Of what she deserved.
“I do. Anything that could possibly be of use.”
“Jarek Urso has a pseudo…found the connection a few days ago. Jack Werner. It didn’t look like there was much associated with it. A checking account and a couple rental properties.”
I didn’t realize my teeth were grinding in restraint until Aster started running her fingers down my spine to soothe me.
“And?” I pressed.
“I dug deeper into it and found some flight records from this last summer. At least four trips to Russia. It might be nothing, but it seemed worth mentioning.”
Blood thickened and stormed.
“It’s definitely worth mentioning. Do you know who he visited while there?”
“That I haven’t been able to uncover.”
“Keep digging,” I told him.
Ending the call, I tossed my phone to the mattress.
I edged back so I could look at Aster, my hands vises that curled around her waist like I could keep her from floating away. “Does your father have business in Russia?”
I only knew what I’d known then—there were no alliances.
Only enemies.
Worry crept across her face. She blinked as she processed.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Would he send Jarek there for any reason?”
Disconcerted, she swallowed. “I can’t believe that he would. I think I would at least know that. This last summer, Jarek was supposed to be traveling to New York. As far as I knew, he was in charge of facilitating a new shipment route.”
But her father hadn’t exactly been forthright with her over the years, either.
Acting like he was protecting her from his bullshit when she’d merely been a bartering chip.
Hope blazed like a beacon in her eyes. “I need to tell my father.”
“I know you’re anxious, Aster. I am, too. The thing I want most in this world is to set you free of his power. But we need to wait until we have more. Until we have something solid and substantial to prove Jarek’s disloyalty. If we do it too soon, it’s only going to give Jarek time to cover his tracks.”
Aster deflated, resignation thick. Then she nodded and blew out a strained breath. “I know…I just want this to be over.”
“Soon, Aster.”
“What happened earlier today when you called? Did you know he was coming for me? I can’t believe he went against a direct order from my father.”
“I left my office for about an hour. When I got back, it’d been ransacked. Place destroyed. They took my laptop.”
That was what unsettled me most.
It’d felt…purposed.
Like they were searching.
The piece of shit would have to search for the rest of his life.