Page 57 of Lethal Alliance

Those days seem so long ago now. Another life. I glance at Roman. “From what you said, your father hid your key to the vault inside one of those eggs. Which reminds me,” I say as he turns up the long driveway leading to the Hale building. “How did you know how to get into the safety deposit box?”

“My father tattooed the code for it on the sole of my foot, over a year after my mother left. He made me memorize the name and address of the bank. I guess my mother must have told him where she hid it, despite his instructions. I know my father was getting increasingly paranoid. I think he knew his life was in danger.” Roman shakes his head. “He said that if anything should happen to him, I should go to the bank and that my mother would find me. He also warned me not to go there unless I was absolutely certain I wasn’t being followed.” He glances at me. “I had no way of getting there at first. Later, I wanted to be sure nobody was following me. I didn’t go until long after I’d left Miami, when I had a passport with the name Roman Stevanovsky. I hoped... I thought that perhaps my mother would magically appear when I opened the box. She didn’t, of course.”

His lips tighten. I squeeze his hand, and he forces a smile as he pulls into the underground garage. “Anyway. I used the Fabergé egg inside the box as collateral for a loan. Mikhail and I used some of the loan to build Hale. But more importantly, I used it to build what you’re about to see.” He gets out of the car and comes around to my door, helping me out. Expecting him to keep moving, I’m surprised when he stands still, holding both of my hands in his.

“The place I’m about to take you is what you’ve heard Mickey and I call ‘the lab.’ It’s not the software development center in the building above. That’s just for show, something to justify what lies below it, if anyone starts taking too much interest in us.”

I look at him curiously. “Whatdoeslie below it?”

He holds my eyes, his face entirely serious. “A project so secretive only a few dozen people know about it, including an elite board made up entirely of Russian businessmen—bratva, like us. A project I’ve killed to protect and paid countless millions to develop.” He takes a deep breath. “Under normal circumstances I would never involve you in this. But I don’t know how to bring you into the search for the children without bringing you here. And after hearing your father today...” He pauses as my hands grip his convulsively. “I guess I understand how painful it’s been to discover your father didn’t trust you,” he says quietly. “I saw your surprise earlier when I told you that I understood Sergei. What I meant is that I understand his desire to protect you, to shield you from anything that might possibly place you in danger.”

I tense instinctively, and Roman half smiles.

“Then I realized how damaging that secrecy has been. You were right in what you said to him. After all those years of hardship, all you endured to keep both of you alive, you deserve much better than being lied to.”

He interlinks his fingers with mine, drawing me against his body. “I don’t like the idea of involving you in business,” he says roughly. “In fact, I fucking hate it.” His mouth twitches at the corners, although the dark humor doesn’t reach his eyes. “But this is about the children. I want you here, beside me. Ineedyou here, Darya. And whether it kills me to admit it or not, we need your help.” He gives me a wry smile. “Don’t ever fucking remind me I said that.”

I stand on tiptoes and touch my lips to his. “Show me this project of yours.”

“This is incredible.”I stare around at the vast expanse of the Mercura server center from the fishbowl window of the operations room, trying to take it all in.

When we first got here, Roman tried to steer me straight into a private room, but after I saw Mickey inside this one, there was no chance that was happening. “And you’re just about to launch this cryptocurrency? Mac—Mer—”

“Mercura. We were.” Roman might be six and a half feet of solid criminal muscle, but he seems strangely at home here. For all that he snaps at the motley crew of employees he refers to as tech heads, it’s clear how much they admire him. Hearing my fierce man spout digital terms I don’t even begin to understand, rapping out orders and moving from one screen to another, is a revelation. The scope of his vision is breathtaking, so far beyond anything I could have imagined as to verge on the genius. I’m awestruck by what he’s attempting and by what he’s already achieved. I feel like I knew only a fraction of him before now.

If I’m honest, it’s seriously hot.

“Now everything is on hold, obviously.” Roman’s voice drags me back from the gutter, though when he sees the flush on my cheeks, his lips curl in a knowing smile.

“I see.” I spin around, avoiding his scrutiny and focusing on Mickey. “And you!” I point an accusing finger at him, and he grins back at me. It’s the first time I’ve seen him even remotely lighthearted since we met in Granada. “Thisis what you’ve been working on all these months?”

“Yup.” Mickey tilts his head at Roman. “It’s his fault. He’s a really bad influence, Darya. You should probably take him in hand.”

Oh, I already have.

What iswrongwith me today? I swallow. I need to get a grip on myself and stop thinking about what just happened on the hood of Roman’s Maybach, or the fact that he still has my panties balled up in the pocket of his suit pants.

“Fuck off.” Roman throws one of Pavel’s stress balls at Mickey’s head, then shoots me an apologetic glance. “Sorry.” He’s clearly not used to moderating his language in here.

I bite back a smile. “I think I’ll cope.” My gaze shifts to the screens in front of Mickey, and my insides shift uncomfortably, all thought of lighthearted banter or car sex driven instantly from my mind.

A bank of square video windows shows my family’s Coconut Grove compound from different perspectives.

It’s the first time I’ve seen the inside of my childhood home since I ran. The images hit me in a bittersweet rush of emotion.

The best memories of my childhood took place running through those marble corridors.

The worst stuff of my nightmares happened in the rooms below them.

“Mickey.” I fight for an even tone. “Can I look through the camera feeds?”

“Of course.” He moves to make room for me, and Roman rolls a chair into place so I can sit beside him. The other tech kids gather around, shooting me surreptitious glances. Since Roman explained that most of them have been staring nonstop at my photograph for the past few days, I guess I can understand the fascination of seeing me in the flesh.

Roman clearly doesn’t appreciate their interest, however. He narrows his eyes at one of the more avid starers, and the poor kid scurries back to his desk like the demons from hell are behind him, burying his head in his laptop. Roman glares at his red neck hard enough to bore holes in it, then eyeballs the rest of the room with a death stare savage enough to make his meaning perfectly clear. The tech kids, clearly utterly terrified, all turn hurriedly back to their screens. I suppress an extremely inappropriate urge to laugh.

I move the mouse, scrolling through the camera feeds from the different rooms, breathing deeply to calm the sudden rush of emotion that accompanies certain images.

There’s my bedroom, untouched since the day I left it.I zoom in to the door. The camera feed is crystal sharp, clear enough to see every mark in the wood.

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