have nothing. What if we’ve been looking in the wrong direction? What if Wanda Manning is the key to finding them?”

I glance at her. Smart.

Before I can answer, her phone buzzes.

"Why the hell is your reminder still going off?"

She pulls it out, glancing at the screen. “It's not my reminder. It’s Uncle Nik.”

She hits answer, and Nikolas’s face fills the screen. I lean closer, my pulse spiking.

“Tell me you’ve got something. We’re chasing our own tails here.”

"We think we should stop looking for Dmitri and Carlos and track Wanda instead," Sabrina chimes in.

Nikolas nods, his expression serious. “We have been watching Wanda as well.”

Sabrina straightens. “And?”

“She was spotted in Russia four weeks ago.”

The blood in my veins goes ice-cold.

“What?”

“She bought a palace,” Nikolas continues. “On the outskirts of a small town about five miles from Dragunov Village—it's called the Golden Palace, and I believe it used to be owned by Dmitri before your grandfather froze all his assets.”

"I know it." I grind my teeth. "It’s about ten miles from Dragunov Village. I'm surprised he went back there. It was the incident at Dragunov that got him exiled."

“No.” Viktor’s voice hardens. “Dmitri was cast out for murdering Vasily Dragunov’s daughter. He should’ve been executed.”

"My mother started selling some of my grandfather's properties in the last few years." Everything inside me goes razor-sharp. “I guess it's no surprise Dmitri would get his rich wife to buy back his golden palace." I frown. "You think they’re at his palace?”

“Possibly,” Nikolas admits. “We already have a team checking it out."

“Carlos has been spotted in that town,” Viktor says. “Seems he likes to frequent a certain bar there.”

My mind races. “I’m packing.” I glance at Sabrina. “Be ready in an hour—we’re leaving for Russia tonight.”

“Then you'd better stop your cousin from hitting the clubs,” Sabrina reminds me of Oleksi’s plans.

“He can catch up later.”

“Not so fast.” Nikolas’s voice is firm. “We need to scout it out first. No use rushing in blind.”

I clench my jaw. “I’m not waiting around here.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Nikolas snaps. “You and Sabrina are expected at a meeting tomorrow morning.”

I glare at him. “What meeting?”

“With Giles Gold and Parker Keys. They will send you the address where the meeting will be held by 8 a.m.” Nikolas informs us.

Sabrina narrows her eyes. “Can’t we meet them later? After we get Leigh? I mean, London is kinda between Russia and home.”

Nikolas’s expression hardens. “No.”

My gut churns, a dark feeling creeping into my veins. “I agree with Sabrina. I don’t care if we have to wait another fucking month to meet with them. Finding Leigh is more important than meeting a bunch of fucking attorneys.”

Nikolas exhales sharply, his voice dropping into that lethal calm that means there’s no arguing. “Take your ‘travel guide,’” he tells Sabrina, his eyes flicking toward the fourth journal disguised beneath the unassuming cover. “Giles needs to see it.” Then his gaze lands on me. “And you—take the documents your mother told you to bring.”

I nod, already knowing which ones he means.

“And ID,” Viktor adds. “Galina said to remind you both—Giles and Parker are thorough.”

Sabrina makes a face. “Why does that sound like we’re applying for fucking visas instead of meeting a couple of lawyers?”

I rub my jaw, considering that for a moment. Viktor isn’t wrong. The men we’re about to meet deal in more than just legal contracts. They’re the kind of people who don’t just represent the most powerful—they manage them, protect them, and, when necessary, make people disappear for them. If they want ID, it’s not for bureaucratic bullshit. It’s for control.

Nikolas watches me carefully before his next words drop like stones in my gut. “Don’t tell anyone where you’re going. Not even Oleksi. Not Syd. Not Clyde.”

Sabrina sits up straighter. “Why?” Suspicion laces her voice. “Do you think they’ll feel left out for not being invited?”

A loaded silence stretches between us before Viktor speaks. “Because we don’t know if we can trust them.”

