“And I thought you didn’t like the idea,” he challenges, like he didn’t do his best to change my mind.
I press my lips together and pick up the file that remains carefully untouched and unsullied on a shelf. Flipping it open, I gaze at the eerily realistic 3D photos, ignoring the clutch in my chest, and pass one to Darian. “Your nephew,” I tell him and watch his eyes widen in surprise. “Emylyah’s already 20 weeks - halfway through the pregnancy. Despite everything, none of this is his fault.”
Darian's expression softens as he studies the ultrasound image. "Shit, Niko. I had no idea she was this far along." He looks up at me, concern etched on his face. "What are you going to do?"
I turn away, unable to face the mixture of pity and worry in his eyes. "I don't know," I admit, hating how unsure I sound. "I can't simply let her go, not with my child. But how can I trust her after this?"
“Then maybe you should just talk to her again," Darian suggests cautiously. "Get her side of the story without losing your temper this time."
I scoff, gesturing at the destruction around us. "You think I'm in any state to have a rational conversation right now?"
"No," he agrees. "But you can't avoid it forever. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to fix this mess."
His words hit home, and I feel a flicker of doubt. What if I've made a terrible mistake? What if Emylyah truly didn't know about the marriage?
But then again, what if she did know? What if all of this has merely been another calculated move in some deeper game? The thought gnaws at my brain, sharp and insistent. My instincts have never failed me before; I don’t believe in luck or destiny, just cause and effect, and power plays.
Then again, I never suspected or doubted Emylyah until now, but maybe she was always meant to be a Trojan horse, carefully placed to slip past my defenses when I least expected it.
There’s too much at stake for me to ignore the possibility. The city is tense, the alliances among families are teetering on a knife’s edge.
And with all that, now I have to deal with this. A marriage contract hidden for almost twenty years, dangling like bait on a hook. Is it a diversion tactic? Something to have me looking the other way so my enemies can slip in while my back is turned?
The chances of it being a deliberate distraction, designed to throw me off track, just when I need my wits about me has the most merit so far. But that doesn’t mean I can ignore it. Not when my unborn son is the collateral. I don’t know Emylyah’s sister, Gabi. Is she in on this too?
Questions bombard me from all angles, and I grit my teeth so hard my jaw aches. They have no answers and just spawn more questions.
But it’s the answers I need. Preferably before any more chaos is rained down on my organization. I’ve already devoted too much time to this.
“Check out the sister, too,” I grate out, giving Darian her details. “We need to know who and what we’re dealing with, and if there’s a link to the Red Scorpion.”
Chapter Twelve
NIKO
“There’s nothing, Niko,” Darian tells me, shaking his head as if he's truly surprised. “All these people are completely legit. In fact, they’re not just legit, they’re next level.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demand with a scowl which has become omnipresent over the past couple of days.
“It means her sister, Gabriella Mountbatten, nee Preston, is married to a fucking English Duke. And not just any English Duke, but a cousin to the British royal family!”
Something about that scenario sparks a vague recollection, but I push it aside. It’s not important right now.
“What about the husband?”
“Ah yes, Zack Kincaid - a billionaire by completely legitimate means. Not a single skeleton in his closet. He’s a venture capitalist specializing in cutting edge technology.”
I stare at him in disbelief, my mind reeling. How is this possible? I was so certain Lyah's family would be the key to unraveling her lies. But if they're clean...
“The one thing I can tell you about Kincaid is that he’s been searching for one Emylyah Bascov for the past six years. My intel - and don’t ask me how I got it - tells me that’s when he discovered the marriage himself, at the age of twenty-seven. But until he was put in touch with Gabi, he never managed to get close to finding her.”
Despite his reputation as a vicious thug, Darian is an expert hacker. Something nobody knows except me, so I don’t doubt the information is sound.
I run a hand through my hair, frustration mounting. "So, there’s absolutely nothing tying this to Red Scorpion? It really is all just coincidence?"
Darian shrugs. “As far as I can tell, yes. These are not the kinds of people who would ever want anything tying them to organized crime. I can tell you that much, unequivocally.”
“Fuck! Does that mean Emylyah’s in danger from these people? A loose thread they don’t want becoming public?”
