Page 26 of Broken Promises
Devlin stepped forward and slowly approached Hannah and me. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You did nothing wrong, and I’m sorry my . . . our father is still causing problems from the grave.”
“It’s not like we can change what he did,” she replied, and Devlin nodded his agreement. “Would you like to have a seat?” she asked everyone, and Lucian stepped forward as Devlin retreated.
“If it’s okay, why don’t we sit outside? It’s a beautiful day, and I for one don’t want to talk about everything inside. We need to let Sergey’s negativity out, so it’s not trapped inside your house,” James proposed.
“That makes good sense,” I replied and guided Hannah out the back door, silently telling them to follow. I pulled Hannah’s chair out and got her seated as James, Devlin, and Lucian all took a seat. I grabbed one of the chairs from the dining room and returned to sit next to Hannah. After taking her hand into mine and kissing the back, I turned to James and suggested, “Why don’t you explain to Hannah why you wanted to speak with her, and we can go from there. But I will end this if, at any point, she gets upset or wants to stop. Is that understood?”
I wouldn’t let anyone, including her family, cause her to be upset. She’d dealt with enough in the last six months, and the last thing she needed was those three harpy assholes digging into her life and revealing her personal secrets.
“Understood,” Devlin said, followed by Lucian and, finally, James.
James started as he pulled a laptop from his shoulder bag and opened it up. “I don’t want you to think you need to uncover yourself or speak about anything upsetting. I’m just trying to find out some information that isn’t readily available. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Hannah remarked, and James nodded his understanding.
He turned the computer so Hannah could see it as he began to speak. “As I know Rhys has told you, the DNA test confirmed your relationship to Sergey.” Hannah nodded, so James continued. “Do you remember ever meeting Sergey? It’s been hard to track your whereabouts until you entered foster care and then moved in with your granny, but anything you remember may help us get on the right track.”
James pressed a button and an old picture of Sergey from around the time Lucian was initiated popped onto the screen. I wanted to punch my fist through his face for all the pain he’d caused over the years but refrained from losing it in front of Hannah. Lucian and Devlin turned their gazes to her, refusing to look at their father’s picture.
“I honestly don’t think so, but there were so many men coming and going, that it’s a possibility,” Hannah responded as she looked at the picture.
“Do you remember where you lived? The state of Missouri had you living in a little town called Bluffstown when they found you. Does that ring a bell?” James inquired.
“We moved every few months for as long as I can remember. My mother never worked, and looking back, I assume she was probably a prostitute. It’s the only thing that makes sense, since she always had money to party on, just never enough to take care of me,” she reasoned, and I squeezed her hand again, letting her know I was right there for her.
Lucian sat forward and asked me, “Do you still have the list of houses run by the Syndicate in Missouri and the surrounding states?”
“Let me get my computer from the car and I’ll see if it’s on the server,” I said and leaned over to Hannah. “I’ll be right back. Are you okay?”
She reached up and stroked my cheek without a care who was watching as she said, “I’ll be fine.”
Quickly, I walked through the house and hustled to my vehicle, grabbing my laptop from the console stand it was mounted to before returning to the house. I went back outside and saw Hannah smiling as she spoke with Devlin.
“So, I have two nephews, two nieces, including James’s daughter, and one of each on the way from Rylee and Lucian? That’s so exciting,” she said as Devlin showed her pictures on his phone of his kids and Hailey.
“You’ll love DJ. He’s a chick magnet at three years old,” Lucian joked, and I chuckled because he was right.
Even I melted for the little rascal, and in all the times I’d been around him, I’d never seen him be cross or show signs of being spoiled. If Hannah and I ever had kids, I hoped they turned out like DJ.
“Stella was hoping you’d be able to come to Portstill for a visit. I know Elise would love that too, and I’ve got a spare apartment in my building, fully furnished, so you could stay as long as you want.”
“That sounds nice,” she replied as I retook my seat, and she turned to smile at me.
I opened my laptop and pulled up the Wi-Fi. I’d locked Hannah’s into a virtual private network, so it took a moment to get logged in and secured. Once I knew we were good, I accessed my stored files from my server at home and began to look for what Lucian requested.
“What are you looking for?” Hannah asked, and I shifted my computer so she could see.
I wasn’t ever going to hide anything from her, including the darker parts of my personality I kept tamped down, so I wanted her to see what I was doing.
“Over the years, lots of records have been compiled. Records from when Lucian was undercover, to Sergey’s trial, to testimony and statements from other people who had escaped the Syndicate. It’s how we were able to track who was connected and who were just hired guns,” I explained as I sent my system searching.
“And what specifically are you trying to find?”
Lucian cleared his throat as he delicately explained, “You said you think your mother may have been a professional, and one of the biggest money makers for the Syndicate was . . . whorehouses. There’s a list of cities and some of the women who were saved from them.”
“And you think that’s how my mother and Sergey met?”
“At this point, we’re grasping at straws,” Devlin responded. “When Sergey died, there were only a few members of the Syndicate out of jail, and over the years, they’ve been handled, so we’re trying to find any connection to the men in that house and the original members. We’re just missing something key to discovering who’s behind your kidnapping.”
