Mafia Princess by Kennedy Slope

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Here are a list of properties that the Petrov family owns, and here are a number of Pakhan properties,” Marco said. He laid out sheet after sheet of paper on my desk.

I had sped back into the city as fast as I could. I didn’t know how long we would have until the next disaster struck, and I needed to find as much information as I could on Sasha and her family.

As I looked at the information before me, I shook my head. “We aren’t going to find anything here,” I said. My anger was growing and growing as I thought about Sasha. Katarina had clearly lost her mind, and I couldn’t risk my wife’s life. I wouldn’t.

“Katarina has probably been hiding this for years. She wouldn’t have anything under the Petrov name or the Bratva. She didn’t want Isaac to know about it.”

Marco ran a hand through his hair. He was just as frustrated as I was.

“Fuck,” I yelled. I took my arm and swept everything off my desk. It all crashed down on the floor leaving a complete mess.

“Did that make you feel better?” Marco asked.

It didn’t because I was still no closer to finding Sasha.

“Katarina’s goal was to take the Bratva from Isaac. She must have spent years turning those men against him.”

“She’s also got someone inside our outfit,” Marco said. “Unless you believe that Sasha has been telling her mother about the problems between the two of you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s either of those things.”

“No?”

“I did at first, but Katarina thrives on chaos, and she’s good at doing it. I think she’s been guessing at what was happening between me and Sasha. I wouldn't be surprised if she’s had someone watching her.”

Marco blinked rapidly as his mind worked through everything that I said to him.

“That idiot…” he trailed off as though he was trying to put some pieces together.

“What?”

“Some dude was all over her in class. At the time, I just thought he was overstepping his boundaries, but now, I’m wondering if there was more to it.”

“Do you know his name?” This felt like a lead, but it would only work if Marco knew a name.

“Started with a Z...Zack?”

“Zane,” I said.

“That was quick.” Marco lifted a brow.

“I caught him with Sasha at a party.” I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my phone. “I had someone on him. But with everything going on, it dropped off my radar.”

Luckily, it hadn’t dropped off my guys, and as I fired up my phone, I breathed a sigh of relief to see an update.

“I’d never thought that your stalking control freak nature would come in handy,” Marco muttered.

I rolled my eyes but said nothing as I looked at the tracking device that my guy had placed on Zane’s car. The first time I had met him. I hadn’t trusted him. The look in his eyes as he looked at Sasha had made me worried. I knew that look because I looked at her the same way. As if, I wanted to devour every inch of her.

“He’s in the suburbs,” I muttered.

“That’s odd,” Marco said. He came around and looked over my shoulder. “Sasha told me he lived on campus.”

“You two seemed to talk a lot those few days you followed her around,” I said. I hated that I was a little jealous about that fact. Sasha and I have struggled to connect with one another. I felt like whenever we make it two steps forwards, something happens to push us back.

Marco shrugged. “She’s chatty.”

I went over to my laptop which was the only thing I hadn’t thrown off of the desk. “I want to know why Zane would be in the suburbs,” I said.

“Maybe he’s visiting his parents,” Marco said.

I shook my head. “According to the information on him, his parents live in California.”

Marco shook his head. “No,” he said. “He told Sasha that he was a local.”

“Says here that he has two parents that live in Pasadena.”

Marco and I looked at one another, both of us thinking the same thing. “Let’s get going,” I said. I walked over to my gun safe. Our weapons had been confiscated at the Petrov compound, and we obviously hadn’t been able to get them back.

“We should call for backup. This guy is obviously hiding something, and we have no idea what we could be walking into.”

I shook my head. “There’s no time for that. It’s almost morning, and Sasha has been missing for hours.”

Marco looked like he wanted to argue with me, but he must have realized that I didn’t care. Sasha was all that I cared about. He didn’t understand that because he’d never cared about anyone outside of the family before. I didn’t know what I felt for Sasha, but I knew that it was something real and intense.

“Wait,” Marco said.

“What?” I asked. I felt myself getting impatient. Zane was the only lead that we had, and I didn’t want him to get away from us the way Katarina had.

“What was the address?”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t know why Marco wanted to know the address.

“Here,” I said. I threw the phone at him, so that I could get my gun. I was going to make sure that Zane gave me whatever information I needed. I was sure that Katarina had taken Sasha, and she had pretty much confirmed that she had taken her.

“I knew it,” Marco said. He slammed the phone down on the desk.

“Easy,” I said.

Marco rushed to the back of my desk to the computer. He was typing furiously, and his face was even more serious than normal.

“Katarina grew up not far from the Petrov compound,” he said.

“I thought that the compound had belonged to her father.”

Marco shook his head. “Isaac wanted to expand. Things were heating up with the family when he took over, so they moved.”

“Sasha’s at this house,” I said. I was sure of it. I didn’t know how Zane and Katarina were connected, but I knew that this was where Katarina would stash her daughter. Her resources wouldn’t be vast because she would have had to stash them away over a number of years without anyone asking questions.

“We need back-up,” Marco said.

I sighed. I didn’t want to wait. I was sure that Sasha was at Katarina’s house. I wanted to storm the place and make anyone who dared to keep me from Sasha pay.

“We don’t know how many men Katarina has. She’s already caught us off guard more than once, and we can’t afford any mistakes.”

Marco’ words were true even though I wanted to deny them.

“Fine,” I said. “We do this your way.”

Marco nodded. “I’m going to make a few calls. Pull up any information you might have. We are going to get her back.”

My brother sounded way more optimistic than I did. I wanted to storm the castle and take back my wife. But for now, we would play it Marco’ way. For now.