Chapter 11
Rhys
I felt like an asshole for not telling Hannah her brothers were accompanying James, but I was afraid she would panic or have time to overthink the visit.
They were coming into town for a meeting with some of Lucian’s connections, hoping to gain some new information, and when I called them to let them know what Hannah had told me, they asked if they could stop by to meet her.
Initially, I hesitated, but when they explained they wanted to bring her into the family, to ensure her safety and maybe be able to ask a few questions, I knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later.
I’d rather be by her side, holding her hand and offering reassurance while they spoke, than for the madman and the lunatic to overwhelm her with their driving need to destroy the last of the Lenkov empire.
I stepped to the side, allowing them to walk past me as I saw Hannah standing on the other side of her couch, fidgeting with her hands as she looked on with uncertainty.
I walked back to her as James closed the door behind him and locked it.
Taking Hannah by the hand, I turned to look at her as I spoke softly.
“They wanted to meet you, officially, and maybe ask you some questions. Please don’t be mad, but I didn’t want you to sit around and make yourself sick with worry. I promise, they’re good people, and when you’ve had enough, tell me and I’ll make them leave. Agreed?”
She swallowed thickly before nodding. I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before gently squeezing her hand and turning back to speak to the three intrusive dickheads standing in the living room, watching with veiled amusement.
I knew that was because they’d never seen me give a damn about relationships, but with Hannah, I wanted it all. And I wanted it now.
Shoving the caveman deep into his cave, I spoke to Hannah. “Hannah, this is Devlin, Lucian, and James. Gentlemen, meet Hannah.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Hannah. How have you been?” James asked as Devlin and Lucian stared at her with an expression I didn’t understand.
“I’ve been good. I . . . I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any trouble.”
Devlin stepped forward and slowly approached Hannah and me. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You did nothing wrong, and I’m sorry my . . . our father is still causing problems from the grave.”
“It’s not like we can change what he did,” she replied, and Devlin nodded his agreement. “Would you like to have a seat?” she asked everyone, and Lucian stepped forward as Devlin retreated.
“If it’s okay, why don’t we sit outside? It’s a beautiful day, and I for one don’t want to talk about everything inside. We need to let Sergey’s negativity out, so it’s not trapped inside your house,” James proposed.
“That makes good sense,” I replied and guided Hannah out the back door, silently telling them to follow.
I pulled Hannah’s chair out and got her seated as James, Devlin, and Lucian all took a seat.
I grabbed one of the chairs from the dining room and returned to sit next to Hannah.
After taking her hand into mine and kissing the back, I turned to James and suggested, “Why don’t you explain to Hannah why you wanted to speak with her, and we can go from there.
But I will end this if, at any point, she gets upset or wants to stop. Is that understood?”
I wouldn’t let anyone, including her family, cause her to be upset. She’d dealt with enough in the last six months, and the last thing she needed was those three harpy assholes digging into her life and revealing her personal secrets.
“Understood,” Devlin said, followed by Lucian and, finally, James.
James started as he pulled a laptop from his shoulder bag and opened it up. “I don’t want you to think you need to uncover yourself or speak about anything upsetting. I’m just trying to find out some information that isn’t readily available. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Hannah remarked, and James nodded his understanding.
He turned the computer so Hannah could see it as he began to speak.
“As I know Rhys has told you, the DNA test confirmed your relationship to Sergey.” Hannah nodded, so James continued.
“Do you remember ever meeting Sergey? It’s been hard to track your whereabouts until you entered foster care and then moved in with your granny, but anything you remember may help us get on the right track. ”
James pressed a button and an old picture of Sergey from around the time Lucian was initiated popped onto the screen.
I wanted to punch my fist through his face for all the pain he’d caused over the years but refrained from losing it in front of Hannah.
Lucian and Devlin turned their gazes to her, refusing to look at their father’s picture.
“I honestly don’t think so, but there were so many men coming and going, that it’s a possibility,” Hannah responded as she looked at the picture.
“Do you remember where you lived? The state of Missouri had you living in a little town called Bluffstown when they found you. Does that ring a bell?” James inquired.
“We moved every few months for as long as I can remember. My mother never worked, and looking back, I assume she was probably a prostitute. It’s the only thing that makes sense, since she always had money to party on, just never enough to take care of me,” she reasoned, and I squeezed her hand again, letting her know I was right there for her.
Lucian sat forward and asked me, “Do you still have the list of houses run by the Syndicate in Missouri and the surrounding states?”
“Let me get my computer from the car and I’ll see if it’s on the server,” I said and leaned over to Hannah. “I’ll be right back. Are you okay?”
She reached up and stroked my cheek without a care who was watching as she said, “I’ll be fine.”
Quickly, I walked through the house and hustled to my vehicle, grabbing my laptop from the console stand it was mounted to before returning to the house. I went back outside and saw Hannah smiling as she spoke with Devlin.
“So, I have two nephews, two nieces, including James’s daughter, and one of each on the way from Rylee and Lucian? That’s so exciting,” she said as Devlin showed her pictures on his phone of his kids and Hailey.
“You’ll love DJ. He’s a chick magnet at three years old,” Lucian joked, and I chuckled because he was right.
Even I melted for the little rascal, and in all the times I’d been around him, I’d never seen him be cross or show signs of being spoiled. If Hannah and I ever had kids, I hoped they turned out like DJ.
“Stella was hoping you’d be able to come to Portstill for a visit. I know Elise would love that too, and I’ve got a spare apartment in my building, fully furnished, so you could stay as long as you want.”
“That sounds nice,” she replied as I retook my seat, and she turned to smile at me.
I opened my laptop and pulled up the Wi-Fi. I’d locked Hannah’s into a virtual private network, so it took a moment to get logged in and secured. Once I knew we were good, I accessed my stored files from my server at home and began to look for what Lucian requested.
