Page 7

Chapter Four

Julia

I go still when I see Connor in my house.

Viktor has his back to me but Connor is facing my direction. He catches my eye before I can sneak away.

He flashes me a dangerous smirk and then turns back to Viktor. “It was nice talking with you.”

Viktor shakes his hand. “You too. And I’ll consider the offer. It’s very tempting.”

“You should take it. This could help you win this war.”

What are they talking about? Without even realizing what my body is doing, I surge forward. “Hello.”

“Ah, Julia,” Viktor says, placing his hand on my back. “This is Connor Barry. He works for the Irish mob.”

“But I thought you hated the Irish.”

“He does but he’s desperate,” Connor says, laughing at his own joke.

Viktor tenses slightly. “Connor came to me with a proposition. We work together to take down Dante and Erik. I listened. He makes good points. We can put aside any animosity between our people and work together.”

“Why did you come here?” I ask Connor.

“Strange question,” Viktor comments.

“To make a deal with Viktor,” Connor says like I’m stupid.

“No I mean…” Shoot. I can’t ask more and not arouse Viktor’s suspicions. “Never mind.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Viktor says to Connor. I need to talk to Connor though. I need to know why he’s here all of a sudden. No Irish mobster has ever set foot inside my brother’s house. This can’t be a coincidence after we met in the club.

“I can walk him out,” I offer. Viktor gives me a confused frown. “I mean, if you and… Connor are going to be working together, I might as well get to know him, yes?”

“I guess,” Viktor says slowly. “We can walk him out together.”

I grit my teeth. I love my brother but he never lets me be alone with any man. It’s not me he doesn’t trust, I know that. But the fact that I never get my own privacy is stifling at times.

With no other choice, I follow Viktor and Connor to the front door.

“Pleasure working with you,” Connor says. “We could do good things together.” His eyes settle on me for a moment before he walks to his car.

“Wait,” I gasp. “He forgot something.” I rush out to Connor, leaving Viktor behind, confused.

Connor gives me a lazy smile. “Yes?”

“Why did you come here?”

“I told you -,”

“To make a deal with Viktor. Yes, I know. But after we met? Did you know who I really was?”

“Not at first. But when that fucking Italian said your name was Julia, I thought that was interesting. I could tell there was a secret between you two. I did some digging and found out you’re the sister of Viktor Smirnov.

Who would have thunk? So, I had to come here and see for myself. And now I have.”

“Are you just using my brother to get to me?”

“No. I want to make a deal with him.”

I relax slightly, though there’s a part of me that feels like Connor is not being fully truthful; that he has other plans still in place.

“Does it bother you that I’m here?” he asks. “Afraid I’m going to tell your brother where I met you?”

That could put Matteo in danger. But Connor doesn’t know I have… something going on with Matteo. He can’t know.

“I could just spin it and make you look bad,” I tell him. “My brother trusts me more than anyone, except his wife. He will take my word over yours any day, so no, you can’t scare me.”

“I don’t want to scare you, Julia. I want to work with your brother. See what happens?” He winks and gets in his car, driving away before I can say more.

Slowly, I head back to Viktor.

“What was that about?”

I try not to flinch. “I thought he dropped something. I was wrong.”

Viktor looks at me for a long, hard moment. “It looked like you were having a heated conversation with him. But you’ve never met him before.”

“I was just making sure he can be trusted.”

His intense gaze turns soft as he rubs my arm. “Thank you for that, Julia, but I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to make sure people can be trusted or not. I can figure those things out on my own.”

“But if you’re going to invite him into our home, where me and Inessa are, you need to make sure he can be trusted or we could end up hurt.”

“You think I would invite a man into my home if I was sure he could hurt you and Inessa? Don’t you know me better than that?”

I sigh. “I do. I’m sorry. I… don’t know what overcame me. All this war stuff is just… getting to me.”

“I get it. Connor is going to prove to me that he can be trusted.”

“How so?” I ask.

He motions me inside and to his office. “We’re going after one of Dante’s nightclubs.” He places a picture on his desk. It’s an image of the nightclub I had gone to. Where I met Connor.

“Why this place?” I try to keep any emotion off my face.

“Because Connor likes to go here. It won’t be seen as unusual if he shows up. We can use that to our advantage. We’re going to strike at Dante and his second, Matteo, the moment they arrive. Connor told me that they frequent the club a lot. We can kill them there when their defenses are down.”

I suck in a breath. “Kill them? Dante and… Matteo?”

Viktor frowns, shaking his head. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” I say too quickly. “I just… I just want to make sure you’ll be safe.”

