Page 55 of Lethal Legacy

“Abby?” Dimitry’s face takes on a rather stubborn expression. “No,” he says shortly. “I sent her home.”

I glance sideways at him. “Oh, you did, did you?”

Prick deserves some payback for his earlier swipe about Lucia being in my room.

“She doesn’t know anything, anyway. Apart from what I told you.” Other than a slight hint of color, Dimitry resolutely ignores my jibe. “And I’ve already questioned the kitchen boy. Apparently Ryder bought him a drink after work one night. The kid thought Ryder was going to pump him for info about Abby. Then Ryder asked what the kid knew about Lucia, like did he know where she was living now, that kind of thing.”

“Where she’s livingnow?” I jump on that like a rat up the sewer. “When was this?”

“The night before last, Abby said.”

The same day Lucia quit her job and started working for me.

I’m liking this less and less.

I stare at the screens, studying the faces in the room. There’s no doubt Nicky is making some kind of deal. “Where’s the audio on this fucking thing?”

Dimitry sticks his head out the door, and Gregor sidles warily in. “Nicky doesn’t like people listening when he’s doing business. He had it disabled.”

“Then fucking enable it.”

“I can’t.” Gregor gives us both a nervous look. “Only Nicky has the codes.”

Despite my sincere dislike of my adoptive brother, I can reluctantly concede that at least he’s security conscious, which is more than I gave him credit for. Not that I appreciate Nicky suddenly growing a brain when it’s least useful to me.

I make a snap decision.

“Dimitry came here for a drink.” I glare at Gregor. “He saw the Cádiz FC crew turn up for a meet and thought I should know. Which, for the record, I fucking should have. He called me, I came down. We saw, we left.” I get up close. “We didn’t ask about any paparazzi. We didn’t even notice one here. That’s what happened, and that’s what you will tell my brother when he comes out of that room. Are we clear?”

Gregor gulps. “Clear.”

“And the rest of the monkeys outside the door?”

He swallows. “None of them heard our conversation. I didn’t say anything to them.”

“You better not have,” I snarl. “Because if I find out that you did...” I let my voice trail off menacingly enough for him to get the message. I stare long enough until I’m sure he has. Then I go in for the sweetener. “You weren’t a bad kid once, Gregor. Before you threw your lot in with Nikolai.”

It’s true, actually. Gregor got lost in the nightmare of the raids. When the dust cleared, Nikolai owned him. I’ve always felt a bit bad about that.

“If you see anything, hear anything, about that meeting or the reason the pap was in that room, then you come to me. Nobody else. I reward loyalty.” I hold his eyes. “Do this, and there might be a place for you at Hale.”

To his credit, the kid doesn’t do a happy dance. Just nods once, takes the offer like a man. “I’ll come to you, boss,” he says quietly. “You have my word.”

“Good.”

We get the fuck out of there before anybody else notices us.

“So?” Dimitry says as we drive back to the city. He left his motorbike at Pillars and is driving my Mercedes. “What do you make of it?”

“I don’t know yet.” I’m frowning out the window, trying not to think of whether it’s too late to wake Miss Lopez up for another round. It is, of course. And even if it wasn’t, I’m not going to give her that kind of power this early on. Best to keep her waiting.

I shift uneasily.Best for fucking who?

I turn my mind back to the problem at hand. “Obviously, I want people on Lance Ryder. And I want Pavel to know what the rat-faced bastard ate for breakfast for the past twenty fucking years.”

“Done,” says Dimitry immediately.

“I want Lucia’s name kept out of it.” I glance at him. “Entirely out of it. But feel free to ask your little friend what she knows.”

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