I snap my head toward him. “What the fuck are you saying?”

Viktor doesn’t flinch. Instead, he sends a hard look to Nikolas, something unspoken passing between them before he turns back to me. “Clyde seems okay,” he admits, “but he’s loyal to that Syd woman, and she…” He hesitates before finishing with, “She seems rather fond of Oleksi.”

“Fond?” Sabrina scoffs. “Syd and Oleksi have been fucking.” She leans back, crossing her arms. “I figured it out when they both kept disappearing together every night.”

My jaw tightens. I’d suspected something was going on between them, but I hadn’t thought much of it. Not until now.

“Listen,” Viktor moves the conversation away from Oleksi’s sex life, his voice grave. “There’s something else. Molchanov, Mirochin, and Fabri have been using a subsidiary of Ice Man Industries for various ‘exports’ over the past two years. We’ve been using them since a month before our first truck was hit.”

A cold sensation creeps up my spine. My hands curl into fists. “Fuck. Was this Daniil’s doing?”

Viktor shakes his head. “No, Rad…” His voice trails off, but his hesitation says everything before he does. “Oleksi. He set up the contracts with them.”

I go still.

A beat of silence.

Then rage ignites in my gut, scorching through my veins like acid. “What the fuck did you just say?”

Viktor doesn’t blink. “I said Oleksi has been using that subsidiary for two fucking years.”

The betrayal slams into me like a hammer to the ribs.

My cousin. My brother.

Bile rises in my throat, fury thickening the air around me. “I’m going to rip his fucking insides out.”

“You will not!” Nikolas’s command is delivered in a low dangerous tone. “In about four minutes, agents will arrive. They’ll tell you they’re Alpha Team. Passcode 4477. They’re here to detain Oleksi, Syd, and Clyde.”

Sabrina’s sharp intake of breath cuts through my pulsing rage. “That’s a bit harsh,” she says. “What if Syd and Clyde have nothing to do with this?”

“They know the rules,” Nikolas says flatly. “Syd compromised herself the second she got in bed with him. Clyde? He’s become Oleksi’s new favorite drinking buddy.”

Jesus.

“You’re not allowed to socialize in your team?” Sabrina bites out, disbelief warring with anger.

“Nikolas is right.” My voice is clipped, barely containing the rage simmering beneath the surface. “I’d do the same.”

Oleksi. Fucking Oleksi.

A part of me doesn’t want to believe it. But another part—the part that’s watched him disappear night after night and take secret phone calls on a phone we should have secret phone calls on… that part of me knows he’s been holding something back—knows it’s true.

“Did he tip off Dmitri?” My tone is clipped. “Did he know this entire fucking time where Leigh actually was?”

Was Sabrina right about the penthouse? Shit I didn’t even get to question the woman Oleksi claimed to be screwing the night Leigh was taken.

“We don’t know that yet,” Nikolas says, reading my thoughts. “But we’ll get the information from him. Don’t worry.”

I grind my teeth, my hands flexing at my sides. “No—I need to deal with this.”

“No, you don’t.” Nikolas’s voice sharpens into a command. “You and Sabrina have other things to attend to. Like going to see Giles and Parker tomorrow. Right after that, we’ll have a jet ready to take you to Russia and you’ll have a new security detail.”

Sabrina snorts. “Maybe make them ugly this time.”

Nikolas ignores her sarcasm and cuts his gaze back to me. “Leave this to us, Radomir. Focus on your mission.”

A muscle ticks in my jaw, but I nod once, forcing my fury down into something colder. Controlled.

“We’ll call as soon as we know what’s going on in Russia,” Viktor adds.

“The team is ready to move in,” Nikolas says, his voice slightly raised as if alarmed and then they sign off.

The moment the call ends, my phone buzzes.

I answer.

“This is Alpha Team 4477,” a clipped voice informs me. “We need you and Miss Craft to remain where you are. We’re about to storm the house. Be advised—our teams have the place surrounded, and snipers are positioned strategically.”

