Chapter 28 – Ilya
Yevgeni and Markov were brought in just after dawn.
We’d caught them at the private airstrip outside the city, bags packed, false documents already stamped.
They’d been hours from wheels-up when Boris’s team closed the net. By the time they reached the warehouse, there was no fight left in them. Just the dull acceptance of men who knew the math had finally turned against them.
The room was the same one we always used for this kind of work. Concrete walls. A single metal table bolted to the floor. Two chairs on their side, one on mine.
A bare bulb hung overhead but never flickered. No windows. The air smelled of old dust and the sharp cleaner someone had used on the floor the night before.
A camera in the corner recorded everything, but I didn’t need the footage. I needed answers.
I sat across from them and let the silence stretch. Yevgeni kept his eyes on the table. Markov stared at a point somewhere past my shoulder.
Both still wore the clothes they’d been grabbed in—expensive, wrinkled, the kind of outfits men chose when they thought they’d be on a plane by morning.
“You know why you’re here,” I said.
Neither answered.
“Nexum,” I continued. “Start talking.”
Yevgeni was the first to break. His voice came out rough, like he hadn’t used it much in the last twelve hours. “Look, we didn’t order the hits on the estate. I promise, that wasn’t us.”
“But you fed them the information.”
“They already had pieces,” he said. “We filled in the rest. Access points. Guard rotations. The gate protocols. They paid well for it.”
“Do you even hear yourself, you fuckin’ asshole!” Boris growled, eyes blazing with fury.
“Tell your guard dog to stand down.” Markov stared at him, exuding an air of confidence even though I knew he was just as scared as Yevgeni.
Boris’s scowl deepened, but he didn’t react. Yet. He’d have plenty of time to do that later.
Yevgeni shifted in his chair, panic coloring his eyes. “We thought it would stay quiet. Small transfers. Nothing that would draw attention from inside. Then the girl started looking at the ledgers.”
I kept my expression even. “That ‘girl’ is my wife, and you will refer to her as such.”
He swallowed hard. “Your wife saw the patterns too fast.”
“That was her mistake,” Markov said. “If she hadn’t gotten involved in other people’s affairs, Nexum would never have noticed her.” A pause. “Now imagine their surprise when they found out she’s the daughter of Henry Hart.”
My brows knitted ever so slightly. “What’re you talking about?”
A smug smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “She didn’t tell you?”
“Are you going to talk, or do I have to beat it out of you?” Boris cracked his knuckles.
“There’ll be no need for that. I’ll tell you everything.” Markov glanced at him, then looked at me again. “Your wife’s father spent years in federal work. Organized crime task forces. Financial investigations.”
I didn’t know this. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me surprised.
“He wasn’t a field agent, but he knew how to follow money. He had contacts. Old files.”
A pause.
“Nexum tracked him for a long time before he died. So when they found out the girl who breached their system was his daughter, they assumed she’d eventually reach out to those contacts. Or find something in his old records that pointed back to them.”
“She didn’t even know what she was looking at when she started,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Markov replied. “Nexum doesn’t wait for proof. They clean up potential problems early. Safer that way.”
I sat with that for a moment. The attacks weren’t about the files Iris had already seen. They were about the files they were afraid she might still find.
All of this was connected to the father she’d never fully discussed. This meant Nexum already had their eyes on her even before I knocked on her door.
They would’ve gotten to her eventually if I hadn’t gotten to her first.
“Who runs Nexum on this side?” I asked.
“I’ve told you everything, Tarasov,” Markov said, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes. “We can’t tell you this one.”
“He’ll kill us if we do,” Yevgeni said, almost pleading with his eyes.
“He’s not here. I am.” I leaned in, expression cold and dangerous. “Don’t make me ask a second time.”
Markov stayed quiet, jaw tight.
Yevgeni broke after a moment and spilled the beans. “Fuck it.”
“Yevgeni, don’t.” Markov frowned.
“It’s Adrian,” he confessed, his voice loud and clear. “Adrian Vale.”
“You son of a bitch,” Markov cursed at him. “I knew I never should’ve brought you on board.”
Adrian Vale.
The name rang a bell because I knew the bastard.
Years ago, we’d moved in overlapping circles—shared intermediaries and a few joint logistics runs that never made it into official records.
He was careful. Connected. The kind of man who preferred to stay three layers removed from anything that could be traced.
“He was the one who authorized the payments for the information we sold,” Yevgeni continued, running his mouth. “We never met him face-to-face, but the channels were his. The encryption signatures matched what we’d seen from his people before.”
I looked between them. “And the disappearances. The ones that never lined up with rival work.”
Yevgeni nodded. “Nexum used our routes for more than money. People. Political problems that needed to vanish without fingerprints. We handled the logistics. They handled the reasons. The Tarasov name gave them cover they couldn’t build on their own.”
“Fuckin’ traitors,” Boris growled, eager to have his moment with them.
The scope of this sat heavy. We hadn’t just been leaking money. We’d been a quiet infrastructure channel for an organization that operated across borders and didn’t answer to any of the usual rules.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” I said, rising to my feet. “You’ve been most helpful.”
“Wait,” Yevgeni called out to me. “We’ve told you everything. You’re going to let us go, right? Remember, we’re still members of the council.”
“No,” I said. “You lost that title the second you chose to betray the Bratva.”
His throat bobbled.
“Now, it’s time to face the consequences of your actions.”
“No, no, no, don’t do this, Ilya!” he barked.
I turned to Boris, who already had that smug smirk on his lips. “They’re all yours.”
Boris stepped forward with his toolbox. “Oh, I’m gonna enjoy this.”
I walked out of the room, ignoring Yevgeni’s cries and pleas. Markov and I had never really agreed on anything, but at least he earned my respect. The man was full of pride, even in the face of death.
That was the true Bratva spirit.
Iris was already by the door when I stepped into the hallway. Her face was pale but steady; clearly, she’d been listening.
“How much of that did you hear?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
She exhaled softly. “Enough.”
I hesitated, then asked, “Did you know your father was a federal worker?”
“I did.” She nodded. “But I didn’t know about his mission to expose Nexum.” Her fingers combed through her hair. “And to think they came after me because of him.”
I closed the distance between us. “They came because they were afraid of what you could do to their organization.” I cupped her face in my palms. “You’re a threat to Nexum, Iris. That’s huge.”
She let a small grin play on her lips. Then she asked, “Do you know him? Vale?”
“We’ve crossed paths. Business. Nothing personal. He keeps his hands clean on paper.”
“What’re you gonna do now?”
“I’m going to arrange a meeting,” I said. “Disguised. Somewhere he thinks is neutral. Once he’s there, we close the net.”
Iris’s brows lifted. “You’re going to kill him.”
“I’m going to end this once and for all,” I said. “Whatever that requires.”
She didn’t argue; she just locked her jaw with a dark expression.
The pieces had finally coalesced into a shape we could act on. Nexum had a name at the top. The traitors within our own ranks were secured. And the woman standing next to me was no longer just a target someone else had painted.
She was part of the reason we were still standing.