Page 81 of Ruthless Reign

Worry gnaws at me. At the very least, I have to find a way to contact Sofiya. But without a phone, I’m shit out of luck. Even if I find a computer, it’s likely secured with a password.

But the worst part is that my phone has all the trading apps, all my financial information, and everything I need to manage my investments. What if Roman discovers it? I’ve gone to great lengths to secure my phone with encrypted passwords and multi-factor authentication, but there's always the chance that a computer whiz on his team could find a way in. Beyond that, if I can’t monitor my investments, buying and selling at the exact right moment, I’m screwed.

Everything I worked so hard for is crumbling around me.

Fuck him, thinking he can play God with my life!

He has no idea what he’s done, but he will find out soon enough when I take my revenge.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

ROMAN

“She’s going to fucking kill you,” Pavel says as Viktor hands me back Liza’s cell phone—the one his hackers broke into. “I amend that. She’s going to string you up by your balls, damage your internal organs, and then cut off your dick until you bleed out.”

“Sounds about right,” I admit, cracking my neck. I’m fully prepared to deal with Liza’s wrath because it’s for her own good, even if she might not realize it yet.

Pavel settles into the seat across from me, in our office tucked above a butcher's shop in the seedier side of town. It’s the last place anyone would expect to find guys like us, which is exactly why we're here. And hey, if you need to make a body disappear, what’s better than a butcher's shop?

I sip my coffee, but honestly, I don’t even need the caffeine. It’s barely dawn, and I’ve gotten almost no sleep, but I’m still riding high on the night I had with Liza.

Truth be told, I had to tear myself from my warm bed this morning. There is no better feeling than waking up beside her. Well, perhaps the only thing better is being buried inside of her. But I couldn’t delay this meeting any longer.

“You’re sure there are no tracking devices on here?” I ask Viktor, slipping Liza’s phone into my pocket.

“Yeah, about that.” He shakes his head, almost looking impressed. “We couldn’t break into it. She has her phone locked down tighter than a nun’s pussy.”

“Jesus, I could do without the visual there.” I shake my head. “So you’re saying the hackers couldn’t get into her phone?”

Viktor sighs. “I don’t know what she’s hiding in there, but whatever it is, she’s gone to great lengths to make sure no one can access it. Which also means she’s probably tech-savvy enough to ensure that no one's tracking her.”

Apprehension pools in my gut. We all carry secrets, and considering her decision to auction her virginity, I’m guessing Liza has more than her fair share. But what else is she hiding? There's a nagging curiosity in me, a need to peel back the layers of her life.

“I thought you’d want to see this.” Pavel hands me a stack of papers. “The police report from the accident. The cops got there before our men did, but our contacts at the station sent this over. They ran a trace on the plates. They’re fakes, of course. Surveillance in the area showed nothing helpful. We’re still looking into the identity of the drivers, but so far, their prints are coming up empty.” He blinks, looking down at the gruesome photos of the two slumped bodies in the vehicles.

“You’re lucky you walked away with your life.” Viktor frowns. “I won't ask why you dismissed your guard when backup would've been helpful.”

"I’m not sure if luck had anything to do with it,” I grit out. “The only reason we’re both still alive is because I’m a sure-shot and capable of driving one-handed.”

Viktor rolls his eyes.

I’m being an ass, but the truth is I did make a mistake. One that’s still weighing heavily on me because every time I think that Liza could have died, a knot forms in my stomach. She’s too damn bright of a light to be extinguished so young.

At thirty-eight, I’ve done most everything in my life I wanted to. I’ve seen the world, owned fast cars, drank fine wines, climbed mountains, and dived into the deepest seas. I never dreamed of having a family or a wife. Other than Maxim and Pavel, and now Kira, there’ll be no one to mourn me in death. Knowing my death won't break hearts certainly makes my line of work easier.

But Liza is thirteen years younger than me and has her whole life ahead of her. She has Kira and Sofiya—people who love her and whom she loves. Dying beside me on a desolate stretch of Moscow's highway would've been cruel and unjust. Then again, this world is cruel. I know firsthand.

I run a hand over the scruff on my jaw, feeling a heavy weight in my chest. “It could be the Albanians. They’ve wanted to take us down for years.”

“You’re grasping at straws. We need to look a little closer to home.” Pavel opens his desk drawer and pulls out a stack of papers. “This is what I wanted to show you last night.” He passes me two separate files. “The first document is the shipping logs that Anatoly’s men sent us. And the second is the logs Katerina sent you. Same shipment, same dates, but the logs don’t match. They should be identical, but they’re not.”

What the fuck?

I scoot forward in my seat and lean over the paperwork, my eyes darting between the two sets of logs. Anatoly's version has the ship waiting out the bad weather in the North Atlantic—the reason given for the delay. But the unaltered logs Katerina sent show that the ship stopped in Port of Rotterdam for a full day. The port is a major hub into Europe, and the gateway to Europe’s underbelly. While it’s not exactly on the route here, it’s not a major detour either.

I look up at Pavel’s stony face. “That motherfucker doctored the logs.”

“Seems so.” He cracks his knuckles. “The question is why.”

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