Page 108 of Deceptive Vows

Eric thinks for a moment. “Your father had you under strict supervision, and the Voirik were called in to assist. If people are working from your brotherhood with Ivan, they might not have had access to kill you.”

“God. He never told Raul I was alive, either. Both he and Felipe looked shocked I survived.” They both looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“Did he offer to go with you to Mexico?”

“He didn’t.” And I was so hyped up on rage and grief I never questioned it. Then again, I wouldn’t because he was hereinvestigating.

“So, maybe he wanted you to kill Raul. Think about it. If the plan was still on and you were in a coma, then he might have just been watching and waiting for you to wake up and find out what you remembered. If you died, it would have made no difference to the plan. You being alive, though, identified Felipe and, of course, Raul. So, they both had to die.”

“My God. All this is happening, and the more we talk, the more I suspect him. But I can’t say anything to my father without proof. This is going to break him.”

He gives me a sympathetic stare. “I’m still working on the files. There’s still a lot to go through, but I’ll get it done and hopefully find something there. I suggest we focus on watching Ivan and seeing what we can get that way.”

“I’ll track his every move.”

“You’re going to have to be careful with who you trust, Mikhail,” he cautions. “You don’t know who else might be working for him.”

Damn it. “It could be anybody I know.”

I think of Sebastian and hope like fuck my brother didn’t sway him. I doubt it, but I don’t know. That’s the fucking problem with betrayal. Those who fit the bill to betray you are the people closest to you. It wouldn’t work otherwise.

“Let’s keep numbers small for now. You and me. If we need more muscle and brains, I got the hookup in L.A. I’ll come here to meet with you. I don’t think my presence at the office will help. We need Ivan to think you’re on your own. In the meantime, I’ll check everyone out, and him, too.”

“I keep saying I owe you.”

He smirks. “We’ll talk about that when you repay me.” He pushes to his feet. “Sorry for the bad news, old friend.”

“It’s okay.”

It has to be.

* * *

As the hours tick by, I’m aware of the two new elements I now have to contend with.

Ivan’s treachery and the woman in my bed upstairs who’s wondering where I am.

I have to deal with both.

I can’t allow my brother to take over, and I can’t allow the woman to make me soft so I slip up and don’t recognize the danger for what it is.

The next morning, I come up with a plan to set things in motion.

Something that seems like another joke the universe is playing on me.

I wonder if it is when José Diaz walks into my home office. Aleksander is just walking away after ushering him up here.

José must be wondering why I sent for him and why I’m not meeting him at Dmitriyev Ltd.

“Close the door and sit,” I tell him.

He does and sits in the same chair Eric was in last night.

“Is everything okay, Señor?”

“Not exactly.” So far, this man is the only guy in this game who doesn’t have anything at stake and doesn’t have anything to lose.

Nobody has promised him anything except his life in exchange for his help.