Consumed by Deception (Deception Trilogy #3) by Rina Kent

The assassination attempt about a year ago. The only time I couldn’t find information on who tried to kill me.

The incident after which Lia’s depression struck harder and she admitted to cheating on me.

“Could he be the same man who participated in the hit last summer?” I ask Kolya.

He perks up. “That’s a possibility. But considering his skills, wouldn’t he have done it on his own? Why would he hire a mercenary to do it on his behalf?”

“The same reason he hired the Spetsnaz that he shot and let crash down the cliff with the car. Camouflage. He probably doesn’t want anything to link back to him.”

“Why would he want to kill you?”

“To have Lia all for himself,” I grit from between clenched teeth. “He could also be working with one of our enemies.”

“I’ll rearrange what we have thus far and look at it from the perspective that it’s the same person in all three cases.”

“He could be related to either Lazlo Luciano, the Rozettis, or one of our own.”

“Like who?”

“Vladimir or Igor. Hold on.” I retrieve my phone and dial the number I never wanted to call to ask for help.

Kirill picks up after two rings, sounding as smug as ever. “Adrian. What a lovely surprise. To what do I owe this honor?”

“What do you know?”

“Cutting straight to the chase, I see.”

“Don’t waste my time, Morozov.”

“You know, in case no one told you, when asking for a favor, you’re supposed to do it nicely.”

“My nice phase is coming to an end and so is any agreement we might reach together.”

“Jesus. You’re as grumpy as an old man.”

“What do you know?” I emphasize.

“What makes you think I know something?”

“You’ve been giving less than subtle hints.”

“So you did catch those. Here I thought I had to take my hinting game to the next level. What do you want to learn first?”

“What do you have?”

“What if I told you I know a tidbit about your wife’s past that you might not be aware of?”

I still the slow tap of my forefinger on my thigh. There’s no way in hell he knows she’s Lazlo’s daughter. The people who are aware of that information are dead. I made sure of it.

So I hold onto my cool. “What is it?”

“Did you know that she grew up with an Italian boy?”

“An Italian boy?”

“Yes. Neighbors. I didn’t think much of it at the beginning when I looked into her, but then, alarms went off in my head.”

“You looked into her?”

“Of course I did. Vladimir, Igor, and Sergei did, too. You bring a woman out of nowhere and announce she’s your wife and baby mama and think we’ll just nod our heads? You don’t make mistakes, Adrian, so no matter how much you try to convince everyone that you only married her for an accidental pregnancy, I don’t believe it. I’m sure it was all part of a master plan. Now, where was I? Right. The Italian. Even though it seemed normal, when I looked further into him and his parents, I found nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Absolute nada. No normal citizen would cover their tracks that meticulously, would they?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

“What’s his name?”

“Luca.”

“Last name?”

“Brown. Luca Brown. Ring any bells?”

“No.”

He clicks his tongue. “To me neither. But I’ll find that motherfucker. No one hides from me.”

“Keep me posted.”

“My, my, Adrian. Aren’t you full of love today?”

“Just do as you’re told.”

“And I’ll get something in return?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic. Love doing business with you.”

I stare at my phone, then focus on Kolya. “Why didn’t you tell me she had an Italian neighbor in your first screening of her?”

“Didn’t seem like it mattered at the time. They were both kids and many in New York have Italian neighbors. I didn’t feel like I needed to go more in-depth.”

He’s right. It shouldn’t have mattered. But after what Kirill mentioned, I have a suspicion that this Luca is even more involved than I ever thought.

There’s only one other person who can tell me the details, even if I have to punish them out of her.

“Let’s call it a night, Kolya.” I stand up and my second-in-command follows.

“Boris sent me a text earlier and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“About?”

“Mrs. Volkov went to the guest house to visit Yan.”

I clench a fist. “You didn’t want to disturb me or were you protecting the little fuck?”

He releases a long sigh. “Both.”

“He knows something, Kolya. He was there and he’s hiding it from me.”

“I know.”

“You finally agree?”

“Yes. He wouldn’t tell me either but it’s obvious. He’s protecting Mrs. Volkov.”

“From me?”

“Yes, sir. You know he’s still mad about how you drove her to the edge of that cliff.”