17. Evgeny
Evgeny
Next week’s meeting with the judge is looming over my head.
I know ADA Lang will be there, probably looking smug as hell because based on the discovery that’s been trickling in for the last couple of weeks, she’s building a solid case against my cousin.
My angle is DeMarco, since I know he’s the fucker behind all this.
I’m building a case, and I’m confident it’s one that could cause enough doubt to get a not-guilty verdict, but if this case goes to trial, I will consider it a failure on my part.
The goal has always been to get it thrown out before trial.
Anything less than that is unacceptable.
“You’re letting this consume you.”
I look over at my dad. I know he’s worried about me, but I also know there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
I’ve tried many times over the years, but he’s never going to stop.
He always tells me I’ll understand when I have kids of my own, and I’ve always told him that I guess I’ll never understand then.
Harper flashes through my head again at the thought—the stubborn glint in her eyes, the way she bites her lip when she’s concentrating, and the determined look she gets when she’s desperate for an orgasm and willing to do anything to get it.
I scrub a hand over my jaw, forcing her from my mind while knowing it’s a very temporary fix. She always comes back. I know she always will. I’m going to be haunted by this woman for the rest of my life.
“I’ve often wondered why I survived the fire,” my dad says. When I look over, he’s holding his hand up, studying the burn scars that cover his skin. “My family died, but I lived. Why?”
“Because Uncle Vitaly heard you screaming and ran in to save you,” I say.
“He always was reckless,” my dad says. His lips briefly lift in a smile at what has to be hundreds of memories of my uncle acting crazy when they were young. The smile disappears. “My little sister died, though. She didn’t deserve that. I certainly didn’t deserve to live over her.”
“There’s no rhyme or reason to most things, Dad.”
He lets his hand fall back into his lap as he looks over at me. “Maybe so, but I’ve tried to live my life in a way that gives me some peace, that makes me feel a little less guilty about surviving when my sister didn’t.”
“I never got to meet Aunt Yelena, but I’m guessing she’d just want you to be happy and to not feel guilty about something you had no control over.”
“She would, yeah,” he says, “but I still feel the guilt all the same. Your mom helps with that, and so do you and your sister. I think I survived so I could be there for your mom when she needed me most and so that we could have a family. I want the same for you, Ev.”
I sigh and shake my head because this is not the conversation I want to be having right now. I stopped by to give him an update. That’s it. I feel confused and stressed out enough with my current situation without my dad weighing in on it when he has no idea what’s really going on.
“Dad,” I start to say, but he cuts me off.
“Anything you want to tell me, son?”
I might be excellent at schooling my features in a courtroom, but under my dad’s gaze, I falter just enough for him to raise a brow as if I’ve just confirmed all his suspicions.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, fairly confident Niki didn’t rat me out.
My cousin is the keeper of secrets thanks to his hacking skills, and he’d never throw one of us under the bus unless it was for a damn good reason.
It’s possible he felt this was dangerous enough to warrant that, but I still think he would’ve warned me first.
My dad puts my fear to rest by saying, “I know you, Ev, and something is different. It’s more than just this case. I know you’re worried about Sasha and carrying way too much of the burden as usual, but there’s more going on.”
He shrugs and leans back in his chair. “Call it dad-intuition.”
“I’m just stressed about work,” I say, hoping he’ll buy it and let it go.
He does not.
With a hurt look in his eyes, he asks, “So we’re lying to each other now? Is that how things are between us?”
“Jesus,” I say, nearly drowning in the guilt. “Way to lay it on thick, Dad.”
“I am laying it on thick,” he says, “and I won’t apologize for that. I don’t want you lying to me. That’s not the kind of relationship I want with my son. Tell me what’s going on.”
“You won’t like it,” I warn.
“I’ll like it better than this,” he says, and I know he genuinely believes that, so with a heavy sigh, I lean back and tell him everything, starting with my first run-in with Harper at my car and ending with how I’d left her sleeping in my bed this morning, this time with a note on the pillow.
I don’t go into too many personal details, but he gets the gist of it, and when I’m done, he’s quiet.
“Don’t you dare say you wish I hadn’t told you,” I tell him.
He grins over at me. “You don’t think that would be funny?”
“No. I think it’s what Uncle Vitaly would say if he were here, which thank god he isn’t, but it better not be what you’re about to say.”
