Chapter 4 #2
“Not one that sticks,” I said. “The ID she used was fake, a high-level forgery. Facial recognition came up empty. No match in any system, not ours, not Interpol’s, not even the dark net. She’s a ghost.”
Roman frowned, sitting back in his chair. “Everyone leaves a footprint, Dmitri. Everyone.”
“Apparently not your new friend,” I replied. “Whoever she is, she’s better than good. Or at the least, she has friends in very high places.”
Lev set the photo down and straightened his cuffs. “We’ll have to go through the penthouse. Every inch of it. If she left anything behind, I’ll find it.”
Roman raised a brow. “You make that sound disturbingly personal.”
“I take my work seriously,” Lev said, expression flat.
“I’m sure you do.” Roman smirked. “Maybe you can give the place a full forensic sweep while you’re at it. Swab the sheets. Dust for fingerprints. Should be thrilling for you.”
“Careful,” Lev said, voice quiet but edged. “If I find anything too incriminating, I might have to file a full report complete with color photos and a detailed description of your questionable taste in women.”
“Alright,” I said sharply. “Lev’s right. We’ll search the penthouse ourselves. No outsiders. Not until we know what and who we’re dealing with.”
Roman groaned and dragged a hand through his hair. “So this is how I’m spending my day? Watching my little brother rifle through my things while you stand over me with that disappointed father face you do best?”
I folded my hands on the desk. “Yes. That’s exactly how you’re spending your day.”
Lev smiled faintly. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Roman shot him a look. “Of course you are. You probably dream about catching me in some embarrassing compromising position.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Lev replied. “I have way more interesting nightmares. Besides, you handed that to us on a silver platter before dawn.”
I exhaled slowly, leaning back in my chair. “I sometimes wonder how the two of you survived childhood without killing each other.”
Roman’s grin returned, easy and sharp. “Because I’m charming, and he’s too moody to get away with it.”
Lev’s voice was a deadpan drawl. “Keep talking, and I’ll make your charm a closed-casket virtue.”
I held up a hand before it could devolve further. “Gentlemen. We can threaten to murder each other after we’ve secured the family’s assets, not before.”
Roman sighed, stretching his legs out. “Fine. I’ll cooperate. But for the record, this mystery woman, she didn’t take anything from me.”
“You don’t know that,” Lev said.
Roman looked at him, something flickering in his eyes. “No, I don’t. But I’d like to think if I’d met someone capable of drugging and robbing me, I’d remember her.”
“You were drugged, idiot,” Lev said. “That’s the point.”
“Maybe,” Roman replied, thoughtful now. “Or maybe she didn’t take anything at all.”
I studied him for a long moment. “You think this was random? A coincidence?”
“I think people do strange things in Dubai,” he said. “And I think if someone wanted to hurt us, they wouldn’t start by taking off my clothes.”
Lev’s mouth twitched, almost a smile. “Unless they knew you’d hate it more that way.”
“Touché,” Roman said, lifting a hand in mock salute.
I shook my head. “You two belong in a zoo.”
“Probably,” Roman agreed easily. “But at least we’d make it a good-looking zoo.”
Lev turned toward me, all traces of humor gone. “When do we leave?”
“Now,” I said. “I want that penthouse stripped down to its studs and slabs. If she touched anything in that room, I want to know about it as soon as possible.”
Roman sighed, standing. “Fine. But if I find her first, I’m handling it my way.”
“No, you won’t,” I warned. “I’m going to be handling it my way.”
He gave me that grin again—the one that always came right before trouble. “We’ll see, brother.”
Lev’s voice was quiet as he followed Roman toward the door. “Try to keep your pants on this time.”
Roman didn’t even turn around. “No promises.”
Lev stopped right before exiting and turned his head back to me. “So, what happens when we find her, brother? Do we send her flowers, or set her on fire?”
“Neither,” I said. “We make an example of her.”
Roman folded his arms, his expression unreadable. “You mean punish her.”
I met his gaze. “I mean remind her what it means to play games with our family.”
Roman smirked. “And what, exactly, does that mean? We’ve been known to enjoy games before, especially with a woman shared between our three cocks.”
Lev shot him a look. “If you’re referring to games, you just enjoy losing them.”
“Only when the company is good.” Roman’s smile turned sly. “Maybe we’ll decide what kind of punishment she deserves after we meet her again. Together.”
Lev’s jaw tightened. “You think she’d survive all three of us?”
“If she took something from me, I think she’d try to,” Roman said, his tone rich with that lazy amusement that made men want to hit him and women want to follow him. “And I think that would be half the fun.”
The room fell quiet for a moment, the air charged with tension. We’d never agreed on much, but on this, I could feel the unspoken accord humming beneath the surface: whoever she was, she’d touched something in all three of us—ego, pride, intrigue, and our reputations.
Lev finally said, “When we find her, we’ll handle it together, then.”
Roman’s smirk faltered, just for a heartbeat. “You really think you can work with me without strangling me halfway through?”
“Hmph. Depends on what we find,” Lev said.
I stood, cutting through their barbed humor. “Enough. If you two want to tear each other apart, do it after we’ve dealt with her. Until then, we move as one.”
Roman’s smile returned, cool and predatory. “For once, big brother, I think we’re all on the same page.”