The last twenty-four hours had been hell. All of us crammed inside the hospital waiting room, trying to keep Mom calm and distracted. Waiting impatiently for news on Dad’s surgery.

Thank Christ, he’d made it out with flying colors and was now in recovery.

He was still pretty out of it from the anesthesia, so I hadn’t been able to speak with him. We’d all been taking shifts sitting with him so Mom could get some sleep.

But we had business to handle.

Connelly texted me earlier saying he had some new information for us on Esposito. Since all the girls were at the hospital keeping Mom company, I called a meeting.

Once everyone had gathered in Dad’s den, I took a seat behind his desk.

The same desk my great-great grandfather had used.

I wasn’t sure if I’d earned the position yet or not. But something told me that Dad would have happily given his full blessing.

Everyone took their own seats, barring Luka, who paced in front of the fireplace, a creature of habit to his core. He’d actually been even more cagey than usual lately. More agitated, even a little distracted. Something was off with him.

I cleared my throat, informally calling the meeting to order. “So…” I tapped my finger against the desk’s surface, eyeing each one of my brothers. “I’m taking Dad’s chair in his absence. Anyone have a problem with that?”

Their only response was to collectively shoot the same cocky smirk at me. Even Connelly.

I rolled my eyes. “Bunch of goddamn jackals in here.”

Rome raised a single eyebrow. “Would you feel better if we said, ‘’Bout fucking time, bro?’”

I cracked my neck from side to side, needing Lexi’s fingers to work their magic over that knot. “Maybe.”

“’Bout fucking time, bro,” they all said in unison.

I gave a curt nod. “There we go. All right, Bryce has some updates for us on the Esposito situation.” I tipped my head in the good detective’s direction. “Go.”

From his position on one end of the couch, Connelly blew out a long breath. “Well, you all know the Feds are running the manhunt for Raphael.”

I nodded.

“Well, I found out today that they recently uncovered some unusual activity with Raphael’s bank accounts just before he was ‘kidnapped.’”

“What kind of unusual activity?” Ace asked.

I knew our youngest brother certainly hadn’t found anything in his searches because he would have told us immediately.

Connelly leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “The transfer of a large sum of money from Raphael’s personal accounts to a dummy corporation.”

“How large?” Cris bit out.

Connelly met my gaze, voice grave. “Ten million.”

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered under my breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“He paid someone ten million dollars to break him out of prison,” Luka concluded.

Connelly nodded. “That’s their assessment. The money was wired two days before the incident at the courthouse.”

“Why the hell are they just now learning of it?” Rome barked. “Weren’t his accounts being monitored? For fuck’s sake, the man had been in prison at the time.”

“It’s not too hard to make that kind of thing untraceable if you know what you’re doing,” Ace interjected.

“They said it was some serious dark web shit,” Connelly confirmed, holding up a finger. “But wait, it gets better.”

My eyebrow went up.

“They traced the money from the dummy corporation. It was buried beneath layers and layers of firewalls or whatever, but they eventually tracked down the ten million when it hit an offshore account owned by a European businessman.”

“Who the hell is he?” Cris snapped.

Connelly shook his head. “He doesn’t exist. The name was an alias. One the FBI was familiar with.”

“Meaning they know who the real person behind the alias is,” Luka supplied.

“Anyone we know?” This from Rome.

When Connelly’s eyes swung back to me, I got a real bad feeling. “It’s someone Nico knows.”

I narrowed my eyes. “The suspense is only fun the first five times, Bryce.”

His mouth tightened. “Sergei Kozlov.”

I froze in Dad’s chair. “What the fuck did you say?”

His expression turned sympathetic. “The same alias popped up once in a large land purchase he made years ago outside of St. Petersburg. The fact that it’s near a military base had the FBI curious. It’s the same alias, Nico. Raphael Esposito wired ten million dollars to Sergei Kozlov two days before he broke out of prison.”

My heart was racing. What the hell did this mean?

Luka threw his hands up. “Are you actually saying that the New York boss paid the boss of the Russian fucking mafia to break him out of prison?”

We knew someone had hired those men. Knew they’d been instructed to leave us all alive.

But…Sergei?

