Page 71 of Hidden Empire
Everything Jade does makes me more and more sure that she’s it for me.
“I haven’t heard anything about a phone or camera sighting,” I inform him, fisting my hands in my pockets. It’s infuriating how slow information works at Empire. Rumors spread like wildfire, but information? It may as well be its own commodity.
People hold on to whisperings they think could be beneficial to them later on because they can’t be tortured for what they know here. It’s exhausting.
“We’ve got all of our people keeping their eye out, and nothing,” I add, shaking my head. There may be ten of us here this year—seven Morozov men and three women—but it’s proving to be not enough.
I haven’t consulted with allies we have here, though, mostly because trust is more difficult with them. I’d have to be careful about my words, never knowing when a partnership will dissolve. At the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to protect our families, and that’s more dangerous than any of the training we partake in.
Desperate people will do anything to save themselves, like a cornered dog in a room full of hungry wolves.
“Sofiya has been asking around about Jade,” Ivan tells me. “She’s being discreet, acting like she’s wondering if Jade could be a good friend for her. Since she’s so quiet normally, no one has questioned her. No one’s had any helpful information, either.”
Sofiya is an advisor’s daughter. My father selected her father personally for the position over twenty years ago, taking him under his wing. While I have two uncles who are above him in ranks, he’s a bit like a third brother to my father now.
His only daughter is a shy little thing, a first-year like Jade, it’s smart to have her help. I’m just surprised she volunteered, but maybe I shouldn’t be. She’s always happy to help, even if she’s anxious about it.
“Smart,” I comment. “Unfortunate that it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.”
Ivan grunts in agreement.
“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the—” He pauses, looking around because we aren’t in a room to complete the typical saying. “Forest.”
“You had that thought too?” I ask, hoping we’re not thinking the same thing.
He nods. “It could be her.”
My brother doesn’t need to say her name to clarify. We both know he’s talking about one of the most vile humans we know.
Nina.
Our biological mother.
Even calling her that in my head fills me with disgust. If I could never think of the fact that she gave birth to me again, I would. Unfortunately, she continues to plague my mind because she still continues to breathe.
Our mother betrayed our family in the worst way possible. She was already a traitor, having stolen money from my father for years. When he found out, he banished her. There’s no place for traitors in the Morozov family.
He should have killed her.
If he did, she wouldn’t have gotten to Anya.
It’s hard not to hold some resentment toward my father because of that, but he blames himself enough as it is. Nina is still on the run, and he’s more than tripled his efforts in finding her since. Anya will never be the same, not after what her own mother arranged to have happen to her. There has to be recompense for that.
“If it is, I’ll kill her before Dad can,” I vow, meaning every word.
Nina is his kill.
She gave him three children, and it meant nothing to her. She broke their vows and hurt his daughter beyond any means of imaginable torture.
But if Nina is coming for Jade, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet between her eyes. No retribution is worth risking Jade’s safety. Anya will sleep better at night knowing that that woman is in the ground.
“You’ll have to pull the trigger faster than me,” Ivan states firmly.
The sentiment means a lot, but I expect that won’t be the case. “Let’s hope that whatever it comes down to, whoever it is, you’re far as hell away protecting my girl. I don’t want Jade anywhere near what is bound to happen.”
“Have you considered asking her to leave?” Ivan asks warily. “I’d go with her, of course. But maybe Empire isn’t as safe for her as we want it to be.”
“I’ve considered it.”