Page 19 of Lethal Alliance

Bryce and Dimitry exchange a wary glance. “No,” Dimitry says reluctantly. “TheGuapahas a hired crew aboard who are under instructions to get the yacht back to Miami ASAP. They know nothing other than the orders they’ve been given.”

“Khuy!”I push off from the table and stalk the length of the room, fists clenched at my sides. I’ve never felt less in control in my life. The thought of Ofelia and Masha in the hands of the Orlovs makes my blood run cold.

That’s not the only thing that terrifies me.

Darya is out there somewhere.

Probably running with her brother.

That thought makes me feel physically sick. I still can’t reconcile the Darya I thought I knew with the ruthless bitch who deliberately endangered my children.

The Darya who allowed my girls to be kidnapped.

By the fuckingOrlovs,for Chrissakes.

Pizdozh.

I can’t think about Darya or the Orlovs. Both thoughts make me lose focus altogether, and there’s no time for that. Not while Ofelia and Masha are out there somewhere, in the hands of the men who murdered my father.

“Boss.” Dimitry comes to stand next to me, lowering his voice. The other men move to a discreet distance. “We need to find Lucia. We know that she spoke to her brother at that ball. She must know something.”

“Darya,” I snarl. “Her name is Darya Petrovsky. And she’s a distant fucking last on my list of priorities.”

“She would never hurt those children, Roman. You know it as well as I do.”

“Don’t.” I drop my head, my fingers clenched hard enough on the table edge to turn the knuckles white.

That’s the damned hell of it. Ididknow that. Or I thought I did. Now?

I shake my head slowly. “You didn’t see her face.”

“Bullshit.”

I swing my head sideways and Dimitry meets my eyes, his own as blood-rimmed and exhausted as mine. “I saw her face as clearly as you did. Yes, Darya knew the Orlovs were planning something. But that doesn’t mean she was complicit in it. You said yourself she was planning to run. What if she was runningbecauseshe knew the children were in danger? Abby said—”

“I don’t care what Abby said.” Every word is like a sledgehammer on the brick wall around my emotions. A wall I can’t afford to drop now, of all times. I push back off the table with enough force to rock the marble slab. “Let it fucking go,” I snarl. “There’s no time for this.”

“Mickey thinks—”

“I don’t give a fuck what Mickey thinks!”

“Well, you fucking should.” I swing around, frowning, to find a white-faced Mickey standing in the doorway. His face is gaunt, his mouth set in a particularly grim line.

“I told you to stay in your apartment.” I try not to snap, but I’m close to losing my shit. Mickey’s face is a constant reminder of my failure to protect his sisters. I’ve been unable to face him from the moment they disappeared.

“And I don’t give a fuck what you told me to do.” Mickey’s eyes flash with hard anger. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for hours. It’s my sisters the Orlovs have taken. I have as much right to help look for them as you. More. So you can listen to me, or you can watch me walk out the door and go to someone who will.”

I stare at him across the room. He doesn’t move. The months of boxing training, combined with a sudden growth spurt and the shock of his sisters’ disappearance, has stripped the last trace of boyhood from his face. Not that Mickey ever was very boyish. Possessing genius-level intelligence has always lent him a certain gravity. But now, staring me down across the room in front of a dozen of my hardestvor,Mickey looks dangerous enough to match any of them.

I glance at Dimitry. “Give us a moment.”

“Boss.” He nods reluctantly, his eyes still reproachful enough to piss me off.

“And find out how Inger is.” I rub a hand over my face, mentally cursing myself for the fact I haven’t bothered to check in on her. Inger is Mickey’s mother. He has to be worried about her, and I haven’t even managed to make a phone call.

“Yeah. Sure,” Dimitry mutters, casting Mickey a sideways glance as he leaves. He and the other men file into the elevator with their heads down, faces grim. They might not like Inger, but they all love the girls. This is as personal for them as it is for me.

“Dimitry is right.” Mickey doesn’t wait for permission to start speaking. “Darya would never hurt the girls, and you know it.”

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