“The Russians would never do business with the New York families,” I said woodenly. I didn’t know what to make of this. “Especially Sergei. It would never happen.”

“This isn’t the families,” Ace pointed out. “This is Raphael alone. A desperate man like him behind bars would do almost anything to get out. And you said yourself that Sergei has debts. He needed a way to buy the loyalty of the deserters and fence-riders within his syndicate. He needed protection, and he knew Raphael would pay.”

Cris ran his fingers over his chin as he watched me from one of the wingback chairs. “Between the ten million and what you were paying him for his shares in KI, he’d have a serious advantage over the Voiny. He could regain all of his power with nothing more than bribes.”

“Teaming up with the families won’t win him any favors among his followers,” I argued, grasping for any other explanation.

“But money talks louder than code or principle,” Rome cut in. “If Sergei pays them well enough, they won’t care where the money came from.”

Was it really just about the money? Sergei had hit up Raphael for some extra cash? All to maintain his position in the Russian syndicate? And probably to save his life.

I pushed back from the desk, scrubbing a hand down my face. “What’s in it for Raphael? Other than getting out of prison.”

“Allies, for one,” Bryce answered. “He saw how the families cowed down to Stefano’s leadership while he was behind bars.”

“Not to mention, how they let Santi Gabbiano waltz right in and assume authority without much of a fight,” Ace added. “He’s probably not sure who he’s still got at his back.”

Bryce inclined his head. “And it doesn’t hurt to have the Russian boss on your side.”

Shooting to my feet, I turned my back on them. I needed to school my features before I revealed how fucking worried this was making me. I interlocked my fingers on top of my head, taking measured breaths.

“What about Lexi, then?” I said in a low voice. “Why would Sergei involve her in any of this?”

A few moments of silence passed.

“It’s possible he actually thought you could keep her safe,” Rome speculated. “Maybe he really wanted you to protect her while he reclaimed his empire. After all, he knew shit was about to go down.”

“Or she’s a fucking spy,” Luka deadpanned.

I whirled around with murder in my eyes and stormed across the room to the tattooed asshole. “You shut your goddamn mouth right now, brother.”

He didn’t so much as blink at my fury. Hell, God knew what he’d seen in his military days. I was probably small potatoes in comparison. But I would give him the fight of his motherfucking life if he spewed anymore bullshit about my wife, champion fighter or not.

“Everyone in this room is thinking it, brother,” he shot back. “I just said it.”

I didn’t give two shits what everyone thought. Lexi wouldn’t betray me like that.

“She’s not working for her father,” I snarled through gritted teeth. “She might be loyal to him, but deceit like that is not in her blood. She doesn’t have a fucking clue what’s been going on.”

Luka cocked his head to the side, looking skeptical as shit. “You sure about that? You’ve only known her a month. And no offense, but you’re not exactly an expert in relationships. How well do you actually know her, Nico?”

I jabbed my finger in his face. “I know her. I’d know if she was lying to me. I’d know if she was hiding something. She’s not part of this.”

Her reactions had always been too genuine to be fake.

Although she had been unusually calm during the shooting at Sergei’s compound. I’d thought at the time maybe it was shock…

But could it have been because she’d known the attack was coming?

No. Absolutely not.

Besides, what did that shooting have to do with Raphael’s breakout?

Lexi was just cool under pressure. Anyone who’d gone through the experiences she had would have come out the other end a little jaded. She’d almost burned to death, for Christ’s sake. She’d lived on the icy streets of Siberia at seven years old. She’d been adopted by the ruthless boss of the Russian mafia, a man known for his morbidly creative killing methods. And an obsessed stalker had once broken into her hotel room with fucking bolt cutters.

A few bullets zinging past her head was like child’s play.

Luka’s own anger erupted to the surface. “Oh, get your head out of your ass and think for a fucking minute! You want to sit behind that desk? Then do what Dad would do and be objective here. You have to consider the possibility that you were a pawn in this whole thing. Sergei and Lexi could have been using you this whole time to push their own agenda.”

I took a menacing step toward him. “Do not question me. I wouldn’t knowingly put my family in jeopardy.”

“I’m not questioning you. I’m questioning your wife.”

