Page 5 of The Brutal Arrangement

“Other than the message that came in on his laptop, nothing.”

That one little line of an encrypted acronym had come in after Nik’s capture. A guard in the security room notified us of it popping up on the system, and it was just enough to give ushope that Nik was not only alive but conscious enough to send a message. Our firewalls and security measures were more in-depth than anything in a standard home.

Nik’s line wasn’t an SOS, but rather an abbreviation that we’d formed as brothers to indicatestand by. We seldom used it, but we all understood its meaning.

“What if someone sent that message for him?” Sloane asked.

Grandmother shook her head. “No. Only these brothers know that code. I don’t even know what it means.” Our grandmother had no reason to know what we brothers shared, and as a proper Mafia widow, she wouldn’t try to snoop and interfere to know, either.

Maxim patted Sloane’s hand and sighed. “And Nik wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Even if he was being…” Sloane winced. “Never mind.”

“Tortured?” I finished for her. “No. He wouldn’t crack like that.”

She hadn’t lost her wince yet, but she nodded in acknowledgment at me. Torture was my expertise, though, and I could claim with confidence that I’d helped train my brother to never cave under the worst forms of torture.

The Ivanov Syndicate wasn’t built with weaknesses.

We were all dedicated to the family—until our last breaths.

“But you’re all just so…” Sloane glanced around at all of us. “Calm.”

“Because that’s the only way to handle something like this,” Maxim replied.

“Nik has been taught how to be a captive,” Saul said, explaining a little further. Sloane’s arrival at our home wasn’t new, but since she and Maxim had more fully made up and committed to each other, it was a foreign experience to integrate her into how this family and organization worked. That included feeding her bits of intel at a time, always per what Maxim wanted her to know. With her at this dinner and next to him, she looked every bit his partner, his woman, and with that ring on her finger, his bride and future wife. Like our grandmother, she would be privy to family intel, but within reason.

“That’s… helpful,” she replied, slightly sarcastic. I was sure her opinions about the topic of kidnapping were biased with how Maxim made her his woman, but it sure had worked out for the best. I’d never seen Maxim so complete.

As Saul loaded his plate, he shrugged one shoulder. “If anything, he’s probably going to try to stay captured as long as he can to spy on whoever took him.”

“I agree,” I said dryly. “That would be just like him.” Nik and I shared a closer bond than the other brothers. We were fraternal twins, united as brothers even in the womb. But we couldn’t have turned out more different. He was charming and daring, outgoing and cocky, whereas I was quiet and reserved, dark and tempered. Nik was more prone to taking extreme risks.

Maxim didn’t argue. “I think so too.”

Sloane furrowed her brow. “He’dlethimself be captured for the sake of getting information?”

“Yes.” I glanced at her but didn’t maintain eye contact for long. I knew how my scar on my face bothered others, particularly women who weren’t used to me. Intimidating my brother’sfiancée wasn’t my goal. “He would. With our need to find out who poisoned our father, he would most certainly use his captivity to his advantage in any way he could.”

Grandmother shook her head, frowning once more. “Grigory’s still not himself, either.”

“What did the doctor say?” I asked, aware that while I’d been supervising more men to hunt for clues about Nik’s whereabouts that Father had been checked again. He was poisoned and resting in a lengthy recovery, but the prognosis seemed open to change. Maxim seemed most anxious for Father to be back to his usual self, probably because he didn’t want to be the boss of the whole organization permanently. With a wedding to plan and a baby to look forward to, he had his hands full.

“He’s still recovering steadily,” Grandmother replied, “but the doctor warned of mood changes and an altered personality with the damage done to his brain and nervous system.”

Maxim drew a deep breath, clearly unsettled. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“We’ll help you lead,” Saul said.

“And we’ll find Nik so he can help too,” I added.

We always worked as a team, a coalition of brothers who lead all the many men and soldiers under the Ivanov Family.

“I know.” Maxim sighed at Sloane. “It’s just the timing of it all. Nik’s capture has to be another strike against the family. First, they tried to take out Father. Now Nik. I don’t want to deal with an enemy trying to ruin us now when I have a future to build.”

Sloane smiled a little and rested her head on his shoulder, so obviously in love. “Whenwehave a future to build.”

A happy sigh came from Grandmother, and I had to lower my head to avoid the pressure of watching them being so joyful about Maxim and Sloane’s baby. Her pregnancy hadn’t started without drama, but now that she and Maxim were committed to each other, she was right. She would be a backup support for him as he handled all these challenges the family faced.

---