Chapter Twenty
Instantly, Seth recognized the man. Not only did he wear a flashy tailored suit that probably cost ten grand, his dark hair, icy eyes, and ruthlessly carved profile belonged on the big screen.
He wielded power like a man meant to reign over boardrooms—but the thin scar running from his left temple to his jaw, his ink, and his thick Russian accent betrayed him as something far more dangerous.
Nikolai Volkov, Bratva boss. The deadliest man Seth had ever called friend—and one he’d never expected to see again, hovering over a terrified Heavenly.
“Nikolai!” Seth raced toward Heavenly and tucked her behind his body protectively. “What the fuck are you doing? You don’t talk to her.”
Instantly, the Russian’s four brutish bodyguards closed in. Seth didn’t back down. With a grin, Nikolai waved them away. “Seth Cooper, my friend. Why so hostile?”
Seth eyed the still-hovering bodyguards before turning his glare back on Nik. Christ, if the wrong people saw Heavenly with the Russian… “Whatever reason you’re here, she’s not part of it. You want to talk? You find me. You don’t approach her. She knows nothing. She’s off-limits.”
Nikolai stepped back and raised his hands in a gesture of mock innocence. “I did not think you want me to interrupt meeting with cop friend. A thousand apologies.”
That was who’d been watching him and Tony? Why? Nikolai didn’t surface in upscale places teeming with polite society without a fucking good reason.
“Heavenly, go upstairs. Text Beck that you’ll be in the room and to meet you there as soon as he’s done. Do it now.”
She frowned, her gaze ping-ponging between him and Nikolai. “Seth, what’s—”
“Don’t argue, angel. Let me know the second you’re safely inside the room. Don’t open the door for anyone except me or Beck. No maids, no room service, no one. Do you understand?”
“O-Okay.” She looked shaken, but she nodded and pulled out her phone.
Seth watched her text Beck with trembling fingers before he guided her to the elevator. “Don’t forget to tell me when you’re safe. If I haven’t heard from you in two minutes, I’m coming after you.”
“I will.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and watched her disappear behind the closing doors. Once the car shot up, he turned back to Nikolai, his posture still tense. “We shouldn’t talk here.”
“You are right.” Nikolai adjusted his cuff links. “I have arranged small meeting room on third floor. Very private.”
Seth’s phone buzzed. Heavenly’s text confirmed she was safely in the room, alone. Relief flooded him. Now he could focus on the man who’d helped him track down his family’s killer eight years ago.
He pinned his glare on Nikolai. “Lead the way. While you do, tell me what the fuck you were doing approaching her?”
“Very beautiful woman, this angel of yours. Pretty diamond on finger. When is wedding?”
“You don’t need to know about her, Nik.” But he probably already did.
“She looks too sweet for pervert like you.” Nikolai’s eyes glittered with amusement. “But appearances deceive, no? Who knew that Seth Cooper likes to share his woman? Especially with important surgeon.”
Seth’s blood froze. Nikolai could only know about Beck if he’d been watching them. And he wouldn’t do that without cause. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Relax. I merely talked to your angel.”
“About what? I know your usual method of talking, Nik,” Seth whispered tersely. “With a well-charged battery and jumper cables.”
The big Russian laughed and led him to a stairwell clearly used by employees, bodyguards flanking them. “I would never talk to her like that. I only tell her to have you contact me so your detective friend would not ask, shall we say, uncomfortable questions.”
That gave Seth pause. “Fine. What’s up?”
“Still straight to business. I like that about you.” Nikolai ascended the stairs without breaking stride. Hell, without sounding even slightly winded. And he looked immaculate doing it.
The Russian didn’t say anything more until they emerged from the stairwell and strode to the end of the hall. Only after the bodyguards swept the small but ornate meeting room and Nikolai closed the door behind them did he begin. “Done more digging into past since you talked to Silas?”
Nik’s reminder that he and Seth shared the same brutal “language” was subtle, but irrefutable.
Seth clenched his jaw. “No. After that conversation I told you I was done. That hasn’t changed in the last eight years.”
Nikolai sent him a sharp nod. “And your woman. She knows of…chat with Silas?”
“She knows what she needs to know. Leave it—and her—alone.”
Nikolai nodded—a silent agreement not to come near Heavenly again. “Since you spoke to Silas, the organization he worked for has grown bigger. Stronger. Too powerful to be allowed.”
Seth’s jaw tightened. He’d always known that Silas had worked for someone else.
