Chapter Four
Yuri stepped into the kitchen and made the call he needed to make.
When Sergi answered the phone, Yuri caught him up with the situation, “Boo’s mother left a note for her that she hoped would reach her father one day.
It led us to something her mother had hidden before she died and we’re not sure what it means. We may need Serenity and Nicky’s help.”
“What did you find?” Sergi asked.
Yuri could hear the concern in his voice as he explained, “We found an old SIM card and it listed Bratva along with every other group in the city. It also listed the Kings of Wrath MC in the files.” Yuri paused, then told him, “We know these files are at least twenty years old and they may not mean a damn thing now. But until we can figure out what all this does mean we have to dig deeper and figure this out. This could bring something we certainly don’t need in the city. ”
“Da, of course you are right. Things have been strained in New Orleans for a while now. Trouble may be brewing and we have to stop it if we can.”
“Da, we do,” Yuri agreed. “We also found out why her mother stayed where she was and why Lionel hurt Boo so much. He was a fucking coward and thought he could use brute strength to get what he wanted and he wanted her mother but not necessarily Boo. Pride wants to bring Lionel back from the dead and kill him all over again.”
“Can you blame him?” Sergi asked. “Wouldn’t you feel the same if someone hurt one of your daughters the way that coward hurt Boo?”
Yuri sighed hard and replied, “Da, I would.”
“No matter what the man felt for Joanie, Boo is still his daughter and he missed out on her growing years,” Sergi pointed out.
“But you are right we do need to dig in deeper. I’ll bring Nicky and Serenity with me.
They wish to come and visit anyway. I intended to speak to Raven about that.
We will be there by nightfall. Hopefully we can solve this puzzle before the city explodes. ”
Yuri ended the call and walked back to the living room.
“Sergi and the others will be here in a few hours but until then, we have to dig in and find whatever we can.” He paused then ran his hand over the back of his head.
“Kirill, maybe you, Boo and Andros should stay at the hotel for the next few days. I’d rather have you both safe. ”
Pride crossed his arms over his chest and said, “We can stay and protect Boo and her son. I’m not leaving the city until I know she and Andros are safe.”
His men all stood and stepped up beside him to show their alliance for her protection.
Yuri shook his head. “You can stay with your men at the hotel as well.” He stared at Pride’s lieutenants and went on, “In case you didn’t notice, your names are on that list as well and until we know exactly what that list was composed for we need to be careful.”
Pride glanced at his men then back to Yuri and he nodded. “We’ll stick around, just don’t shut us out. I know you think this is your business and we don’t want to stick our nose in your business but like you said, our name was on that list too and Boo is still my daughter.”
Candyman nodded as he added, “Let us help with this.”
Yuri gave them a nod. “Perhaps we can work together as this affects all of us.”
Pride agreed, “We’ll try not to step on your toes brother, but this is our fight too.”
Yuri nodded. “Da, it is.” He glanced at Kosta. “Get your stuff and let's get back to the hotel. He looked over at Boo. “Can you get packed up for at least the next few days?”
Boo nodded then she left for their bedroom.
Looking at Yuri then at Kirill, Pride waited until she left to speak, “Look, I know things are tense in the city and they have been for some time now but she can’t take much more.
I realize I haven’t known her very long but she’s my daughter.
” He looked over at Kirill and shook his head.
“I know you love her and she loves you and Andros. She’s like her mother and they both love the same way.
I missed out on that love but Joanie asked me to choose and I chose my brothers.
Maybe I was wrong but so was she. Every couple has to learn to give and take, all she wanted to do was take.
I didn’t know she left that compound with my child in her belly.
But Joanie didn’t make a mistake when she asked me to protect my daughter.
If I had been able to find her back then she would have been protected from day one.
But over the years, I couldn’t find Boo.
I never knew where she was until I found her at the lake.
” He shook his head. “By then, it was too late, Kirill found her first. He protected her when I couldn’t. ”
“Do you regret that?” Yuri asked with a raised brow.
Pride shook his head. “No I can’t regret it, she found something with him like her mother wanted to have with me but that could never be.
” He paused then said, “But she’s still my daughter and I would die for her.
I will also protect her from any more harm.
She’s suffered enough in this lifetime. All I ask is that you allow me to be there for her. ”
Kirill shook his head. “We aren’t asking you to turn your back on her. Right now, we’ll accept any help we can get. But you are right, there is tension in the city and we have to try to figure out how to solve whatever is happening. And I think that Boo just found out why.”
