Page 26 of The Enemy’s Defector (Ivanov Syndicate #3)

NIKOLAI

O n the first morning back home, I rolled over to kiss Katerina as she slept in.

“I’ll be back soon.”

She replied with a noncommittal murmur I couldn’t understand and tried to kiss me back. Instead of reaching my lips, she sleepily rubbed her mouth against my shoulder.

I smiled, satisfied that I’d worn her out last night. Her nervousness was a palpable negative vibe I couldn’t miss, and if tiring her out with sex put her in a lazier mood, then I’d call that a success.

I got up, not eager to leave her in bed but impatient to do my duty.

Maxim had told us to relax and settle in, but that wasn’t an easy order to follow.

For Katerina to relax here as my wife, I had to present my case for my family and organization to welcome her.

And that campaign had to start now, not later.

By the time I got dressed and headed downstairs, I missed breakfast. Maxim seemed to be more of an early riser since he’d taken over for Father, so that wasn’t saying much.

The cooks smiled at me and offered to make me more, and I looked forward to a warm plate made to order. It’d been a long time since I could be granted something like that.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Maxim quipped.

I sat and shrugged. “There’s a lot to discuss.”

He nodded, glancing at Damon and Saul as they entered the room. Saul greeted me and gave me a little shit about staying hidden for so long, but both of them sat and it looked like we’d have our first meeting now.

“You married her?” Saul asked when Damon inquired about Katerina.

I waited to reply until our plates were delivered and set out for us. Then I asked the cooks to send up trays to my wife.

My wife . I wondered how long it would take for me to get used to being able to say that.

“Did you marry her because of that arrangement?” Damon asked, seeming confused and not accusatory.

I shook my head. “No. I didn’t even know about that.”

Maxim laughed once. “Neither did we. Anastasia came across it when she was trying to make files about all the Mafia princesses for me. It seemed that Anton found copies of the document too, and he reached out to us.”

“But Katerina refused,” I finished for him.

“I’m damned glad that she did,” Damon said. “If she hadn’t, I never would’ve met Lucy.” A rare smile changed his face and I was happy that my twin could be so content like this. Of all of us, he seemed the least likely to be married.

“Grandmother’s got to be pleased about this development.” I pointed at Damon. “You’re married.” I pointed at Maxim. “You’re engaged and have a baby on the way.”

He shook his head. “Sloane and I got married.”

I grinned as Damon added, “And Lucy is pregnant.”

Saul scoffed, shaking his head and teasing. “What the fuck is in the air around here? You’re all married and waiting on kids.”

“Whereas you’re still sleeping your way through the city,” Damon replied.

Saul shrugged, not taking it as an insult as he resumed eating.

While they ate, I filled them in about all that happened.

My captivity wasn’t much to describe. They’d all been in that position before.

They knew what it was like. Making sure to inform them of the important details, like the fact that none of the captors were recognizable with ambiguous accents and wearing masks, I gave them as clear of an account as I could.

When I came to the part about Hayden, I slowed down and explained why I had gotten so hopeful, that what he talked about seemed like clues that we’d be able to use in this investigation to figure out who had ordered Father to be poisoned not once, but twice.

Maxim asked many questions. Damon and Saul listened attentively, and I didn’t hold back anything.

After I relayed all that I could about my days in captivity and how I was moved around constantly, beaten but never injured so badly that I’d die, I came to Katerina.

“While Anton was in Greece for business, she took that time as her last opportunity to search for old surveillance footage that could show her who killed her father. That was why she didn’t want to fulfill that marriage arrangement.

Anton argued with her, trying to force her into marrying into our family so she could be a spy. ”

“Ironically,” Maxim drawled, “here she is, as your wife.”

I glowered at him. “As my wife and the mother of my child. Nothing more. She’s not a spy, Maxim.”

“I believe it,” Saul said without looking up from his food, nonplussed. “She never seemed to get along with Anton. I can’t see her wanting to do anything to help him out.”

“She can’t stand him,” I replied. “She never has, and she’d always suspected that he killed Thomas.”

“Did he?” Damon asked.

I nodded, grave and solemn about this news. “She copied the footage that shows Anton killing him. Once she saw that, she was done. She was leaving, hoping to just run away, but first, she wanted to find me and get me free.”