His suspicious look turns soft again. “I will be.”

“When is this going down?” I point at the picture.

“Tomorrow night. We don’t have time to waste.”

Tomorrow night Matteo could die. And I can’t stand for that. I have to warn him about what’s coming but… I can’t put Viktor in danger. I love my brother and would do anything for him.

Except, let him kill the man I have feelings for. I know it’s sudden. I know I barely know Matteo. I know he’s on the enemies side and could be using me for all I know.

But I also trust my gut and my gut says I can trust Matteo. That he wants this war to end just as much as I do. He doesn’t deserve to die for it.

I know what I have to do.

I can’t go back to the nightclub and hope to find him there. Connor might be there and warn my brother. So how can I see Matteo?

I don’t have his phone number and he doesn’t have mine. I have no idea where he lives. But someone might.

Elena Romanov, married to Aiden Murphy. She’s Inessa’s best friend but they haven’t been allowed to see each other since this war has started. They’re on opposite sides.

But Elena might know where Matteo lives. At least, Aiden would and Elena could get me that information. Only if Inessa asked though and that would mean revealing how I feel for Matteo to Inessa and it would mean asking her to lie to Viktor again and I just can’t do that.

There has to be a way.

I sneak into Viktor and Inessa’s bedroom. Thankfully, they’re asleep. Inessa’s phone is on the nightstand. I snatch it up and tiptoe back to my own room. Elena’s number is in there. It seems that Inessa and her have been talking even though they technically shouldn’t be. It works for me.

I press down on Elena’s number. It rings three times before she answers. “Inessa?” Her voice is groggy late at night.

“Don’t panic. It’s Julia. Not Inessa.”

Elena goes silent for a long moment before she says, “Did something happen to Inessa?”

“No. She’s fine. I promise you that. I need something from you. An address.”

“I don’t understand. Why are you calling me?”

“I need an address.”

“Who’s?”

“Matteo Conti’s.”

Elena is quiet on the other end for a long time. She could be sharing a look with her husband. I could be ratted out within a matter of seconds. This is risky but I have to take it.

“Why do you need his address?” she finally asks.

“I’m trusting you, Elena, because you’re friends with Inessa. You know Inessa and I are friends too. I am trusting you to keep this a secret because people could get hurt.”

“A secret… from my husband?”

“Is he there with you?”

“No. He’s out for the night. It’s just me.”

She could be lying but I can’t worry about that right now. “I need to talk to Matteo. I know we’re on opposite sides of this war. I know you have no reason to trust me since I’m the sister of Viktor. But I have no intention of hurting Matteo. I… like him,” I admit.

“You like him?”

“And I need to talk to him. I need to know where he lives. Or if that’s too much to ask for, then his phone number. Just some way I can contact him.”

“I… I can give you his number. I don’t fully trust you. Viktor could be using you to hurt us.”

I can’t blame Elena for thinking that. “His number then. Thank you.” I write it down as she tells me. “Just keep this between us, please? No one will get hurt. I just need to talk to him. But if word gets out I’m talking to Matteo, it could lead to bigger problems.”

“You mean it? You really do like him?”

“I mean, I barely know him. But I know I can trust him. And I know I can trust you too. You’ve always been on Inessa’s side.”

“Ok,” she says. “I won’t tell anyone about this conversation. But if Matteo somehow ends up hurt, I’ll tell everyone you reached out to me.”

A spike of fear hits my chest. “Understood.”

I tiptoe back to Inessa and Viktor’s room and place her phone on the nightstand table. Neither one wakes up. I rush back to my room and call Matteo.

“Please pick up,” I mutter. He finally does.

“Hello?”

“Matteo, it’s me. Julia.”

He’s quiet for a few seconds. “Julia? How did you get my number?”

“Elena. She promised not to tell anyone. I need to talk to you.” I keep my voice as low as I possibly can.

“What is it?”

“Viktor is planning an attack on Dante’s club tomorrow night. The one I went to. He’s… teaming up with Connor Barry.”

“Shit. Julia, why are you telling me this?”

“Because I couldn’t stay quiet if you were going to get hurt. But Matteo, my brother will be there. You have to promise you won’t try to kill him.”

“But what if he shoots at me?”

I don’t have an answer for that. “Do what you must. But don’t show up. Neither you or Dante. They plan on attacking. If neither of you are there, then no attack can happen and no one has to get hurt.”

“But if Viktor is there, then I can’t stay quiet on this information. Dante will want to know. If there’s any chance we have to take Viktor down…”