BRANDONA few hours earlier...An expected call lights up my phone, and Jason Valentine, “the Wolf,” appears on the screen. Oliver was the one who found him and met with his Wolves in the Underground.
The Underground is the secret headquarters of the Wolves below the floors of the BCO Hotel I own in Williamsburg. They wanted discreet access to New York, and they needed my territory in Brooklyn, so I gave them what they asked for. Oliver had seen them in action, and I had been supporting their vision for a couple of years now in exchange for protection and aid whenever necessary.
But I know the mob shouldn’t be taken lightly. They call themselves the Wolves, but they could also be referred to as the elite mob of New York City by the underground. They often say justice doesn’t happen in the city. They are on the side of the law but working outsideThe Wolves clandestinely hold a legal, private, anti-crime unit, and they have their fingers in hospitals, gaming clubs, and even foundations.
The Katrakis have been in alliance with the Dragoumis and Stavros—two of the powerful families in Greece, and with all of them against me, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Pauline is my only hope to compel the Stavros to side with me—but it won’t be possible with Silvanus getting in my way.
“Hello,” I answer immediately, getting up in the middle of my dinner with Alayna in her room and moving toward the window.
“Mr. Lucien.” It’s the voice of a female. “I am the Huntress. My boss is asking if you are happy with the men we sent to your home.”
“Yes.”
“Very well. The Wolf is ready to meet you. He has heard what happened to Mr. Katrakis, and he’s very sorry. Please, come to the Underground at seven. He will be expecting you.”
“I’ll be there.”
“It’s an honor to finally speak with you, sir.” She hangs up.
Immediately I send a message to Cassius and the twins about the details. I toss the phone on the bed and start to massage the back of my head. Things are getting more and more complicated. We still lack the information and evidence to find Mom and Elga’s murderers, but I trust the twins’ skills, and I’m confident they’ll find a new lead using Alayna’s information about Annette—one of the people who caused my misery. But in this crucial moment, I need Oliver. I just want to find him first.
“Everything all right, Brandon?” Alayna asks, looking at me.
“Everything’s fine.”
As usual, she just has to show me her beautiful face and all the things that stress me are fading away. Each hour that she’s with me, everything seems fine, and nothing else matters. From the day I met her, I knew she was my cure.
“You didn’t finish your dinner,” she says.
I move back toward her.
“Is it work?” she says again, though she isn’t wrong about that. With Oliver’s absence, I have to fill in the work he left at the office, so I wasn’t entirely lying.
“Hmm.”
Her eyes gleam. “You’re staying here again tonight?”
I chuckle. “You don’t want me to?”
“Of course I want you to.”
Good. She’s getting more comfortable around me now. I pull her against me and rub her arm. “I’ll work here tonight then. Now, let’s finish up, then your medicine after.”
Alayna laughs softly and looks at her food even more eagerly.
PRESENT“Jason responded. I’m meeting him tomorrow,” I say as soon as Cassius and I are in my library and in front of the twins’ video conference.
“At least there are some people still on our side,” Cassius remarks. “Anyway, we received a message from the kidnappers through Pauline from a burner number. But we’re certain now that we are after Silvanus.”
Cary speaks, “And what did I tell you? We’re right after all, but let me guess, you don’t wish to give Pauline back, right, Brandon?”
“I can’t. You know why,” I insist.
“Don’t give her up then,” he answers simply. I’m surprised.
“What are we supposed to do?” Cassius asks. “The longer we sit here, the longer we do nothing, the more we lose the chance of saving Ollie!”
“I understand, but that’s not how Silvanus works. It’s too easy, don’t you think? Besides, they’re keeping the communication one-sided. Can’t you see what’s going on here?”
I frown. “What are you pointing at?” I ask.
Cary rolls his eyes. “He’s plotting something else for sure. He won’t take Oliver if he doesn’t have a plan.”
“But we can’t just keep relying on assumptions here!” Cassius says.
“That’s the thing. We don’t guess, Cassius. We’re always sure.” His voice is tight.
“Are we supposed to just wait? I’ll have my men look for possible hideouts in New York City,” I suggest.
“You’re just going to waste your time,” Cary says, sounding bored. “Silvanus isn’t stupid. This is why he’s one step ahead. You know what I’m talking about. He’s not going to play there alone.”
He’s right. Silvanus managed to get his men into the States easily, and they succeeded at kidnapping Oliver. They have a lair in Japan too. They’re like the Wolves, but these mobs work by territory, and New York is the Wolves’ sanctuary. Silvanus wouldn’t be too careless to operate in plain sight. That’s it. Carmelo just gave me a hint.
