Page 61 of Midnight Sanctuary
My teeth gnash together. “And the second hit?”
“Dominik Evanoff.”
I glance towards Nikolai, whose eyes are wide with surprise. “As in thepahkanof the Evanoff Bratva?”
“That’s the one, boss.”
My gut stirs uncomfortably. “Dig up whatever you can find about both men. I need to be sure which one we’re after.” After I hang up, I twist my swivel chair towards Nikolai who’s still by the window. “We’ve never had a problem with the Evanoffs.”
Nikolai nods in agreement. “They’ve always been happy to function on a lower scale, defer to you as the alpha.”
“Unless something has changed…?”
Nikolai shakes his head. “The Evanoffs do most of their work out of Russia. They’d never challenge us Stateside like this. That’d be ludicrous. Straight-up suicide.”
“I agree. But we need to make sure.” I pick up my phone and dial in a Russian number that I haven’t called since before Alyssa made an appearance on my fence.
“Privet,cousin,” Dimiv answers. “It’s been a while.”
“Unfortunately, this is not a social call.”
“I didn’t think so. Isn’t it the middle of the night in your neck of the woods?”
“Sleep is for the weak,dvoyurodnyy brat.”
“Tell me what is the matter. I will do whatever I can to help from here.”
“I need you to look into the Evanoffs.”
I hear the rustle of him moving in surprise. “Have they crossed you?”
No, but Nikolai crossing the room again and again will drive me insane long before the Evanoffs will drive me into an early grave.I breathe out and remind myself to focus. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Before I make my move, I need to be sure.”
“I’ll ask around. It will be handled; do not worry. If I may ask, what is it you think they’ve done?”
If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have been willing to share. But Dimiv is more than a cousin; he’s been an ally through adventures thick and thin. “Polly’s been taken. She’s been sold into the rings.”
Another sharp intake of breath. “Fuck.”
“I have reason to believe she was sold to a man named ‘Dominik’ and now, I need to figure out which one.”
“What crazymudakwould have sold her to the rings?”
I rub my temples against the incoming headache. “Boris Sobakin.”
“Thatcunt?” Dimiv exclaims in shock. “Didn’t know he had the balls.”
“He’s got something better—a lack of weaknesses.”
“Everyonehas weaknesses, cousin. It may not be obvious but there’s always one.”
His confidence is catching, which is good, because the initial excitement of Alyssa remembering the name is quickly fading away. I just feel fucking tired again. “Do me a favor and dig up whatever you can about Sobakin, too. Whatever you think might help me.”
“Got it. I’ll get to work immediately.”
He hangs up and Nikolai finally stops pacing, thank fuck. His dark undereye circles are getting to be as bad as mine are. “Is this it? Is that what brings her back to us?”
“I hope so,” I mutter. “If not, I might just have to kill that motherfucker in the shed.”