Page 63 of Surprise Quadruplets for the Mob

I look from him to Lev, then back again. “Spit it out, then.”

Lev opens his mouth, then closes it. Finally, he looks at Dimitri. “Maybe I should let you tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“Abby’s been taken,” Lev says, his face pale. “The babies, too.”

I shake my head, not understanding what he’s telling me. “What? Why? How? Who could have gotten past all the security at her sister’s house?” I slam my fist down on the table, my voice rising. “You assured me she had security, Lev, goddammit.”

I shouldn’t be getting this worked up about the woman who scammed me. The woman who tried to convince me her four babies were mine. But I can’t help it. I might not want her in my life, but I sure as hell don’t want anyone to hurt her.

“You…” Lev’s voice bleeds away in uncertainty. “You told me to remove our boys from the house.”

“Iwhat?” I slam both my hands down onto my desk. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Boss, I…have the texts right here—”

But I barely even hear him. “If somebody doesn’t begin explaining what the fuck is going on right now,” I say through painfully clenched teeth, as I try to process the barrage of information hitting me in one go, “bullets are going to fly.”

“The Irish,” Dimitri intervenes. “A van full of them, right there in the middle of an intersection, they grabbed your girl and her babies. It was all over the news. They took Alyosha, too.”

“What the ever-loving fuck?” Not only is this too much information all at once, not a single piece of it makes sense. “Why the fuck was Abby with Alyosha? And she had her kids with her? You’re sure this isn’t some kind of—?”

“There were people recording with their phones at the scene, boss. It was on the news. On TV! Alyosha was bringing Abby and the kids here to see you when they got jumped by the Irish, I swear to God.”

The more they tell me, the less sense it makes. “What do you mean they were coming to see me?” I shove a hand back through my hair. “Why would Alyosha—who told you they were coming here? Did Alyosha say that himself?”

“No, boss,” Lev says, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, while Dimitri is frowning up a storm. “Abby’s sister told us Alyosha was bringing them here. I went to check the house before coming here. She said you sent Abby a text saying to bring them, to be ready when Alyosha came to pick them up.”

Okay, now I know something is fucked up. “I never spoke to Abby.” I fish my phone out of my pocket, intent on showinghim he’s the one who’s gone crazy, but then I see the texts with my own eyes. Right there on my phone. “How…what the fuck? I didn’t send these texts.”

I don’t know what’s going on or what happened to Abby, but all this fucked up shit has one thing in common.

Alyosha.

He’s been at the center of all this from the very beginning. First, it was his accusations about Abby. The financial statements. Then the fucking paternity test. Now the text messages.

“Lev, where’s Alyosha?”

He shakes his head. “Gone. The van. They took him.”

“Fuck,” I growl, slamming my fist against the desk again. “Alyosha’s fingerprints are all over this.”

“Do you think he’s the one who’s behind the carjacking?” Lev’s eyes go wide. “Do you think he’s our rat?”

I clench my jaw. “It’s starting to look that way.”

“The zip drive,” Lev says suddenly, clicking his fingers as if something’s just occurred to him. “Remember when we took that zip drive from the guy at the warehouse? How Alyosha said it couldn’t be decrypted even when the fucking password was‘password’?When it took Dimitri five fucking minutes?”

We both turn to look at Dimitri.

He nods, scowling. “I had questions about that, too. I just trusted him, though. Thought he was having an off day, you know? Maybe because it wastooeasy, his genius brain somehowoverlooked it. But he has been doing some weird shit lately, now that you mention it.”

“We need to go,” I growl, holstering my gun and reaching for my jacket.

“Where to, boss?” Lev and Dimitri are right behind me as we rush for the door.

“Take me to Alyosha’s brother. We’ll get this slippery bastard one way or another.”

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