Page 112 of No Longer Mine

Audrey shimmied her shoulders. “I made tater tot casserole!”

“What the fuck is that?” My lips curled with disdain.

Audrey gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her heart like I’d just personally offended her ancestors. “Excuse you, sir, but tater tot casserole is an elite dish. A delicacy. A masterpiece of Midwestern cuisine.”

I turned to Alexei, looking for backup, but the bastard just smirked around a bite of whatever monstrosity she had put on his plate.

“I don’t trust food with ‘tater tots’ as a main ingredient,” I muttered, kicking a chair out and dropping into it.

Audrey scoffed, plopping down across from me. “That’s because you have no taste. But don’t worry, I made real food too. There’s steak in the oven, but you don’t deserve it now.”

I huffed a laugh, rubbing my temples. “I’m wounded.”

Alexei, finally swallowing, set his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “I assume you’re here for a reason and not just to insult my fiancée’s culinary prowess?”

Audrey beamed, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. “Damn right.”

I sighed. “I need to know everything we have on our father. Everything. The drives, the ledgers—whatever Scarlett pulled, I need to go through it all. We don’t have time to sit on it anymore.”

Alexei nodded his head enthusiastically. “I’ve been waiting for you to get on board. Finally!”

I didn’t say it, but I’d been so preoccupied with Scarlett and the city council that I wasn’t worried about taking Father down in the shadows, though now I knew that was the only way it could happen. As much as I wanted to publicly deface the bastard, I knew I couldn’t. Our names would all go down with him—including our mother. The FBI would be involved, and before we knew it, nothing would be left of us.

“I’ve been a little preoccupied with other pressing matters. Things aren’t as dire now, so I can focus on this. All of my attention goes to this.”

He nodded once, pushing back from the table. “Come on, then. Let’s get to work.”

Audrey groaned, throwing her hands up. “Oh, sure, just leave me alone with my casserole.”

Alexei pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You said there was steak in the oven.”

“I’ll eat some of the casserole with you, it would be my honor.” Don placed his hand over his chest, and I swore Alexei and I made the same disgusted face. So this was how he’d gotten into Scarlett’s good graces. “Tater tot casserole is what my grandmother used to make for us growing up. I would love nothing more.”

Audrey beamed and shooed us down the hall.

Alexei shuffled papers on his desk. “So what are you thinking?”

I huffed out a breath. “I’m thinking we find someone in Father’s business. Someone with whom he works closely with. There’s a guy always at the docks, and he speaks directly with our father.”

“Okay, so we are placing blame on someone else then?”

I sucked my teeth. “Kind of. I don’t like saying it like that because I know Father needs to go down, but if he does… so do all of us. All of Ace’s assets. Our name. We are nothing.”

He nodded his understanding. “So we get a scapegoat? But what about everyone else?”

My smile was slow. “Oh, every single politician, celebrity, elite, and otherwise that has bought from our father is going down. Benson will do a deep dive on them and get as much dirt as possible. These people will not be able to live publicly again,if they don’t go to jail. Benson can also send things to the FBI to tip them off.”

“How do we keep Father out of this?” His lips curled as he shook his head. He didn’t like this any more than I did, but we had to protect our mother, our brothers, and their families—future children. We couldn’t do that if Father went down.

Alexei leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the desk. His smirk was sharp, calculating. “So we don’t just take out one monster—we take out the entire damn network.”

“Exactly,” I said. “If we do this right, we dismantle everything he’s built without ever putting our family name in the crosshairs.”

Alexei exhaled, nodding. “Alright. Who’s our scapegoat?”

I tapped the page in front of me. “Sergei Popov. He’s been handling shipments at the docks for years. He’s Father’s right-hand when it comes to moving product. If we push the right pieces, he’ll look like the mastermind.”

“What about all of the offshore accounts and LLCs?”