Page 29 of Sinful Embers

"Dmitri—my younger brother?" My mother gapes at me in disbelief. "What makes you think it's my brother?" She frowns. "I'm sure I heard he'd died."

"Or maybe he just had his Dmitri head cut off and it grew back as Timir Midrichon," Sabrina quips.

"Who?" My mother asks in surprise. "The Greek oligarch that married Wanda Manning?"

"You know her?" All three of us ask in unison.

She frowns. “Yes. She attended school with my late best friend, Thea and me."

Sabrina leans forward. “Did Dmitri ever meet Carlos Vasilikis?”

My mother nods, her expression darkening and I can see she's already realized where this line of questioning is going. “Dmitri did know Carlos,” she admits. “Whenever I visited Thea, Dmitri tagged along. I think he was in love with her.”

Nikolas’ jaw clenches. “Do you know where the Mannings live?”

“England,” Galina says. “But they have homes all over the word.”

A knock at the door. Oleksi.

“I found something,” he says, stepping inside and stops when he sees my mother on a video call and greets her fondly.

"Hello, Oleksi, what did you find?" My mother asks.

Oleksi looks at me and I nod.

"The Ice Man helicopter has a hangar at LAX." He puts flight details in front of me. "After the helicopter returned to LAX early hours of this morning the occupants boarded a private jet headed to London.”

“Then that must be where Leigh is,” I mutter, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"Then you knowexactlywhere you need to be," my mother snaps and I hear her name called in the background. "I have to go. Keep me updated."

She says goodbye and the call ends as I turn I see Oleksi's shoulders go rigid as his eyes fall on the murder board then turns to me, his face twists in fury.

“I’m a fucking suspect now?”

Sabrina shrugs. “Everyone is.”

Oleksi snarls. “And yet you and Nikolas aren’t.”

“Because we have nothing to gain,” Sabrina shoots back. “You, on the other hand—”

Oleksi glares. “Oh really? I'd say you and St. Nik have everything to gain.”

"That's enough," I cut in. “We don't have time for this shit. Sabrina is right everyone is a suspect. In fact you were here in the penthouse while Carlos was taking Leigh."

"How do you explain that?" Sabrina says smugly.

"If you must know, I was in the special room with a good friend Rebecca." He lifts his shirt exposing his impressive body and shows the claw marks. "Would you like Rebeca's number?" His eyes run the length of Sabrina's tiny frame. "She'll gladly reenact our night for you."

"Oleksi!" I bark. "That is enough."

"But do give Uncle Nik her number to verify your alibi," Sabrina stands her ground and is interrupted by a knock on the door.

Viktor enters. As soon as he sees Oleksi his shoulders stiffen as do Oleksi's and tension crackling between them. He greets Nikolas and Sabrina, deliberately ignoring Oleksi, then turns to me. “Mark Dalton woke up,” he informs us. “The doctors say he’ll make it.”

I nod. “That’s good.”

"You wouldn’t happen to have news about my mother?" Sabrina asks sheepishly and Viktor smiles.

---