“What are you looking for?” Hannah asked, and I shifted my computer so she could see.
I wasn’t ever going to hide anything from her, including the darker parts of my personality I kept tamped down, so I wanted her to see what I was doing.
“Over the years, lots of records have been compiled. Records from when Lucian was undercover, to Sergey’s trial, to testimony and statements from other people who had escaped the Syndicate.
It’s how we were able to track who was connected and who were just hired guns,” I explained as I sent my system searching.
“And what specifically are you trying to find?”
Lucian cleared his throat as he delicately explained, “You said you think your mother may have been a professional, and one of the biggest money makers for the Syndicate was . . . whorehouses. There’s a list of cities and some of the women who were saved from them.”
“And you think that’s how my mother and Sergey met?”
“At this point, we’re grasping at straws,” Devlin responded.
“When Sergey died, there were only a few members of the Syndicate out of jail, and over the years, they’ve been handled, so we’re trying to find any connection to the men in that house and the original members.
We’re just missing something key to discovering who’s behind your kidnapping. ”
“What about the man with the black hair from the house?” she asked softly. “He was there when I first arrived, but I didn’t see him the day of the initiation.” I turned to look at her as Devlin and Lucian leaned closer.
“Tell me about him,” Devlin requested as James turned his computer and began typing away.
My system was still searching for the keywords I’d entered, so I focused completely on Hannah and her recounting of her days in that house.
“It was the first day I was there. They drugged me, and when I woke up, I was in one of the bedrooms of that house. After I was given the rules to follow, they allowed me to roam the house. I ran into a man, maybe a few years younger than me, black hair, green eyes, wearing an expensive suit. He had an air of superiority to him that was off-putting.”
“Can you explain?” James asked as he looked over the top of his laptop.
“It seemed like he was enjoying an inside joke at my expense, if that makes sense. He wasn’t threatening, but he strutted around like he owned the place. Hell, it could’ve been his house, for all I know. But there was something about him that screamed danger.”
“And you’re sure he wasn’t at the house that night?” James asked, and Hannah shook her head.
He cast his eyes to me then back to his computer, and when he looked back at me again, I gave a subtle nod. The night we rescued Hannah and Rylee, every man who took his last breath in that house was photographed. James typed something and then looked at Hannah.
“Will you look at some pictures and see if you recognize him?”
She twisted her mouth but nodded her agreement.
I took her hand into mine as James spun the computer and pushed it closer to her.
She reached out and pressed the space bar as she went through fifteen or so pictures, pausing only on the photo of the man who took from her and was ended by Rylee.
Devlin had snapped it when he was face down on the table where he’d hurt Hannah, and she briefly closed her eyes before pressing the space bar again.
When she got to the end, she pushed the computer back and said, “I didn’t see him.” Pausing, she asked, “Does that mean there’s still someone out there?”
“At this point, we don’t know what it means. What I can absolutely say is this. No one will hurt you again. Not only do you have Rhys, but now you have us, and we protect our family with everything we have. I know this is all so much to take in, but I promise, you’re safe.”
Lucian’s words seemed to calm her slightly, but I could see the stress still on her face. “Can we take five?” I asked, and the three men nodded.
Standing, I guided Hannah out of her chair and into the house as James kept working and the brothers spoke quietly.
My laptop had thousands of pages to go through, so it could take a while.
Hannah looked at me when we reached her bedroom, and I urged her to sit on the edge of the bed.
Kneeling in front of her, I took both her hands in mine as I spoke.
“How are you holding up?”
“I don’t know, honestly. It’s all so much to take in,” she responded.
“If you’ve had enough for today, I can make them leave.”
She shook her head. “I want to help. I want this to end, so no one ever has to worry about them again.”
I pecked her on the lips as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her. Ending the kiss, I softly said, “You’re so wonderful.” She blushed, and I asked, “Are you ready to go back out there?”
“I guess.”
Chuckling, I stood and held my hands out to help her stand. Keeping her close to me, we went back outside, and I helped her sit down before retaking my seat. My system was still running, pulling pages and throwing them into a file so they’d be compiled when finished.
Devlin spoke first. “Do you know what happened to your mother?”
Shrugging, Hannah answered, “Granny got a letter from her about a year after she left me, postmarked from California. I think I have it inside somewhere, but it may take me a day or two to find it.”
“So, she’s still alive?” Lucian asked.
“As far as I know. She hasn’t made one move to try and contact me in the years she’s been gone, so I have no idea about anything where she’s concerned.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to have my system start looking for her. If we can establish some facts about her, like where she worked, where you lived, where she went after she left, then maybe we can piece together how she met Sergey and where she’s at now,” Devlin explained.
“As long as I don’t have to speak with her, you can do whatever you want,” Hannah uttered.
“You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” Devlin replied.
“All I want to do is finally put an end to the Syndicate and the vile things they believe to be their birthright,” Lucian stated, and I saw Hannah turn her full attention to him.
James lifted his eyes from behind the computer and gazed at me.
He could see the wheels spinning in Hannah’s brain as much as I could, and I’m sure, to some degree, he’d been listening in on our conversation this morning.
I hated that he probably heard personal things about Hannah, but he was doing everything he could to figure out who was behind all this.
He raised his eyebrows at me, and I subtly shrugged.
“Can I ask you some questions, Lucian? That is, if you don’t mind,” Hannah started, and I saw Lucian turn his full attention to her.
“I’ll answer whatever I can that’s not classified,” he replied.
“Please pardon my bluntness, but I don’t know how else to ask the question.” He nodded, so she asked, “Why is raping a woman part of the initiation?”
All eyes moved to Lucian, and I felt bad for my friend, but this was something Hannah needed to know.
She needed to understand how he could have become a monster.