Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Win
“Are those men secure?” I grit out, Katarina is still trying to escape out from under me.
“Secure,” Rush calls back.
I finally let her up. She rolls away, vaulting herself toward her brother.
I get up more slowly, rounding the island where I heard Sver. But he’s quiet now. He said he was dying. Has he already passed?
But as I make it around the cabinets, I stop in my tracks.
Sver is gone.
A large pool of blood lies on the floor, but the man is nowhere to be found. “Shit.”
I look over to Katarina, where she inspects her brother’s wounds, Killian next to her.
“Watch her,” I say as Killian’s gaze meets mine.
He gives a nearly imperceptible nod of acknowledgment. Killian is called the shadow. No man is more skilled to protect Katarina. Not even myself.
I take off down the stairs, a trail of blood leading the way. Vaulting down the five flights, I stop on the last, because the blood trail just disappears.
How in the hell…
For a moment I stop, looking back up the stairwell.
How likely is it that Sver lives? And even if he does, is he a threat?
Making a decision, I start back up the stairs.
Sver is a problem for another day. Right now, I want to make certain Katarina is cared for.
I sprint back up the stairs and enter the penthouse again.
Crossing to Ivan, Rush stands above him.
I bend down, reaching into Ivan’s shirt pocket first. Then, I check his jacket, and finally his trousers.
The police will be here any second and then his body will be gone.
I’m not certain what I’m looking for, only that Ivan has always been dangerous and I’m nothing if not thorough.
In his right pocket, I find a business card.
Pulling it out, I note that there are not one but two. The first makes my lips press into a thin line.
Matteo Andriani. He is the man we set up to take over the Italian Mafia here in Vegas. Was he double dealing with Ivan?
The second card holds a very different name.
Vigo Sinclair.
“Is that who I think it is?” Rush asks, bending down next to me.
My lips press into a hard line. “King of New York underworld and a man not even I have been willing to tangle with.” But with our expansion to New York, there is every possibility we might.
Our money is all legal. But we brush the criminal realm often enough. What did Ivan have to do with Vigo?
As I turn over the card, another name is penned on the back.
“What the fuck?” Rush snatches the card from my hand. “Why would he have my name on the back of Vigo’s card?”
“I don’t know…” I take the card back from my brother, dread pooling in my limbs. This is a very bad sign. From across the room, Katarina’s eyes meet mine. I have two reasons to dig for answers. The love of my life and my youngest brother. “But I’m going to find out.”