Page 95 of Ruthless Bonds

“For what it’s worth”—he came forward, gripping my shoulders—“there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think about you and Mom. It killed me to know that I couldn’t be with you guys. To know that you were grieving for me, as much as I was grieving for you. I hope for your sake this doesn’t end tragically for us all. Again.”

He pulled me into his arms, squeezing me tightagainst him. For a second, I felt eight years old again, safe in my big brother’s arms. I slowly wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him back. This was my brother. He was alive. But I had to fix this somehow.

A phone beeped, and I pulled back with a frown. “You have service?”

“Yeah, our little lady friend back there was using a signal jammer. I disabled it.” His expression darkened. “You should check your phone. You’ve been gone two hours.”

Crap, Kreos would know by now what had happened and would be expecting me home already.

“I fixed your car. FBI must have knocked the battery cable loose when they were searching it. Amateurs.”

He walked me out to my car, the engine humming in the background as he leaned in the window. “You have twenty-four hours before I come calling. I hope for your sake, you find the proof you need.” He knocked on the door twice, and I pulled off.

There were only two missed texts from Kreos. I let out the breath I’d been holding, my fingers trembling as I answered him.

FBI took Tash and Grig, but let me go. Had car trouble. On my way home now.

His reply came immediately.

Grig has been released. Tash earned herself a night in lockup for her attitude. Call me as soon as you get home, kotic.

My mind raced the entire way home. How was I going to fix this? I had to tell Kreos. He would know what to do.

The devil on my shoulder was whispering intomy ear, though. Taunting me. What if Jameson had been right? What if Kreos was responsible for all of this?

He couldn’t have been. In my heart, I knew it wasn’t possible. He would have been young, around Jameson’s age, when that had gone down. There was no way he would have been involved in human trafficking. He’d told me numerous times that was a line he’d never cross. If anyone in his organization even whispered about it, they were dealt with swiftly.

I pulled up to the gate, relief washing over me to finally be home.

“Welcome home, Mrs. Zokrova,” the guard said. “The Pakhan wanted to know when you got home. I’ll inform him now.”

“Yes, please do, Jacob.” The gate slid open, and I drove down the winding road to the place I now called home.

I refused to lose Kreos. He was mine, just as I was his.

But my brother… all those years… God, there was no time to process any of this.

I had to do something. And now that I was back home, I knew exactly how to find out the truth.

Chapter Eighteen

Alora

There was no time to process what was happening. My mind was racing with worst-case scenarios, each one more horrible than the last. Would Jameson kill Kreos? Was Kreos responsible for Jameson’s “death?” Had he known my brother was alive and kept that from me? How did the Cruel fit into all of this?

I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel, inhaling deeply through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. Now was not the time to freak out. I needed to be stronger than ever before.

Kreos and his men were still gone, dealing with whatever important business he had. I just prayed that the “business” didn’t have anything to do with Jameson.

Everything seemed normal at home. The staff walked about doing their business, the guards blending into the background and pretending to be invisible. I hurried down the hall to Dove’s room, knocked on her door, but she wasn’t in there.

I pulled out my phone, sending her a text.Where are you?

Tattoo room working on a piece. Wanna come hang out?

I knew she would stop what she was doing andhelp me, but maybe I didn’t need to drag her into this. She’d already been through hell and back, and this was my fight. Not hers. After telling her I’d catch up with her later, I headed back downstairs toward Kreos’ office.

Nobody would dare ask me why I was going there. I was the Pakhan’s wife and could do anything I wanted. I pushed the door open, and slipped inside. If there was one place I was going to find answers, it was going to be in Kreos’ safe.

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