Page 128 of Caged

I grit my teeth. “Tell me about Zoya, Mikhail. Why is Ivan trying to find a woman who supposedly died five years ago?”

His jaw flexes beneath his balaclava and he sighs. “Because she was there that night, looking for help. That’s why I was there, our mother called me.”

That knocks me back hard enough in the chair to make me wince. Every part of my body is sore. “I suppose that makes sense. No one knew how to hide under Ivan’s nose better than Mama.”

I’m glad Mila is sleeping through this. There’s a part of me that is uncomfortable with her knowing just how evil my father is.

Mikhail nods. “Zoya found out how to get away.” He looks down at his hand and opens and closes his fingers.

In the right light, the faintest of scars are still visible.

“She needed to. He beat her so badly, she thought she miscarried.” His dark eyes narrow. “She was soaked in blood, but determined.”

“Did she? Never mind, I’m sure you don’t know.” That was years ago, and also the night we decided to flee Russia forever.

He flicks his focus up to me before taking a long breath. “She did. A beautiful baby girl. Our sister, Galena.”

That makes me pause. “Mikhail. How do you know?”

He shouldn’t. Unless?—

“I’ve been keeping her safe.”

Anger twitches inside of me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs. “It wasn’t important. You had the loss of Katerina, and our mother, to contend with. There wasn’t anything you could do, I took care of it.”

“Always the hero.” I’m not sure why that makes me irritable. Maybe because his entire life has been about protecting us. “Where is she? Is that why you chose Vegas?”

He was very insistent when it was time to find a new home.

“No. She’s still in Russia.” He motions for the steward to refill his drink.

It’s only after both of our glasses are topped with bourbon do I ask the question eating at me.

“How are you keeping tabs?”

“Enzo. It’s how we met. I needed someone who could move funds and keep surveillance from a distance.” He clinks the ice in his snifter before downing the last swallow. “He had an extensive network set up there already. I was quite impressed.”

Enzo is a man of mystery. He knows everyone else’s secrets, but no one knows his.

“I’d be curious to know why he was so entrenched there. Isn’t most of his crew in New York?”

“Yes. And, Frankie Falcone is from Italy.” His fingers form a steeple that he presses against his mask. “Interesting.” He sits, immobile as a statue for a moment.

“But, back to that Tatiana character. What can you tell me?”

“Nothing, really. She hired Mila for the USB drive, then Mila hired her for help to rescue her brother.” I’m working on Mila to open up even more, but there’s time. We’ve both gone through so much, it will be a slow process.

She and Daniil are still sleeping. They have been since we boarded the plane back to Vegas.

I just hope that my father gives us a break to heal.

Knowing him, he’s going to come after all of us with a vengeance.

“You don’t remember anything else?” he says gruffly.

“No. By the time I woke up, I was in the back of a van and Alexei was driving. His crazy ass brought me back from the dead because I was afraid I’d die with him behind the wheel,” I chuckle. I don’t tell him it’s because Mila was lying next to me.

---