Page 80 of Thorns of Love

“I’m not going into your bedroom,” I sneered. “I’m not here to fulfill your fantasies. I’m here for answers.”

A sardonic breath left him. “I’m starting to see why Konstantin is so obsessed with you.”

I chose to ignore his comment. He was just trying to distract me. Marchetti’s eyes flickered to Isla, something dark and vehement flickering in them. His expression changed to mild disinterest when it returned back to me.

“Last chance, Tatiana,” he said, his voice dipping to freezing temperatures. “Certain things are best left in the past.”

I shot him a dark look. “Just tell me so we can be on our way.”

Even as I said ‘we’ I knew I’d be leaving this place alone.

“Fine, have it your way,” he drawled in a tone that told me he knew he’d come out on top out of this conversation.

My heart thundered as I held my breath waiting for the answer. He ordered Adrian’s execution. Illias wanted Adrian dead, but he defended me. I needed to know why. What had Adrian done that was so bad?

Although deep down I feared I already knew.

I just needed someone to say it out loud.

TWENTY-EIGHT

KONSTANTIN

Anger burned in the pit of my stomach.

I sat on the edge of my seat as the car fought the traffic to get us into the city. My screen showed Tatiana in Marchetti’s home.

I ran my hands through my hair. Tatiana had no idea how goddamn crazy I could be. When it came to her, all my rules went to shit. My control was non-existent. The Omertà would be too if Marchetti fucked me over and touched a single hair on her head.

“Is she moving?” Boris asked. I didn’t respond, just watched my phone screen flashing with that little blue dot that represented my wife. “She’s a smart woman. She probably remembered that night and went directly to Marchetti to demand answers.”

I shot him a dark look, then returned my attention to the screen. As if scared that little blue dot that connected me to her would disappear. If Marchetti decided to take her, she would.

And I’d fucking send all the dirt on him to Interpol, CIA, FBI, DEA. Any and every agency that’d want to stop the underworld from existing.

Apparently Boris was unable to remain quiet today. “Nikita is in the city. Let him take her until you cool off.”

My narrowed gaze found his.

“Why is he in the city?” I questioned. “He said he was staying behind.”

Boris shrugged. “He said he had family in town and took a commercial flight.” He grimaced. “It made no sense why he wouldn’t hitch a ride with us, but–”

Something wasn’t adding up. Nikita didn’t have any family. It was the reason my father recruited him. It was the reason I kept him on.

I tapped my fingers against my thigh, faster and faster, then froze as a thought connected in my head. When I turned to face Boris, the idea was so clear in my mind that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before.

“Pull out a backup server of the castle.” When he gave me a questioning look, I continued, “Yes, it only covers one angle of the house.” It was the reason we discontinued it. There were too many blind spots and the software was outdated. But it had one thing that updated software didn’t.

Coverage of the old back gate.

“If I wanted to smuggle someone into our home, I’d use that old gate,” Boris stated, reading my thoughts.

Boris was already retrieving images from the backup server. “It’s been wiped,” he muttered, locking eyes with me. It was a confirmation it was an inside job. Not too many people know about that server.

“Follow public surveillance from that side and out into the city.”

It took two minutes. The familiar clothes. Familiar build. The two Yakuza men joined him, shaking hands.