Chapter 33
Gabrielle forced Deva to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes before joining the group in the living room. Aleksei hadn’t said anything about her declaration. He had fastened his pants and pulled his cell phone to make a quick call instead.
She wasn’t expecting the same declaration from him, but not exactly a swift escape either. As she dried off and pulled on Evan’s sister’s clothes, she decided that if Aleksei returned her words or not, she was at peace with it all. So be it.
As she rounded the corner to go into the living room, she realized that the group had moved into the kitchen. On the table was a pile of pastries, and from the discarded bags, it seemed that someone had made a trip into the nearest town. Lance and Damon were scarfing down donuts as if there was no tomorrow as Lazarus was pacing the room, a haunted look on his face. Gabrielle was on the phone and Aleksei leaned a hip against the counter, a cup of coffee in his hand.
When she approached, he handed it to her. His expression was guarded, but his eyes blazing. Damn it, he was a hard man to gauge. Giving him a half smile, she returned her attention to Gabrielle, who growled as she ended her call.
“So? Any news about Sasha?”
Lazarus groaned as he continued pacing, and Gabrielle sighed. “It’s difficult to pinpoint her location, or even know exactly who took her.”
“There are rumors, but nothing solid. Liam is supposed to call us back, he said he might be on to something. Kai is still following Semyon, but so far the man is sketchy.”
Aleksei pushed himself from the counter and went to take a muffin. “But as we are closing in on that front, we have news about the other one.”
Deva froze. “About Finch’s inside job?”
It was Aleksei who spoke first. “I made a couple of phone calls on my way here after we spoke to you. Hector, Andy, but a few more too. They all told me the same thing. None of their lieutenants have been picked from the old guard. They are men that came into the organizations no more than five years ago and who made such an impression, who produced such exceptional results, that they easily grabbed the second-in-command position in each of the syndicates.”
Aleksei unfolded a piece of paper and placed it in front of Gabrielle. “Here are the names. And you can see that Semyon Kuznetzov is part of that pack.”
Everyone leaned forward to look at the names. Damon whistled. “That’s bad. I’m starting to feel paranoid myself, and I would be worried if my lieutenant wasn’t a childhood friend.”
Lance shook his head. “And what about others hanging around you? Until we have some sort of confirmation from Finch himself, I would doubt anybody and everybody.
Deva rubbed her face. “That’s all good, but I don’t see how we can act upon it. How can you go in front of the mob bosses and tell them that? We have no solid proof.”
Gabrielle checked the list and took a picture of it with her phone. “We don’t have a proof yet. I’m sending it to a friend of mine. If there is a possible link between any of them and Finch in this universe, she’ll find it.”
Lazarus emitted a low growl, putting his fist through the white wall before resuming his pacing.
Damon shouted. “Man! This is my sister’s house... you better have carpenter’s skills or money, because I’m not explaining this to her.”
Lazarus whipped a deadly stare in his direction before growling some more. “Why isn’t Liam calling?”
Deva put her untouched coffee mug on the table and stopped Oz in his tracks by a hand on his forearm. The man was so tense and tormented, it was no surprise when he exploded right in her face.
“Why did you bring her with you? You brought her into a risky situation!”
Unfazed, Deva didn’t move when he grabbed both her arms and lifted her off her feet. The sheer strength of the man made her gasp. Despite the violence, he didn’t hurt her.
Aleksei moved fast, followed by Lance and Damon.
“Lazarus put her down. Now!”
Blinking, as if returning to himself, Lazarus exhaled and lowered her gently to the floor. “I’m sorry, Deva.”
The men behind her relaxed, but Aleksei stayed close.
Deva didn’t move away from him, being the one now to grab his arms. “Do you think that I don’t feel guilty about involving her? If I had known her life would be in danger, I would never have called her. Sasha is the only one who supported my decision to leave, to disappear. She had been my closest support when my brother died, my only friend.” As she said the words, the tears she had believed had died off earlier started falling once more. “If I could, I would take her place, I would die for her. Do you understand?”
“Oh, Deva.” Lazarus shook his head before putting a hand on her shoulder. “If I had known the danger, I would never have allowed Beatrice to ask for your help. I would never have enforced the debt Bea had on you. And now your life is in jeopardy with the alliance you had to make with Evans. Your life isn’t worth that sacrifice, Deva.”
“What alliance?”
Deva’s heart dropped at Aleksei’s question when she realized that he didn’t know what had happened when Damon came to save her. How would she be able to explain that?