“We don’t have to find anywhere in New York at all,” I conclude. “We only have to look for places where there are no Wolves.”
“Exactly,” the twins say in unison.
“How is this supposed to help?” Cassius asks curiously.
“Jason will know where,” I murmur. A light has been lit.
Cary flashes a smirk. “That’s more like it.”
Silence.
“How about what we’re looking for? Any news?” I ask and lean back in the swivel chair. “I mean, you told me you were going to look for more information about Alayna.”
“Here’s the thing,” Stan starts, “I quite find it interesting how Miss Hart is connected with Annette. Lucia Moretti, shall I say? She’s pretty popular in the university she’s teaching at.”
“How is this interesting?” Whenever Cary starts something like this, it’s probably because he found something useful.
“It appears your girlfriend lived with Annette for a month in Venice. Didn’t she tell you this?”
Cassius and I glance at each other. I’m sure we have the same look on our faces. Astonished.
I frown. “No, she didn’t. She probably thought this wasn’t important. What about it?”
“And they lived with another two,” Cary adds. “Even more interesting, right?”
I’m not sure why, but my heart rate accelerates. I raise an eyebrow. “Did you find out who they were?”
“We’re pretty sure they’re acquainted with Annette. The descriptions fit a man in his fifties and a boy in his twenties,” Stan says.
“William?” Cassius says.
Yes, that’s probably why I feel unsettled. I don’t want to confirm that, though he could be right. Alayna probably met my father, but she’s just not aware of it. However, I told her Annette was my father’s mistress. I told her his name, but why didn’t she say something?
Or not. It’s probably another man. Annette wasn’t my father’s mistress until I was fourteen. This other boy could be their son. He was a grown-up, so it was unlikely he was a long-lost half-brother.
It can’t be Dad. But if not, where is he?
“How about in London? Does she live with this “As we’ve found out and told you before, she’s living alone in an apartment near the university. Whatever happened to those people she was with, we have no information. As a matter of fact, this is going to be easy now for you, Brandon. She’ll unlikely move out from that place,” Stan explains.
I rest my elbow on the armchair. “Why do you think so?”
“Annette moves from place to place often, but this is the first time she stayed longer than a year in one place,” Cary says. “But I don’t think they’ve lowered their guard either. Alfio’s men are watching over her. Ah, before I forget, she flew to Athens twice a year for the past four years using her new legal name. It’s always in the same month. It’s likely she acquired dual citizenship. But don’t worry, I have our men watching over her too, just in case she tries to run away again. We can never be sure.”
I shut my eyes, remembering those voices when I was locked up in a dark, foul smelling room. Hearing their names—Annette and an unknown, Marcus—were the only things I could hold on to in this endless torment.
“Good. That’s good,” I comment, opening my eyes. But I realize the more we think this through, the more evidence we find.
This became obvious when I started working with the twins. They were the ones getting information for me. They are very keen and meticulous and would ferret out the smallest detail in any investigation until their enemies had nothing left to hide. They’d most likely not approve if I move now, even though we have a bit of information that can support my claims. It’s too“Anything else?” I ask.
“Ah, of course. About those two men we’ve mentioned, I’d rather you ask Miss Hart if you wish for more information about it, but we’ll see what else we can find,” Constantine adds.
I’ve already brought her into this. I don’t like to bother her again, not when I witnessed her episodes. But do I really have a choice? “I’ll see what I can do about that.”
“Then that is all,” they say.
“Thank you, Cary, Stan.”
I end the video conference. The dim space of my library has become heavy. Cassius isn’t saying anything, but after a few moments of silence, he speaks.
“I’ll just check on Alayna,” he says, but I stop him.
“Do you know what’s happening to her? Her nightmares?” I can almost taste the bitterness in my voice.
“Of course I know. I spoke to her every single time I was free.” His response is quick and confident, and I hate it. But he doesn’t bother to look my way.
“And you know, e“It’s Oliver who told me. Alayna doesn’t seem to remember her nightmares.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
This time his answer takes a while to come, and then he laughs scornfully. “You were always away. I tried telling you to speak to her once, but you refused. Why? You’re regretting your actions now?”
I clench my fist. “She’s mine, Cassius. Do you understand that?”
“Oh, is she now?” he mocks.
I don’t answer, and he finally stands up and marches to the door, but I hear him halt. “You don’t have to tell me that, you know,” he says dejectedly. “Every day I tell myself she isn’t mine, but it doesn’t mean I’m giving up.” He slams the door shut.