Page 99 of Romancing His Heart

“But, the thing is,” Ash continues, “Vic is closing in on Luca. He knows Luca isn’t in Lanesboro, and that means our window to catch him is getting smaller.”

“Do you know what Vic’s done?” Sloane asks.

“Besides being the world’s biggest fuckwad?” Seth barks.

“Watch it, Seth.” My voice is deadly. I love Seth like a brother, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stand by while he speaks to Sloane like that. When he smirks at me, I know I’ve just outed myself where Red is concerned. Surprisingly, I’m okay with them knowing. In fact, I feel a shock of pride in them knowing how I feel about her.

I wait for Seth to continue, but keep a close eye on Luca. My gut says I can trust him, but I’ll keep all my senses on high alert until I have all the information.

“Vic is cousins with Stanislav Mikhailov,” Ashton interrupts.

My body goes rigid, and Sloane turns to look at me. I lift her off my lap, stand, and set her back in the chair while I pace.

“Wh-Who is Stan Mikalove?” Sloane mumbles.

“Stanislav Mikhailov is a very dangerous man. He’s the head of the Russian mob family taking over the Boston territory now that my father is out of the picture,” Luca confides.

“How the hell didn’t we know this about Vic?” I try not to yell, but my voice still raises a few octaves.

“He had help concealing it, and he never had contact with his mother’s family until after his father passed away while we were in the academy. I don’t have proof yet, but I’m willing to bet it was Montgomery,” Ashton vows.

“Montgomery? No way. He’s been my biggest advocate. He’s always been on my side,” I point out.

“He has,” Seth agrees, “but did you know his daughter is engaged to Vitali Solonik?”

“Since when? She’s just a kid. Jesus, she can’t be more than nineteen. We went to her sweet sixteen party a few years ago.”

“She’s eighteen. They met at boarding school. Something isn’t sitting right with that relationship, but I haven’t been able to turn up anything solid yet,” Ashton informs us.

“So it’s possible Montgomery has been connected to them this entire time?” I clarify.

“Yeah, and since Solonik is Mikhailov’s brother-in-law, I’m guessing they targeted her early on. They must have found some information they could use, and now they have the entire Montgomery family under their thumb.” Agitated, Seth pushes away from the wall he was leaning on.

“When did you figure this out?”

“I didn’t. You did, right before the explosion in Boston,” Luca chimes in.

“Fuck,” I scream, slamming my fist into the wall.

Sloane screams, and I feel like an asshole.

Chapter 32

Sloane

Loki slams his fist into the wall, and I scream involuntarily.

“Fuck. Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I scared you.” Loki is at my feet before I close my mouth.

“Y-You just startled me. I’m fine,” I assure. Truthfully, I’ve never seen Loki lose control like that, and it scared the shit out of me.

“Don’t do that with me, Red. Fine doesn’t cut it. I’m sorry, I will do better.” Taking the seat beside me, Loki entwines our hands and places our joined fingers in his lap. Methodically, he rubs circles with the pad of his thumb over the delicate skin between my thumb and forefinger.

His movements ease my heart rate, even with the chaos lurking.

“Loki, I-I need to know if Nadja is all right. I’m dying here not knowing how the pregnancy is going.” Luca’s voice is filled with emotion, tears threatening the back of his eyes.

Loki’s hand wraps tightly around mine, almost to the point of pain. Glancing at him, I can tell he’s fighting with a memory. No one else in the room recognizes he needs a minute, but I do. I know him. It’s like he is a part of me, I feel his pain deep in my chest, so I intervene.