Page 74 of No Longer Mine (Rags & Riches #2)

Chapter Sixty-Three

Dimitri

It had been a week since everything hit the fan.

Our father was completely MIA. Once he entered international waters…

it was nearly impossible to find him. Which was fine.

I didn’t know if I actually cared because there was nothing for him to come back to.

Everything was locked down tight. The day we found Scarlett I started making a plan with Benson and Oliver.

With my father being gone it allowed us the opportunity to dig into everything. Starting with Gavin Crenshaw.

He was at the top of the list. Turns out, Gavin wasn’t just a partner in my father’s business. He was a buyer. One of the monsters who’d wanted to buy Scarlett.

So here I was. In the dark of Gavin’s penthouse. Waiting.

I’d planned to sit in his office chair and light up one of his overpriced cigars for dramatic effect. Let him walk in and catch me mid-puff like something out of a noir film. But they tasted like shit.

I took one drag, gagged, and tossed the whole box in the trash.

Now I sat in silence, in the shadows of his office, the city lights casting fractured patterns through the tall glass windows. Every muscle in my body was coiled, still running on pure vengeance and adrenaline.

Scarlett was safe. That was the only reason I had the patience to wait this long.

She was having game night with Cleo, Audrey, and Carina.

With Vance and Don waiting outside her front door.

She would never be without protection again.

Even though I hadn’t wanted to leave her, I told myself, it was what was best for her.

She needed breaks. She needed friends and laughter.

All I could do was give her reminders right now and that was the last thing she needed.

She stared off into space too much and I knew it haunted her that he got away. So I was doing everything I could to make sure I took everyone else down. I wouldn’t stop until they were all dead or locked up. Gavin was just the start of it all.

Laughter met my ears as the front door swung open. Ah, he had a guest tonight. I stretched to my full height and stalked out of his office. When I finally made it to the hallway that connected to his entryway, the woman he’d brought home with him was on her knees, unzipping his pants.

“What an unfortunate interruption,” I began and they both jerked—startled.

The woman—a redhead, of course she was—screamed and scrambled to her feet, nearly falling as she ducked behind Gavin. He was fumbling with his zipper, his face pale and furious.

“Who the fuck are?—?”

“Sit down, Gavin,” I cut him off, voice low and final. “We’re going to have a conversation.”

He looked over at the woman and I spoke for him, “You can go now.”

She nodded as she scrambled to leave the penthouse.

“Dimitri Cristof,” he said cooly as he sat down on his leather sofa. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He was playing it cool but his face was still pale and his knee was jumping.

“I want everything, all your ledgers, all your hidden illegal shit.”

He laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I flicked open the knife that I’d kept in my palm with a soft click. “You see Gavin, I don’t exactly get my hands dirty anymore, but I am not against it. Especially when it comes to the woman I love, do you understand me?”

He tilted his head to the side and laughed harder. “You love that thief? Wow, that’s pretty low Dimitri, even for you.”

He obviously wasn’t hearing me. I sat down across from him and held up the knife in the light from the entryway. “You think it’s okay to insult me? Do you forget who’s in control here?”

Gavin pressed his lips together. “Look man, I’m not interested in whatever you’re doing. I have nothing to do with this shit. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“That’s funny because a certain little thief found ledgers in your safe. Now that my father has disappeared I have full access to his computers and guess who he left the fall to…”

Gavin’s eyes widened and sweat began to bead on his forehead. “What the fuck do you mean, Cristof?”

“I’m saying that when this entire operation detonates in seven days—because it will—you’ll be at the top of the pile when it collapses. The paper trail leads straight to you. Are you ready to die for my father’s sins… or do you want out?”

His face paled even further. He leaned forward, panic crawling beneath his polished mask. “What are you proposing?”

“We need some other men to go down.” I shrugged as if it were that easy. I had enough dirt but I needed more. I needed these men buried so deep they could never crawl out.

“I have detailed transactions, I have videos, call logs, text message proof, and more. What do you want?”

“All of it.”

He hesitated. “And what about me?”

I stood slowly, towering over him as I gestured toward the hall. “You’re going to walk me to your safe. You’re going to hand it all over. And then you’re going to disappear. Quietly.”

“And that’s it?”

“You’ll never speak about this again. You’ll never buy or sell another woman for the rest of your miserable life. And you’re going to tell me exactly where the others are being kept. Every. Single. Location.”

He opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him finish.

“If you so much as sniff in the direction of another trafficking ring, I won’t kill you.”

He blinked. “You won’t?”

I stepped closer, my voice ice. “I’ll rip your dick off, shove it so far down your throat you’ll choke on it—and then I’ll call your mother. She’ll be the one to find you like that. Understood?”

He nodded. Hard.

“Good,” I said, flicking my knife closed. “Now move.”

Seven days later, surrounded by my family and Scarlett, I clicked on the TV. The captain of the NYPD stood at a podium, uniform pressed, face grim.

My brothers sat on edge—none of them knew what was coming.

I hadn’t told them everything. Not yet. I wasn’t sure how they’d feel about what I’d done behind the scenes—but this was my call. My burden.

Scarlett sat beside me, quiet but alert. Her fingers curled around mine.

On the TV, the captain cleared his throat, and cameras flashed around the crowded room.

“After an investigation, the NYPD and assisting agencies have successfully dismantled one of the most expansive and violent human trafficking rings operating on the East Coast. Dozens of arrests have been made. Several prominent figures - politicians, businessmen, and law enforcement officers- have been implicated, and this investigation remains active and ongoing at this time. We are committed to ensuring that every victim receives justice and the community remains safe.”

I didn’t blink. I knew exactly whose names were on those warrants.

“We will not disclose our source that led the the opening of this investigation, but with their cooperation in this investigation, it will lead to a safer community and justice for all of the victims. ”

Ace stared at the screen like it might crack open. “Why aren’t you giving this press conference?”

I leaned back slowly. “I don’t need to be known as a hero.”

Gavin had delivered everything, exactly like I told him to. Under my supervision, he uploaded it directly to the captain’s encrypted drop point. I made it clear he had two options—cooperate or vanish. He chose wisely.

Scarlett squeezed my hand.

Letting the NYPD take credit had been intentional. The city needed heroes. The women needed protection. I didn’t need my name attached to any of it. I just needed the people who hurt her—who hurt all of them—gone.

I stood and turned the TV off. “Let’s eat.”

No more applause. No more discussion.

Let the world think the police brought them down. We’d all sleep better that way.

Scarlett rose onto her toes and kissed my cheek. “I can’t believe they’re actually going down. Do you think they’ll stay in prison?”

I didn’t answer right away. Most of them wouldn’t. Not forever. But they’d be watched now. My father had vanished, and without him to pull the strings, his allies were exposed and bleeding out. He wouldn’t find sanctuary. He’d only find targets on his back.

And if he ever came home?

He’d come back to fire.