Page 86 of Illyria

“She has more to do with this than you know. Tell me, brother, has she told you the truth yet? Do you know what she is keeping from you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Boris chuckled. “She didn’t tell you. Oh, this is priceless.”

Seeing Montana storm out the back door of the club, I pursued him. “Go to hell, asshole.”

“Oh, brother. I love our conversations. Now, before you catch up with your friend and come up with a plan that won’t work, you should knowthatI will take great pleasure in what I am about to do. As for that biker thug, when you see him, tell him I know where my silver-haired beauty is at. He better hurry. And finally, for that Irlandskly Prizak, you and your friends put in my organization? Oh, do I have plans for him. When I find him, he will receive a proper Bratva punishment for his betrayal. Maybe I will sever his head and gift it to your Italian whore.”

Before I could formulate a reply, the fucker hung up laughing, saying, “Let the game begin.”

Running for the backdoor, I slammed the door open to find Montana leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.

“Not now,Maxim. I’ve had a shit night.”

“And it’s about to get worse. Petrovitch made his move. I can’t find Illyria. The Romano’s are in a gunfight near Port Authority and to make matters worse, our mole blew his cover. He needs to be extracted immediately.”

“Jesus, fuck,” Montana cursed, throwing his half-smokedcigarette on the ground before walking back into the club. “Where is Mercy?”

“Sent him and Vladmir to pick up our mole. It’s going to be close. Hope the idiot’s armed. When I called Renaldo, I could hear gunfire and men yelling. I haven’t been able to get him to answer. But I need your help in finding Illyria.”

“I left her over near the offices. Largo was here.”

“Mercy’s wife?”

“Ex-wife. Fucking bitch saw me and ran. Disappeared into the fucking crowd.”

“What the hell was she doing here?”

“No fucking clue. Problem for another day. Let’s find your wife and get the fuck out of here,” he said, as we looked over the growing crowd. It was going to be like looking for a needle in the haystacks. People could barely move around.

Packed tight, it was standing room only.

“Fuck this shit,” Montana growled, right before he stormed over to the DJ’s booth, grabbing the microphone from him. The second the music stopped, he yelled. “Party is fucking over. Get the fuck out!”

When no one moved, he added, “NOW!”

As the club patrons dispersed, Giovanni walked over with his wife. Vicious and Linsey were right behind him. Several of my men stood guard, making sure there were no problems as the club emptied. Seeing Nikandr, I told him to keep an eye out for Illyria.

“What’s wrong?”

“Have any of you seen Illyria?” I asked.

“She left with Montana after you stormed off,” Giovanni growled, then looked directly at my friend. “Tell me you didn’t leave my sister unattended.”

“I saw someone I needed to speak with. The whole fucking place is full of our men. She couldn’t have gone far.”

“You don’t know Illyria,” my niece whispered.

For the first time since I met my sister’s daughter, I agreed with her. Illyria Valentinetti was cunning. If she wanted to disappear, this was the perfect event to do so and considering how I’ve been treating her these last few days, I wouldn’t put it past her.

“We need to send some men to the Port Authority. Romano’s men are under fire.” Montana stated, as Giovanni turned and whispered to a cousin of his, who nodded, quickly leaving with a few of his men. “What else?”

“Petrovitch called me. He said let the games begin. He was here tonight. In the crowd. He saw all of us. He said a lot of cryptic shit that could mean anything, but knowing him, it’s important.”

“Like what?” Montana asked as he typed into his phone.

“I need to find Illyria. Where the hell is she?”

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