The thug had had a rap sheet miles long without any connection to Seth, much less his wife and son.
The hit had been too well-coordinated and complex for a lone wolf.
But after four days of brutally interrogating Silas, the bastard had never broken and never said who had put him up to the murders or why.
So Seth had been forced to choose—continue hunting the criminals who’d offed his wife, son, and father…
or walk away and protect what remained of his family.
The thought of losing his mother and four younger brothers had been too horrific to continue.
“How much bigger?” Seth asked grimly.
“Big enough to take over. Their leader is Specter. He is like ghost. When my men think we have him cornered, he disappears.”
The implications made Seth’s blood run cold. “You think Specter also hired Silas?”
Nikolai shrugged, but his expression darkened. “Gut tells me yes. The methods, the precision, way they vanish when cornered… It feels familiar. That happened to you, too, yes?”
“Yes.” But Seth hadn’t expected that in the eight years he’d spent building a new life, the criminal organization could be growing stronger. And he should have. “Fuck.”
“Could be different group, but how many ghosts in city are this good at hiding?”
“Tell me what you know.”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes. “Remember who you are speaking to, my friend.”
“Yeah, I know…I know. You don’t take orders, you give them.” Seth swallowed his frustration. “You came to me, Nik. If you want help, I need information.”
“Specter’s organization threatens distribution channels. They are drying up. Turf is shrinking, squeezing out organization. Italians and Chinese, too. They have high-level of protection and—”
“You’ve never played well with others, but you’re cooperating with rival families?” If Nikolai was comparing notes with the other mob bosses in the city, Specter’s revenue and power must be huge.
“Desperate times…” Nikolai dropped his voice. “I tried cooperating with detective, provide information to take Specter down, but he was silenced.”
Seth froze. “Kowalski?”
The Russian scowled, but nodded. “Tell me what you know.”
He couldn’t give Tony’s name to the mobster, or his former partner might wind up dead, too. Nikolai would likely suspect, but Seth refused to confirm. “I heard he was gunned down in an alley recently. Supposedly a robbery gone wrong.”
Nikolai scoffed. “I was not born yesterday. Neither were you. It was easy to keep alliance alive—until I told detective that a cop was protecting Specter. He agreed to investigate. Then he called to say he had update. After that…I read obituary.”
Holy shit. “When did you last hear from him?”
“Morning he died.”
Fuck. His exchange with Tony earlier replayed in his head.
Things have changed, gotten more political. Corrupt. And getting worse every day.
We’ve always known there are a few dirty cops at the station who—
This is bigger. Darker.
If everything Tony and Nikolai had said was true, that probably meant that whoever had offed his father, whoever had set the bomb for Autumn and Tristan…
Had been a cop.
Someone who’d worked with his father. Someone who might even have shaken Seth’s hand at the funeral. Someone still walking around with a badge, still trusted, still protected by the system.
Seth froze, then shoved down his reaction. He shouldn’t tip off Nikolai. “What else do you know about Specter’s organization?”
He shrugged. “Not enough.”
Nik wasn’t in a good spot, but Seth couldn’t get involved. “I get you, but I left this shit behind. I’m only here for a few days, then I’m flying back to LA.”
“You owe me.”
That pissed Seth off. “I don’t. You gave me one name eight years ago. I paid my debt to you—many times over. You wanted people gone, and I made that happen. We’re even.”
“It is not so simple. I heard when you arrived yesterday. In September, too.” Nikolai’s smile was cold. “If I am aware of such things, do you not think they are, too? Be careful, my friend. You have as much to lose as you did eight years ago, no?”
The warning slammed through Seth. He thought of Heavenly upstairs, possibly carrying their child. Of Beck, who’d become as much of a brother as his other siblings. Of Hudson, the son he was just learning to love.
Nikolai was right—he had everything to lose now.
“Jesus.” He raked a hand through his hair.
He’d suspected someone could still be watching him, but Nikolai confirming that? And if Seth’s suspicions were right, if it was a cop, the dirty son of a bitch could be getting the information about his comings and goings from anywhere. From anyone.
“This is not a me-problem. If you hear something, you call,” Nikolai demanded.
As much as Seth hated to, he nodded. “If I hear anything concrete, yeah.”
“Good. Tell your nervous friend Tony to be careful. People watch him.”
Seth’s guts seized. It had been one thing for Tony to suspect that, but another altogether for Nikolai to know it. “He’s aware.”
Nikolai nodded, his expression sober. “Enjoy your mother’s wedding, but keep head down. They are watching you.”