“Hold on.” Maxim narrowed his eyes. “She didn’t want to fulfill the arrangement because she wanted proof about Thomas’s death? Not because she was looking for you?”

“Both. But she focused on going to all the Kozlov properties to search for the hidden footage about Thomas’s death. And while she went to all those places, she was also looking for me.”

Maxim leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms to peer at me. He was pensive and contemplative, but not judging me. “Every time I asked you what was going on between you and Katerina, you’d hedge and never really reply.”

I didn’t say anything. Damon sighed and came to my defense. “Of course, he did. He couldn’t admit his feelings for her, but it was obvious they had a special connection.”

“They were always close when we were kids, too,” Saul said. “You know that.”

Maxim nodded. “Yes. When we were kids. When Thomas was alive and he was friends with Father.”

I shook my head. “Oh, so what, Anton shoots her father and that will suddenly make her an instant enemy of ours?” He couldn’t be that narrow-minded and quick to assume.

“She’s always been defiant to him,” Damon said. “I remember after Thomas’s funeral how she distanced herself from Anton.”

“I agree. But”—Maxim pinned me with a hard stare—“as adults…”

“As adults, we fucking fell in love,” I said plainly.

“Or we always had been but once we were adults, we couldn’t resist it anymore.

I don’t know how to explain it.” I stood, needing to move and pace.

“I never pursued her. Yes, I consulted with her because she is a damned good hacker and she often gave me intel about third parties.”

“Wait.” Maxim sat up straighter. “Is she the hacker who helped you look into Father’s poisoning?”

“Yes.”

“How could you ask her to investigate that when she’s Anton’s?—”

“Nothing. She was never Anton’s anything, Brother. She was never loyal to him. Never. She was always loyal to me but was stuck there with him.”

He lowered his gaze, troubled but starting to seem like he was changing his mind about all of this. “So you’re trying to tell me that she’s not an enemy of the family.” He stated it instead of asking it like the question it actually was.

“No. I’m not trying to tell you anything. I’m declaring it for the first and last time. She’s never been a fucking enemy of the Ivanov Syndicate. She’s never been an enemy of mine . Only a friend. A confidante. A lover. Now my wife and the mother of my child.”

Saul raised his hand. “Hold on. Just when did you knock her up? If you were taken and held for over a month and she found you afterward and…” He furrowed his brow. “The math doesn’t add up, right?” He glanced at Damon and Maxim.

“I slept with her before I was taken.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “The night I met with her to ask her to hack into the computer systems and see if she could identify who’d come here to poison Father. One thing led to another and…” I shrugged. They didn’t need me to fill in the blanks.

“What did she find?” Damon asked.

“Nothing. Just those masked independent contractors. Same as those who took me and moved me around.” I hated that we couldn’t have a target.

“I’m convinced Anton is behind it, both Father’s poisonings and my capture.

Katerina agrees that he’s got to be involved, since she found me on Kozlov property.

But I heard little things here and there that the Romanos are involved too.

When I married Katerina and those assassins ambushed us, they were clear to identify.

Both Kozlovs and Romanos had come in there to stop her from becoming my wife. ”

Damon shook his head. “But why? Anton was forcing her to come here and marry into the family before with that arrangement?—”

“Because he wanted her to do so under his control. So she could be his spy,” I replied.

“All right. So that failed,” Saul said. “Wait. What happened when he realized she didn’t obey his order?”

“He was just coming home and was informed. Katerina ran off to avoid him punishing her for defying him and disobeying,” I explained.

“And now she’s here and not a spy.” Damon nodded once, as if he was fine with it.

“She’s not going to spy. She wants Anton dead.

She killed Dmitri, one of Anton’s favorites, when he tried to rape her.

She has helped me , not any Kozlovs, since Anton took over.

For fuck’s sake, she killed a guard to get me free.

Then she took a bullet for me when we were ambushed again.

This woman will risk herself for my safety.

What other proof would you need, Brother?

” I stared at Maxim, waiting for him to flinch at my cruel and stern tone.

“What other fucking proof would you need to know that she chooses me ? That she will be loyal to us ?”

He didn’t say a word. Watching me closely, he seemed to search for a response.

“You can’t deny that they’ve always been close,” Saul said after a long moment of quiet. “When we were kids, teens, even adults. Hell, at that wedding, she was the only woman he danced with.”