“I’m glad you told me, Ev,” he says, reaching out to nudge my leg. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s going to be easy, but I’m glad you found someone.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “I basically locked her in my home, and she’s a reporter, Dad. I couldn’t have messed this up any more if I’d tried.”
“Sounds to me like she doesn’t mind being at your place.”
When I look over, he’s grinning.
“Sounds like you’re both liking the arrangement.”
“I don’t think you’re hearing what I’m saying. She’s locked up in my home right now, and as soon as Sasha is free, I have to let her go. I bet I’ll barely have time to pack and make my escape before the whole world knows who I am.”
“We won’t let that happen,” my dad says.
I meet his eyes when I say, “No one is laying a hand on her.”
His smile grows when he says, “I can’t even be pissed at you for thinking I would hurt someone you obviously care so much about because I’m too busy being happy my son has fallen in love.”
“What?”
“Your mom is going to be ecstatic. I can’t wait to tell her.”
“You’re choosing to ignore key elements to this story, and I don’t know why.”
“Because she obviously feels the same way about you, Ev. Not every love story is nothing but the good stuff. Hell, has anyone in our family ever had one of those? So you and Harper have a rough, complicated start, so what? Look at your mom and me. The odds were all stacked against us. The fact that we even found her and that she was able to heal from the trauma is a miracle, a one-in-a-million chance, but it happened because I loved her too much to give up and because she’s the bravest person I’ve ever met and was willing to try. ”
“It’s not the same,” I try to tell him. “You two loved each other before Mom was taken.”
“Don’t get nit-picky. We’re not in the courtroom. All I’m saying is that Harper sounds like a fighter, and she sounds like she loves you. Don’t dismiss that just because you’re scared.”
A knock at the door interrupts us before I can try to defend myself and a second later, Niki opens it and walks in. He pulls the worn leather messenger bag over his head and takes the seat opposite us.
“Sorry for barging in, but I need to talk to Ev.”
I’m not surprised he tracked my phone to find me. He’s always doing shit like that to get in touch with us. It’s the easiest way, and the truth is I don’t care. I like that he can find me when he needs me.
“Did you find something?” I ask, leaning forward and hoping like hell he has some good news for us.
“No, and that’s the problem. I can’t find shit, and it’s really fucking weird.
” He taps out a quick rhythm on the arm of the leather chair, unable to sit still, and the frustration in his voice is undeniable.
Niki hates unanswered questions. He’s used to being able to dig around until he finds what he wants, and when that doesn’t happen, it irritates him until he figures out a way to solve it.
“The CCTV footage was scrubbed by someone, and I can’t tell who did it,” he says. “Sasha would’ve been on the footage, so it doesn’t make sense that DeMarco’s hiding it.”
“Wouldn’t it have also shown the real killer?” I ask. “Maybe they destroyed it to stop anyone from seeing their guy.”
Niki shakes his head. “Whoever scrubbed it could’ve easily just doctored it and hid whatever they wanted to hide while still showing Sasha.”
“You think the police did it?” my dad asks.
“That’s a fucking ballsy move if they did,” I say. “I mean, corruption isn’t unheard of, but this is extreme, way past the line most police would feel comfortable crossing.”
“I’m going to ask for help,” Niki says, surprising us both as we turn to look at him. “Everyone knows I’ve been helping trafficked women on the side, but what you don’t know is that I’ve been using an agent to help me.”
“You’re working with the fucking cops?” my dad asks.
“No,” Niki calmly corrects. “I gather enough evidence to put these assholes away, and then I send the info to an agent who heads a human trafficking task force. It’s completely untraceable, and it lets me hand things off so our Bratva isn’t spending all our time hunting down and killing rapists, because as enjoyable as that may be, it would put us all in danger of getting caught. ”
“And this guy never asks any questions?” I ask. “He just takes the evidence and runs with it?”
Niki grabs his laptop. “I’m sure he has a million questions, but he has no way to ask them.
I have it set up so he can’t respond to my emails, and that’s our only line of communication.
I did a lot of research on him before I sent him that first email.
His younger sister was taken when he was ten and she was eight.
They never found out what happened to her.
He’s obsessed with getting answers and trying to help other women who have had the same thing happen.
It’s why I picked him. He wants to put these men away more than he wants to catch me. ”