CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Connor
E wan winds down his conversation about how he’s staying a few extra days in Waterford to meet up with his best friend Kieran O’Rourke, who is there to sell his mother’s family estate.
Shane took a call right when we got into the office, and has been in the corner giving me strange looks for the past twenty minutes.
Ewan hangs up, and I’m already twitching to be with Raina again when Shane joins us at the desk.
“Sabine, can I talk to the brats alone? Empire business,” Shane says, taking his usual seat near the window.
His twin rolls her eyes and practically flies out of the room. She has no interest in what we do. It’s why she refused to marry Kieran. That, and she knew he was still in love with our sister Norah at the time.
So much has changed in the last seven years.
Shane watches the door click shut and then blurts, “They’re looking for Raina.”
My body goes cold, and I curse inwardly that I should have guessed that call had to do with my venom and the Albanian disaster at my doorstep. “Who’s they ?”
“Tahiri. He’s on a rampage. My cleaning lady spy fled the compound and data-dumped intel on me from a fucking bus.”
“Good,” I spit out. “I’m glad Tahiri is losing it. He got caught in a massive lie.”
“Are they planning to attack?” Griffin asks, sitting back in Da’s old chair.
“It’s deeper than that,” Shane says. “ Does the name Valdrin Sokolov ring a bell?”
Not only does it ring a bell, it sends fucking chills down my spine. “Aye, why? What the hell does he have to do with this?”
“Sokolov is one of Tahiri’s hitmen.”
“Fuck,” Griffin mutters, his head in his hands.
My heart stops. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
With a name like Sokolov, I always assumed he was a contract killer for the Bratva.
“And Sokolov is also Havok ,” Shane adds.
“That drug dealer identity was a plant to bait Raina in. He’s her handler over there, and according to my spy, Tahiri thinks Sokolov turned on him.
That he helped Raina disappear after she failed to kill you.
And now fucking Sokolov has been dragged to a black site for it. ”
I rake a hand down my face and expect any second that Griffin will order me to hand over Raina to Tahiri.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Valdrin Sokolov?” I ask.
“It’s the ghost himself,” Shane says with disbelief. “I have photos and videos coming. I’m digging into his connection to Berisha and Raina, but he didn’t come out of hiding for nothing.”
I stare out the window. Raina never said a word about Sokolov. Not when she confessed, not when I pushed. Hell, especially not when I pushed.
Why?
Maybe she doesn’t know how lethal he is. But my venom is not an amateur. She can read people.
The Albanians keep playing dangerous games. When will they learn? We already killed one of their kyres, and I have their princess in my bed every night.
Depending on who her father really is— I stop, my throat going tight.
“Shane, how old is Valdrin? ”
“Documents I found years ago would put him at about forty-six now.” Shane exhales and settles into his chair. “You’re going down that road, too?”
“That Valdrin is Raina’s father?” I need a cigarette. I need nicotine’s familiar bite to flood my system, dealing with this earth-shattering twist. “How can we prove or disprove paternity?”
“We need Sokolov’s DNA,” Griffin suggests.
“Shane, get another cleaning lady over there,” I snap.
“That won’t work if Sokolov is at a black site, tied up with a gun to his head, and only your girlfriend can get him out,” Shane says sternly, knowing full well that means I can lose her. “Raina needs to contact him before Tahiri ices him. Have her set up a meeting with him.”
“Why not just find him ourselves?” Fury floods my veins.
“Grab him and poke him for the DNA? I don’t want her anywhere near Sokolov.
He lied to her once for Tahiri. Who knows what he’ll do to keep Tahiri from killing him?
” I stand up and pace. “If Valdrin isn’t her father, that means he’s on board for whatever the hell Noel’s plans are. That makes him even more dangerous.”
“And what if he is Raina’s father?” Griffin asks.
“Then we turn him,” I say, the answer stark and clear. “Bring him over to our side.”
“Christ, how serious are you about this woman?” Shane barks.
“Why is that important? I never questioned how you were sneaking around with Lennox while you were engaged to her sister , Shane.”
“Brats!” Griffin roars, waving Shane off from going for my throat. “You’ve made it clear you’re serious about her. That means we need a plan for how to deal with your future father-in-law, who is a dangerous and notorious killer.”
“Whoa.” Hearing father-in-law sets me back, and my heart gives a hard thump in my chest.
“Breathe, brother. Remember, we all have to deal with crap in-laws,” Griffin says, since he still clashes with Ava’s brother Ares Zervas, the head of the Greek Mafia.
“No one’s had it worse than me with Richard Donnelly,” Shane says, trying to make this a contest.
But he loved Lennox forever, and I just met Raina.
“That’s step ten in this project,” I bark. “Once we get Sokolov, I’ll have my guys turn him. If he’s Raina’s father, he’ll want to be with her. Because there is no way she’s going back to Tahiri.”
I’m done letting that scum kyre think he can take what’s mine without consequence.