Midnight Lies (Tasarov Bratva 2)

ADRIK

“How the fuck do you not know where he is yet?” I bark.

Stefan holds up his hands and pushes his chair away from the computer. “This tech shit was Yasha’s wheelhouse, not mine.. You know that. If your brother doesn’t want to be found, he isn’t going to be found. And there is fuck-all I can do about it.”

“You’re in charge of the security detail,” I remind him coldly. “You’ve never learned to track someone’s phone?”

“Need I remind you I’m working from the hotspot on my phone right now because your brother jammed our networks?”

“We don’t know if that was him.”

Stefan arches a dark brow. “He shut down all of our security cameras, too. Rerouted them so that we don’t have access to the feeds anymore. Who else do you think is capable of doing that remotely?”

I know he’s right, but I can’t quite wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make any sense. Or, fuck, maybe it does and I’m just too blind or too stupid to see the light.

I pull out my phone and call Yasha again. He hasn’t answered any of the other ten times I’ve called, but what’s the harm in trying for number eleven?

As with the others, it goes straight to voicemail.

“Fuck!” I hurl my phone into the chair across from me. It bounces off the cushion and clatters on the floor. “I should never have let him walk out of this house.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I found him in my wife’s bedroom in the middle of the night. I should have stopped him and figured it out.”

“He’s your brother,” Stefan says softly. “Your baby brother. You are a cynical son of a bitch ninety-nine percent of the time. But that last one percent? That’s where Yasha lives. You think the best of him.”

“I thought the best of him,” I correct. “And even that bit of optimism was a mistake.”

He takes a deep breath and then spins around in his chair, elbows resting on his knees. “I just have to ask you something once and then I can be done with it, okay?”

“I’ll decide if it’s okay once you’re done asking.”

“I just want to make sure that you’re…” Stefan sighs. “I want to make sure you’re thinking with your head and not your dick.”

I tighten my fists at my sides. “What an encouraging vote of confidence in my leadership.”

“Come on, man. I trust you. You know that. But I have to ask,” he says. “Are you sure Emery is telling the truth? We thought she was a spy for the Volandris less than twenty-four hours ago. And now, you’re hunting down your brother because she said he’s Isabella’s dad?”

“He’s not Isabella’s dad,” I growl. “He’s a fucking beast, and he needs to be put down.”

“Okay, but c’mon, Adrik, you know what I mean. Like, this is a crazy turnaround. And I would be a shitty right-hand man and an even shittier friend if I didn’t make sure you’re thinking this all through and being rational.”

“You have to make sure I’m not blinded by the sex?”

“It can happen to the best of us,” he says, giving me a small smile.

I nod and grimace. “I’m sure, my friend. Emery ran off that night because she recognized Yasha. She isn’t a spy; she was just scared shitless.”

Stefan studies me for another second before he finally nods. “Okay.”

“Okay? That’s all you needed?”

“That’s all I needed,” he confirms. “I’ve trusted you my entire life and I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“It was a close call today.”

“I’ve had closer.” Stefan chuckles and turns back to the computer. As soon as he does, he sags in his chair. “But part of me was hoping you’d change your mind. Because I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.”

I stand up and pace across the floor. “The wifi and the cameras are distractions. He’s just trying to keep us busy so we can’t follow him.”

“But we can’t just ignore this and chase after him.”

“Of course not. We need someone in here taking care of the tech issues, and we need to disconnect all of the cameras. We’re going old school on security until we can make sure Yasha can’t bulldoze his way into our system.”

“How do we do that?” he asks. “Yasha built our system. All of it. Here, at the compound, at all of the other safehouses. He is our system.”

I don’t miss the symbolism.

Yasha has been at the center of my life for as long as I can remember. Being twelve years older, it feels sometimes like I raised him. Like he’s my own child.

I’m the man I am today because of Yasha.

But now, it’s time to figure out how to move forward without him.