Page 23 of Angel's Forever

Mikhail almost sank into the chair as I shouted at him. I was the eldest of us, and therefore held the most respect. He would always question my motives, but once I had made a decision, he would abide by it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost it like that, but when I tell you this, you will understand. I have seen a lot of Gabriella recently and gotten to know and care about her. I told you how Vincent treated her, but there is more to the story.”

I went on to explain everything. How he had gotten her pregnant three times and then caused the three miscarriages that she’d had. Mikhail’s face morphed from shock to horror to pure hatred and anger. I knew now that I would have him on my side no matter what.

“I was part of that pain as well, wasn’t I? I may not have treated her badly, but the men I had with me did. I’m not sure if I can forgive myself now that I know the truth.”

I knew he would blame himself for part of it, but I hoped that blame would manifest itself in finding and dealing with Vincent.

I took his hand in mine. “Neither of us can change Malyshka’s past. However, we can change her future, one where she doesn’t have to keep looking behind her to see if Vincent is there. I need your help. We need to find him before he gets to her. I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her.”

I saw him raise his eyebrows when I called Gabriella by my pet name. If he didn’t realize before, he should know now how much she meant to me.

He smiled and nodded. “I understand. I know how difficult it was for you to lose Anastasia and Katerina.”

It was still painful to hear the names of my wife and daughter. Even after all these years, I couldn’t put their death behind me. I guessed that was why I wanted to help Gabriella so much. She was around the age my daughter would have been, and she reminded me so much of her.

He squeezed my hand as I sat there, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. “I will help you any way I can, brother. In fact, I did hear a rumor just before I left Detroit. His business is failing in a big way. No one knows where he is, and the money in the company account is going down quickly.”

I knew he wasn’t in Detroit or New York, but his location was still a mystery. That was what we needed to find out.

“One of his staff members did speak to me, though,” Mikhail continued. “She had my number because I was often at the company, arranging our liaisons at the club, shall we say. She’d asked if I had called the other day, as a Russian man had been asking for him and how they could get a hold of him. She mentioned that whoever it was had said he had found a place for Vincent in Maine, and asked if he could call him.”

Maine was a vague description of where Vincent could be hiding. Nevertheless, it was a start. Also, some of the smaller towns were only a few hours away by car, so it would be possible to get to New York and back in a day, which meant my thoughts were very possible.

“I think I need to let Nico know. At least they can be vigilant. I know he is doing his own investigation, despite my requesting not to. I really don’t want anything to happen to Nico that would take him away from Gabriella. He has always been very respectful and never crossed our path unless he needed to.”

Mikhail looked at me with skepticism.

“What’s that look for? You may have had issues with him in the past, but have you ever thought that might have something to do with how your acquaintances treat women?”

His face fell again. He knew I was right. If anything else came out of this, I hoped it would be that he would make his friends treat women with more respect. I knew he did, but he allowed his associates to do whatever they wanted. If they were true subs like Gabriella, then they would do whatever their master told them.

“I know you are right. He has never caused me any problems except in the club. Do you want me to call him?”

I shook my head. “I think it is best that I do that. We just need to keep looking and find Vincent before Nico does, or before Vincent does something stupid. When we do find him, though, I will be the one to deal with it. I want to see him in pain for a long time before he leaves this world. I owe that to Gabriella.”

“I understand. I will keep the investigation going. I trust the men I am using and am sure none of them are involved. However, if I do hear of anything, I will let you know immediately. Apart from that, I assume it is business as usual?”

I nodded. Everything needed to remain the same so no one got any idea of what we were doing in the background, especially whoever was helping Vincent.

With that confirmation, Mikhail stood and we said our goodbyes. As soon as he left my office, I pulled out my personal phone. Very few people had this number, not even my own men. Mikhail did, and so did Nico. I dialed Nico’s number and waited for him to answer.

“Viktor. To what do I owe this pleasure, and on your personal phone too?”

I loved how Nico could be both nice and sarcastic in one sentence.

“I wanted to make sure that no one knew about this conversation. I’ll be honest with you, Nico. I think I have someone here helping Vincent and providing him with drugs. I’m not sure if my office or office cellphone is being bugged. No one here knows about this phone, so I don’t think anyone would be able to bug it.”

I knew what I was risking telling Nico this, but he needed to know the truth, especially as someone could have been doing the same to his phone lines.

“Fuck, that’s serious. Do you have any idea who it could be?”

“I do have some ideas, but I want to make sure before I take action. That is only one of the reasons why I am calling you.”

I went on to explain everything we knew about Vincent and the fact that he was only around five hours away from NYC. I needed him to know so he would protect Gabriella at all costs.

“Thanks for letting us know, Viktor. I really appreciate it.”