Page 5 of Shackled

Aleks, the tallest and arguably most imposing figure in the room standing over all of us. shakes his head. “No. As soon as Viktor alerted me, I zoned in on the surveillance we have in Colombia and found Morales still there.”

I nod. Of course he doesn’t have to be the one who attacked us. He could command an attack or call a hit anytime. The momentary relief from his intel doesn’t last. The danger Morales represents is ever-present. His reach extends far beyond physical proximity.

“Then someone else is playing this game for him. Someone close. Someone who can act on his behalf.”

Mikhail’s gaze sharpens and he nods slowly, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Yeah. We need to find out who and fast.”

The room is silent for a beat, the weight of the situation pressing down on all of us. Aleks breaks the silence, his tone determined. “I’ll increase surveillance and see if we can trace any unusual activity. If Morales has an agent here, we’ll find them.”

“Isabella came to my fucking home,” Viktor snaps.

I frown. “How did she get in?”

Ollie shakes his head. “It’s what she’s known for, brother. Word on the street is that the woman is made of vapor and smoke. One moment, she’s there, and the next, she’s gone. She can pick any lock, escape any prison or shackle.”

She’ll be small, then, most likely. Lithe. Nimble.

Jesus, I’d fucking love to put her to the test.See what she’s really capable of.

“Do we have any leads?”

Silence. Aleks shakes his head.

“And where’s Kolya?”

Mikhail shifts, scowling, before he answers. “He’s still in Moscow. His flight was canceled, and I thought it best not to push answers on this right now with him.”

Viktor tips his head to the side curiously. “What does that mean? What the hell?”The icy tone of his voice makes the rest of us go still. We’re brothers, but no one talks shit in front of Mikhail without repercussions.

Mikhail holds Viktor’s gaze as Viktor’s hands clench into fists. Though all of us are loyal to Kolya, Kolya took Viktor under his wing like the son he never had, even though he’s only about twelve years older than him. Our father couldn’t bully Viktor like the rest of us because of the sheer size of the guy, so he passed Viktor off to Kolya to train under the premise of Viktor being “too willful.” We all knew the truth, though.

Kolya was a brother figure to Viktor, even more so than to the rest of us. Still is.

“It means that we keep as much as we can to ourselves,” Mikhail snaps, his gaze on Viktor, challenging him to defy him.

Viktor gets to his feet. “Bullshit. It means you don’t trust your fucking mentor.”

Both brothers are on their feet now, their toes touching. Viktor’s eyes are narrowed, and Mikhail’s hands are clenched into fists. There’s no telling who would win in an actual fight—Viktor is stronger than the rest of us combined and would absolutely wipe the floor in a fistfight, but Mikhail’s the pakhan, and if Viktor raises a hand to him, he’ll lose that hand.

So yeah, this is not gonna happen.

I push myself between the two of them and slap a hand on the chest of each of them. “We start fighting amongst ourselves, and everyone bests us.”

They both glare at me, but I’m not a kid anymore, and they might be older, but I’m their equal.

I shake my head. “What the fuck are you going to accomplish with a pissing match? Mikhail kept this intel inner circle, so I’m assuming there’s information he doesn’t want to get out. It’s not a slight to Kolya, and we’re wasting precious time.”

Only the leadership is here, none of our subsidiaries or captains.

“That’s right,” Mikhail says. “And anything we unearth of importance, we’ll tell everyone immediately. So sit down, brother.”

There’s got to be another reason he chose this place and the inner circle, but I’ll wait to find out. We all will.

Viktor’s jaw clenches, but he finally sits down. The chair bends and creaks this time.

“Refresh my memory,” Aleks says, clearing his throat. “The primary method the LSD uses for earning their money?”

"Drugs," Ollie supplies. As our primary director of international relations, he knows the ins and outs of our rivals better than anyone. "They’re pushing heroine hard. LSD is spreading like a damn virus.”

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