Beside me, Sabrina lets out a low hiss. “Jesus. That’s a bit overkill.”

“No, it’s not. Not when you’re dealing with a man like Oleksi,” I tell her. My heart is slamming against my ribs, and my instincts want to jump in to protect my cousin while my mind want’s to rip into him. “Nikolas knows what his team is capable of. And he knows Oleksi.”

Before I can think further, the front door bursts open.

In an instant, the house floods with men dressed in black tactical gear, moving like a wave of controlled chaos.

Sabrina and I are immediately held in place by two of the team while the others spread out, clearing every inch of the house.

The raid lasts minutes.

Then the Alpha of the team approaches, his eyes sharp, his expression lethal. “Where are they?”

His tone isn’t a question—it’s a demand.

Sabrina answers first. “Oleksi went to shower. Clyde was in his room. Syd was probably in the shower with Oleksi.” She rattles off the last part, her tone laced with sarcasm.

“They’re not here.” The Alpha Leader’s eyes narrow. “Where are they?”

“Did you check under the bed?” Sabrina drawls. “Or in the closet?”

“Miss Craft, if we for one second think you’ve helped the fugitive escape we’ll have no option but to detain you,” Alpha Leader obviously had no sense of humor and if he lays a hand on my friend I rip his goddamn arm off. “Where are they?”

Frustration flares in my chest. “How the fuck should we know?” I seethe. My fists clench, my anger barely leashed. “They must’ve heard Nikolas on the phone.”

“How?” Sabrina glances around. “There was no one else here.”

“We had just finished a video call with him.” My voice is sharp. “Then you burst in here. There’s no way they got out that fucking fast.”

“They could’ve been lurking.” The Alpha Leader’s gaze darken with suspicion.

A tense silence.

Then Sabrina’s expression shifts, realization dawning in her eyes.

“Unless one of them was lurking while we were on that call.” She turns to me, her voice quiet but urgent. “They could’ve overheard us.”

The Alpha Leader steps away, his expression grim as he speaks into his radio.

“Targets are not on-site. Repeat—Oleksi, Syd, and Clyde are gone.”

A crackle of static, then another voice cuts through.

Nikolas.

“Secure Radomir and Sabrina. Take them to the safe site. They are not to be left alone.”

My blood turns ice cold.

What the fuck did he just say?

I exchange a sharp look with Sabrina, who stiffens beside me. Her fingers twitch, like she’s resisting the urge to grab a weapon.

The Alpha Leader acknowledges the order, his gaze locking onto me. “You heard him.”

I step forward, fists clenched. “Like fuck you will.”

“It’s not up for discussion,” he states coolly. “Nikolas’s orders.”

Rage floods my veins. Nikolas is calling the fucking shots on me now?

I glare at the Alpha Leader. “Find my cousin. Find Clyde. Find Syd. But you’re not taking me anywhere.”

Sabrina crosses her arms. “Yeah, I’d love to see you try.”

“Sir, this isn’t personal. It’s protocol.”

“Protocol?” I bark out a humorless laugh. “Tell me something—whose protocol is this? Because I sure as hell don’t remember handing over control to Nikolas.”

The Alpha Leader doesn’t flinch. “It’s not about control. It’s about safety.”

Sabrina snorts. “For who? Us or them?”

No answer.

I feel the leash tightening around my throat, and I fucking hate it.

Nikolas knew. He knew Oleksi would run with his new lethal team of assisns.

I glance at Sabrina, reading the same conclusion in her eyes. Nikolas either set this up or saw it coming and said nothing.

I grind my teeth. Fine.

Let them think they have us under lock. For now.

I slide my hands into my pockets, my stance casual, but my tone laced with ice. “Lead the way.”

The Alpha Leader gives a curt nod. The team closes in.

As we step out into the night, I let one thought settle deep in my bones.

Nikolas better start talking. Because I’m done being anyone’s pawn.