I lurched for him but got pushed back by Cris’s hand. Rome grabbed both of Luka’s arms from behind and held him back. “Easy. Cool the fuck off, both of you.”

I shook Cris off and stomped back behind the desk, using the gargantuan piece of furniture as a barrier between us. I really wanted to punch my own brother in the face, but I knew he was only saying what he felt needed to be said. Like me, he was just trying to do right by our family.

But he didn’t know Lexi like I did.

None of them did.

And it wasn’t like I could say I just knew she wasn’t capable of that. That it was a feeling in my gut. Seeing the skepticism on their faces would send me over the edge. Honestly, if the roles were reversed and I was in their shoes, I would probably have doubts, too.

But Lexi was innocent in this.

If I knew one thing in this world with absolute certainty, it was that.

She did say she would do anything for the man who saved her life…

I shoved those thoughts away.

She had her limits of how far she’d go for Sergei. I didn’t exactly know what those were, but I knew they were there. She’d made numerous comments that hinted of her condemnation of his mafia criminal activities. She wouldn’t come out and actually say it, but I knew she was ashamed of the way he made his living outside of Kozlov Industries.

“Fuck,” I spat.

Marching over to the credenza along the wall, I picked up the crystal decanter and sloshed a healthy amount of whiskey into a tumbler. Then I downed the entire goddamn glass in two gulps.

Slamming it back down, I faced them all once again. “Connelly, reiterate to your informants on the streets that they’ll receive a hefty compensation for any legitimate news regarding Esposito’s whereabouts.”

The detective nodded curtly.

We didn’t make a habit of exchanging bribes for information, but we tended to utilize that strategy in dire circumstances.

These were dire fucking circumstances.

“Ace, get me the security footage from Esposito’s escape outside the courthouse, as well as the footage from the shooting at Sergei’s compound.”

His eyebrows slammed together. “You think the two are connected?”

Maybe. “I don’t know yet.” But I have a hunch.

“Nico,” Cris said in a coaxing manner, causing me to tense. “I know you don’t want to hear this, man. But if Lexi has nothing to do with any of this, then maybe it’s time to use her connection with Sergei to our advantage. If he’s really behind the prison break, then she could be useful in tracking down Esposito.”

“Not gonna happen.” My cutting tone sliced through the air. “I’m not involving her in this until we have concrete proof of what the hell this is.”

Because if we were wrong and Sergei wasn’t involved, then I would hurt her unnecessarily. But if we were right and he was behind it all, then she would be devastated. Either way, I wasn’t ready to face her pain.

“Besides,” I added, “as far as I know, my deal with Sergei is still on. And as far as he knows, I’m still expecting a call from him whenever he’s handled his business and is ready for Lexi to return to Russia.”

Which will never fucking happen.

“Maybe you should consider extra security for the two of you,” Ace suggested. “What if Sergei’s planning an ambush to steal Lexi back without notice?”

“He has no reason to. He doesn’t know what we’ve learned. Nothing has changed with our arrangement. We’re still temporary in-laws until the day comes when he summons her back. So, we wait for him to come to us.”

“And when that day comes?” Luka prodded.

I stared him down hard. “We won’t let him go until we get some fucking answers.”

The big bastard smirked in approval.

“But in the meantime,” I emphasized, “we should all watch our backs. I don’t like how this is shaking out. Too many unknowns. Lock everything down tight, and call the second you have news.”

Effectively dismissing them, everyone rose to their feet and headed for the door. Luka slapped my back on the way out, a gesture that I returned. We were good. Emotions ran high in this family and arguments happened.

Cris passed me a look on his way out. “Call if any of this becomes too much. Seriously. Day or night.”

I bristled at the implication that I couldn’t handle the new role I’d assumed. But the rational side of my brain reminded me that I hadn’t given him a single reason to presume otherwise.

So, I just nodded.

Once everyone was gone and I was alone, I snatched a gold letter opener off Dad’s desk and flipped it over in my hand, testing its weight.

With an ear-splitting shout, I launched it across the room.

I stared at it sticking out from the wood paneling of the wall for a long fucking time.

Feeling like someone had just done the same thing to my newly-reassembled heart.