Rage, Pride's enforcer, nodded at him. “That fucking Rinc family is behind this. I just know it. The whole damn family is rotten.”
“But most of them are dead now, right?” Kosta asked. “I mean we took out Lionel, Logan and Lincon, who are we missing?”
“The Bratva did a family tree and the father died in prison,” Kirill informed them. “Mom went crazy but Boo is right, there is one of the kids left. LaDonna, but she’s nowhere to be found. She hasn’t been seen in years.”
Yuri reached for his phone and sent a text to Serenity to look into LaDonna Rinc.
Just then, Boo came out of her bedroom with a couple of packed suitcases along with a diaper bag stuffed full with Andros’s clothes and diapers.
Kirill hauled their things out to the vehicle while Boo collected the rest of the things she needed for her son. She then placed Andros in his carrier.
Candyman stepped close and asked her, “Can I carry him outside? Not to worry, I have a son of my own.”
Boo paused then smiled at him. “Sure.”
Candyman grabbed the carrier and looked down at the baby. Cooing at Andros, he grinned. “He does have some of Pride’s features.”
Cosmos stepped closer to take a look at Andros. “Wow, he is a cute baby. But let’s hope he doesn’t have that Pride temper.”
The men all chuckled.
“Hey now, respect fellas,” Pride complained. “Give some respect here.”
The Bratva men all laughed with them.
Then everyone moved outside.
Soon, the convoy left and went back to the hotel.
When they got back to the hotel...
They all had some lunch then they settled in.
By late afternoon, Sergi, Felix, Nicky and Serenity had arrived.
Sasha came in through the suite door and paused at the table to tell Pride and Kirill, “Yuri and Sergi wants you both in the security room. Follow me.”
They all went down the hall then out to the main room. Then across the very large room, they entered another hallway.
Finally, they arrived and entered a room with 12 full monitors on video feed and computers. There were desks and chairs all over the large room and most were manned by huge men who were each staring at a computer monitor as if their lives depended on it.
Pride took a slow preview of the room and the equipment. “What the fuck is this, the war room?”
Kirill chuckled from beside him. “I suppose it could be called that.” He stepped over and patted his brother Felix's arm. The man never left Sergi, so it had been a couple of months since he last saw him.
Felix fist bumped him and gave him a grin.
“Da, it is that most of the time.” Yuri nodded at Pride as he stood from the monitor table. “As we are going to war, very soon.”
Serenity had set up her laptop at her own desk.
Sergi stood next to her chair. He glanced up at them and gave them a nod.
Serenity also looked up at Yuri, Kirill and Pride. “After your text just before we left New York City, I searched the dark web. Your LaDonna Rinc was hard to find but I did find her.” Shaking her head she said, “And let me tell you guys she’s something else.”
“What something would that be?” Pride asked.
“Well, the rotten apple doesn’t fall far in her rotten family tree.
In some ways, her brothers were stupid but she is not.
She is absolutely cunning. And the bad news is that she has been at this for a long time.
Her goal might be to blackmail or threaten these people.
I am unsure just yet, but it's smart. She may have been living off some of their money too for all these years. Like she thinks beyond the day and into the future. She waits and watches and then she plans.”
“What does all that mean for our group though?” Yuri asked her.
“I haven’t found any activity from her concerning the Bratva at all. Not yet anyway. You said that the SIM card was twenty years old, right?” she asked.
Yuri nodded. “Boo’s mom hid it in a toy when she was taking her to her father. She died before they reached Pride.”
“I think that was just her beginning,” Serenity told them.
Kosta went over and handed her a piece of paper. “I found this list of names and every name had its own file with a background of each man and their families.” He shrugged. “There really isn’t any information on what she was collecting or what she was going to use it for.”
Serenity nodded. “That makes sense to me though. These men were the ones she was watching, digging up information on them that she could use against them.” She looked at Sergi, “And that’s exactly what she’s been doing.
I can trace her research right down to months ago.
She may be careful but every time she does a search, I’ve been able to find her trail.
And these names?” She held up the paper list. “It looks like these are the very names she traced on the dark net.”
Sergi thought for a moment then asked, “Have you run down her banking info yet?”
Serenity shook her head. “I can’t find her on any banking application. She’s not listed at any bank near here or around the city.”
“What about an LLC? Anything there?” Candyman asked with a shrug. “I mean one of our bank accounts is an LLC for the club.”
Pride looked over at him. “Good call, Candy.”
Serenity began typing commands into her computer.
No one said a word as she continued her search.