Page 111 of Fortress of the Heart

“That’s good,” I tell him. I want to give Angelo a few days at least with his woman before the funeral and the casino opening. “Send me over what you have, and I’ll call you back.”

“The file is coming through,” he says.

This kid is fucking smart, though I’ve never met him in person. In fact, none of us have.

Angelo did tell Vaughn he wanted him on the case to try and find out who the hell was helping these monsters when Rayne was being blackmailed. It took some doing to find out who had encrypted the incoming calls and emails to Rayne so efficiently and so undetectably. It certainly has my interest piqued.

“Enzo’s here with me. We’ll take a look.”

“Call me back when you can,” he says.

I furrow my brow. “You got it.”

I hang up and look at Enzo. “I think the kid needs a vacation, Enz.”

He laughs as we walk into the room allocated for the Security Ops team. “Don’t we all?”

21

KATIYA

We standas my father and Vlad walk in the door.

I brush my arms with my hands, feeling the cold wash over me. Even though this room is warm and cozy, I feel far from it.

“Katiya!” my father shouts as I flinch. “What have you gotten yourself into now?”

I push down my anger, knowing it will displease everyone if I act like a bull at the gate.

“I got kidnapped,” I say, feeling the life drain right out of me as I see Vlad’s furious face.

He doesn’t come to me. He barely glances at me, his focus only on Aleksi.

My uncle is a scary man and as I glance at him, I can see the rage on his face.

Both men have stopped in their tracks, with Dimitri and Maxim behind them.

This time, Aleksi doesn’t tell them to go.

“Brother,” Aleksi says, as I keep my mouth shut. “Nice of you to join us.”

He ignores Aleksi. “Is this true? What Vlad has told me?”

Vlad stays quiet.

“Yes.” I nod. “I was taken…”

“What in God’s name?”

“Why is he here?” Aleksi interrupts, motioning to Vlad.

“He was invited,” my father replies. “He needs to hear this.”

I feel my uncle stiffen. I don’t think I know quite what to do, especially since I’ve never seen him this way.

He may just shoot Vlad dead right here, right now.

“Consider him uninvited.”

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