Chapter Fifteen
Falcon
I was in a daze as I made my way down the hall where we gathered for informal meetings, bypassing the office because this wasn’t just a regular meeting.
It was Church, which meant that it was something important.
I stepped inside the room, realizing I was the last one to enter.
“What’s going on?” My hands clenched into fists and my mind raced, thinking about the words Viv and I exchanged.
The admissions we made. I wondered if that meant we’d reached a turning point in our relationship.
Slate looked up from his laptop with a satisfied smile that defied the circles under his eyes.
“Got something.” The spark in his eyes said it was something good and history told me that I’d like what he had to say.
“This would be easier in my office,” he grumbled to himself before he turned the heavy black laptop to face the table.
“This is the guy that approached those wannabe gangbangers.”
I leaned towards the screen until the man came into view.
“I started with the corner store where the kids said they were approached,” Slate began as the video played. “I started there and tapped into business cameras, city surveillance, and any other visuals I could to follow him back to his starting point.”
Excitement made my fingertips tingle. We were getting close to finding a solution to this problem. I felt it. “Did you get any footage of his whole fucking face?”
Slate grinned. “I’m glad you asked, Falcon.”
I flipped him off and half the table laughed.
“He stopped at that fancy tobacco store on the other side of the Steel City-Vegas border. That place is packed to hell with Euro-gangsters.”
“That tracks,” Diesel grunted, looking pissed as fuck. “Anything else?”
“Oh fuck, yeah,” Slate said in that giddy voice that was a constant reminder he was a nerd first, biker second.
“But before we get to that, check it out.” A crystal clear image appeared on the screen of a tall man with a light blond crewcut, icy blue eyes, a sharp jaw, and a crisp suit.
“Thank fuck the owners know their clientele.”
“Did you identify him yet?” I studied that asshole’s face carefully, taking in every detail right down to the scar in his left eyebrow. If I saw him again, I would make that motherfucker pay.
Slate shook his head. “I’m still working on that part. But after he left the tobacco shop, look who he met up with.” He tapped a key and a new video began. It was the tall blond dude meeting up with a familiar face in a three-piece suit.
“Son of a bitch!” My palm smacked against the table, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the friendly greeting, the smiles they shared.
Slate flashed a sympathetic grin. “Is this the something you were hoping I’d find?”
I nodded. I wanted him to find anything he could that would give us some leverage over the asshole, and finding out that Viv’s ex knew a man associated with Alexei Petrov meant something.
I had to, because coincidences like that didn’t fucking exist. “Yeah. All of this shit is starting to make sense.” I didn’t have all the pieces yet, but I knew that he had orchestrated all of this.
“You find anything about Alexei’s surgery? ”
“Not yet,” Slate sighed. “Most of the hospital records aren’t digital yet so I’m gonna have to go old school.” He wiggled his brows. “I’m working on a disguise as we speak.”
I frowned. “Can’t Katey or Laura look into it?” We didn’t have time for his undercover shit.
He shook his head. “The system logs accesses to patient records. I’m gonna handle it myself. No point in gettin’ them in trouble when I can do it easier and stealthier.”
Frustration welled up inside of me. All of the pieces were right there but I couldn’t see how they all fit together yet, which meant that Vivian and TJ were still in danger. It meant Viv hadn’t given up on leaving yet.
It meant I could still lose her.
A long, tense silence settled around the room, and I knew my brothers were thinking exactly what I was.
Shit was gonna get a hell of a lot worse before it got better.
“It’s clear as fuck that James is the link between Alexei’s death and Vivian taking the blame.
” Hawk shook his head, flashing a look of sympathy my way.
Slate nodded. “It’s looking that way, but we don’t have proof yet and without that the Russians won’t give a fuck.”
“They might not give a fuck anyway,” Rocky offered. “Sorry, brother,” he said the words to me. “But even with the truth we might still have to go scorched earth to keep your woman safe.”
I nodded to keep from showing my fury. Dr. James fucking St. John III was a dead man, the only question was whether he died by my hand or the Russians’.
He was the reason Vivian left, the reason I missed out on my son’s first two years of life.
“I want that motherfucker. Now.” My hands balled into fists so tight my knuckles turned white as rage bubbled up inside of me.
I felt helpless as fuck and I was itching to do something, anything, to keep my family safe.
“Why the fuck are they meeting now though?” That question had been gnawing at me and none of the answers I came up with felt right.
Diesel stood, his gaze fixed on mine. “You’ll get St. John but first we need to get answers.” He stood to his full height, crossing his arms over his chest. “We need proof he killed Alexei—if he did, or it won’t matter. Something concrete we can take to the Russians.”
My jaw hardened. Anger bubbled in my throat, hot and sharp, and heavy as fuck.
“I know you want him now, brother.” Rebel sat beside me, always the fucking voice of reason.
“But the best shot for Vivian and TJ is if we avoid war with the Petrov Bratva. We need to get this fancy fucker talking first. If that doesn’t work, we make sure not even a hair of their bodies is ever unearthed. ”
A reluctant grin tugged at one side of my mouth. “You say the sweetest shit to me, Rebel.”
That earned me a middle finger. “Diesel is right. We gotta try this the right way, the easy way first. The Russians are ruthless pricks, but they only kill for a good reason, aside from collateral damage, of course.” He nodded.
“If we show them it wasn’t Vivian, they’ll take care of St. John for us. ”
I listened to my brothers convince me to go against my baser instincts.
To avoid knee-jerk revenge before we got what we needed.
“Yeah, okay.” I would wait because I had to but there was still the issue of Viv.
“How the fuck am I going to tell her that he’s in this even more than she thinks?
” I couldn’t fucking stand the thought of scaring her, of hurting her with this news.
“You don’t,” Diesel said immediately. “Right now there’s nothing to tell her and we can’t risk that she’ll do something dumb, like try to sacrifice herself for the false promise of our safety.
” His jaw clenched and he watched me carefully.
I knew what he was looking for, signs that I was still the reckless prospect I’d been for the past six months, so I let him see me.
All of him. I would always be a little bit reckless but right now I had goals beyond being the toughest son of a bitch in the room.
“Yeah, okay. I won’t say shit to her.” That would be hard as fuck, but the thought of her leaving was enough to keep my fucking mouth closed.
“Got it,” Slate shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
“His name is Mihail Rublev, but he goes by Misha.” He pointed to the passport photo of the blond.
“And the phone he gave to the kids came back to a credit card owned by Anton Petrov. It ain’t much but at least we know for sure he’s part of the assholes chasing Vivian. ”
Conversation and plans swirled around me as my anger grew into its own living, breathing entity.
This wasn’t just about the fact that the Russians had fucked with my MC and put the people I cared about in danger.
No, it was darker and deeper than that. It was a deep, pulsing anger at what I’d lost thanks to these motherfuckers.
It was a sensation quieter than rage but more insidious.
I had a feeling taking out St. John wouldn’t satisfy it, but it was a damn good start.
“You okay?” Diesel’s low voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I met his worried gaze and got to my feet, nodding. “Yeah, I’m good, just got a lot of shit on my mind.”
“You can’t change the past, Falcon, remember that. You can avenge it, and you can make up for it so focus on what you can do. It’s a hell of a lot easier.”
I took his words to heart, vowing to focus on Viv and TJ and the present, not all the shit I missed out on.